Just say no to on-leash greetings?

There’s a few memes going around advising to “just say no” to on-leash greetings. Largely I agree – if possible, regardless...

We’re moving and our pets are freaking out

Moving house is such a stressful time, and sometimes accompanied by other stressors like changing jobs or loss (death or...

Be an opportunist in your training

Be an opportunist in your training

I decided to hang out with Roxy for a bit in the morning sun today. As she was doing her “patrols”,...

Reward schedules

Reward schedules

Last week I talked about routine searching, and one of the things I suggested to help break it if needed...

Routine searching

Routine searching

This follows on from my previous tip on behaviour chains. Sometimes in training we chain behaviours by teaching and repeatedly...

Behaviour chains

Behaviour chains

You may have heard of the concept of “chaining” behaviours to get a certain overall behaviour outcome – a number...

Trick: Shake, give paw or high five

Trick: Shake, give paw or high five

I’m a big fan of this. A good solid “paw” can really help with handling and nail trims. Check out...

Extinction burst, aka it’s going to get worse before it gets better

Extinction burst, aka it’s going to get worse before it gets better

An extinction burst occurs when a previously reinforced behaviour stops being reinforced. That is, something that worked for the dog...

Introducing a dog to a cat (or vice-versa)

Introducing a dog to a cat (or vice-versa)

I did promise some time ago to do something on introducing cats and dogs, and I thought now might be...

Reward delivery

Reward delivery

We sometimes find when we’re training our dogs, they seem to be focussing only on where the reward is coming...