Skills are essential! They give dogs tools to use in a complicated world and can actually give them more freedom because they’ll know how to navigate different environments and scenarios with you. They come to know what to expect and what is expected.

People lose their ability to easily find joy when way too soon. We become “grownups” and forget how to find or create joy within every day. Many dogs, on the other hand, find joy every single day for most of their lives.

While it sounds like a friendly way to live and a great way to socialize your dog, is it a good idea for your dog to greet every person and dog you see on a walk?

Unfortunately, probably not. But why?

There’s nothing more joyous than a dog being able to run full out, off leash! But they need the skills to do so safely, especially a recall or response to their name.

…and not fix anything. Most people want to fix things when they go wrong—solve the problem, make it better, get a plan together. But sometimes, there is no solution, or at least no immediate solution.

There are several reasons a dog appears to “not listen.” Notice the word “appears.” Dogs hear us but may not truly understand our request or may not have mastered the skill that we ask for.

Wait is one of the very first skills, after response to their name, that I teach my dogs when they are puppies. Why? It’s a foundation skill for good manners that requires impulse control as well as an important safety skill.

We have schedules, places to be and places we are expected to be on-time. Getting the dog out to potty and for a bit of a walk can directly affect and even conflict with our daily schedule. So, this can become a tug of war—the dog pulls toward a smell, and we pull forward to finish the walk so that we stay on-task and on-time.

We feed them, buy them toys and treats, pay for training and…

Do you think training tricks is silly or just something that you do when you have some free time? Think again! Tricks are skills that can be used to increase focus, control energy and replace unwanted behaviors.

We’ve all had them; that nightmare of a boss that makes your job miserable. Bad behavior can happen on either side of the leash so give some thought to the worst boss you’ve ever had and make sure you don’t pass that on to your dog.

Ever have to cross the street and walk on the “wrong side” where your dog is on the outside, next to traffic? Ever have to walk past another dog and wish your dog could be on the “other side” so that you’d have more room between you and the unknown dog? He can! Teach him to switch and you’ll have a great skill that your dog will see as a fun game.

We’ve all seen them. The dog who runs into every new place, tail up, face smiling. For anyone who has ever been nervous or anxious starting a new job, walking into a party late or stepping up to a start line when competing, this is quite phenomenal.

Dogs constantly learn by discovering what behavior works. They test and eliminate and add to the list of what behaviors get them what they want. If a puppy is giving a treat every time she sits, she’ll quickly learn that the behavior pays off and will often offer a sit when unsure of what to do.

“Sit” is probably the first thing you taught your new dog or puppy. You held a treat up over his nose until he lifted his nose up, lost his balance and sat. Once he learned that sitting predicted a treat, he sat all the time.

Somewhere along the way, adult people forget how to breathe. We take short, shallow breaths from our chest. When worried or nervous, those shallow breaths become fast, making our breathing even worse. And when those short, shallow breaths are the result of any anxiety, our anxiety becomes worse as our breathing becomes worse. One feeds the other until we’re forced to just stop.

So, you had a fight with your best friend, and you haven’t spoken for a while. When you run into her at an event, she comes over to talk to you and you’re not ready. Do you tell her you’re not ready to talk, make a snide comment or just slap her across the face? Since you’re out in public, you probably start by asking her to give you some space, might escalate to making a comment that refers to your level of hurt after the fight and most likely don’t go as far as slapping her.

Imagine that you were forced into a car, unexpectedly taken to your doctor’s office without you knowing why. You were met at the door, taken by the arm and led to a room where you were restrained in a chair. And you were still not told why you were there or what was about to happen. How hard would you fight the restraint?  How loud would you scream, trying to be heard, demanding you have some choice in what was happening?

I remember the first time Dazzle lowered his head and growled at me over a bone I’d just given him. He was young—around 8 months old—and I felt I had done everything right—took him to classes, fed him a premium diet, including raw, meaty bones, walked him three times a day, every day and played with him in between. He had started basic obedience classes and puppy agility. I knew he had a good life and I worked hard to be able to afford to do it all—where did I go wrong?

Family decisions can be tough. It’s hard to get everyone on the same page for anything no less for training the family dog. Unfortunately, inconsistencies among family members can lead to unintentional learning by the dog.