Train "Calm" as a skill (because it is one)

For many animals - especially high-drive breeds - calm is treated as something that should just happen once their needs are met. Enough exercise. Enough enrichment. Enough training.

And yet… some animals never switch off.

That’s because calm is not the absence of activity. It’s a learned nervous-system state. And for some animals, it must be trained deliberately.

Calm is not a Personality Trait

One of the biggest myths in animal training is that calm animals are:

• Naturally easy

• Less driven

• “Born good”

In reality, many calm-looking animals have simply:

• Learned how to regulate arousal

• Been reinforced for stillness

• Had nervous systems supported, not overstimulated

Meanwhile, animals labelled as naughty, hyper, or out of control are often:

• Chronically over-aroused

• Living above their regulation threshold

• Unable to access thinking once stimulated

This is not disobedience. It’s neurology.

What “Training Calm” actually means

Training calm does not mean:

❌ Suppressing behaviour

❌ Demanding stillness

❌ Expecting an animal to “just relax”

❌ Punishing energy

Training calm does mean:

✔️ Teaching the animal how to downshift

✔️ Reinforcing low-arousal choices

✔️ Building tolerance for stillness

✔️ Allowing the nervous system to practise recovery

Calm is a skill set, not a default setting.

Why more exercise often makes it worse

For high-drive animals, excessive high-arousal activity:

• Raises baseline arousal

• Builds stamina, not regulation

• Reinforces fixation and intensity

• Shortens recovery windows

The result? A fitter animal who still cannot settle.

If your animal:

• Becomes worse after exercise

• Takes hours to come down

• Needs constant activity to cope

The issue isn’t unmet needs - it’s untrained regulation.

How to train calm

1. Start below threshold

Calm cannot be trained when an animal is already overstimulated.

Work:

• Before excitement peaks

• In low-distraction environments

• In short, successful sessions

Regulation must be built before chaos, not during it.

2. Reinforce stillness, not just behaviour

Most animals are rewarded for doing.

Sit. Heel. Jump. Run.

But calm animals are rewarded for:

• Pausing

• Settling

• Choosing stillness

• Breathing through stimulation

If calm never earns reinforcement, it won’t grow.

3. Use duration, not intensity

Calm training is about time, not excitement.

Examples:

• Staying on a mat for increasing duration

• Standing quietly on a loose lead

• Remaining settled while the world moves

The goal is not perfection — it’s staying regulated longer than last time.

4. Slow the environment down

A nervous system cannot learn calm in constant chaos.

Support regulation by:

• Reducing visual clutter

• Limiting frantic games

• Choosing sniffing over chasing

• Creating predictable routines

Think decompression, not exhaustion.

5. Reward recovery

One of the most overlooked skills is coming back down.

Reinforce:

• The moment arousal drops

• The first sigh, sit, pause, or disengage

• Choosing rest after activity

This teaches the animal that calm is safe — and valuable.

What calm progress actually looks like

Training calm does not mean your animal becomes flat or boring.

Progress looks like:

• Shorter fixation

• Faster recovery

• Fewer explosive moments

• Improved thinking under pressure

For some animals, success is not “chill” - it’s functional.

And that matters.

A final note for Handlers & Trainers

Some animals are wired hot. They are intense, sensitive, driven, and fast. They don’t need to be toned down - they need to be supported differently. When we stop trying to drain energy and start teaching regulation, everything changes.

Calm is not something you wait for. It’s something you train.

Follow on with the next blog post - Training "Calm": Species-specific examples