Adventure Pawz

04/08/2026

I don't often make recommendations. Ethics are a huge factor in endorsing another business so when I do you know they're good!
I highly recommend Emerald Dog Boarding and Day Care, Ali the owner is fabulous and has a robust knowledge of our canine friends, so they'll be safe in her charge. 🐾

04/07/2026

🙌

Ranty post sorry

For the third time this week, during a 1:1, I’ve had exactly the same conversation.
This isn’t having a go at anyone. It’s just one of those moments that makes you realise how much misinformation and social media influence even the most intelligent people.
Why do we expect dogs to think like us?
Your training should be made up of reinforcing the behaviours you want, not constantly correcting the ones you don’t.
Before anyone jumps in, when I say “correction” I’m not just talking about lead jerks or physical punishment. A correction can be anything. Saying “No!”, “Stop it!”, “Ah ah!”, shouting, pulling on the lead, pushing the dog away, or interrupting them. They’re all forms of telling the dog they’re wrong.

But here’s the problem…
If your dog spends most of its time hearing what not to do, how is it supposed to know what to do instead?
Dogs don’t think,
“My owner doesn’t like this behaviour, so I’ll work out the opposite behaviour and offer that instead.”
That’s simply not how they learn.
If all we do is point out mistakes, we’re expecting the dog to magically fill in the gaps. Instead, we should be showing them the behaviour we do want, then reinforcing it until it becomes their first choice.
If your dog hears “Good girl!”, “Good boy!”, “Yes!” and receives reinforcement less often than it hears “No!”, it’s probably time to rethink your training.
If that’s you, don’t feel guilty, step up. Revisit your training plan or ask for help creating one. Sometimes just a handful of simple, clear training criteria can make all the difference.

Corrections create confusion. Confused dogs offer more unwanted behaviour because they’re trying to work out what on earth you actually want from them.
This is even more important with puppies. They’re already trying to make sense of a huge, confusing world. They don’t need more uncertainty from us. They need clear guidance, consistency, and lots of reinforcement for making good choices.

Catch your dog getting it right far more often than you catch them getting it wrong. That’s where real learning begins.