10/29/2026
MY TOP 10 WORST THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR DOG!
Everyone asks me about training even though I exclusively deal with aggression now… but I still love training!!! So here are the 10 things I see owners do EVERY SINGLE DAY that are ruining their dogs...
1) LEAVING FOOD DOWN ALL DAY!
Known as free flow! This is the worst one. If food is always down then you have ZERO value. Food is a resource and YOU should control resources. Everyone moans to be that their dogs don’t listen or work for them but then we give them everything for free! It creates picky eaters, entitled dogs, and you lose your best training tool!
2) GIVING YOUR DOG YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION 24/7
You are making your dog an attention ju**ie. If you fuss them every time they nudge you, follow you or stare at you - you are rewarding clinginess and creating separation anxiety and a rude demanding dog! Learn to ignore your dog. Attention has to be earned….same as food!
3) ACCIDENTALLY REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOUR
Your dog barks at the window and you shout at them or say "it's okayyyy" you just paid them to bark again. Your dog jumps up and you touch them…you just rewarded jumping. Stop feeling sorry for behaviours you don't want.
4) MAKING THEM SIT ON THE RECALL
You call your dog, they SPRINT back to you, amazing recall... then you say "sit".
You just ignored the recall you asked for! You're not rewarding them coming back, you're making them do another job. Call them, REWARD the return. That's it.
5) WAITING FOR THEM TO COME BACK ON THE LEAD
They pull to the end of the lead and sniff for 5 minutes while you stand there like a lemon waiting. You're teaching them that pulling works and ignoring you works. Move. Give direction. Don't wait to be pulled.
6) NEVER CORRECTING THEM FOR ANYTHING
If you never say no, you don't have a dog, you have a roommate that does what it wants. Dogs need to know when they're wrong. No correction means no information for them to process! This is how pushy, rude, anxious dogs are made. (Same as kids but don’t get me started)
7) HAVING ZERO BOUNDARIES IN THE HOUSE
Your Sofa whenever they want, bed whenever they want, barging through doors, stealing food, following you to the toilet. No rules means no structure and creates an anxious dog that thinks it has to control everything. Boundaries make dogs feel safe.
8 REPEATING YOURSELF 100 TIMES
"Sit, sit, sit, SIT, SITTTT FFS SIT DOWN) you just taught your dog to ignore the first 4 commands. Say it ONCE - make sure they know what you’re asking them to do!
9) LETTING EVERY PERSON AND DOG SAY HI!
You're creating a frustrated, reactive, over-excited maniac that can't walk past anything. Yet you wonder why they find more value in everyone else and don’t listen to you?? Your dog needs YOU to be more interesting than everything else.
10 TRAINING WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE IT
You train for 2 days then give up for 2 weeks. Consistency beats intensity every time. 5 minutes a day, every day, will beat that 1-hour session you do on a Sunday.
So that gives you something to work on and you may never want to ask me for training tips again 😂😂😂
