Cog-Dog Radio Slow School Part Two: Emotional Regulation
Mar 24, 2025
Explore the fascinating connections between gentle parenting and dog training. Discover how emotional regulation influences a dog's behavior and learn about the circumplex model that illustrates emotional dynamics. Hear a relatable example about driving emotions to better understand arousal shifts. Delve into the importance of teaching dogs to down-regulate through practical techniques and why common calm training methods may fall short. Finally, uncover how natural relief and co-regulation can enhance emotional well-being for both dogs and their guardians.
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Arousal And Valence Drive Emotion
- Emotions and behaviors are inseparable, so calm behavior often still shows physiological tension.
- The circumplex model maps arousal and valence to explain how feelings naturally shift over time.
Highway Scare Demonstrates Circumplex
- Sarah describes a highway scare where arousal spiked and negative feelings followed despite initial calm.
- She used pulling off the road and a milkshake to illustrate how affect circled back to contentment.
Downshift Requires Practice
- Shifting from high-arousal negative states to positive valence requires conscious effort and training.
- Lowering arousal while keeping positive valence is harder but learnable.