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Stepping out of the frame - seeing the bigger picture

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If you're involved in dog training, you have probably heard about training behaviours, and proofing them in different environments (and around distractions). After doing this, we can often expect a certain outcome. When it doesn't occur, we can sometimes think we have a training 'issue' - something that needs to be 'fixed'. The truth is, there is so much more at play than that, and we need to look at the bigger picture to fully understand what can influence our dog's decision making (looking a bit further than reinforcers/reinforcement history, environmental stimulation, etc). Without doing so, we can sometimes overlook factors that are crucial to the dogs involved. Despite often having the best of intentions with our methods and beliefs...we are still human. We can still see things in a negative way, and see things that need to be fixed - rather than just being able to 'see'. We spot a behaviour, we quickly come to a conclusion about the behaviour,
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Nobody's Perfect - Managing our expectations

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Nobody's Perfect - Managing our expectations Nobody's perfect. Be they dog, human, or any other species. We all have our quirks and our strengths. As a teen, I was very shy and a little bit socially awkward. Some people are loud and like to be at the centre of things. Are either of these wrong? Or is this just part of what makes us, us? Some people are good at writing. Some aren't, but are very good at problem-solving. Somebody that may not be so good at problem-solving might be very good at running and sports. None of these are mutually exclusive. So where am I going with this? Absolutely no person is good at 'everything' (some people think they are, but perhaps being humble is the thing they need to work on). As an adult, I am no longer the socially awkward teen that I once was. I am a bit louder, I come across as outgoing, I get involved. There wasn't an overnight change of personality. This involved plenty of time spent doing things to make me a little bit m
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Both sides of the fence - barking at dogs through garden fences or gates

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Both sides of the fence - barking at passing dogs through fences/gates In many areas, it is not uncommon for dogs to run up and down fences in their gardens, barking at dogs or people that are going past. You may live with a barker, you may live with a dog that gets barked at, or both! The garden side of the fence – the 'barker' Let’s look at this side of the fence first. In some cases, the ‘barkers in the garden’ may be left to their own devices, to potter around outside for long periods of time (or doors might be open so that can come and go as they please). They may bark at passersby whilst they are out there. There are a whole host of reasons a dog in their garden might bark at other dogs. I won’t go in to them all, but to break down some reasons; sensitivity to other dogs, sensitivity to strangers, sensitivity to sounds, barrier frustration, guarding, alarm barking, physical health concerns. These are some of the most common reasons I find that dogs will bark at ot
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