Training Tip!

Too often I hear of dog owners who are accidentally rewarding the wrong behaviour every single day.

Dog owners reach out to me all of the time describing behaviours that they need help resolving and it's usually because for months, or years, they have been accidentally rewarding the exact behaviours that they don't want.

Barking is a common thing that dog owner's struggle with managing and oftentimes it because whenever their dog barks, they start yelling, "Stop that!" "Shut up!" "Be quiet!" and the dog quite literally thinks, "Wow, mom is barking back at me! This is a fun game!"

But here's the thing, when I ask these dog owners what they do when their dog is just laying on their dog bed being quiet and calm, the answer is almost always, "Well, I don't really do anything... They're just being good."

Ah-ha!

So, the dog has learned (and rightfully so) that barking gets them attention and being "good" gets them ignored.

So, here's my training tip:

Put your dog's daily ration of food (if it's kibble) into a jar or bowl and put it up out of reach of your dog.

Throughout the day, when you see your dog behaving the way you want (calm, relaxed, laying in their dog bed, sitting for affection rather than jumping etc...), toss them a piece or two of their meal, or give them a quick scratch behind the ears.

This is a very simple, but effective way for your dog to "earn" their daily meal while also reinforcing good behaviour.

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Try it out and watch the shift in your dog's behaviour.