SitDropStay – Dog Training

Setting a boundary when everyone happily accepts it is easy. Holding one when somebody doesn’t like it can feel quite different. Dogs have a way of making this distinction obvious. You decide you’re no longer going to allow your dog to pull you towards another dog, and they keep trying. You ask them to settle, and they get up again. You stop responding to demanding behaviour,...

Most people contact a dog behaviour professional because they want something about their dog to change.

They want the barking to stop. The pulling to improve. The reactivity to disappear. They want their dog to stop jumping, demanding, ignoring, controlling interactions or becoming completely overwhelmed in certain situations.

That makes perfect sense.

Treats can be an extremely useful tool when working with reactive dogs, aggressive dogs and dog aggression, and despite my broader philosophy around behaviour and the human-dog relationship, I do use them myself in certain situations. I may use food when I believe it can help change a dog’s association with something it currently finds difficult, or when I recognise that eith...