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Up, Down, and Letting Them Figure It Out
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Positive Dog
Subscribe if you'd like to receive my somewhat regular emails including training tips and concepts as well as info about my upcoming freebies and programs!
6 Tricks to Training a Dog Who Actually Listens (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND) Do you sometimes feel like you train and train and train, but when it really counts, your dog ignores you? Your training doesn't hold up? That happens to a lot of us and it is SOOOO FRUSTRATING. There's always a reason for it beyond the concepts of dominance or intentional disobedience. Dogs are very smart, but also very simple in a lot of ways. Dogs do what works, what feels good, or what makes sense to them in the...
Big Feelings? Energy Matters! In puppy classes, most of us were told to be exciting, be upbeat, sound happy.. and that is great advice - when you want to excite your dog. With our big feelings dogs though, we often want to calm them down, slow them down, help them relax. When calmer is the goal, use your "Morgan Freeman" voice. If your dog has big feelings, your energy matters - and it matters a lot. Match your energy to what you're actually asking for. When you want excitement—recalls,...
Seeking control is a natural response to anxiety. I see the same things, say the same things to many people: "Relax your arms" "Let go of the leash" "Take a breath" When we are anxious, when uncertainty hits, our instinct is often to grasp for control—to keep our dog close, to anticipate every outcome. That's a FIGHT instinct - it's meant to keep you (and your dog) safe. That fear-driven need for control usually makes us less effective, not more. We tighten up, overthink, and can't remember...