Wolfgang's Way Dog Training

Wolfgang's Way Dog Training Virtual and private dog training for happy dogs and their humans. Get in touch and let me know how I can help you and your dog.

🐾 Separation Anxiety, Puppy & Dog Training, Behaviour Problems
💻 Online & in-person 121 training
🏆 Award winning & multi-certified
⬇️ Start your dog’s training journey today - Get In Touch Award winning, certified, bespoke dog training services offered worldwide via video call consultations and in-person across South-Sweden and Copenhagen.

09/06/2026

The hardest part of separation anxiety training isn’t usually the training itself. It’s showing up again tomorrow.

And the day after that. And the day after that…

When you’ve been practising tiny absences for weeks. When progress feels painfully slow. When your friends are popping out for coffee without a second thought and you’re busy arranging pet sitters, family help, dog walkers and your entire schedule around your dog’s training.

I know because I’ve been there before with Wolfgang. And now I’m going through it again with Bonzie.

𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝘆:

✔️ Stop focusing on the end goal.
Thinking about the 2, 4, 6 hours you hope to reach can feel overwhelming. Focus on each days’ training session instead.

✔️ Track and celebrate your wins and reward yourself!
Write them down. The human brain is brilliant at spotting what still needs work and terrible at recognising progress. Those extra 10 seconds, the first resettle, choosing to relax sooner, a calmer body language. It all counts.
And celebrate those milestone (big and small)! People outside the separation anxiety world may not understand why you’re excited about a 2-minute absence. People inside it absolutely do. Treat yourself to something exciting whenever you reach a new milestone.

✔️ Look back regularly.
When you’re in the middle of it, it often feels like nothing is changing.
Compare today to three months ago, not yesterday.

✔️ Build a support system (dog sitters, friends, family)
So you can look after yourself. This one is important, to take care of yourself too.
Meet friends. Exercise. Do things that refill your own cup whenever you can.

And finally…if you’re feeling tired, frustrated or demotivated right now, take a day off 💚

08/06/2026

Here are 4 important things to get ready BEFORE starting Separation Training

No 1: get a simple camera set up to monitor your dog during training (ideally a camera that follows movement as well).

No 2: learn about dog body language and subtle stress signals (in general and in more detail, how your dog communicates).

No 3: suspend absences - don’t leave your dog home alone for longer than they can handle. Aware that is often easier said than done, but it is key to a successful training outcome.

No 4: know, and provide for, what your dog needs to be calm and relaxed at home. This includes making a vet appointment if you think your dog might be struggling with an underlying medical ni**le that could impact on your dog’s anxiety.

If you have questions about the why and how and what of separation anxiety training, get in touch and let’s discuss how I can help you and your fur best friend.

07/06/2026

One of the most common questions I get as a separation anxiety specialist:

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨?”

My answer is usually: 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴/ 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁𝘀/ 𝗡𝗮𝗱𝗮

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁. It can feel worrying because we often assume they are waiting for us, monitoring us, or feeling anxious.
But location alone doesn’t tell us how a dog is feeling.

Instead, I 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲:
✔️ Is your dog able to relax there?
✔️ Are they resting comfortably rather than remaining hyper-vigilant?
✔️ Can they stay settled when you move around?
✔️ Are they coping well during your absences?

For some dogs, the door simply happens to be a comfortable place to lie. It may be cooler, quieter, or offer a better view of their environment.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴.

That said, if your dog appears unable to fully relax, displays subtle stress signals such as snappy yawns and lip licks or repeatedly gets up to check on things, that’s a different conversation.

As with most things in separation anxiety training, context is everything.
Behaviour is only one piece of the puzzle. We need to look at the emotional state underneath it.

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?





04/06/2026

The goal isn’t a dog who never notices rabbits.

In fact, I want Bonzie to notice them.

What I’m looking for is this:
🐰 Noticing the rabbit
🤔 Taking a moment to think rather than immediately reacting
👀 Disengaging from the rabbit
❤️ Reconnecting with me
🎉 Choosing me over the chase

That’s what training progress looks like.

A lot of people think success means their dog completely ignores wildlife. But for many dogs, especially those with a strong prey drive, that’s not a realistic or even necessary goal.

What matters is helping your dog learn that spotting a rabbit doesn’t automatically mean they have to chase it.

That takes time, repetition, management, and a lot of practice at distances where your dog can still think and learn.

Every time your dog notices a rabbit and then chooses to disengage, they’re building a new habit.

And those small moments add up.

What does your dog do when they spot a rabbit?

03/06/2026

My top tip for separation anxiety training success.

“Effie had struggled with separation anxiety long before we started working with Alex. I had already tried everything I could find - books, advice from trainer, careful below-threshold training, but we kept hitting roadblocks. We’d make progress and the suddenly be back to square one.”

“From the beginning, Alex took an incredibly thoughtful and holistic approach. She didn’t just focus on the training itself, but looked at Effie’s whole life - her behaviour, diet and physical wellbeing.”

“The training itself wasn’t always easy. There were many winter evenings spent standing outside doing endless repetitions of leaving and returning. At times, it felt soul-destroying. But Alex helped me through the whole process.”

“Today, Effie can stay at home for up to six hours and she isn’t just ‘coping’ with being home alone, she genuinely doesn’t mind.”

𝗜𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
1. If you can’t see the woods for the trees, get specialist support
2. Keep going, it will pay off eventually.

Door Is A Bore exercises help create predictability, routine and confidence around coming and going. They teach your dog...
02/06/2026

Door Is A Bore exercises help create predictability, routine and confidence around coming and going. They teach your dog that anything happening around the front door (depressing the door handle, unlocking the door, opening/ closing, etc) is normal, safe and ultimately... pretty boring.

And that’s exactly what we want.

By practising easy, low-pressure door exercises, we can help remove some of that significance and build a calmer relationship with the environment in which separation training takes place.

And depending on each individual’s set up, this can of course also start with a gate (to get bored about) or similar.

Successful separation anxiety training isn’t built on pushing dogs through difficult situations. It’s built on creating a history of feeling safe.

Door Is A Bore exercises help lay that foundation.

They may seem simple, but simple doesn’t mean unimportant.
Sometimes the smallest exercises have the biggest impact on long-term success.

If you would like to find out more about how my separation training programmes work, get in touch (comments, DM, smoke signals) 🐾

01/06/2026

And quite a bit more, actually.

How about you and your dog?

31/05/2026

Guess separation anxiety can go both ways 🤣

Ever had that feeling?

28/05/2026

Somebody please enlighten me….

😉

26/05/2026

If your dog’s separation anxiety training suddenly feels harder during hot weather, there’s usually a reason for it.
A lot of dogs cope less well with alone time during heatwaves, even when they don’t look obviously distressed by the heat itself.

Why?
☀️ Heat puts extra stress on the body. Even mild physical discomfort can lower a dog’s ability to cope emotionally.
😴 Dogs often sleep worse in hot weather and poor sleep can increase stress, sensitivity and anxiety.
🏡 Our homes trap heat, meaning your dog may already feel uncomfortable before training even begins.
🌳 Routines often change: different walk times, less exercise, open windows, more outside noise, unfamiliar smells… all of this can affect your dog’s nervous system and overall stress levels.

This is why dogs who were progressing nicely can suddenly feel “stuck” or more worried again during hot weather.

That does NOT mean your training has failed.

A few things that can help right now:
✔️ Train during the coolest part of the day
✔️ Use fans, cooling mats, shaded rooms or closed curtains
✔️ Reduce criteria and make sessions easier
✔️ Focus on calm enrichment instead of high-energy activity
✔️ Prioritise rest and sleep
✔️ Take a short training break if your dog is struggling

Honestly, sometimes a few days off is far more beneficial than pushing through when your dog isn’t coping well physically.
Progress with separation anxiety training is rarely perfectly linear. Weather, hormones, health, sleep and stress all matter.

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