Ben Griffith Canine Training

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

Now I’m not saying that you are causing your dog to react entirely, not at all.ButIf you are stiffening up and getting a...
12/06/2026

Now I’m not saying that you are causing your dog to react entirely, not at all.

But

If you are stiffening up and getting all tense at the sight of another dog due to the fear of your own dog reacting, that is absolutely a piece of the puzzle that we need to sort out,

Because, if we want to be able to lead our dogs, communicate to them and be able to navigate the world, then being as stiff as a board and tense is definitely not going to be helpful.

Am I saying that being calm and being calm only, will fix your dog’s reactivity?
No, sadly not, BUT being all stressed out is definitely not helpful to the situation.

If you’re tense, communicating with your dog is going to be harder.

If you’re wound up, you’re not going to be able to help your dog through the situation as easily.

☘️

05/06/2026

If your dog treats walking on lead as if it’s an Olympic event trying to water ski you down the road…we got a problem.

If you expect your dog to walk nicely in a ‘heel’ for the entire walk in the hope of that exercising them thoroughly…we got a problem.

If you have gone online and bought a front clip harness, prong collar, head halti or slip lead, and were given the sales pitch of ‘this tool is guaranteed to stop your dog pulling’ ….we got a problem.

The common problem a lot of dog owners face everyday is their dog pulling on lead, and this can be quite a simple problem to sort out.

Stop seeing walking on lead as your dogs main source of exercise, instead, I view it as a skill to move your dog from point A to point B, or passing others dogs and people etc, outside of them windows I like to have dogs off lead or on a longline (where safe of course).

Stop thinking that THIS particular tool being put on your dog and clipping the lead on will fix all your problems, instead, let’s teach our dogs to understand the lead and collar, teach them to listen to lead pressure, teach them where we need them to work nicely by our side and where they are able to run around freely.

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.

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