Ben Griffith Canine Training

Ben Griffith Canine Training ●Puppy training, 1:1 dog training, structured walking service
●Helping to understand our dogs better

18/05/2026

Lifestyle…..

When it comes to ‘fixing’ problem behaviours in your dog, we HAVE to chat about your dogs lifestyle first, because if your dogs day to day needs aren’t being met, then they are going to be, what I call ‘itchy’, meaning they are potentially lacking in other areas and this can be a big factor in why they pull on lead, ignore recalls, or even why they react badly towards other dogs.

So to start things off properly let’s make sure our dogs are getting enough
-sleep
-exercise
-mental stimulation
-proper nutrition

17/04/2026

Play can be anything your dog enjoys!

I do my best to play with dogs as much as I can, for many reasons such as relationship building, breed fulfilment, exercise, rewards in training and to be honest, most of all, for FUN.

What’s the point of spending time with your dog doing activities that are meh………when we could be having fun doing things they like!?!?

Don’t get me wrong, not every single second we spend together is going to be sunshine and rainbows (because that’s not how how life works), but as much time as possible is spent doing fun things.

So let’s figure out what type of game your dog likes to play and let’s do it.

Play can be anything from fetch, tug, sniffing games, wrestling, food chasing, toy chasing and more.

23/03/2026

When it comes to recall your dog needs to learn that they have to come back to you…….despite the other dogs, or people, or great smell’s, or livestock and wildlife, or that group of kids kicking a football or basically anything.

Don’t get me wrong, recall doesn’t just happen overnight, but it is something ALL dogs need to learn to live a well versed life!

03/03/2026

Does your dog loose their mind at the start of a walk?

Does your dog drag you out the door?

Do you have to spell out the word W.A.L.K when talking to family ‘just in case the dog hears’?

Well first of all, chances are you might have created a little bit of this problem…….

How?

Well think of it this way, before you open a fizzy drink, do you shake the can like you’re trying to get a genie out of a lamp???

No! ( or atleast I hope not…)

So then why do you hype your dog up asking them ‘are they ready for walkies?’ Or ‘ do you want to go to the park/beach?’…….right as you’re about to grab their lead?

This way we are setting our dogs up to fail by riling them all up and excited and then expecting them to immediately calm down and walk absolutely perfectly by your side……..

Sounds a little backwards to me.

So from now on, how about we encourage calm relaxed behaviour at the start of a walk. We desensitise our dog to their lead being taken out.

This way we can start our walks in a less chaotic way and still be able to go out and do fun stuff!

27/02/2026

Now to start, that does not mean just unclip the lead, pray to Jesus and rattle a bag of treats in your pocket when you need them to come back……….hoping it works…..

No, for your dog to be safely off lead and run around enjoying their hard earned freedom, they need…

-a solid recall
-the ability to act appropriately around other dogs and people you may come across

So what do I do if my dogs not quite there yet?
This is where a long lead or a flexi lead comes in as your physical safety net to stop your dog from making a mistake, and as a way for you to control your dog and give them physical feedback.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s more to it than just this, but the short and sweet of it is this, if your dog hasn’t shown you they can be trusted off lead, they don’t get off lead…just yet.

09/02/2026

If your dog jumps all over you and your guests, then I think we can agree it would probably be better if they didn’t.

But let’s think about it for a second, if your dog jumps up….

And you pet them….

Isn’t that just reinforcing the jumping???

Isn’t that basicly rewarding them for jumping and teaching them it’s a good way to get affection from you???

Let’s think about that next time you get annoyed at your dog for jumping, in their eyes, it’s a foolproof way to get affection.

Instead let’s tell them that we don’t like that and they aren’t allowed to jump on you or other people anymore ?!?!

03/02/2026

If you’re dog is under exercised and under stimulated, this will feed into any behavioural issues you’re having and will make it harder to teach them anything new.

Think of it this way, if your dog has a ‘full tank’ of energy and they already pull on lead or react at other dogs or people, now this energy will most likely be pushed into one of these more undesirable behaviours.

So firstly, focus on getting yourself and your dog into a weekly routine of exercise, play and general outings. This way your dog won’t be as pent up all the time which will help you to focus on teaching new things and or fixing these problematic behaviours.

26/01/2026

For a lot of people, the idea of sitting down enjoying a coffee with your dog sat by your side is a dream………a dream they feel they will never achieve.

For Jelly, it’s absolutely not his type of activity. He doesn’t enjoy sitting still, he’s nosey and wants to see what’s going on at all times, he’s a busy body and naturally very aware of everything…………that’s the recipe for the anti-coffee shop dog.

A lot of dogs can and enjoy the social outing, for others it’s not for them and that’s absolutely fine.

BUT

I’ve worked hard to get him to stage where he CAN do it for short periods. While it’s never going to be his favourite, he’s learnt how to settle quicker, and what I need from him in these situations.

So what are the top things to work on?

Well firstly, a bulletproof lie down command makes life easier, the ability to hold that down despite people, dogs and food around them.

Timing, to be clear, we are not cheating by exercising our dog first, BUT, how on earth do you expect your dog to settle down in public while they’re ‘itchy’ from having all that pent up energy????

So for me, I like to get Jelly out and stretch his legs, play some tug and then wind down then finish off with settling down in public in a coffee shop or similar. This way I’ve met some of his needs, taken the ‘itch’ away, and now I’m going to expect him to settle down and act fairly sedentary for some time, which is now fair as we are working together.

05/01/2026

Should I let my dog on the sofa/bed?

For me, this is a fairly simple one……….Yes

BUT

My answer is only Yes, if you can effectively and without argument, tell your dog to get down if you want them to…

If you can’t do this, then to me the answer is No.

So why do I say this?
Your dog doesn’t NEED to have access to the sofa, but personally I’m cool with them coming up, once they act appropriately and respectful while up there.

So what do I mean be acting appropriately?
I mean, getting down when told, not trying to play and mess about up there, not being too pushy for affection…..so simply just relaxing is kind of my only allowed behaviour up on the sofa.

The sofa is also a lovely real life situation in which you can implement teaching your dog to be more respectful of you.
How? Simply teach them that the if they want on the sofa next to you, they have to wait to be called or invited up.

29/12/2025

Recalling your dog shouldn’t mean the fun is over!

If you only recall your dog when

it’s time to go back on lead or go home…

Or

Calling them away from something…

Then you might be slowing down your recall training.

Because think of it this way, if a recall command, 9 times out of 10, means that the fun time is over then why would your dog want to come to you? What value does coming back to you really have?

Yeah okay you might have a food reward for them, that’s great and I fully agree with the use of food, but if the set up of teaching recall always involves the end of fun times then I can promise you, your food reward will start to loose value.

So instead, use recall as an opportunity to call them back and send them back out to freedom, use it as in interruption of liberty but not always the end of fun.

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