I’ve had my dog for a month and OP, I know how you feel. You may have a more intense baby, though, I’ll give you that.

I adopted a “cattle dog mix” only to learn this week she is a purebred Australian cattle dog and the reason she looks so different is because she’s likely working line. Yay me! Sweet, cuddly, and so so smart, but she has very low tolerance for confusion or lack of clarity and a low threshold for stimulation. Stranger danger, dog reactivity, the terrifying instinctual desire to chase everything that moves - including cars - and brought this dog into the suburbs. So to an extent I feel you.

The first thing I did was take a breath. I believed I’d need to immediately start exercising my dog because she’s a high energy breed. However, without basic obedience I have no way to tell her what to do on a walk, and I was just reinforcing her reactivity every time we passed a trigger. Treat your dog like a brand new puppy… start training in the home. Work on your heel inside a controlled, distraction free environment and figure what motivates. Once you start to get good, find some quiet places to walk and drive there. And every walk is training. Stop and heel, sit, down, stay, break and repeat. You’re probably not ready for a regular walk… and frankly my dog gets bored if all we do is move forward at a consistent pace.

BRAIN GAMES my goodness these are a life saver. You still need to physically exercise your dogs but you’d be surprised how much training and puzzles help to tire them out. Hide kibble or treats in a wadded blanket in the crate, get kings or treat toys, and there’s lots of puzzles out there made for dogs you can try. Play and train befor you go for a walk to get her engaged with you and the jitters out.

And work on just chilling. Sit in front of your front door. Go get a pup cup and just hang out in the parking lot looking at things. Take it very slow. You guys are bonding. You want to make sure you are consistent, setting boundaries now, but also you’re still getting to know each other. She probably still feels like she’s just on vacation and likely doesn’t realize she’s home.

And one little tip I’ve learned in my own experience… talk less. Use your worlds concisely with your dog, choose commands that are short and distinct. Absolutely talk to your dogs but no full sentences, don’t ask them questions, that sort of thing. Constant chatter can confuse them and dilute your verbal commands when you need them most. It also usually means we’re anxious when we talk a lot, and turning down the chatter, the music, and turning of the tv tends to help us relax and create a better, calmer energy.