Episode 57: Halloween has already started for your dog

Owners leaning into compulsive behaviour because it suits them, while the fallout lands entirely on the dog. One of the better indicators of good welfare is behavioural diversity — a wide range of behaviours. A very narrow range indicates the opposite. So a dog who can only play fetch is not a dog with a hobby. In this episode I get into what the compulsion is actually doing. Often it is escapism — the world is too much, so the dog finds one predictable, endorphin-rich thing to focus on in order to cope with being there. That is tolerating a place rather than being in it. I also take on the working dog defence, because working dogs were bred to think and problem solve, not to chase mindlessly. And I cover the physical bill, the social cost, and why compulsion and antisocial behaviour so often travel together. Then the part I most want people to hear — why a dog still doing the activity is terrible evidence that they are not in pain, and how owners can accidentally make an injury worse. Plus what to do instead, including why your dog is not bad at sniffing, they just have not been taught.

There is a lot out there on harnesses and a fair amount of nonsense in it. So I start with the one thing worth saying outright: harnesses that train your dog not to pull do not exist. A harness cannot train a dog. It can make pulling uncomfortable, which is a different thing entirely. What a harness genuinely changes is where the pressure lands, and that matters more than the brand on the label. A dog who has spent a year pulling against one point has already decided what contact there means — entrapment, restraint, frustration. Move it and you are no longer fighting the behaviour and the belief system at once. In this episode I go through front, back and collar, when a front attachment is the wrong call, and why the point between the shoulder blades is the last place I would clip a puller. I also cover the part most people skip — practising loose lead walking with no lead and no harness at all, and separating the training walk from the exercise so you are not trying to do two jobs badly at once. Plus a simple trick for dogs who reverse out of their harness, and why cornering your dog to get it on is quietly wrecking your recall.

A client’s dog walked down his own street yesterday, the street he walks every day, and lost his mind at a fake black cat sitting on a driveway pillar. Halloween has not even happened yet. In this episode I go through why the sensitive dogs are already struggling, and why a fright early in a walk raises the temperature for everything that follows. I also tell the story of what happened at the park straight afterwards. Three dog walkers arriving at once with four dogs each, a loud and tense meet and greet that carried a hundred metres, and the way it rippled outward until every dog we passed on the way out was rattled. There is an honest bit about anticipation too — why I am sitting at home this week quietly hoping nobody knocks and wakes my toddler, and why your dog is doing a version of exactly the same thing. Plus what to actually do about it. Shorter walks, less social pressure, and a serious look at what your dog can access at the front of the house this weekend.

There is one lead I have never once looked at and thought, that is a good idea. It is worse than the extendable, and worse than the one I usually call the worst. I get to it at the end. Before that, something more basic — spatial pressure and leash pressure. Get the leash pressure wrong and you are restraining your dog rather than walking them. In this episode I go through the leads I come across most. Why slip leads belong in a vet clinic and not in the hands of the public. Why I still walk my own dog on a flat collar, and the honest trade-off behind that. And how length should change depending on the dog in front of you and the suburb you are standing in — Surry Hills and the Shire are not the same problem. I also explain the setup I actually use. A three metre flat lead, run like a car with two gears, open when it can be and shorter when it needs to be — shorter being a very different thing to tight. Then the ones I argue with. Flexi leads, including a client I told to keep hers before changing my mind entirely. Bungee leads, and the mechanical reason they make pulling worse rather than better. And then the one at the top of the list, which is worse than both of them.

I raise this in consults all the time and the eyebrows still go up. A lead does not have to be an outdoor item, and used indoors it is often the difference between a training plan that works and one that doesn’t. In this episode I go through the three situations I reach for it in. The dog who charges the window barking, where it blocks the pattern before it starts and keeps the arousal spike small enough to actually recover from. The household where the dog needs to be present but not underfoot. And the hyper-attached dog who cannot settle. I also get into why a tether can work better than a barrier for some dogs, and the bigger problem with shutting a dog away entirely — they never learn how to be near the thing, they just never see it happen. Plus the honest conversation about supervision. Active, passive, and the trap of believing you are watching the dog when the email in front of you is actually the priority. And the practical detail that catches most people out: never use your walking lead for this.

Dogs jump up. A LOT.   It is something that the vast majority of people I work with will at least mention, even if it's a throw away comment but often it's something people actually want help resolving.   In this episode we look at what not to do, why dogs jump up and what you can actually do that helps solve things.   Not all dogs jump up for the same reason, not all dogs that jump up need to be stopped at all and the traditional ideas of turn your back on them and just ignore them will very likely make it worse.

Leadership is one of those terms that when spoken about by dog trainers seems to lead to someone talking about having to be the alpha, how your dog is not respecting you and that you have to be stricter and not let your dogs walk all over you.   Unfortunately, leading to people being excessively punitive, destroying relationships and causing more fear and anxiety in their dogs than was ever necessary.   Healthy leadership doesn't require you to do any of these things. Healthy leadership requires us to be disciplined, us to take responsibility and accountability and to be consistent with the care of those we are leading.   This episode unpacks all of this quickly and concisely.

People ring me about aggression across an enormous spectrum. One house, someone is being bitten regularly and telling me it's fine. Another house, a woman is close to tears because her dog grumbled and turned his head away from a cuddle. Both calls come in under the same heading. In this episode I get into why that spectrum exists, and why some conflict between you and your dog is contextually normal. A huge number of the dogs in our homes were deliberately bred to handle confrontation — herding breeds to push livestock around, terriers to hunt, guarding breeds to be sceptical by default. Working line dogs have an agenda, and an agenda means friction sometimes. None of that means punishment or intimidation belongs in the response. I cover what healthy leadership actually looks like, why we all drop the ball occasionally and so will our dogs, and the question that matters more than any other when it happens: is this a one-off, or is it a pattern? Plus the uncomfortable bit underneath all of it — in every one of these cases, the person is the one who has to change first.  

Our dogs love balls and they can be one of the best things in their lives.   They can also be a disaster if not used well or in the wrong places.   This episode walks you through how to ensure you're using it well, it's an asset in both your lives and it's not causing more problems than you realise.

Who your dog spends time with will influence their social skills, behaviour and preferences.   Socialising your dog with a wide range of individuals and in a range of situations helps them learn how to be flexible, adaptable and resilient.