22/10/2026
I like to consider myself as a 'dog behaviourist' not a dog trainer, as many people consider dog training to just focus on the problem and 'fix it'. Lead pulling, barking, lunging at other dogs, aggression etc etc but I tell people that these are all symptoms of the dog's reaction to a trigger and not the cause of that reaction. I take an holistic view, a macro 'big picture view' of why the dog feels the need to behave this way and then find ways to change the dog's view on life. I help people bond with their dogs more closely and show them how to reassure and calm their dogs in what is an increasingly chaotic world. Recently, I read a scientific review to support this approach and it was so accurate that I thought I'd share part of it;
International School of Canine Psychology and Behaviour
The Problem With 'Fixing' Dogs Instead Of Changing Environments
In the canine world, behavioural challenges are often approached as faults within the dog. Dogs are labelled as difficult, stubborn, dominant, or broken, and the solution offered is to "fix" them. The use of "dominance" as an explanation for individual dogs' behaviour has been extensively criticised: the idea that a dog has a general dominant personality driving their behaviour is not supported by the evidence on how domestic dogs actually relate to people and to each other (Bradshaw, Blackwell and Casey, 2009). This mindset is not only outdated, but it overlooks one of the most influential factors in behaviour - the environment itself.
Behaviour does not exist in isolation. Behavioural science consistently shows that behaviour is a response to context. A dog who struggles in busy streets, chaotic households, or high-pressure training settings is not failing. Their nervous system is responding as it has evolved to do, prioritising safety in the face of perceived threat or overwhelm (Sapolsky, 2004).
Attempting to "fix" a dog without addressing these factors often leads to suppression rather than resolution. Tools and techniques that prioritise compliance may reduce visible behaviour, but a reduction in visible behaviour does not necessarily demonstrate a reduction in underlying stress. In fact, such methods can increase stress by removing a dog's ability to communicate discomfort. A survey of owners found that confrontational methods were associated with fearful or aggressive responses in a meaningful proportion of dogs (Herron, Shofer and Reisner, 2009), and aversive training is associated with poorer welfare outcomes without evidence of a corresponding effectiveness advantage (Ziv, 2017; Vieira de Castro et al., 2020).
For guardians, this requires a shift in perspective. Success is no longer measured by how well a dog fits into an inflexible world, but by how responsibly we shape that world around the dog in our care. Advocacy becomes a core skill, whether that means setting boundaries with others or making lifestyle adjustments. Contemporary welfare frameworks make this explicit: the Five Domains Model places the animal's environment and its interactions with humans at the centre of welfare assessment (Mellor et al., 2020).
Dogs are not problems to be fixed. They are recognised as sentient animals for the purposes of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, and they are navigating environments largely designed without them in mind. When we change environments first, behaviour follows, not because it has been corrected, but because the dog finally feels safe enough to respond differently.
References
Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, c. 22. London: The Stationery Office.
Arnsten, A.F.T. (2009) 'Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function', Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), pp. 410-422.
