Everything for me in the world of canine somatics is boiling down to one thing: Emotional Capacity.
Reactivity is a lack of capacity to deal with outside stressors. Instead of trying to fix, correct, punish, or suppress the symptoms of reactivity, we can go straight to the heart of the issue which is capacity. Increasing emotional capacity goes hand in hand with autonomic flexibility and higher thresholds.
Difficulty in learning or retaining information is: A lack of capacity. We can think of your dog's emotional and cognitive bandwidth being cluttered and confused with too much noise/stress. It leaves little room on the hard drive to receive and write new programs. Cleaning up noise by giving them more capacity to process stimuli is the answer. That way they don't have to constantly "think about" or fret over annoying triggers, the noise falls away. Bandwidth literally means a range of frequencies. If your dog's bandwidth is too narrow, he or she cannot pick up what you are laying down!
Does your dog become easily stressed by sudden environmental changes? Needs more capacity.
Does your dog have trouble transitioning between activities, locations, and emotional states? Needs more capacity.
How do we create more capacity?
Learning how to be the emotional anchor in the relationship is a good start. A steady, calm presence with specialized knowledge in co-regulation will bring you far. A self awareness to recognize your own capacity and thresholds will seal the deal!
Breathing rhythms, predictable routines, gentle touch with consent: these are some of the tools in my toolbox that have created sustainable, meaningful change in my dogs' behavior. I aim to bring these tools to my clients in digestible, applicable lessons. And the cool thing is, by learning about emotional capacity and flexible nervous systems, we start to increase our own groundedness, awareness, and emotional capacity.
You can now "pre-order" this free course about Co-Regulating with Your Canine Companion
Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@vinzo88