Musings on my own mutts
I've had a few clients lately with dogs who presented with issues similar to those I've been through with my own dogs. A couple of the issues were things I knew I could help with, but nonetheless were a little close to home. What I didn't expect was the realisation of how difficult my own dogs had been in comparison. For those who think you can't train using food or play to motivate your dog... well I was once in that position too, and to this day I still have to make a HUGE deal out of the food or game in order to make it reinforcing for my boy. For the first few years I had him (bearing in mind at that time I had no idea about anything behaviour or training related) if we were out walking he could not shift his focus to me. At all. Ever. He pulled so bad I had almost constant whiplash and his prey drive was out of control. Once I began learning about behavioural science and how to approach these issues we did begin to see improvements - BUT it took so friggin' lo
