26/05/2026
🐩 Understanding Context is Vital when dealing with Behaviour Problems 🐩
An example of a common question we get asked is:
"Why is my dog fine at day care or with the dog walker but doesn't like meeting new dogs on a walk?"
The answer is usually because the dog has learnt the context of being at day care or with the dog walker as safe. They have usually got used to the same dogs and also have learnt that meeting new dogs in that scenario is usually done in a predictable and safe manner.
Walks are unpredictable. They never know when they are going to meet a new dog, how that dogs is going to behave and how the situation is going to be managed. Also off lead vs on lead is a factor as well!
This is a very simple example, the context can be extremely complex at times. It could be your dog doesn't like dogs walking at a particular angle towards them or doesn't like particular body postures from the other dog. I know dogs that can cope with other dogs barking at them but can't cope if another dog stops still and looks at them.
This is why we assess a dog's behaviour in the home and on a walk wherever possible because if we change the environment, we naturally change the context, which changes the behaviour! Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse! Even us being there, on a walk with you, can affect a dog's behaviour.
Its another reason you shouldn't rely on play sessions to fix the issues you are having on a walk!
The dog training method is the easy part but learning the specific context and their motivations as well as managing your dogs environment, their arousal and your expectations of them is the trickier part!
