Dogpoint, Miami, FL (2026)

10/22/2026

DIY your dog's training or hire a professional?
Coming from a trainer, I know how the answer sounds.

Trainers run businesses and businesses sell services, so take this with whatever grain of salt you like.

Then keep reading, because most owners get the line between what you can fix yourself and what you shouldn't touch, very wrong, and getting it wrong costs far more than a training package.

So here is what it looks like:

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳

Leash pulling, jumping, door manners and most of the everyday problems I post about here.

Plenty of owners take that advice, stay consistent and fix the problem without ever booking a session, which is exactly why I post it.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗜𝗬 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴

Reactivity is the big one. Any trainer worth their salt will tell you not to tackle it alone, and the reason has nothing to do with effort. I've worked with owners who tried hard, stayed consistent and did everything they read online, and their dog still got worse.

What they were missing was the specialized knowledge of what to do, how to do it, and above all when and why.

With a reactive dog, timing decides everything. Reward at the wrong time and you've accidentally reinforced the lunge. Correct at the wrong moment and your dog thinks that it's being corrected for doing nothing wrong.

If your dog is reactive, things are probably bad enough already without making them worse by accident.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲

I know a lot of people are watching their money right now, and sitting on the fence feels like the cheaper option, but it rarely is.

Every month your dog rehearses the behavior makes it more ingrained, and more ingrained means more sessions, more time and more money to undo it.

The best time to get help was months ago. The second best time is now, and no, it's not too late. In most cases reactivity can be fixed, or at the very least managed to the point where walks stop being something you dread.

If you've been trying to fix your dog's reactivity on your own, DM me REACT and tell me what's going on with you and your dog!

- Marc Windgassen
No Drive... No Joy.

10/20/2026

If you've trained consistently for 3 months with no change, your trainer owes you an honest conversation.

I hear the same story from new clients almost every week. They did the homework, practiced daily, showed up to every session and paid every invoice, and their dog still drags them down the street or loses their mind at the sight of another dog.

When I ask why they stayed so long, the answer is nearly always some version of "I really like my trainer."

I understand that. You've built rapport, they know your dog's name, maybe they've been in your living room, and leaving feels like breaking up with someone over text.

You hired a trainer to fix a problem, though, and liking someone is a terrible reason to keep paying for results you aren't getting.

So here is how to check whether your training is working:

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆

Leash pulling and jumping should show clear improvement within the first two to four weeks if you're doing the work. Your walks won't be perfect yet, but you should notice a real difference.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁

If you've been running the same exercises for eight weeks with nothing to show for it and the only advice you get is to be patient, your trainer has run out of ideas and is hoping time will solve what the method can't.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝘆

Ask why your dog does what they do and what specifically is being done about it.

A vague answer also tells you everything you need to know.

The money you've already spent is gone either way, so the only decision left is whether you keep paying for the same lack of results or finally make the switch and join the Marc side.

(see what I did there 😆)

If this sounds like your last few months, DM me STUCK and tell me what you've tried so far.

- Marc Windgassen
No Drive... No Joy.

10/18/2026

You pay for a personal trainer, an accountant and a cleaner, but your dog's behavior gets free YouTube videos.

You outsource everything that matters and that you don't have time to master yourself. Then your dog drags you across the street toward another dog, and suddenly you're taking advice from a stranger on TikTok between two meetings.

Meanwhile you've stopped inviting people over, you walk at 6am so nobody sees the circus, and you apologize to strangers more often than you'd like to admit.

A dog with three or four problems stacked on top of each other doesn't get fixed in four weeks. Those behaviors feed each other, so the dog that pulls is often the dog that reacts, and the dog that reacts usually can't settle at home either.

That's what my VIP package is for: six months of weekly one-on-one training for owners who want a completely different dog by the end of it.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘅

- Leash pulling
- Lunging, barking and reactivity toward dogs, people, bikes or cars
- Jumping on guests and kids
- Fear and insecurity
- Over-excitement from bad socialization
- Ignoring you around distractions
- A dog that can't switch off at home

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁

- A live one-on-one Zoom session every week for six months
- A recording and tailored PDF summary after every session
- Lifetime access to both of my online courses
- More frequent check-ins between sessions
- Video reviews: film the behavior, send it over, and I tell you exactly what I see and what to change

The VIP package is 2,800 USD, a little over 100 USD a week for six months with a trainer who has 30 years of experience in your corner. And let's be honest here... you've spent more on things that annoyed you less than your dog does.

The plan is built around your schedule, your home and your dog's breed, because a plan that only works if you have three free hours a day is a plan you'll quit.

Booking starts with a short video call. I only take a dog into VIP when I'm confident six months will get the result, and if it's the wrong fit, I'll tell you.

DM me VIP and we'll book your call this week.

- Marc Windgassen
No Drive... No Joy.

10/17/2026

Your dog is lunging and screaming at every dog on the street and has probably learned it from all those friendly hellos.

I see the same pattern every week. Someone gets a new dog, reads that socialization is the most important thing they can do, and takes it as permission to let the dog meet every other dog at the park and every person who stops to say how cute it is.

For months every dog means play and every stranger means attention, so your dog quite reasonably concludes that the whole world exists for its entertainment.

Then your dog gets older and one day on a normal walk sees another dog across the street and but suddenly isn't allowed to go over.

That's when the whining, barking, lunging and spinning at the end of the leash starts, and the you stand there wondering how your sweet, friendly dog became the neighborhood problem overnight.

The reality is that nothing about it happened overnight. Your dog had months of practice expecting that every dog it sees is coming over to play, and when a leash blocks that expectation, excitement turns into frustration very fast.

This is excitement-based reactivity, and it gets mistaken for aggression all the time. It's still a serious problem, because it rarely stays where it started.

Sooner or later your over-excited dog charges into a dog that has no interest in a face full of enthusiasm, gets told off properly, and now there is real conflict in the picture.

Proper socialization means teaching your dog to stay calm and neutral around new places, people, dogs, sounds and smells.

In practice that looks like a lot more watching from a distance than greeting, rewarding your dog for noticing another dog calmly and turning back to you,

Politely telling strangers they can't pet them, and keeping real play to a small group of stable dogs you know and trust.

You need to be the most interesting thing in your dog's world, because if every passing Labrador is more exciting than you, you will lose that competition on every single walk.

And that's problematic reality that many of you now live in

- Marc Windgassen
No Drive... No Joy.

10/16/2026

I just killed my cheapest package on purpose.
Four sessions can never be enough to fix a reactive dog.

Most people book me for jumping or leash pulling. By the end of the first session we've usually found a few more things going on underneath, like reactivity on walks, a dog that can't settle at home, or an owner who has been accidentally rewarding the problem for years.

Fixing one surface behavior in four weeks is doable. Fixing everything feeding it takes longer, and after 30 years of training dogs I'd rather tell you that upfront than have you find out in week five.

So I rebuilt my packages around that.

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱: 3 months, $1,100

For leash pulling, jumping and the everyday problems that make your dog hard to live with. 12 weekly live Zoom sessions, a recording and written summary after every session, and text and email support in between.

𝗩𝗜𝗣: 6 months, $2,800

For reactivity, long-standing problems or several issues at once. 24 weekly sessions, a check-in from me between every session, priority phone support, and video reviews of your dog's worst moments within 48 hours.
In VIP you learn exactly what to do, when, how and why for your specific dog, so eventually you stop needing me. That's the goal.

I keep VIP small on purpose so my attention never gets spread thin, which is why it starts with a short call.

Same balanced approach as always, built around your dog, their breed and your calendar. If you were hoping for a quick fix you can forget about after four sessions, I'm the wrong trainer for you.

DM me PLAN and tell me what your dog is doing, and I'll tell you which package fits.

- Marc Windgassen

No Drive... No Joy.

10/14/2026

Many of you need to stop overthinking your dog's training because it's a lot simpler than you think.

The main thing you need to do is be clear in your communication and CONSISTENT.

Pair that with rules, boundaries, structure, and routine... you'll be set.

Will you need professional training at some point? For most of you, the answer is yes.

But that's totally ok because it could just mean a couple of sessions to help you in a particular area.

Based on the feedback I've gotten from many of you, it's very easy to be overwhelmed, especially when you've realized how many things you did wrong when your dog was younger.

But again, it's ok. The important thing that matters is you learning from your mistakes and making the changes now.

You can see from the advice I give on here, 15 minutes a day is roughly all you need to make a significant improvement in your dog's behavior.

So you don't need to carve out a chunk of time in your already busy schedule... you just need to be consistent and make small but continuous improvement.

Will you have moments where you fail or feel like things have actually regressed? Of course!

But I can tell you from decades of experience that it's a completely normal part of the process.

Stop being so hard in yourself because your dog's behavior isn't where you'd like it to be.

Start focusing more on what little areas you can improve one at a time while also reflecting on the progress you've made!

-Marc Windgassen
No Drive... No Joy

10/13/2026

Locking your dog away on Halloween isn't fixing your problem.

It's postponing it until your holiday guests show up.

Search for Halloween dog tips this month and most of the advice is about managing the night: mute the doorbell, put a sign on the door, keep the dog in a quiet room with white noise on.

If your dog is genuinely terrified, managing the night is a fair enough tactic because it gets you through the short period.

But it's not fixing the root cause of the problem.

You have 18 days to fix this, which is plenty if you start this week.

So here is what it looks like:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗴

Ask for a sit and start opening. The moment they get up to rush it, the door closes again. A few rounds of that and they figure out that patience is what opens it, so the door itself does the teaching.

𝟮. 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹

A dog with nothing to do when the bell rings will invent a plan, and it usually involves your visitor's knees or upper body. Which in this case will result in a terrible outcome for any costume. So search a spot a few meters from the door where they go and sit.

𝟯. 𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

Have someone in the house ring or knock while you run steps one and two. Five minutes a day for two weeks and Halloween is rep number fifty for your dog, not the first surprise of the evening.

𝟰. 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝗼𝗿-𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼

Your dog stays on their spot while you hand out the candy. A kid in a mask reaching for a dog that's already wound up is exactly how bites happen, and you are the one held responsible.

Guests you know who are coming inside can say hello once your dog is calm and all four paws are on the floor.

Do the groundwork now and the doorbell turns into just another visitor.

Your guests will thank you! Save this and start tonight.

If the doorbell makes your dog go nuts, DM me DOOR and tell me what happens when it rings and when they see visitors.

- Marc Windgassen

No Drive... No Joy.

10/12/2026

A study said 99% of dogs have behavior problems.

Then other researchers rechecked the math.

In 2025 a Texas A&M paper claimed almost every dog in America has a behavior problem.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania went through the same data on over 43,000 dogs and found the bar was set so low that a dog growling at the delivery driver counted as moderate to serious aggression.

Fair point, one growl doesn't make a problem dog for me either.

Before you relax and decide your dog is fine, think about what the corrected numbers still say.

Almost a third of the dogs scored moderate to serious for aggression toward other dogs, which the researchers called concerning themselves, and even with a stricter bar about one in ten still made it.

So 99% was overblown, and what is left is still a lot of dogs with real problems that somebody needs to sort out.

And this is the behavior that I help owners fix every week.

In over 30 years I have heard "they all do that" more times than I can count, usually from someone being pulled across the street while saying it.

Normal only means a lot of dogs do it, and that tells you nothing about whether you should ALLOW it.

The original author made a good point in both papers.

Many dogs with real problems are never reported because their owners learned to live around it.

They walk at 5am to avoid other dogs and lock the dog in the bedroom when guests come over.

Nothing is fixed, the problem is just poorly managed.

If your routine has workarounds built into it, your dog has a problem that needs sorting out, and most of these problems respond well to clear, consistent training.

Save this for the next time somebody tells you that their dog’s crazy behavior is normal,

And repost it for the dog owner you know who walks at 5am for a reason.

- Marc Windgassen

No Drive... No Joy.

10/11/2026

A treat is a paycheck, not a bribe.
And most owners stop paying way too early.

I use food in almost every session with food-motivated dogs, and roughly 95% of how I train is positive reinforcement.

So when people tell me treats are bribery, I have to wonder who explained payroll to them.

Everything below is about dogs with a naturally high food drive.

Dogs with a high prey drive usually get paid in toys and play, which changes the details, but the principle works the same way.

Calling it a bribe assumes your dog won't do the job without it. The whole point of food in obedience training is to pay the dog for doing the work you asked for, the same way you expect to get paid by your boss for doing your job.

Where people go wrong is the pay structure. There are three phases, and most owners try to skip straight to the last one.

𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘆

From the beginning and well into the medium term, every correct sit, down and recall gets paid. Your dog is still learning what the job is, and the food reward comes immediately after they display the behavior you desired.

𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀

Once your dog reliably does the work, the pay becomes unpredictable. Sometimes the sit earns a treat and sometimes it earns a "good dog" and nothing else, which keeps them guessing and working because the next rep might be the one that pays.

Same way you try extra in the hopes that you get your Christmas bonus.

(Trust me, we've all been there 🙄)

𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

Treats drop to a fraction of what they were, but they never disappear completely, because if you stop paying altogether the motivation fades over the following months.

You just pay a lot less, which is the end goal any time you start training with food.

Most owners do Phase 1 for two weeks, see a few good sits and cut the dog's salary to zero.

Then they're surprised when their dog stops doing the work, and suddenly the dog is stubborn again.

If your boss completely stopped paying you tomorrow, how long would you keep showing up and doing what you're told?

- Marc Windgassen

No Drive... No Joy.

10/10/2026

You don't need more time to fix your dog's leash pulling.

The walks you already take are enough if you use them right.

You get home late, grab the leash, and spend the next twenty minutes being towed toward every lamppost, squirrel, person, and dog on the street.

Your shoulder hurts, the walk feels like a second job, and you start to resent the walks that you once loved.

So you look online for help, and the advice seems written for people who don't have a job.

Stand still like a tree every time the leash goes tight, turn around forty times per block, and hand out a treat every few steps for six months.

None of that is completely wrong in theory, but it assumes you have unlimited time and a dog who cares more about some dry boring snack than the dog across the road.

Most people try it for a week, get nowhere, and go back to being dragged.

The dog walks away with the one lesson that actually stuck, which is that pulling works.

I fix pulling on the walks you are already taking. In the first session I look at your dog, their breed and why they pull,

Because a dog that wants to say to everyone and a nervous rescue scanning for other mean dogs are two very different problems.

Then we work live on Zoom.

The dog gets a clear reward for walking where they should and a well-timed leash correction when they blow past it, so they understand what you want a lot faster than with the stand-like-a-tree routine.

After every session you get the recording and a PDF summary, so there is nothing to memorize between walks.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁

• 1 Month: 4 live one-hour Zoom sessions, a personalized training plan, progress tracking, email and text support, and lifetime access to one online course. $400.

• 3 Months: 12 sessions, priority phone support, advanced behavior modification and two online courses. $900 with code BULK at checkout.

Start this month and the walks are sorted before the dark winter evenings arrive.

DM me PULL and tell me what your dog drags you toward.

- Marc Windgassen

No Drive... No Joy.

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