Click-2-Heel

25/08/2026

In my last post, I talked about building trust around valued objects and showed some of the work I'd been doing with Tilly.

So where does a reliable 'drop' fit into that picture? For me, it starts long before I actually need the dog to let go of anything.

At this first stage, I'm simply creating a very predictable pattern:

Drop = my hand goes to the treat bag = food arrives.

That's it.

I'm not waiting for the dog to have something in their mouth. I'm not asking them to give anything up. And I'm certainly not saying 'drop' and then reaching in to take something away.

At this stage, the word itself is simply learning to predict something good.

With enough repetition, that prediction starts to matter. The dog hears 'drop' and begins to anticipate what comes next - and it's that change in expectation that we can later use when we begin introducing the cue around objects.

I think this early stage is easily overlooked because it doesn't look particularly impressive. Nothing is being dropped!

But we're building the emotional response and the predictable pattern first, before asking for the behaviour.

Next, I'll start taking that pattern into everyday life - using 'drop' when the dog happens to have something, rewarding them, and sometimes simply walking away and letting them keep it.

Because if 'drop' always predicts "you lose what you've got", we can very quickly change what that word means to the dog.

11/08/2026

Every behaviour has a learning history. Resource guarding is no different.

Dogs don't wake up one morning deciding to protect an object. Their feelings develop through experience, and understanding those experiences is often the first step towards changing behaviour.

As owners, we often remove things for all the right reasons – to keep our dogs safe, stop them chewing something dangerous or prevent them picking up something they shouldn't. But for some dogs, repeated experiences of losing valued items can gradually create anxiety around people approaching.

The important thing is not to feel guilty if you've done this. Most owners have. The important thing is recognising that those experiences shape how our dogs feel, and once we understand that, we can start creating new experiences that build trust instead.

Behaviour modification isn't about winning battles over objects. It's about building enough trust that those battles no longer need to happen.

One of the biggest shifts I see in behaviour work is when owners stop asking the question - "How do I stop my dog guarding?" and start asking, "Why does my dog feel the need to guard in the first place?" That's where real behaviour change begins.

Have you ever noticed your dog becoming uncomfortable when you approached something they valued? It might have been a food bowl, a favourite toy, a stolen sock, their bed, the sofa or even their crate. Those small changes in body language are often where the learning story begins.

I've linked my longer YouTube tutorial on teaching a positive, reliable "drop" cue in the first comment. When taught well, it's another valuable piece of building trust around the things our dogs value.

02/08/2026

Yesterday was a special day.

For those who have never seen Championship Obedience, here's our winning round.

It has been nearly nine years since I last competed at Championship level. After returning this year, and following two Reserve Challenge Certificates, Mexx won the Championship Bitch class at Hatchford Brook, qualifying us for Crufts 2027.

Coming back to Championship has reminded me just how different this level of competition is. The exercises are longer, the distances greater, the environments and travel more demanding, and the partnership between handler and dog has to be stronger than ever.

What I'm most proud of, though, isn't the qualification itself. It's watching Mexx walk into the ring happy, confident and genuinely enjoying her work.

Her journey has also been very different to any of my previous Championship dogs. Because of work commitments, we've competed far less than I have in the past, but we've quietly been building the foundations in training. I also chose to train her almost entirely using toy rewards rather than food, which challenged me to think even more carefully about the emotions I was creating during training.

It's easy to build excitement. It's much harder to build excitement without losing thought.

Dogs don't just learn what to do; they also learn how to feel about what they're doing. Those emotions become part of the exercise itself. For me, the challenge has always been to create a dog that is enthusiastic enough to love working, but calm enough to think, listen and make good decisions, even in a Championship ring.

Whether I'm training a family puppy or preparing a dog for Championship Obedience, my goal is exactly the same: to build a dog that understands the task, enjoys learning and loves working with me. The exercises may look very different, but the training principles never change.

Even at this level, dogs still make mistakes. When they do, I don't see that as something to correct through pressure. I see it as information. It tells me that I need to explain something more clearly, break the exercise down further, or help my dog feel more confident in that environment. Every mistake gives me feedback about my training and the direction I need to take.

I'm incredibly proud of Mexx, and very grateful to Darren Wallace for thinking so highly of her work. This win gives us our qualification for Crufts 2027, and hopefully we'll continue building towards our next goal of becoming an Obedience Champion. More importantly, we'll keep doing it in a way that means she walks into every ring feeling exactly as she did yesterday - happy, confident and enjoying her work.

29/07/2026

One of the things I love most about confidence building is that the benefits rarely stay confined to the exercise itself.

Years ago, I worked with a little Chihuahua whose owners contacted me because she barked at everything outside the house. Rather than immediately focusing on the barking, we spent our sessions building confidence through simple activities that encouraged her to investigate, think and experience success. We met just once a month, and her owners put the work in between sessions.
When we came to the final lesson, I said, "Right, let's go outside and start working on the barking."
They smiled and said, "She doesn't do it anymore.".

We had never trained the barking directly. What had changed was how she felt about the world around her.

When dogs become more confident, they're often better able to cope with situations that previously felt overwhelming. That doesn't mean confidence is the answer to every behaviour problem - there are many reasons dogs bark, lunge or react. However for some dogs, helping them feel more capable can have a surprisingly wide reaching effect.

It's one of the reasons I enjoy looking for opportunities throughout a dog's life to help them explore, investigate, solve little problems and experience success. Those moments don't have to be dramatic. Often it's the accumulation of lots of small successes that helps a dog approach the world with a little more confidence.

19/07/2026

A Great Success.......One of the most rewarding parts of teaching isn't collecting rosettes - it's watching people and partnerships grow.

Today I'm incredibly proud of Sally Wheeler and Merlin.

Over the last few years, Sally has put an enormous amount of work into developing the precision, understanding and partnership needed to compete at the highest level of competitive obedience.

Like many competitors, there have been moments where her confidence has been tested. But she kept learning, kept training, kept putting that learning into practice and, most importantly, kept believing in the process.

Success at this level doesn't happen overnight. It's built through commitment, thoughtful training, attention to detail and a willingness to keep learning every step of the way.

Watching Sally's confidence grow alongside Merlin's training has been every bit as rewarding as seeing the results themselves.
A thoroughly deserved achievement.

Huge congratulations to you both. I'm incredibly proud of everything you've achieved together. ❤️

16/07/2026

One of the biggest mistakes we can make with puppies is becoming too quick to show them the answer.
If every problem is solved for them, they never get the opportunity to think, experiment and discover things for themselves. That doesn't mean leaving puppies to struggle.

It means creating learning opportunities that are simple enough for them to be successful. That's exactly what's happening here.

Today it looks like a puppy putting its nose in a bowl. But that's just the beginning.

As training progresses, this simple game develops into a really useful tool that can be used in many different ways throughout a dog's life. The exercise itself isn't the important part.
The emotional experience of learning is.

Every time a puppy successfully works something out for themselves, they build a little more confidence, a little more understanding, and a little more enthusiasm for learning.
One of my goals isn't simply to teach behaviours. It's to build a history of successful learning experiences.

Dogs that enjoy thinking.
Dogs that make good decisions.
Dogs that are confident enough to try.

And dogs that know it's always worth communicating with me if they need help.
For me, that's what good training is really about.

When you first watched the reel, what did you think the puppy was learning?

08/07/2026

One of the default behaviours I deliberately teach is Cue Seeking.
A default behaviour is simply the behaviour my dog chooses when I haven't asked for anything.

For me, I want that choice to be communication.

I want my dogs to learn that checking back in with me is always worthwhile. Not because I'm constantly going to tell them what to do, but because guidance, reinforcement and good decisions have a long history of coming through that conversation.
Cue Seeking isn't about creating a dog that relies on me for every decision.

It's about building confidence.

Confidence to explore.
Confidence to investigate.
Confidence to process the world around them.
And confidence to know that, if they're unsure, they can always check back in with me.

One of the things I value most about Cue Seeking is the information it gives me.

When my dog chooses to check back in, I learn something about how they're processing the environment around them.

Sometimes they'll return almost immediately.
Sometimes they'll take a little longer to gather information before reconnecting.
Sometimes they won't Cue Seek at all.

Every one of those responses gives me valuable data. It helps me understand what my dog has noticed, how they're feeling, and ultimately helps me decide what they need from me next.
The behaviours we reinforce most become the behaviours our dogs choose most.

For me, Cue Seeking is one of the most valuable choices a dog can make.

What does your dog's default behaviour look like when you aren't saying anything?

24/06/2026

Puppy training isn't always about teaching new cues.

Sometimes it's about stepping back.

Watching them explore.
Watching them investigate.
Watching them make choices.
Watching them learn.

And while they're learning about the world...

We're learning about them.

Those quiet moments often tell us far more than a formal training session ever could.

10/06/2026

When people see exercises like this, they often focus on the distance.

What interests me is everything that happened before the distance.

Clear criteria.

Consistent reinforcement.

Thoughtful progression.

A dog who understands the task and has confidence in the process.

Exercises such as Distance Control in Competitive Obedience can look impressive, but they aren't built through endless repetition. They are built through clear communication, careful training, and a strong reinforcement history.

Whether you're teaching a reliable recall, loose lead walking, a settle, or preparing for competition, the principles remain the same.

Clarity creates confidence.

And confident dogs are able to make thoughtful responses, even when we move further away.

23/05/2026

Adolescence catches so many owners by surprise. This course explains why behaviour changes and how to guide dogs through it.

Has your dog suddenly become more emotional, distracted, excitable, or inconsistent?

One minute they’re listening beautifully… the next it feels like they’ve forgotten everything you’ve taught them.

That’s adolescence.

During this stage, your dog’s brain, emotions, hormones, and responses to the world are all changing at once - which is why behaviour can suddenly feel unpredictable or harder to manage.

Inside Your Dog’s Teenage Phase, I break down what’s really happening during this developmental stage and show you practical ways to guide your dog through it.

This course focuses on helping dogs:
✔ Build emotional regulation
✔ Learn calmer thinking skills
✔ Reduce over-arousal
✔ Develop confidence in the real world
✔ Build behaviours and coping skills that last for life

Rather than simply correcting behaviour, the aim is to help dogs learn how to cope, think, and make better decisions when emotions are high.

Because what your dog practises during adolescence helps shape the adult they become.

Available now on C2H Online

https://c2honline.com/store/behaviour/your-dogs-teenage-phase/

What changes did you notice most during your dog’s teenage phase?