Dog Training & Manners COURSEs
Overview
Treat free training.
relationships over bribery
So you can stop managing their bad behaviours and have an even deeper bond with your dog!
It'll give you a quick and simple way to communicate that's very easy for any dog to understand
It's treat free, instead building and deepening your relationship so they have a real desire to please you and do as you ask
It gradually increases their level of self control so they have the skills to remain quiet (even if they want to bark or sook), resist jumping on you and visitors (no matter how excited they are), walk nicely down the street, and anything else you'd like them to do or stop doing
Fixing behaviours vs managing Or avoiding them.
Each dog has their own particular flavour of bad manners.
Bad manners could be anything from your dog jumping on anyone and everything, barking just for the fun of it, stealing things, destroying things, dragging you down the street, lunging and pulling as they go, throwing tantrums when they don’t want to do something you ask of them or when they don’t get what they want, chasing the cat, begging for food, having selective hearing, etc.
Over time, these behaviours become very grating. The constant managing of your dog’s bad manners can be really hard work. Having to lock them away when a visitor comes over. Or change where you leave your shoes or what you can and can’t put on the coffee table or benches. Walking them at the quieter times of day. Having to have them inside all the time, because otherwise they’ll bark and annoy the neighbours or destroy things. Distract them with food. And so on.
There’s a very clear distinction between managing or avoiding your dog’s bad manners and actually removing the behaviours you don’t like from their repertoire permanently.
If you’re caught in a pattern of managing and avoiding their bad manners, you’ll likely need to do this their whole life.
If you catch yourself using words like “sit”, “stay”, “wait”, “ah-ah”, “quiet”, “down”, “leave it”, "stop it", "enough" and so on, in order to interrupt your dog’s bad behaviours, chances are you fall into the managing category.
Same goes for if you hold your pointer finger up (or whole hand) to get them to stay where they are or use your body to block them from going somewhere you don’t want or use any other prompts at all when they’re being naughty.
They're not learning to do it on their own, without your intervention. You always need to be there to remind them.
Here are some examples of how managing bad behaviours looks…
Your dog barks at something and you yell “Quiet”. Your dog’s learning they can bark as much as they want as long as they stop when they hear “Quiet”.
Your dog steals some food off the coffee table and you say “Leave it”. Your dog’s learning they can steal things as long as they drop the thing when they hear “Leave it”. But I wonder... how long before they realise that if they steal the thing when you’re not looking, you won’t know to say “Leave it” and they can get away with it?
Your dog jumps on visitors and you say “Down” or “Sit”. Your dog’s learning they can jump on anyone and anything until they hear “Down” or “Sit”.
Your dog pushes through doorways and escapes out the front door so you say “Wait” or “Sit” as you go through the door. Your dog’s learning they can push past you and run through any door unless they hear you say “Wait” or “Sit”.
Your dog’s being naughty until they hear the command to stop. And often, if they have bad manners, chances are they won’t stop the behaviour as soon as you tell them to anyway. It falls on deaf ears and they continue to do whatever they want.
Does this sound familiar?
Avoiding bad behaviours looks more like this…
Your dog barks at people walking past so you keep the curtains closed or lock them in a different part of the house.
Your dog steals your shoes, food off the tables, the kids’ toys, your undies, the tv remote, etc so you stop leaving anything out that your dog will want to steal. Instead storing everything out of reach of your dog.
Your dog jumps all over visitors, so you put your dog outside when people are over or you stop having people over altogether.
Your dog pushes past you when you open the door, so you use your body to block them so they physically can’t get through.
Your dog barks at possums, so you don’t put them outside if the possums are out.
Or your dog barks or sooks if left outside too long, so you bring them in to shut them up so the neighbours don’t complain.
Your dog stresses if you’re away from them so you get someone to mind them when you’re out or you come home to check on them in your lunch break.
Your dog gets naughty when you vary their routine, so you always feed them at the same time each day, walk them at the same time, put them to bed at the same time, etc, scheduling your whole life around your dog.
None of the above is teaching them how you actually want them to behave in these scenarios.
Is this what's happening for you?
Stopping the bad behaviours permanently looks like…
Anyone can walk past your house or ring the doorbell and your dog won’t bark. Some people want their dog to bark when something’s wrong, and in this scenario they still will. But you’ll actually know something’s wrong as it will be out of the ordinary for your dog to bark. If they bark all the time, you won’t know to be on alert when you really need to. And if you think about it, someone who’s up to mischief isn’t likely to ring the doorbell!
You can leave anything in your house where you want to and know it will be safe from becoming the next toy. You’re free from having to constantly anticipate what your dog might steal next and find places to hide things, just in case.
You can have visitors over and your dog greets them quietly, whilst keeping all four paws on the ground. Your dog is excited but has the self control to resist demanding attention from you and your guests.
You can leave the door open and say nothing and your dog won’t come through until they’re invited. You don’t have to wait by the door the whole time, they are free to do anything in the area they’re in, but they won’t cross the line unless you say they can.
You can put your dog anywhere or change their routine and know they trust you enough and respect you enough to not throw tantrums, instead choosing to be calm and well behaved.
A dog with good manners will obey the rules without constant reminders. Without you having to manage or avoid their unwanted behaviours.
In fact, you could be doing your own thing, not paying attention to your dog in the slightest and they will still obey all the rules.
Even if you go out, they know the rules stand.
This is possible for any dog, regardless of breed, age or disposition.
All without losing their personality in the process.
That’s what we focus on with everything we do - eliminating bad manners for good so your dog fits into your lifestyle and is an absolute joy to live with, however that looks for you.
Sounds good, doesn't it?
