Pippa Mattinson

We used to talk about the commands we use in dog training. Nowadays you’ll more often hear them referred to a cues. A cue is a trigger or prompt for the behavior your dog performs when it hears (or sees) the cue. Often the cue is a word, like SIT. Sometimes it’s a whistle or …

Cues And Commands: Be Careful What You LabelRead More

Something that comes up from time to time in our training support group, and on our Facebook page, is the concept of time out. So I wanted to talk a bit about that today. About what time out actually looks like, from your point of view and from the dog’s point of view.  At first …

Time Out – Does It Work, And Will It Change My Dog’s Behavior?Read More

So many people fail at dog training because they have no real understanding of what motivates their dog, or of how to include that motivation into their daily lives.  The truth is, dog training is both easier and harder than you think.   Easier, because once you have nailed down the four key principles that underpin …

4 Things That Need To Happen For Your Dog To Get TrainedRead More

Some of you are asking when you can fade training treats, or stop using them altogether. And I’m going to give you the lowdown on that below.  But first, we need to talk. And we need to talk about extinction. I don’t mean dinosaur style. I mean extinction in behavioral terms. I’ve realised I don’t …

When Can I Stop Using Treats In Dog Training?Read More

I won’t lie to you, I’ve hesitated, procrastinated even, for quite a while before beginning this article. Not because it isn’t needed. On the contrary, it is very common for our students, and Facebook group members, to ask us how to stop a dog whining.  So why do I hesitate to tackle this topic? One …

Your Whining Dog – Is There A Cure?Read More

A reader asked me recently, how to manage their young spaniel when they need to keep them safe on a leash, but have not yet completed their leash training.  My reader rightly recognized that walking the puppy on a leash while they are pulling ahead allows the puppy to practice the unwanted behavior which is …

How To Manage Leash Pulling In A Part Trained DogRead More

There’s a popular saying in business “you get what you measure” or “you are what you measure” . It’s a somewhat flawed premise, but it has its good points! The idea is to encourage people to track what is important to them, what really matters. In the belief that this helps improve results.  Of course …

Measuring Your Dog’s Progress Can Be Very Motivating!Read More