What “patience in the details” means for dogs and handlers
Patience in the details means:
- The dog can stay mentally present in small pieces of work (e.g., foot placement, holding position, waiting for release, lining up straight).
- They are able to wait long enough to understand information instead of immediately reacting.
- They develop the skill to process criteria, not just execute movement.
How that connects to impulse control:
Dogs with impulse control can:
- Pause before reacting, giving the handler time to give information.
- Stay thinking instead of going into motion, which is essential for precision behaviors (fitness positions, start lines, contacts, stays, shaping).
- Remain calm under excitement, such as during agility, training around distractions, or when reinforcement is coming.
When a dog lacks impulse control:
- Their brain jumps ahead faster than their body can organize.
- They break positions, rush mechanics, and cannot learn shaping effectively because learning requires stillness and processing.
Essentially:
Impulse control is the mental skill that makes patience in small training details possible.
Impulse control is one of the most valuable life skills we can teach our dogs. Please note this not about suppressing their natural enthusiasm or joy ... it’s about teaching them how to pause, make a thoughtful choice, and move with intention.
In daily life, impulse control looks like:
- Waiting calmly at a doorway instead of bolting out.
- Ignoring food on the counter at home or on the ground during a walk.
- Greeting visitors politely (with control) instead of jumping.
- Settling on their place while the family eats dinner.
In sports and performance settings, impulse control is even more critical:
- Holding a start line until released, even when adrenaline is high.
- Staying committed to the dog walk contact instead of leaping off early.
- Focusing on you instead of the environment full of distractions like other dogs, people, noise, or toys.
- Being able to reset quickly after a mistake, instead of spinning out or losing connection.
- Having the ability to remain in a state of optiomal arousal and move their bodies with control.
there are so many scenarios but the above is just to give you a few.
Many times we only associate “impulse control issues” with the obvious behaviors like mentioned above ... rushing out doors, diving for food, barking at distractions, or running off course. And it’s true: when a dog is so reactive to the environment that they can’t focus, training becomes an uphill battle. They’re too busy processing the world to process you. But there is another, less obvious version of impulse control challenges that we see frequently in sport and performance dogs. These are dogs who technically stay with the handler, do their job, and remain engaged ... but they lack physical impulse control. Instead of thinking and responding with intention, they begin to move faster than they can organize their body or brain.
This shows up not as disobedience, but as:
- knocked bars
- wide turns
- failure to collect
- frantic or rushed movement
- taking equipment sloppily
- performing the pattern but without accuracy or clarity
These dogs want to work, and on the surface they “look fine,” but internally they are still in a reactive state. Their arousal level is high enough that the body is moving faster than the brain can plan. In sports, this is just as much an impulse control issue as the dog who takes off running. It’s not that the dog isn’t working ... it’s that they’re working too fast to think.
This is why we train impulse control through calm skills like “place, fitness exercises etc.” attention exercises, and controlled release. When the dog learns how to pause, process, and make choices with intention ... even in low-pressure environments ... those skills begin transferring to higher arousal situations. We start seeing not just fast work, but fast and organized work, which is the hallmark of a balanced performance dog.
With impulse control, something shifts:
Instructor: Ashley Escobar
