Sia is such a busy girl with all sorts of things running through her head throughout the day. It's unrealistic to think we could ever keep up with her or provide enough activities if she was going full force all day long. But luckily she doesn't go full force all day long but she still needs practice going from the state of high activity to low activity and calmness.
Learning to stop activity and settle does not come easy for Sia. She loves to be on the go. So it's something we practice a lot. It helps her with her stays and it's helpful when she's in a situation where it's not appropriate to be the party girl.
Part of how she is rewarded for this behavior is by receiving the physical contact from people. She loves to be close and it's a great way to reinforce her quiet, calm behavior.
Long, slow strokes will help her settle down. Gentle massages and a quiet, soothing tone of voice will help bring her to that quiet, more peaceful state.
Setting small boundaries like this with her where you are establishing your leadership and direction helps her to rely more on you for making sure all is well in her world.
She will still get distracted but she'll be able to come to a more settled state much more quickly and easily.
She will probably always be the one who goes up and down the stairs a dozen times while she's waiting for my slow, pokey labs to make their way up the stairs but being able to relax easily in a variety of situations will help her to be much more content.
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