Who Is Kayla Fratt?
Kayla Fratt is a certified dog behaviour consultant (CDBC) and the founder of Journey Dog Training, where she has spent more than a decade helping owners work through reactivity, anxiety and everyday behaviour struggles. She also co-hosts the K9 Conservationists podcast and works as a conservation detection dog trainer, but online she is best known for making complicated behaviour science approachable for everyday dog owners.
One of her most requested resources is her step by step walkthrough of Dr Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol, a structured program that teaches dogs to settle on cue rather than escalate into barking, pacing or whining every time life gets a little unpredictable.
What Is the Relaxation Protocol?
The Relaxation Protocol was developed by veterinary behaviourist Dr Karen Overall and later popularised by trainers like Kayla Fratt because it gives owners an actual script to follow instead of just hoping their dog calms down eventually. You work through a set list of small challenges, things like taking one step back, clapping once or knocking on a door, while your dog holds a settled down-stay on a mat or bed nearby.
Every session is short, low pressure and designed so your dog succeeds far more often than it fails. That is the whole point. A dog that is constantly failing the exercise is a dog that is being pushed too fast, and Fratt is very clear that slowing down is always the right call.
Tip 1: Start With Tiny, Boring Sessions
Kayla Fratt is upfront that the biggest mistake owners make is starting too big. The first few sessions of the Relaxation Protocol should be almost boringly easy, just a handful of seconds of stillness followed by a treat, with no visitors, no doorbells and no other pets in the room. If your dog cannot hold a settled position for five quiet seconds at home, a busy cafe or a visit from the in-laws is not the place to test the plan.
Keep a training diary for the first week. Note how long your dog held still, whether the room was genuinely quiet, and how your dog looked afterwards, loose and relaxed or still a bit wound up. This is the data that tells you when it is time to move on.
Boring is the goal. A dog that finds relaxation training a little dull is a dog that is finally getting to practice doing nothing, which is exactly the skill most anxious dogs are missing.
Kayla Fratt, Journey Dog TrainingTip 2: Give Your Dog a Consistent Spot
Dogs settle faster when the environment tells them what is coming. Pick one mat, rug or bed and use it only for relaxation practice, so lying down there starts to become its own cue to switch off. A raised, supported bed with a bit of an edge to lean into gives your dog a defined space that feels safe and separate from the rest of the room, which matters when you are asking a stressed dog to hold still.
The CanineComfort™ Dog Sofa Bed works well for this because it stays in one place, offers proper support for dogs who need to hold a down for longer stretches, and is easy to keep clean between sessions.
- Choose one spot and use it only for relaxation practice
- Keep the first few sessions under two minutes
- Practice at the quietest time of day you can find
- Never call your dog off the mat, release calmly instead
- Skip a session entirely if your dog is overtired or overstimulated
Tip 3: Reward the Settle, Not the Sit
It is tempting to reward the first calm looking position your dog offers, but Fratt's approach is specific about waiting for genuine relaxation, a loose body, a soft face and ears sitting in a neutral position, before the treat arrives. Marking a stiff, watchful down teaches your dog to hold tension rather than release it.
Watch for a sigh, a hip shifting to one side or a full body flop onto the floor. These are the small signs that tell you an anxious dog is actually decompressing, not just complying because you asked.
The goal was never obedience. The goal is a dog who can finally breathe out.
Kayla Fratt, Journey Dog TrainingTip 4: Build Duration Before Difficulty
Once your dog can hold a relaxed down for around thirty seconds in a boring room, only then should you start adding small challenges from the protocol, a single step away, a light knock, or a toy squeaking in another room. Add one variable at a time and go back to something easier the moment your dog struggles.
Progress on the Relaxation Protocol is rarely a straight line, and Fratt reminds owners that a bad session is simply information, not failure. It just means the last step was a little too big.
- Your dog breaks position before you return to them
- Ears pin back or lip licking increases during the exercise
- Your dog refuses treats it would normally take without hesitation
- The session ends in barking rather than a settled finish
Tip 5: Use Calm Tools, Not Corrections
The Relaxation Protocol works well on its own, but for dogs who escalate into barking the moment a doorbell rings or a variable gets added too soon, a gentle management tool can take some pressure off while the training catches up. The idea is to support the dog through the noisier moments of a session without undoing the calm you have just spent weeks building.
The PeacefulPaws™ Calm Support Collar uses humane, adjustable feedback rather than a harsh correction, which fits neatly alongside a positive, structured program like this one. Think of it as a bridge while the training does the real work, not a replacement for it.
Bringing the Protocol Home
The Relaxation Protocol is not a quick fix, and Kayla Fratt is upfront that most dogs need several weeks of short, consistent sessions before real change shows up in everyday life. Stick with one spot, one calm cue and small honest wins, and most owners find their dog starts offering a settled down on its own, at the vet, on a friend's back porch, or even during a thunderstorm.
That is the entire point of the exercise, a dog who knows how to come down from arousal without being told. Give it a few consistent weeks before judging whether it is working, and keep every session a little more boring than you think it needs to be.