Beyond Dog Training

14/08/2025

What am I training here?

✅Confidence
✅Optimism
✅Making good choices
✅Fitness
✅Engagement
✅Novelty (The tunnel just arrived in the mail)
✅Building trust

Yes, we are totally just playing- Max and Guen LOVED going through that tunnel, and later on I added more obstacles to the series. But this is why Max asks to do training- it's fun! Obstacle courses, chase games, toy games- they all build important skills while building trust and motivation and enriching you and your dogs life! Play with your dogs!!!

11/08/2025

What do you think when you see a dog in public wearing a muzzle?

Many people automatically assume that the dog wearing the muzzle is dangerous. They may get nervous when they see the dog and cross the street or give the dog a very wide berth (not that I complain about that one!)

The truth is, there are lots and lots of reasons dogs wear muzzles. Sometimes it IS because they have bitten. But often it is a host of other reasons, such as they scavenge inappropriate items, they are generally nervous, or sometimes it is the law for their breed. I personally use a muzzle for Max as a cue that a stranger will be unavoidably touching him (the vet).

I recommend to all of my clients to train all of their dogs to happily wear a muzzle- whether they "need" it or not. Your super friendly retriever that wouldn't hurt a fly may instinctively snap if they get injured. Often dogs need to be muzzled at the vet for different reasons. And sometimes places like airports require that dogs be muzzled. When it comes time that you have to wear one- you want your dog to be already familiar and comfortable wearing it. You can't train it in THAT situation!!

And of course, you guessed it- we've got games for that!

08/08/2025

Lenny is a Giant (150 lbs!!) young (1 year old) dog with big feelings! Being able to walk with a loose leash is super important to keep him and his people safe. He is doing an amazing job- his parents have been great at doing the work! Great job!

07/08/2025

Our dogs don't owe us anything.

That's right.

They don't owe us a single thing.

Yes, it's true that you feed them and house them and do all the things.

You may have even rescued them from a horrible situation.

That's amazing. But your dog had nothing to do with that.

We, as the humans, get to choose to bring our dogs into our homes as part of our family.

As a result of that choice and that choice alone, we owe our dogs everything:

We owe them kindness
We owe them respect
We owe them species appropriate care
We owe them connection
We owe them attention
We owe them thought
We owe them consideration
We owe them love

Loving our dogs means respecting their dog-ness.

Training our dogs should be an act of love- helping them learn to stay safe and feel safe in a world not built for them. While making sure we give them what we owe them

Welfare should be at the center of our training programs. Welfare should never be sacrificed for "training".

31/07/2025

Those ears, seriously!

This pup does not deserve to grow up in the shelter. In addition, I arrived at the shelter to volunteer today to another new, very young litter. Please spay/neuter your dogs..or help your community by donating to help others do the same. The shelters are in crisis- overfull and underfunded. The animals are the ones paying the price.

25/07/2025

Puppies......am I right? 🥹

24/07/2025

Puppy club is where fun meets learning!

Looking for flexible, online training that fits your schedule, while harnessing the power of play?

Our new puppy club harnesses your puppy's natural desire to play to maximize training retention and motivation- for both of you!

Curious?

Visit: www.beyond-dogtraining.com/puppy-club

contact us through the website and receive one week free!

16/07/2025

Discover your dog's ultimate happy place! 🐾💖 Is it a cozy corner at home, a favorite park, or perhaps a sunny spot in the yard? Share below and let’s celebrate those joyful moments together!

15/07/2025

PLAY!

It is so important to play with our dogs (it's not just for puppies!) In fact, it can be a primary component in our training plan!

What are some of the benefits of playing with your dog?

🐶Playing builds confidence. Playing games that allow your dog to win, be successful, and grow competence in activities such as chasing, catching, climbing, balancing, tugging, and running builds their confidence

🐶We don't just play for the fun of it! (I mean we kinda do). We can develop games and activities to do with our dogs that help them build real life skills such as impulse control, grit, focus, and so much more. This is what games-based training is all about! (And honestly, that's why play exists in the first place)

🐶Endorphins, dopamine....playing releases hormones that just feel good. That's why we all love to play!

🐶Even the most basic game of chase requires problem solving to win. Mental stimulation is super important for our dogs.

🐶Of course, playing with our dogs provides physical stimulation as well- chase games provide cardiovascular exercise, tugging includes strength work. We all get a workout when we play together!

🐶And one of the best things about playing with your dog is the bond you build with one another as you learn to trust each other and have fun together!

So stop scrolling (after you interact with this post of course) and go play with your pup!

11/07/2025

Sometimes “the way we’ve always done it” makes it worse….

Resource guarding can be a big struggle for a lot of owners, and is something that needs to be taken seriously as it does create a bite risk for anyone around the dog. However, like lots of areas in dog training, there is conflicting information online about how this behaviour should be worked through, with some schools of thought suggesting messing with the dog's food in order to gain compliance. 😓

So what does the science actually say??

Well, a 2017 study into resource guarding found that messing with a dog's food bowl actually created an increase in resource guarding behaviour, rather than the decrease that dominance based training states, and it was adding food TO the dog's bowl rather than removing it which created a decrease in the behaviour.

Why does this work? 🤔

Let's imagine you are eating your dinner and someone comes out of the blue and takes it away. You would quite rightly be quite annoyed, and if this started happening on a regular basis, once you saw this person approach when you had your dinner you would put steps in to stop them taking it. Perhaps putting your arms around it, holding it closer, yelling at them to go away, or putting your body between them and it. However, if this same person turned up and offered you your favourite food in return for what you currently had you would start to have a different emotional response to their approach. Every time they turned up you would get excited, associating them with bringing positive options for you rather than loosing the one option you had. This is exactly what it is like for our dogs! They do not know the logic and reasoning why we may want to remove something from them, just that we are, and so will naturally learn to defend objects should this become a regular occurrence. But if we are adding something positive to their experience, they will start to feel happy and safe in our presence instead.

So, if your dog is showing signs of resource guarding I would always recommend to contact a qualified trainer to show you the safest and most effective way to work on the struggle for your individual case. But what the science shows is messing with your dogs food is certainly not the answer. 🐶

You can find the study quoted in the graphic here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167587717301253