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17/03/2025
Arousal vs. Success
How can we leverage arousal to foster success in Training dogs? For many, arousal serves as the cornerstone of their dog training careers. The Yerkes-Dodson Law illustrates the relationship between arousal and performance: as a dog’s arousal increases, so does their performance, up to an optimal level. This peak arousal is crucial for success.
However, if arousal continues to rise beyond this point, performance begins to decline. This often occurs when we push for one too many intense exercises or overly excite the dog during a session. The adage “stop on success, don’t chase for more reward” rings true here.
Yet, as handlers, we sometimes pursue that dopamine rush just like our dogs, leading us to do one more and risking over-arousal. When a dog reaches its peak arousal level, it can tap into its natural drive, allowing energy to be focused on performance. In this state, for example, a trailing dog feels unstoppable and can effortlessly locate the person they’re tracking. At this moment, the bond between handler and dog is strong, and focus and learning is at its highest.
