05/15/2025
"My dog just needs more obedience."
I am NEVER going to tell you that your dog just needs more obedience. Your dog needs more patience and understanding.
Putting more obedience on a dog who has severe behavior needs is like putting a bandaid on a broken leg. Sure, it may stop the bleeding for a bit, but it doesn't address the underlying issue. It may make the dog lay down more, but it doesn't fix the emotion behind the behavior in the first place. That emotion is going to drive the dog's behavior in the future, which could lead to disastrous consequences or a well behaved dog, depending on how you go about your training.
Basic obedience and behavior modification are sometimes used interchangeably. Basic obedience is teaching your dog how to do something, like sit, stay, or shake. Behavior modification aims to change a dog's behavior by getting to the root cause of the issue. For example, this happens in cases of reactivity or anxiety.
So, no your dog doesn't need more obedience, they need understanding that the issue is beneath the surface and we should start there, not leave it for a last resort.
