Forbes Dog Training

05/12/2025

JUST ASK STEVE
We get asked a lot of the same questions repeatedly. In an effort to help more people, we’re going to feature some of them here under the heading of, ‘Just ask Steve.’ Lets get started:

Why is my dog not motivated by food?

All dogs are food motivated. Any dog not motivated by food becomes sick within weeks and eventually dies. So any living dog is food motivated.

If your dog won’t take food in certain environments or won’t take food from you in training, you are doing it all wrong. You need to rip up your training manual that you are currently using and start again with an open mind. Allow us to prove to you that your dog IS food motivated!

If you have a question you would like Steve to answer in the, ‘Just Ask Steve,’ feature, drop us a DM.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

04/12/2025

REWARDING UNWANTED BEHAVIOURS
Many unwanted behaviours are self rewarding. Meaning the behaviour itself is enjoyable to the dog. One example of this would be barking at the postman when he/she delivers your mail.

Other unwanted behaviours are reinforced by the owner inadvertently. An example of this would be a dog that barks at visitors that come to your home, whilst the owner strokes the dog and whispers reassuringly that this visitor is friendly. This action by the owner although unintentional is interpreted by the dog as reassurance that their actions are acceptable, thus helping to reinforce the behaviour.

If you would like help with any unwanted behaviours, get in touch and ask for details about our services.

We can help with reactivity, resource guarding, separation anxiety, lead pulling, jumping up, and aggression issues.

30/11/2025

COMMUNICATION
Most people we see, try to communicate with their dog in the same way we communicate with each other, with words. Dogs do have the ability to learn the meaning of words via the association between a sound and an action.

We call this, associative learning or classical conditioning and if you want to improve how you communicate with your dog, you should study and learn how it works, so that you can put it into practice.

If you need help to put learning theory into practice, get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

26/11/2025

DOGS THAT PULL ON THE LEAD
It’s probably the most common behaviour that owners struggle with. If you’re trying to fix it by stopping or changing direction and you’re not getting anywhere, let me explain.

Believe it or not, pulling is a self reinforcing behaviour and you need to stop your dog from reinforcing it. Your dog pulls to have a p*e and then the lead goes slack. Your dog pulls to sniff where another dog p*e’d and then the lead goes slack. Your dog pulls you all the way to the park and is then released from the lead to run around free from the lead. Your dog pulls you to greet another dog and then …… you guessed it, the lead went slack. Can you see the pattern?

This pattern of pressure, pressure, pressure and then release is called negative reinforcement in the science of dog training. When you remove pressure (negative in this context means removing) it reinforces the behaviour, making it more likely in the future.

The more often you release that pressure, the more reinforcing it becomes until you have a very reliable behaviour. When dogs pull, it’s working against us but we can also use negative reinforcement to work for us.

If you have a dog that pulls and you would like some help to stop it, get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

21/11/2025

HOW DOGS COMMUNICATE
Have you ever thought about how dogs teach each other what they like and don’t like? It might shock you to know the truth.

Believe it or not, they don’t go around with a treat pouch attached to their waist, dishing out treats for good behaviour. Nor do they shriek at the top of their voice, “Good Girl!”

We can learn a lot from watching dogs interact. There is way too much emphasis being placed on food rewards in training. It is not the be all and end all that some would have you believe. Yes, it has a place but all I’m saying is that there is more to it. You owe it to your dog to learn their language.

If you need help, get in touch.

(For licensing or usage, contact [email protected])Rosalie is an experienced dog mother. This is her last litter (she just had 4). She wants to enter th...

16/11/2025

TOO MUCH FREEDOM!
How much freedom should your dog be getting and how much should you be restricting freedom?

If your dog, always does what he’s told and doesn’t have any behaviour problems inside the house, then that dog doesn’t need their freedom restricted. Perfect dogs don’t need to earn their freedom, they’ve already earned it!

Freedom inside the house can be restricted by; a crate and/or a house line. A dog that is not perfect needs to be either in a crate or on a house line at all times.

The house line enables you to guide the dog until they learn what is expected of them. As the dog becomes more reliable and better behaved, the dog can be trailing the line more and more. However, in the beginning, the house line should be attached to you at all times.

Too much freedom inside the house is THE reason for all behaviour problems. Restricting freedom is your starting point for addressing all behaviour problems inside the house.

If you need help with any behaviour problems, get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

15/11/2025

UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH OR COMFORTABLE LIE?
What would you prefer to hear from your dog trainer? There are times when telling a client the truth about what they need to do, to bring about changes in their dogs behaviour, can be a difficult conversation.

At times the truth can be uncomfortable to hear, particularly if you have been spun comfortable lies that appeal to your emotions. Albeit those lies were not helpful for your dog!

An uncomfortable truth is always better than a comfortable lie when it comes to getting training results consistently. That’s just the way it is.

If you are ready for some honest, common sense help with your dogs training or behaviour. If you’re ready to see significant results after every session. Get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

13/11/2025

WE TRAIN YOU TO TRAIN YOUR DOG!
Being able to drive doesn’t make you a Driving Instructor. Being a Football Player doesn’t make you a Coach. Training your own dog doesn’t make you a Dog Trainer.

However, I see people on social media promoting themselves as Dog Trainers by demonstrations of what their own personal dog can do. A dog they live 24/7 with and spend hours of time training with every day. This is not what training a clients dog is like.

A Dog Trainer is more akin to a Schoolteacher or a Football Coach, they need to be able to pass on their knowledge and coach you to be able to replicate their skill and even surpass it, if you have that ability.

We spend 90 mins - 2hrs with a client each session. During this session we teach the client how to train their dog, from the level they are now, to the level they set as a goal. That’s what Dog Trainers do.

Yes, we have a highly trained dog we live with. She is featured occasionally on this page to help explain/demonstrate a certain concept. However, us showing you how well trained she is any more than occasionally, doesn’t help you and certainly doesn’t demonstrate that we can help you with your dog.

What helps you is our ability to teach and coach you to train your dog. That’s why our page is full of other people’s dogs and general posts that we hope help you to choose us.

If you would like help to train your dog, get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

11/11/2025

TRAINING STYLES
Unfortunately in every walk of life there are extremists and dog training is no different. At one end of the scale are a group of people who believe that you should never say no to your dog and god forbid that you ever use any kind of pressure. They believe that all you need to train any dog is a pocket full of tasty treats and/or a squeaky toy.

At the other end of the scale are another group of people. They believe that you have to establish being the alpha in the relationship, in order to get respect from the dog. They typically slap an aversive collar on the dog and yank/manipulate the dog into doing what they want.

Both of these training styles are limited. They don’t get consistent results. The dogs often either lack motivation or are over excited to think clearly. Neither of which is a good state of mind for learning.

The optimal training style sits somewhere in between and is flexible, able to slide one way or the other depending on the needs and the character of the dog.

https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-behaviour-modification

10/11/2025

RECALL - ARE YOU TEACHING IT RIGHT?
What does recall mean to you? Most people would say, that you give the recall command and your dog comes back to you. However, recall training needs to go a lot further than that to get reliability.

We need a means of communication that the dog understands. We need to communicate when they did it right and when they did it wrong. Recall is a non negotiable, it is a command, there should be no acceptance of non compliance. You have to set up your training in this way in order to get reliable results.

When you give your recall command, there is no choice. Your dog must comply regardless of the distractions present at that time. Good recall training gets the dog recalling with the enthusiasm of putting all of their heart and soul into compliance because they want to. Not just reluctantly returning to the handler in their own time.

If you would like to learn how to train your dog to the standard of a reliable recall with heart and soul, get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/training/dog-obedience-training

09/11/2025

ANXIETY CAUSES
There are studies that have been done in dogs that have shown that anxiety is strongly linked to how much exercise a dog gets. The more exercise, the less anxious.

There are many other reasons for dogs having anxiety. However, the lack of enough of the right kind of exercise is by far the biggest contributor towards anxiety in dogs.

So, what is the right kind of exercise? Well, it is off lead freedom to run and explore. This type of exercise releases the most endorphins, hormones and chemicals in the body that suppress anxiety and give the dog a sense of fulfillment.

Many dogs that are anxious don’t get this kind of exercise often enough to suppress all the things that cause anxiety. In the main this is because of a lack of control when the dog is off lead, for example they don’t have a reliable recall.

If you need help to train your dog in order to help them with their anxiety, get in touch and ask for details about our services.
https://www.forbesdogtraining.co.uk/about-us