Jackie Pritchard Dog Training

05/14/2026

05/14/2026

Premack Principle explained 🐾❤️

🐾 What if the thing your dog is obsessed with is actually your biggest training asset?

That's the Premack Principle in a nutshell — and once it clicks, it changes how you see the whole environment around you.

Here's the concept: behaviour that your dog finds highly rewarding can be used to reinforce behaviour they find less rewarding. You're not fighting against what they want. You're using it.

Grandma's Rule puts it best:
🥦 Do the less fun thing first → earn the more fun thing.

In practice it looks like this:

📣 Dog rockets back to you on recall → gets released straight back into the game
🚪 Dog waits calmly at the door → the door opens
👁️ Dog checks in with eye contact on a walk → gets to go investigate that smell

No food needed. The real world becomes your treat pouch.

This is one of those concepts that sounds simple but has a huge ripple effect on your dog's impulse control and their relationship with you — so I made a full video breaking it all down:
📺 https://youtu.be/RNkT_oOhLYA

05/14/2026

THEORY THURSDAY

Supervision isn’t just being in the room.

It’s being able to answer:
“What is my pet feeling right now?”

If you’re unsure, that’s your cue to:
➡️ Increase distance
➡️ Pause the interaction
➡️ Give the pet space

Kids and pets can build beautiful relationships if we help our kids understand their pets better.



*created with the assistance of AI

05/13/2026

Yes!!!

Imagine you were picked up one day, and taken away from everything you’d ever known.

Placed into the arms of a total stranger, when you’ve never known kindness or safety.

Taken into a house where everything looks, sounds and smells weird, and even the ground feels unstable under your feet.

And nothing feels safe, or stable, or real. What does it mean, what happens next? You have no frame of reference for anything that’s happening, and you’ve left all your friends behind.

THIS is why we MUST give rescue dogs time and space to decompress. We can’t expect them to settle in right away - they need processing time and a slow, gentle approach.

Empathy is a powerful tool. Use it ❤️🐾

05/12/2026

This is what puppy socialization is and is not!

This is a good illustration of puppy socialization needs, shared from Good as Gold Training, but I would also add that all of the listed exposure and experience needs to feel *safe* for the puppy. If s/he is nervous, tentative, or fearful the fear should be handled by backing off a little and reintroducing very slowly and with lots of praise, food and patience. Sometimes, for the sake of "socialization", owners push their puppies too far and too fast, and it can backfire. Good socialization requires that we "read" our puppies and help them feel safe as they navigate the sounds, textures, people and animals in their new world.

05/12/2026

Listen to the whispers so they don’t need to shout.

LISTEN TO THE WHISPERS

“Whispers” are soft, subtle and so easy to miss, but paying attention can prevent them turning into “shouts” and prevent situations from escalating.

I believe dogs would be so grateful if we made the effort to learn their language. So many dogs spend their lives trying to communicate through “whispers” - subtle signals that are overlooked, misunderstood, or corrected. When we learn to notice those signals, we create a world that feels safer and more predictable for them.

Body language is one of the only ways that dogs can let us know how they are feeling. When we know how they’re feeling, we can intervene, help them feel safe and prevent emotions from boiling over.

Body language can be subtle and fleeting, but with careful observation and knowing what to look for most of us can learn to recognize and understand what our dogs are saying.

It’s always important to look at the context, the situation and especially what the rest of the body is doing when understanding their language.

Being able to understand a dog’s emotional state through their body language helps us to predict behaviour, prevent potential problems or simply allows us to just enjoy observing what they are feeling.

Although dogs each have their own unique personalities and distinct way of communicating, there are many common signs that can provide valuable insight. We just need to take the time to learn and notice.

We owe it to dogs to really understand them. They spend their lives learning our words, our routines, our expectations and living by our rules. Making the effort to learn their language is one of the most meaningful ways we can improve their wellbeing.

Here are some links for more information about body language –

Preventative Vet:
https://www.preventivevet.com/dog-training-recommended-resources-dog-body-language-decoders

Rescued by Training - Introduction to Dog Body Language and Communication:
https://rescuedbytraining.com/product/intro-dog-communication/

Doggie Language by Lili Chin:
https://academics.lmu.edu/media/lmuacademics/cures/urbanecolab/module09/Dog%20Body%20Language.pdf

Canine communication: recognizing stress in your dog
https://bit.ly/4309ykr

Eileen Anderson
https://eileenanddogs.com/dog-body-language/

05/11/2026

Puppy socialization means so much more than meeting other puppies.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUPPY SOCIALIZATION (3-16 WEEKS)

Puppy socialisation is crucial because it shapes a puppy's temperament, ensuring they grow into confident, well-adjusted adults rather than fearful, anxious or aggressive dogs. By exposing them to new sights, sounds, objects, experiences and environments between 3 and 16 weeks (breed dependent), you reduce the likelihood of behavioural issues, which are the primary reason dogs are surrendered to shelters.

Socialisation does not mean playing with random dogs at the park or ONLY going to puppy school. While puppy school is great start to meet other dogs and people in a safe space while learning new skills but socialisation is wider than that. Learning can continue outside puppy class. Learning includes a range of experiences and safe exposure to different sounds, textures, objects and environments that your puppy may not encounter at puppy school. See checklist below. This list is not comprehensive and will depend on your context.

Well socialised dogs can be less fearful, less aggressive and less anxious. Early, positive exposure to new experiences boosts confidence and emotional resilience. A well-socialised puppy learns to handle unfamiliar situations and environments calmly, making them less prone to panic. Properly socialised dogs have a lower risk of anxiety-driven behaviours, such as incessant barking, destroying items, or excessive fearfulness.

While early socialisation is critical, it should be done in a safe, controlled manner to prevent exposure to diseases before vaccinations are completed, so don't wait to start the journey. Most guardians erroneously wait till all vaccines are completed before their pups leave the house to begin socialisation, but this can be too late as the critical socialisation window would have closed. Late attempts at socialisation can lead to the issues highlighted above.

Here is a proposed checklist for socialisation of your puppy👇🏽

Please shout if you have questions or concerns about socialisation of your puppy.

05/11/2026

Brilliant post!

05/11/2026

The body: beyond medicine and exercise

When we think about a dog’s health, we often think about veterinary care.

Vaccines.
Medications.
Injuries.
Routine checkups.

And when we think about fitness, we often think about exercise.
Walks.
Runs.
Trips to the dog park. Rounds of fetch. Even treadmills for dogs are a thing in the 21st century.

But in animal welfare science, the Third Domain of Animal Welfare - Health & Fitness - goes much deeper than medicine and exercise alone.

In the Five Domains model described by Mellor and colleagues, this domain considers the entire functioning of the brain-body system.

We know how Health & Fitness can influence how animals feel in their bodies and how it can influence behavior. We appreciate the importance of referring canine clients to their vets when we suspect any medical problems.

But the relationship goes both ways in animal welfare science.

Compromised physical Health and Fitness (and related pain, vulnerability, weakness, exhaustion, distress, etc.) can strongly influence an animal’s ability to thrive from Nutrition, cope with their Physical Environment, navigate Behavioral Interactions, & experience a healthy Mental State.

At the same time, experiences arising from these other domains can also influence Health & Fitness:
▪Unnatural, improper, or insufficient diets in Nutrition can foster obesity, digestive diseases, and cascades of other physiological & emotional consequences for welfare.
▪Overstimulating Physical Environments with noxious sensory information and nothing but floors and concrete to walk on can stress the mind, tax joints, & weaken bodies.
▪Behavioral Interactions with the environment or others that consistently frustrate, overwhelm, depress, and restrict natural behaviors and adaptations can create chronic stress and undermine wellness
▪Poor Mental State is not only a reflection of poor welfare - it does, itself, contribute to it directly as well

Over the next few posts we will share Welfare Fun Facts and Welfare Hacks exploring how physical health, movement, strength, comfort, and biological integrity contribute to a dog’s welfare.

Follow along.

05/10/2026

Their world completely changed.
And they don’t know why.

We see their quietness as coping or relaxing so we can accidentally expect too much, far too soon.

One of the hardest parts with newly rehomed dogs is their stress doesn’t always look dramatic.
We would recognise that easily, but some dogs become extremely still and quiet.

Some follow people constantly.
Some sleep more.
Some avoid all interactions.
Others become busy, mouthy, overexcited or unsettled.

We have a job to do from the second they arrive and it’s not about training.
It should be far more about observation.

We should be watching.
Learning who they are.
Recognising patterns.
Seeing what changes their emotional state.

What startles them?
What helps them relax?
What environments suddenly change their body language?
When do they seek distance?
What happens around food, visitors, handling or rest?

They are telling us who they are and how they are coping, often as clearly as they can and we have a duty to listen.

One thing nearly all rehomed dogs share? It’s incredibly easy to unintentionally overwhelm them.

And it’s usually done with the very best of intentions.