23/09/2026
He knows the command… so why is he just staring at me?” 👀
Watch Zoro's human's hands.
He asks Zoro to go to his place, but while Zoro is processing the command, his human starts breaking the treat and preparing the reward.
And suddenly Zoro has something else competing for his attention.
He watches the hands.
He waits for the food.
He offers other behaviours.
But he doesn't complete the behaviour that was asked.
So I asked his human to do something very simple:
Stop preparing the reward. Keep your hands neutral. Wait.
Zoro initially checks the hand again — nothing happens.
And then…
he goes to the mat.
We reset to the original position and try again.
This time: command, neutral hands, give him time to process — and Zoro gets there with considerably less confusion.
This is a tiny training mistake I see with dog parents all the time.
The moment they give a command, their hand goes into the pocket, treat pouch or starts preparing the food.
Without realising it, the reward starts becoming a prompt.
Try this instead:
1. Give the cue.
2. Keep your body quiet.
3. Give your dog time to respond.
4. Mark the completed behaviour — “YES.”
5. THEN reach for the reward.
Clearer communication for the dog
And much less frustration for the human. ❤️
📩 Want to learn how to communicate more clearly with your dog? DM “TRAINING” for personalised 1-to-1 sessions.
