Most people try to teach a loose leash by focusing on the leash, that’s backwards, the leash isn’t the foundation. Engagement, reinforcement and understanding of negative reinforcement are. Before expecting your dog to walk politely they need to understand that paying attention to you is rewarding, responding to leash pressure has meaning and making good decisions consistently leads to worthwhile reinforcement. The leash shouldn’t be something your dog fights against, it shou

One of the biggest misconceptions in the dog world is that socialization means your dog should greet every person, every dog and investigate everything they encounter, it doesn’t. Socialization is about exposure not interaction. The goal is to teach your dog that the world is safe, predictable and doesn’t always require a response. They should be able to see adults, children, dogs, bikes, vehicles etc. without feeling the need to engage with them. A well socialized dog doesn’

One of the most common things I hear when people have multiple dog households and are experiencing behaviour problems is… “he/she is such a sweet dog… except when they are attacking my other dog.” Read that again. A dog that is repeatedly attacking, bullying, intimidating or causing conflict with another dog in the home, has a behavioural issue that needs to be addressed. Being affectionate with their owners does not cancel out aggression and reactivity towards other dogs. Ca

Too many people treat exercise as a replacement for training when it should be an opportunity to train. Your dog absolutely needs physical exercise but they also need engagement, impulse control, obedience, an off switch, structure, problem solving skills and reinforcement expectation. You can’t walk or run the reactivity and behaviour problems out of your dog. The only thing you’re doing is creating a fitter dog with more stamina to rehearse the same unwanted behaviours. Phy

The truth is that good trainers regardless of the title or label they use such as balanced, positive only/force free, psychology based or traditional, want the same thing. That is healthy, confident and well mannered dogs living successful lives with their owners. We can disagree on certain methods, tools or approaches but at the end of the day, the dogs well being should be the common ground that brings us together, not another reason to disagree. What started as a way to de

It’s been trending for people to use the title “dog psychology trainer” as if understanding psychology is all it takes to train dogs. If you haven’t been exposed to this title or ideology yet, call yourself lucky. In reality, dog psychology is a marketing tool, one that sounds appealing to the general pet dog owner and promotes instant gratification but often says very little about someones actual ability to train dogs. A title, label or an impressive sounding philosophy does

I’m sure you’ve heard “you get what you reinforce” before. Here’s the truth, your dog is being reinforced whether you’re involved or not, meaning you also get what you allow. The majority of reinforcement in your dogs life can come from the environment, not from you. The dog that pulls and gets where it wants to go is being reinforced. The dog that barks and lunges at people and dogs or chases wildlife is being reinforced. The dog that barks or avoids and makes pressure go aw