Often the biggest breakthrough for an animal and participants in a HPHH session isn’t about tricks—it’s about teaching a big heart that calm is worth waiting for. 🐾

Arthur is a big, beautiful, high-energy American Staffordshire Bull Terrier / Boxer currently at RSPCA Dakabin who feels every bit of stimulation around him. In a busy room, the noise, the movement, the number of new people can build his tippy-tappy energy fast and as our Dakabin participants quickly observed, any sudden shift or noise catches his attention and can tip him from alert, to overstimulated.

In a recent Intro to Handle session, the challenge wasn't really about Arthur's energy at all; it was about recognising what he needed and being willing to pivot the session plan to provide him with that.

So, the group discussed, planned and put it into action. Instead of Arthur walking into a room full of participants eager to spend time with him, participants quietly exited the room to let him enter and decompress. Then, slowly and quietly, they came back in one by one—each one adding a small, steady dose of calm rather than a fresh wave of stimulation. Commonly, participants are eager to welcome, say hello and pat the dogs who enter the room; however, our Intro to Handle group, having built the basics of animal training and care, share a common goal of giving rescue animals the best possible experience, and used that knowledge to practise patience and put Arthur's needs first.

*Arthur sitting calmly with Trainer Cameron*

Arthur was led around the room to engage with participants, but when quickly shifting from calm to overstimulated, he would promptly be returned to his “place” mat to sit and receive soothing pats to re-regulate him before engaging again.

The session's second goal was to help Arthur practise basic commands, starting with returning to his place mat and sitting. True to his excitement, Arthur's 'sit' rarely arrived calm and still—his feet gave him away every time with an excited tippy-tap but was still proof of just how hard he was trying to find that calm. So, the participants' goal shifted from a single command to something harder: a double command of 'sit' and 'wait'—really wait—until the tippy-tap settled and calm genuinely arrived.

That patience is where the real growth happened, for Arthur and for the participants working alongside him. Learning to sit and hold steady is a skill that reaches well beyond the animal. For our participants, it takes the same quiet courage to stay calm in a stressful or overstimulating moment and practice patience to re-regulate.

For Arthur, every small wait he wins is a step closer to a calm, confident dog. Proof of just how far patience and determination can carry both people and paws.