RotNDog Training & Behavior Consulting

RotNDog Training & Behavior Consulting Specialized Dog Training & Behavior Modification for dogs with problems since 2003.

RotNDog is your answer for help with aggression, fear, anxiety, and basic-advanced obedience.

08/12/2026

Story Time: I Couldn’t Believe What This Dog Trainer Recommended …

One of my clients told me about their experience with a dog trainer in the past and it blew my mind.

We as an industry need to be able to make realistic, reasonable recommendations to our clients. And as a dog owner, if a dog trainer recommends something to you that doesn’t sit well with you - then go somewhere else! There’s plenty of us around.

🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

REMOTE SESSIONS CAN STILL WORK WONDERS!There are so many behavior problems that can benefit from remote sessions. I work...
08/11/2026

REMOTE SESSIONS CAN STILL WORK WONDERS!

There are so many behavior problems that can benefit from remote sessions. I work remotely with people all over the country and the impact it can have on people’s lives is just as significant as in person sessions.

Bubba, pictured below, had made some massive improvements in his behavior and therefore his owner’s quality of life by implementing just a few suggestions from our remote session and they are happily moving on to implementing more.

Getting behavior change is not always contingent on my physical presence. Especially because MY goal is to teach owners how to better handle their dog. That’s why remote sessions can still work so well for many behavior problems.

08/10/2026

MUZZLE MONDAY: Preventing Harm from Redirected Aggression onto Owners

Some dogs who display aggression on the leash can escalate to redirecting that aggression onto their owner, instead. Sometimes it’s because the owner is “in the way,”; sometimes it’s because the dog figures out that they can take their frustration out on their owner and get self reinforcement for it; and sometimes it’s actually not even “redirected” aggression and more so conflict related aggression as the owner attempts to get control over the dog. All of these situations can end very badly. It is not uncommon for this to occur (and sadly I see it a lot in the Doberman breed).

Even the simple act of giving a food reward, for some dogs, can elicit a redirected aggression response. We want to make sure that we are not on the dog’s menu as well.

Muzzles - appropriately chosen and fitted for outdoor use, ventilation, etc - help prevent any injury to the owner as a result of a bite from redirected aggression on the leash. They also help prevent the dog from ever getting self reinforcement from going after their owners. And it allows the owner to feel safe enough to be able to follow through with the training plan, without the risk of being injured. With some dogs, it’s nearly impossible to achieve this without the muzzle initially. I’ve known dog owners who avoided working on their dog’s leash “reactivity” for years because they were too afraid to get close to them due to redirected aggression.

It doesn’t have to be that way!

08/09/2026

Hosted my first RotNDog Client Pack Walk and we had a solid group to start with with! A wide range of ages, sizes, and breeds. Everyone did amazing! Considering that some of these dogs couldn’t even see another dog or person within 100 ft without barking, lunging, and growling, the walk really allowed everyone to see what their dogs are capable of doing! I’m grateful to have the best clients to work with and I’m looking forward to doing many more.

08/08/2026

Kit is estimated to be around 5 years old and was just recently adopted a few months ago. His owner found her way to me to work on his separation distress - he’s hyper attached to her, she has trouble when leaving him home alone, and he’s very impulsive with his desires.

When I found out that he didn’t even know how to sit, we had to add that into our plan on the second session in order to start implementing some impulse control and slow thinking exercises for his wants and needs.

This is his first session learning how to sit. His owner gives the verbal cue, followed by the hand signal, and then I have her wait. It’s just about a full 10 seconds before he finally puts his butt down. Despite it feeling like an eternity for the owner in this situation, it’s a a VERY crucial moment for a dog to learn something new: giving them the time to think and process and figure it out on their own.

When we don’t give the dog a chance to turn their wheels, trouble shoot, and experiment with their own choices, we rob them of the ability to ingrain this learning deeper. If we helped him too much by offering repeated commands, lures, etc, at this stage we are not doing much to help strengthen the behavior. So many people want the dog to instantly respond. Here, Kit stays actively engaged while he decides what he wants to do. And then he gets it because we offer him patience.

LET. THE. DOG. THINK.

We are so use to faster phones, faster computers, and instant gratification. A brain learning something new doesn’t work at a technological speed. It works at a biological one. Us included. Try learning something new as an adult - it’s not easy! We need time to process. Dogs are the same.

When a new behavior becomes conditioned well enough, of course if you want a faster response time you can work towards that. But in the beginning, honor the brain’s natural processing and allow the dog to truly figure it out as long as they remain engaged. Sacrificing 10 seconds for the sake of the dog feeling empowered to figure something out on their own is nothing to worry about.

JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I PREFER TO GIVE HIGH VALUE EDIBLE ITEMS IN A DOG’S CRATE OR CONFINEMENT SPACE ONLYHigh value ed...
08/07/2026

JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I PREFER TO GIVE HIGH VALUE EDIBLE ITEMS IN A DOG’S CRATE OR CONFINEMENT SPACE ONLY

High value edible items like rawhides, no-hides, bones, tracheas, pig ears, hooves, etc have a greater chance of eliciting resource guarding, especially in dogs who already have a history of guarding but also in dogs who don’t typically display resource guarding. Resource guarding is a normal, adaptive trait. We should always honor that while also making sure we don’t allow the dog to practice it.

Sometimes, dogs will take one of these high value items and stash them or “bury” them in places such as furniture cushions (pictured), under blankets, under beds, in corners, etc. They may not want the item at that moment but they will want to return to it later.

The problem here is that it can cause the dog to remain on edge, vigilant, and always watching for if or when someone decides to walk near it. This causes an immense amount of unnecessary stress and it can also create negative associations with other members of the household. The dog may still guard the area, because they don’t want anyone approaching their hidden prize. This is not good.

Instead, I always suggest to give these items to the dogs in their crates or confinement spaces that are not shared with others. This way they can enjoy them in peace (which I believe is a basic biological need) and there is no perceived competition created in the shared spaces of the home. Nor do you have to worry about them being hidden anywhere if you maintain the rule that the bones are not allowed to be taken out of the crate or confinement space.

Simple changes of applying rules and boundaries to your daily routines can help reduce unwanted dangerous behaviors and unwanted stress easily.

Where do you train your dog? Here, we’re in the bathroom and the toilet is the perfect chair for this PBGV’s owner to pr...
08/06/2026

Where do you train your dog? Here, we’re in the bathroom and the toilet is the perfect chair for this PBGV’s owner to practice the exercises.

The male dog has significant fear during storms (the female is just there for moral support, in hopes she’ll get something lol).

We are teaching a conditioned relaxation exercise that eventually can be associated with a certain location +/- can be moveable at some point also.

The bathroom is a place where he already seeks comfort during storms - as many dogs do. Bathrooms typically don’t have windows and are often times more towards the center of the home, and therefore feel a little more sheltered. Rather than initially trying to create more comfort in a totally different place, we are piggybacking on what the dog already prefers.

So if it benefits the dog to train in the bathroom, we will train in the bathroom!

08/04/2026

DOG TALK TUESDAY: Stalking

Stalking is a normal part of the predatory sequence. Predation is food acquisition behavior - necessary for wild canids to survive.

Nowadays a lot of dogs were breed to not display the full predatory sequence or only parts of it. And because our dogs are well fed and don’t need to hunt for themselves, they often times will display predatory behaviors towards small critters more so for fun.

Stalking occurs where the dog stares/fixates visually, moves very slowly, stays very still, with head lowered and very controlled body movements to gradually and stealthily get closer to said prey target. It is often followed by rushing/chasing/pouncing. The interesting thing with the dog videoed here is that he stalks, and then chooses to not go any further in the sequence despite having the ability to do so. He can “let it go” quite quickly. Which is a good characteristic for a pet dog in the city.

As always, when reading body language we have to remember to read it like we would read a sentence. Understand that it’s all the words together that create the meaning of a sentence, not one word alone. Thereby we also need to take all of the dog’s body language signals combined to create a meaning, and not focus on one single body part by itself.

MUZZLE MONDAY: Close QuartersMy dogs are great together and their personalities mesh well. However, when I have to have ...
08/03/2026

MUZZLE MONDAY: Close Quarters

My dogs are great together and their personalities mesh well. However, when I have to have both of them in the close quarters of the car, they wear their muzzles just to be safe, in case someone gets grumpy. One of them does have a history of attacking other dogs when frustrated and of redirecting his aggression onto whoever is near him. While that has never happened with the other dog I have now, since it’s been only two of them, I still acknowledge his history and choose to prevent any altercations from escalating to cause injury.

Sometimes we choose to use muzzles in situations that haven’t been an “issue” but where we don’t ever want them to become an “issue.”

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Serving Palm Beach & Broward Counties
West Palm Beach, FL
33401

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Thursday 8am - 9pm
Friday 8am - 9pm
Saturday 8am - 9pm
Sunday 8am - 9pm

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+16094081447

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