How to channel a dog full of energy in 10 minutes a day, without turning your home into a sports field.

Keep reading if you want to:

• Understand why running for longer does not calm him, and can even keep the restlessness going.
• Put together a 10-minute session that genuinely occupies your dog, with what you already have at home.
• Use 8 scent games, the most effective and most under-used family.
• Offer problem-solving and choice games, the ones that bring him down instead of winding him up.
• Add controlled movement without restarting the excitement every time.
• Know how to stop an activity at the right moment, before it tips into excitement.

From: Léa Fontaine
The Pup Method, a step-by-step educational approach built on observation, repetition and positive reinforcement.

Dear human of a dog who never stops,

You have done an hour's walk. You have thrown the ball 30 times. You get home, and 10 minutes later he is circling the living room, pestering, mouthing, starting again.

And you are always told the same thing:

• "He needs more exercise." Increasing the running builds stamina: the dog lasts longer, so he needs more. You can spend months raising the dose without ever reaching calm.
• "Get a ball launcher." Repeated throwing keeps arousal high. It burns energy in the moment, and often leaves a dog who is more reactive afterwards.
• "He will calm down as he grows up." Sometimes. But in the meantime a habit of restlessness settles in, and that is what stays once the age has passed.

So you alternate longer outings with days when you have no energy left, and your dog gets an irregular rhythm that helps nobody.

If you recognise yourself, remember this:

The 2 hours of walking that were doing nothing

The activity choice map: which game, for which effect.

I walked 2 hours a day. I threw the ball until he stopped by himself. And he came home to circle the living room 10 minutes later.

A veterinary behaviourist asked me a question that stopped me dead: "in the 6 months you have been increasing it, does he settle faster or slower?"

Slower. Obviously. I was training him for stamina, and a dog with more stamina needs more effort to feel the same tiredness.

Running develops the body. The nose, the choices and the cooperation are what settle him.

I replaced an hour of walking with 10 minutes of scent searching. He was asleep before I had finished tidying away.

The problem is not the amount of exercise

The pre-game audit: what you check before offering anything.

A dog who runs a lot becomes a dog who runs well. His body adapts, his capacity increases, and the same outing is no longer enough after a few weeks.

The activities that genuinely settle him are of another kind: searching for a smell, solving a simple problem, choosing between 2 options, cooperating with you. They occupy without winding up.

10 minutes of concentrated scent work often tires a dog more than half an hour of ball, and leaves him able to settle afterwards.

You are not trying to exhaust your dog. You are trying to occupy him in a way that leaves him able to rest afterwards.

At this stage, you have 2 options

The second option costs less time than the first. That is often what surprises people most when they try it for a week.

The 4 families of games

The 4 families of games, and what each one actually produces.

30 activities sorted by effect, so you can choose according to what your dog needs that day.

• Scent. 8 scent-search games, the family that occupies the most for the least restlessness.
• Problem solving and choice. 8 games where the dog thinks, tries, gets it wrong and starts again, without winding up.
• Controlled movement. 7 games that get him moving without winding up, with clear starts and stops.
• Cooperation and calm. 7 games that build attention and the ability to come back down.
• Putting it together. How to assemble those families into 10-minute sessions depending on the day.
• Safety. What to check before every game, and the signals that say it is time to stop.

A quick-choice matrix tells you which game to start in 30 seconds, according to the time and the space you have.

Just imagine for a moment...

• Coming home tired and being able to genuinely occupy your dog in 10 minutes, without going out again.
• Watching him fall asleep after an activity, instead of setting off again around the hallway.
• Picking from 30 games instead of always repeating the same one.
• Adapting the activity to a rainy day, a flat, or an evening with no energy.
• Knowing how to stop before the game tips into excitement.

"Will it work for me?"

I live in a flat, with no garden. Most of the 30 games are done indoors, in a few square metres. That is in fact the case the book was written for.

My dog gets bored with games quickly. Often because the difficulty is badly set. Every game has an easier variant and a harder one, with the criterion for choosing.

I get home late and tired. A session lasts 10 minutes, with no going out and no special equipment. The choice matrix tells you what to start in 30 seconds.

Do I need to buy special toys? No. Bowls, towels, cardboard boxes and his daily ration are enough for the vast majority of the games.

The good news: it all works with what you already have

Bowls, towels, cardboard boxes, his daily ration. The vast majority of the 30 games require no purchase at all.

• You do not need a garden.
• You do not need specialised equipment.
• You do not need to give it an hour.

What you need is to know which kind of game produces which effect, and how to finish a session cleanly.

Here is a preview of what you are going to learn

6 blocks that link understanding, protocol and transfer into real life.

Part 1: energy is not a single tank

Why running more does not calm him, and what genuinely does.

• What running actually develops
• The needs that remain when the body is tired
• How to tell an occupied dog from an excited one

Part 2: making enrichment safe

What to check before offering a game.

• The precautions according to age and size
• The objects to avoid
• The signs that mean the session has to stop

Part 3: 8 scent games

The most effective family, and the simplest to set up.

• The indoor searches, from the easiest to the hardest
• The outdoor searches
• How to raise the difficulty without discouraging him

Part 4: 8 problem-solving and choice games

Making him think rather than making him run.

• The simple problems to solve alone
• The games of choosing between 2 options
• Letting the dog get it wrong without helping too fast

Parts 5 and 6: controlled movement and cooperation

Moving without winding up, and coming back down.

• 7 movement games with clear stops
• 7 cooperation and calm games
• Finishing a session cleanly

Part 7: putting your 10-minute sessions together

The move from the catalogue to everyday practice.

• Assembling 2 or 3 games according to the day
• The quick-choice matrix
• The discovery programme over 4 weeks

Here is where the book leads

The discovery programme over 4 weeks.

After the 4 weeks of discovery, you should have:

• A list of 5 to 6 games that genuinely work on your dog.
• A dog who settles after an activity, instead of setting off around the loop again.
• A solution for rainy days, evenings with no energy and flats.
• The reflex of stopping an activity before it tips into excitement.

You stop chasing after tiredness, and you get the calm.

Here is everything you get today

• The complete digital book "Channel Your Dog's Energy in 10 Minutes a Day", 7 parts, illustrated(value $47)
• The 30 games in detail, with an easy variant and a hard variant(included)
• The quick-choice matrix, according to the time and the space you have(included)
• The discovery programme over 4 weeks(included)
• The printable game sheets, to keep in the kitchen(included)
• Total value$86

The price shown on this page is the one charged at checkout. This is a one-off purchase, with no subscription. The product is digital and delivered by email once the payment is confirmed.

Léa Fontaine, The Pup Method