Trust + Understanding

Another client of mine recently began trusting her dog.

Bill, a young male Labrador, recently went through our three week program for basic obedience. He had a habit of sneaking off and ignoring her calls when he was off leash. He, of course, did wonderfully in the program and the ecollar was a fantastic tool to continue to have a tactile communication system with him even when he was 100ft away from his handler. Even so (and understandably), his owner still held onto the stress she had previously experienced due to their pre-training off leash incidents. Back at home she put in the work and she did all the right things - long line recall repetitions, dragging a line, fenced sniffspots. After a few weeks her confidence in him grew and he was going fully off leash with her, enjoying beaches, rivers, and forested hikes. “He just needed me to have trust in him, and I can tell he is thankful I do.”

To have confidence in your dog’s behavior is the ultimate achievement by you as the owner/handler and for me as the trainer. I want to be clear that this doesn't mean blind faith under all circumstances, realistic expectations within different contexts will always need to be acknowledged. Trust and understanding are truly the foundation of reframing your relationship with your dog.