Ahead of The Game Dog Training

09/07/2026

Let them eat in peace!!
Caveat: a high value food drop in or near dish while eating, and then walking away (done once in a while - not every meal) goes a long way to create positive emotions about people approaching them when eating, thus helping to prevent resource guarding.

This one gets passed around constantly: mess with your puppy's food while they eat so they "get used to it," and guarding will never develop.

It's backwards.

Interrupting a puppy while they eat is more likely to create frustration, and frustration is exactly what fuels resource guarding down the road. Think about how you'd feel if someone reached into your plate at a restaurant and started taking your fries. Once might get a laugh. Every single meal, and you'd eventually snap too.

Dogs are no different. Let them eat in peace, and build trust around food through calm, predictable routines instead of testing them at every meal.

07/18/2026

When we see a dog fixating on another dog, staring at wildlife, obsessing over a toy or struggling to walk away from something, it's easy to assume they're being stubborn, distracted or simply "not listening."

But behaviour science suggests something far more interesting may be happening.

The dog may be struggling with disengagement.

Disengagement is the ability to stop engaging with something that has captured your attention. It isn't about obedience. It isn't about impulse control alone. It's a cognitive skill that allows the brain to shift attention, release emotional investment and move on.

Imagine two dogs walking down the same street.

They both notice another dog.

They both experience the same initial emotional response.

One dog continues staring, becomes increasingly tense and eventually reacts.

The other glances, looks away, sniffs the ground and carries on walking.

The difference may not be how they felt.

The difference may be their ability to disengage.

This concept has huge implications for how we assess behaviour.

Instead of asking...

❌ "Why won't this dog listen?"

We might ask...

✅ "Can this dog actually disengage from what has captured their attention?"

That single question changes everything.

Because dogs don't only struggle to disengage from things they find frightening.

They may also struggle to disengage from:

• Other dogs
• People
• Toys
• Food
• Wildlife
• Movement
• Sounds
• Smells

The underlying skill is the same.

And perhaps the most exciting part?

Disengagement isn't fixed.

Like many cognitive skills, it can be developed through carefully designed learning experiences that build flexibility, emotional regulation and better decision-making.

When you begin looking beyond the behaviour itself and start asking what the brain is finding difficult, dog behaviour becomes far more logical—and far more compassionate.

That's what behavioural science allows us to do.

There's an entire module dedicated to this exact concept - understanding the skill, building the skill and resolving struggles - in the Canine Behaviour Diploma for that reason!

07/04/2026

Happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

07/03/2026

Annual reminder! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

🇺🇸🇺🇸 Independence Day is almost here! Start preparing now! 🇺🇸🇺🇸

06/25/2026

“The ‘problem’ behavior isn’t always THE problem”

06/16/2026

Great tips here for my small dog people!

Is training a small dog REALLY that different? 🤔

Well…yes! ✅ Small dogs aren’t just medium or large dogs in smaller bodies - they have specific physical needs that we can use to our advantage when trying to maximise training opportunities and outcomes. 🌟

Here are 3 smart ways to train small dogs ⬇️

🧠 Think about their body! Small dogs have small stomachs, so using their daily food allowance in short, frequent sessions helps them to learn in a way that suits their physical needs. Depending on the size of their food rewards, you could also try breaking them into smaller pieces - turning 10 learning opportunities into 100!

🙌 Teach them to catch! Being able to deliver food rewards to mouth without bending down is incredibly valuable. Small dogs tend to wait for food to be dropped to the ground, so they can sniff it out. Teaching them to catch their rewards introduces variety to their delivery and saves their handler from needing to bend down repeatedly!

🐾 Use their paws! Being able to safely and quickly pick small dogs up is a useful relationship-building opportunity and emergency strategy. You can grow this skill by teaching them that there is value in having their front paws on their handler, giving them the ability to drive the interaction and helping to prevent the pick-up wiggles!

Did any of these tips surprise you? 🤩 Are you interested in learning more about how breed and body can influence behaviour? 🦴 Dare to dream, and see where it leads 👉 Link in b!o.

05/21/2026

Let’s talk about the “magica hand.”

Well meaning people reach out their hand so a dog can sniff and make friends. For some dogs, that is fine. For others, it is the fastest way to get bitten.

A reaching hand can:
• Feel invasive
• Reduce distance
• Corner the dog
• Predict restraint

Some dogs have learned that biting makes the hand go away quickly.

A better option:
Allow the dog to approach if they choose.
Ignore them until they initiate affiliative behavior.
Watch body language carefully.

And if:
🚫 You are unsure about what you are seeing
🚫 There is a bite history
🚫 Handling is not necessary

Walking away is the safest choice.

Preventing bites is often about reducing unnecessary pressure.


Dog Illustrations by The Drawables, Owned By: Liz V.

05/07/2026

Great points here! Behavior change plans are much more successful if we arrange the environment to prevent rehearsals of the behavior we want to change!

We do odd things.

We want behaviour to stop while unintentionally allowing it to be rehearsed everywhere else.

We focus heavily on the moment the behaviour appears, but much less on everything leading up to it.
The excitement beforehand.
There’s repeated rehearsal.
The environmental intensity that never changes.
And the inconsistency between situations.

They can be the exact reasons nothing changes.
Because behaviour is not isolated to just one moment.

Dogs learn from patterns.
From repetition.
From emotional outcomes.

That’s why behaviour change can sometimes feel so incredibly frustrating.
The issue is often much, much bigger than the single moment we are trying to stop.

Sometimes “nothing works” because the behaviour is still being strengthened in ways we don’t initially recognise or we miss when the same behaviour shows in a different setting.

Training the exact moment is not always the same as changing the behaviour.

04/30/2026

ATG has a new Demo Dog!!

Meet Pinewood’s Phantom Ryder aka “Ryder” - our 5 month old Standard Poodle pup. 🐾🐾

He fits into our family perfectly and Anchor approves!

Thank you Pinewood Poodles for this beautiful boy! We 💙 him!