The Doggie Diplomat

23/09/2025

It's lovely weather to train your dog :)

&Ralph

21/09/2025

In bad weather, think about how strong your dog's toileting habits are. You could, for example, go out with your dog in the morning to encourage toileting outdoors. Consider if your dog can access a small sheltered area for a more appealing toileting area. My dogs go under the house eaves. When your dog does relieve themselves, use your marker word 'Yes" and then reinforce the behaviour with several treats in a row. Your dog will build strong habits that will not require ongoing training. If you want to occasionally reinforce toileting outside, this will become a nice surprise for your dog.

&Ralph

It's too cold out there. Screw this. I'm pooping in the house today. A very relatable stance on winter weather. ??

14/09/2025

You can work through noise sensitivity to things such as storms, using purpose-designed audio. These audios are a mix of small bursts of what could be distressing sounds, mixed with relaxing sounds of the piano. You can also get audios designed for dogs to support calmness. Leaving the radio or tv on, is over stimulating. I suggest buying dog purpose-designed audio; they don't cost much and are extremely beneficial.

&Ralph

Fireworks, construction work or just traffic.
Those little (or big ears) can be really disturbed by what we take for granted.
Now for the tricky part.
There's a few "mistakes" to point out when doing this, so here goes.
➡️Generally people that have tried this have done it at a volume when their dog is already startled or aware.
That really isn't the idea here.
Then they try and get their dog into a food item or play a game and of course their dog just won't budge.
Their dogs shouldn't even really know the sound is there.
Truly.
That's how you should be starting this.
Give the reward, long lasting chew or puzzle game before the very, very low level noise.
Not during and not after.
I know that seems counterintuitive but it helps enormously.

➡️Don't rush.
This can and often does take a long time because it needs to be done properly.
If you rush you will ruin all your hard work and no one wants that.

➡️Vary your devices/stereos/soundtracks and also where you do this.
This is key.
A very small portable speaker won't have the reverberation you may need later.

Golden rule.
Keep your hand on that remote in case they show signs of being uncomfortable, but remember that is usually always a step backwards and something to avoid. Especially when you are starting this.

This really is a "little and often" scenario.

06/09/2025

Does your dog pester or beg for food?

This behaviour is very common. Consider what you want as a replacement behaviour. My dogs will calmly hang around me, which they do regardless of the food. I acknowledge that people food is probably far tastier than dog food. So if my dogs are watching me eat dinner, it is actually hard on them. I do reinforce my dogs after I have eaten my dinner, I do get them a treat.
Most importantly, if you don't want your dog to beg for food, never reinforce them by sharing food with them. Consider giving a treat after you have eaten.

&Ralph

Those eyes 🙏

03/09/2025

I meet a lot of people who have trained their dog's recall to be cued by the crackling of treat bags :)

If this is your recall, I suggest working through training exercises to establish a verbal cue.

&Ralph

02/09/2025

Who Is Your Dog?

Becoming a pet parent, we may well have dreams of the adventures and lifestyle we will share with our dogs. Life doesn’t always go as planned and the dog you have may not be the one you envisioned.
Did you dream of;
• A social dog, who is happy to meet everybody and every dog.
Instead, your dog is fearful of all new people and reactive towards other dogs.
Yes, these are things that you can work on and improve, for a lot of dogs, though they will never be social butterflies craving the attention of unknown people and dogs.

A new focus could be that you can build up confidence and a feeling of safety, with regular visits from family and friends.
I wish all dogs felt like the world was a good place; however, they navigate going through it.

• A cuddle bug, who craves physical attention.
I think at some point in our lives, we will have had people around us who are mismatched in affection drives. This is a similar negotiation, requiring us to find other ways to bond.
Focus on other ways that you can bond with your dog. If your dog is newly adopted, the drive for affection can change as trust is developed.
• A dog who shares the same level of physical activity
I’m not saying that the only way to meet an active dog's needs is through a ton of exercise. However, if you imagine being out and about all the time with your dog or being out just a little, you may have mismatched drives for physical activity.

For an active dog, focus on both exercise and other forms of entertainment. You may be including calming activities like sniffing. Remember, training is an excellent way of draining energy and building skills that will assist you and your dog with your everyday life and confidence.

• A calm dog. Sometimes you have envisioned your dog being calm and you have ended up with an energiser bunny, who is always busy.

Calmness is a skill that can be taught, reinforce, and watched it grow. Having appropriate outlets for energy, like well-suited play. This play could allow for appropriate bouncing. Yes, some dogs love to bounce and providing your dog with an outlet for this energy will help your dog to be settled for the rest of the day.

While breed can be an indicator of these traits, there will always be dogs that do not conform to the stereotypical examples of their breed.
Just as sometimes the dreams we have for children that don’t become reality, sometimes we have to replace the dreams we have for our dogs with new dreams.

&Ralph

26/08/2025

Check out this gorgeous Rottweiler, playing with one of my chasing balls for the first time. These balls are fabulous and can provide dogs with an opportunity to chase, and for dogs with herding instincts, an outlet for their drive.

If you want to search for these balls, search Boomer ball or Aussie Dog Enduro ball.

&Ralph

23/08/2025

It is lovely weather for dog training.

&Ralph

22/08/2025

Loving each other like dogs love us, could be the best thought ever. I imagine being greeted by your family every day, with tight hugs and a fondness like you haven't seen each other for months. We would be filled with excitement and engage in play, before settling together, leaning in, wanting to still be touched.
I think the way dogs feel when we return home is one of my favourite parts of the day. Dogs give us the ability to experience moments that in the human world normally only occur after prolonged separation. These moments are gifts, embrace them :)

Imagine if we loved each other the way our pets loved us

19/08/2025

I consider the first 6 months of your puppy's life to be their education period. Your puppy will continue to learn throughout their life. This early stage of learning forms a good base for your puppy to go into adulthood. Remember that social exposure can be as simple as walking past someone on the footpath and marking and treating your puppy for noticing.

&Ralph

15/08/2025

Learning how to structure your training exercises is easy once you learn some of the basic theory. The 3D's elements that fit into every training exercise you do.

&Ralph

13/08/2025

Your dog has the ability that it has been trained to. Training needs to keep getting more difficult, to build to an ability that you are happy with. If your dog runs off to say hello to another dog or perhaps chase a cat, get your dog back and then review how to restructure and strengthen your training.

&Ralph

They do hear you.
They may just not respond.
What looks like ignoring is often your dog prioritising what feels the most safe or important in that very moment.

They may be processing other information first... a sound, smell, or a movement that caught their attention.
They need time to process what it is they just experienced.
They might be uncertain about what you’re asking or lack enough practice/history with the cue in that situation.
Stress, excitement or even fear can override their ability to focus on you.

Sometimes it’s about what their brain decides matters most right now.