Hi! I’m Cathy

Did you just got a puppy and are wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into? Or is he a little older and is in his wild teenage phase where he’s stopped listening and is hard to manage? Or maybe your dog is a real sweetheart 90% of the time and would be perfect if it wasn’t for just that one thing that makes you crazy.

And you don’t know training will help, or if he’ll “grow out of it.

Those are great questions. And as a trainer with over 30 years experience, I’ve learned that dogs don’t grow out of misbehavior, they grow into it.

But the solution is not just practicing more “sits” or giving more treats.

Dog trainer, behavior nerd, and firm believer that your dog is a person.

Labrador Retriever puppy is lying on the floor of the house and chewing on sofa 1

KNOWING VS. LISTENING

Many dogs are taught commands like party tricks, in calm, controlled settings. Most dogs will listen in the kitchen when nothing is going on and you have a handful of treats.

But when the doorbell rings, meet a new person, or see another dog on a walk, all that learning seems forgotten.

It’s one thing for your dog to know a command, an totally different thing for him to actually listen.

GOOD BEHAVIOR ISN’T COMMANDS

Every day, dogs lose their homes because they jump on the kids and dart out the front door. Shelters are overflowing with dogs who chew shoes, soil the carpet, can’t control themselves around trash cans or simply know how to chill.

But no one ever gave up on their dog because he didn’t know “sit.”

To live with humans, it’s much more important your dog knows how to behave than it is to have fancy heeling.

COMMANDS ARE JUST THE VOCABULARY

It’s about whether or not those commands translate into good behavior in real life. If you focus only on commands, it manages the behavior in the short term, but doesn’t solve the underlying problems.

Most “bad” behaviors are simply a dog’s way of trying to cope with anxiety, boredom, or confusion in a world he doesn’t quite understand.

What People Are Saying

FIXING THE “WHY” TO FIX THE “WHAT”

To figure out why your dog is struggling, we need to look at the world from his end of the leash.

It’s amazing how quickly dogs respond once we address what’s really driving the behavior. Fearful dogs become more confident, pushy dogs discover that cooperation gets them what they want faster than bulldozing through life.