Planet Dog Training & Behaviour, Brighton (2025)

23/10/2025

More cracking wisdom from Shakespeare. And although he wasn’t specifically referring to our relationships with dogs in this line from Hamlet, it does fit incredibly well.

We humans are all too eager to ascribe morality to our canine friends, but a dog who is taking food from the kitchen counters, who is chewing up your furniture, who is digging holes in your garden, and running off with your shoes - none of this is bad behaviour.

Similarly, a dog lying quietly when the post drops through your front door, a dog travelling calmly in your car, a dog not running off as soon as he catches the scent of a rabbit, a dog being uninterested in your food when you are having dinner - none of that is good behaviour either.

It is all just behaviour.

It is we humans who are so keen to decide what is good and what is bad. Dogs are less concerned about morality and more concerned about being safe and meeting their own needs.

So by all means tell them what good pups they are when they’re doing things that make you happy, but when they’re doing things that make you less than happy, then work out what YOU need to be doing differently in order to ensure that they are able to offer a behaviour that you would find more agreeable. Because, in the end, dogs are just trying to get by as best as they can in a world which must be really puzzling for them at times. The least we can do is to help them on that journey.

22/10/2025

What might it mean to live more like our dogs?

Maybe we could learn to live more in the present moment.

Maybe we might, as Mary Oliver puts it, just be “grateful for the good things that come along.”

Maybe we could love more, forgive more, and be more willing to be unapologetically ourselves.

Perhaps if we all tried to be a little more dog, we might also be able to be better friends to our best friends.

21/10/2025

If your dog is behaving in ways that you find challenging, it may be helpful to acknowledge that rather than giving you a hard time, their behaviour is evidence that they are having a hard time.

All behaviour is communication. So try to take a minute to understand things from your dog’s point of view: what might be worrying them, upsetting them, or overwhelming them? What can you do to help them to feel safer, calmer, better understood?

Dogs are doing their very best, every day, to navigate our human-centric world. They need you, as their guardian and their friend, to advocate for them, to meet their needs and to help them on that journey. �

So if you are having a hard time because of the hard time that your dog is having, pause, take a deep breath, and try to work out what they need. Alleviating their hard time will help to improve things for you both. And if you feel at a loss as to how to go about this, then get in touch with Planet Dog today.

20/10/2025

Rather than wondering how to STOP your dog from performing a certain behaviour, why not start by considering what behaviour you might like to see your dog performing in that context instead?

If you don’t want them to jump up at guests, try to think about how you can make it more rewarding for them to keep all 4 paws on the floor and learn how to train that behaviour instead.

If you don’t want them to jump up at the counters when you’re making dinner, try to think about how you can make it rewarding for them to wait calmly on a mat whilst you’re cooking, and train that behaviour instead.

If you don’t want them to chew your furniture, try to think about what dog-friendly chews you would like them to have and make sure that you provide those instead.

Life with your dog should not be a battle.

Imagine if everything you did that was completely natural for you was met with a “No!” from the people that you love. Life would be confusing, frustrating, and pretty unpleasant. Your dog is your friend. Treat them with the kindness they deserve and allow them to be their beautiful canine selves; it might take a little bit of thought sometimes to work out how to do that in ways that make you both happy, but it is worth it. And if you need help with that process, then Planet Dog can help.

23/09/2025

Everybody has the capacity to continue to learn and to grow.

Always striving to do the best that we can for our dogs means being willing to constantly reflect and improve on our interactions with them, and educating ourselves about how to ensure that they can live their best lives with us. It means learning what they need from us, learning how to communicate clearly with them so that they always feel happy and safe, and learning to understand what they are saying to us, too. It means accepting that there may be a better way.

If you don’t know how to go about this, then get in touch with Planet Dog today.

21/09/2025

If you see an on-lead dog and your dog is off-lead, put your dog back on the lead.

It’s bad (p)etiquette to let your off-lead dog run up uninvited to other people and dogs.

It is also a complete non-event for you but could make a huge difference to someone else.

Yes, your dog might be friendly.
Yes, you know that your dog won’t approach the other dog.

But the other person and dog don’t know either of those things. Even if they did, it might not make a difference to them. They and their dog may simply need space - the reasons why could be a million different things, none of which you need to know in order to do the decent thing.

The simple act of putting your own off-lead dog back on lead is a signal to the other dog and their person that you will respect their space, that you recognise that they and/or their dog might need that space, and that you are happy to extend this momentary kindness to them. And studies have found that being kind enhances the mood of the giver as well as the receiver, so it’s a win-win.

18/09/2025

I bet you didn’t think you’d be taking advice from Frank Sinatra about dog training today, but sometimes a line just really fits.

It can be very hard when you’re working on getting to where you want to be in your relationship with your dog. But rather than being demoralised when things don’t go quite as you had hoped and planned, recognise that every day offers a new opportunity to start afresh - this can be a very liberating realisation.

If you need help with any aspect of your dog’s behaviour and want to learn how to improve your relationship with them so that you can get to where you want to be together, then get in touch with Planet Dog today.

17/09/2025

If you’re struggling with any aspect of your dog’s behaviour, then there’s no point just burying your head and hoping that things will get better on their own. You need to make change if you want to see change.

If you need help learning how to do this and how to improve things for you and your dog, then get in touch with Planet Dog today.

16/09/2025

You know why we use the word ‘cue’ not ‘command’ when we’re talking about behaviours that we’re asking our dogs to perform? Because they are prompts not demands. Just like you, a dog should be able to say no. There might be a million reasons why your dog is unable to perform the behaviour that you’re asking of them in a given moment and using the word ‘cue’ means that you leave yourself open to ask the question ‘Why?’

When a dog isn’t responding to your cue it is usually because:

1. They don’t understand what you’re asking of them: perhaps you haven’t trained the behaviour as effectively as you think you have and they are not not yet able to perform it in the context in which you’re asking for it (when there are lots of distractions around, for example).
2. They are not sufficiently motivated to perform the behaviour for whatever reason (perhaps they are uncomfortable, afraid, or in pain).

Being willing to ask the question and taking time to try to understand the answer to that question will help to improve your relationship with your dog and, consequently, your training with them.

Training should always be a collaboration. Allowing your dog to have agency in the process helps to build their confidence as well as making training a more enjoyable - and therefore ultimately more successful - experience for you both. It also enhances your training because rather than expecting blind obedience to everything that you say (which is not, after all, the basis of a healthy relationship), it encourages you to ask what needs to change in order to help you and your dog be a more successful team.

So think about your cues and really take the time to understand how and why your dog is responding or not responding to them. Wouldn’t we all rather be the ‘Make training fun for my dog’ kind of person rather than the ‘Pointing and yelling at my dog’ kind of person? It’s a choice. If you’re not finding it an easy one to make, then please get in touch with Planet Dog today.

15/09/2025

The wind is set to be super speedy today, so it’s worth considering what this might mean for you and your dog.

Strong winds can obviously create sensory overload for dogs. Sounds and scents will tumble every which way which means that there will be an increased amount of information coming at them compared to on a non-windy day, but it will be way harder than usual for them to ascertain which direction all this information is coming from. This might result in stress, agitation, overexcitement, and/or an inability to respond to you as they might usually do.

Sensitive dogs might find the increased noise and activity stressful and become (more) hypervigilant than usual. Increased fear and/or anxiety will also reduce their thresholds, meaning that negative reactions may occur more readily, even to things that they would typically have no trouble coping with.

So what can you do?

1. Be aware that your dog might behave differently on a very windy day like today.
2. If you have a sensitive dog, be aware that the world may seem to harbour increased threats on days like today, so adjust things as necessary in order to help them to feel safe.
3. Try to see and understand the world as it might appear to your dog today and be sensitive to what they might need to feel more comfortable (this is true for every day, not just a windy one!). This might mean that you change your walking route, shorten your walk, or that you give up your walk altogether if your dog seems particularly reluctant to go or uncomfortable whilst they are out. You can always provide indoor activities and enrichment instead. The most important thing is that your dog feels safe and listened to - responding to what they need - on any day, not just a windy one - is the best way to ensure that you are being the true friend that your dog needs and deserves.

14/09/2025

Because some days are just perfect poetry days and perfect spending time in nature with your dog days.

Enjoying the peace of wild things? That’s a gift that you can enjoy every day, courtesy of your dog.

11/09/2025

If things are not going the way that you hope in your relationship with your dog, then it’s time to look at what needs to change. Doing the same thing over and over again, whilst expecting different results, is futile.

Taking time to think about why a behaviour is occurring and considering what you could be doing differently if you are hoping to change it, are far more productive than continuing on a path that you know is not working for you or for your dog.

If you want help with making the changes that are needed to help both you and your dog, then get in touch with Planet Dog today.

Planet Dog Training & Behaviour

23/10/2025

22/10/2025

21/10/2025

20/10/2025

23/09/2025

21/09/2025

18/09/2025

17/09/2025

16/09/2025

15/09/2025

14/09/2025

11/09/2025

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