06/18/2025
Management 🤝 Training
Management and training go hand in hand - they're the best of friends. We don't only talk about management a lot, we use it a lot.
So what is management? Management is something we add to prevent our dogs from practicing and reinforcing themselves for unwanted behaviors.
There are lots of ways we can implement management. It might be barriers like gates, tethering, food scatters - there are so many options! Sometimes we combine options, depending on the scenario.
In this video, Fable is working with Poppy on settling on her mat. The goal for this behavior is for Poppy to remain relaxed and hang out on the mat until released. Poppy's a social girl, though, and saying hi to strangers would be a lot of fun. To ensure she doesn't practice the wrong things in this scenario, Fable uses tethering (stepping on the leash) to restrict how far Poppy can go if she makes the wrong choice when people pass. That way if she does leave the mat to go say hi, she cannot actually reach the people. In part one of the video, Fable also uses food to help manage the situation as the person passes by.
