28/08/2026
🐾 WHY DOES MY DOG WALK BEAUTIFULLY FOR HIM… BUT NOT FOR ME? 🐾
Here’s a classic situation I see ALL the time.
Dad takes Fido for a walk, and Fido is an absolute superstar.
Lovely loose lead. Walking beside him. No pulling. No zig-zagging. No dragging Dad towards every smell, dog, person and interesting blade of grass.
He looks like he’s been through military school. 😂
Then Mum takes him out…
And suddenly Fido turns into a tornado on a rope.
Pulling ahead. Zig-zagging across the footpath. Stopping every few metres. Peeing on every tree, bush and lamppost like he’s writing the canine equivalent of War and Peace.
So what’s going on?
It’s usually not that Fido “knows” how to behave for Dad but has somehow forgotten everything when Mum holds the lead.
He’s learned that the rules are different.
Dad says, “We’re walking.”
Fido goes, “Yes, sir.”
Mum says, “Come on, sweetheart…”
Fido goes, “Excellent. I believe negotiations are now open.” 😂
Mum stops when he pulls.
She waits while he investigates something.
She lets him wander from side to side.
She talks to him constantly.
She gives him five minutes to sniff because he looks interested.
She asks him to come along… then gives him another minute.
None of this makes Mum a bad owner.
But from Fido’s perspective, he has just discovered something VERY important:
Different handler = different rules.
And dogs are incredibly good at working that out.
They don’t need someone to explain the rules to them. They learn through consequences.
If pulling gets Fido where he wants to go when Mum is holding the lead, pulling has just been reinforced.
If stopping gets him more sniffing time, stopping has been reinforced.
If ignoring Mum means he gets to continue doing what he wants, ignoring Mum has been reinforced.
And eventually you end up with a dog who appears to have two completely different personalities depending on who is holding the lead.
Here’s the part that can be uncomfortable to hear:
Your dog isn't confused because he's stupid.
He's confused because WE are inconsistent.
Dogs thrive on clarity. They need to understand what behaviour gets them what they want, what behaviour doesn't, and what is expected of them regardless of who is holding the lead.
That doesn't mean everyone in the household has to train exactly the same way or have exactly the same personality.
But the RULES need to be the same.
If Dad expects a loose lead, Mum needs to expect a loose lead too.
If Dad doesn't allow Fido to drag him towards every tree, Mum can't allow it and then expect Fido to magically understand why it wasn't okay yesterday.
If one person says “Come” and means COME… but another person says it six times while Fido ignores them, Fido learns something from that too.
And this applies to far more than walking.
Jumping.
Getting on the furniture.
Barking at the door.
Ignoring commands.
Running out the front door.
Demanding attention.
Getting on and off the couch.
Pretty much every behaviour your dog performs is being shaped by what happens afterwards.
The biggest mistake I see isn't necessarily that people don't know what they should be doing.
It's that everyone in the household isn't doing it consistently.
You cannot have Dad running one training program, Mum running another and the kids running a third… then wonder why Fido has developed his own set of household policies. 😂
Your dog doesn't need a democracy.
He needs clarity.
When everyone understands the rules, communicates them consistently and follows through, the dog doesn't have to guess which version of the rules applies today.
And THAT is when training starts becoming much easier.
