Offering the most effective, evidence-based training methodologies in South & West Yorkshire. Insured with Protectivity
14/02/2025
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago when we had all the snow. I saw the opportunity and took the photo so I could tell you all about our own recent training journey. If your trainer/behaviourist tells you their dog is perfect or they have no training issues/things to work on, I’d probably look elsewhere!
When Tucker first came into my life, I was still living at my parent’s house. Tucker isn’t allowed on the furniture or upstairs in their house. The only window he could see out of was into the back garden, so the view was pretty boring!
Since we bought our house, Tucker is now allowed everywhere and he will often take himself upstairs to sit on our bed… and bark/grumble at people walking past!! He’s never seen this before, it must be confusing for him! The longer this went on for, the more likely it became that Tucker would definitely bark, so some management and training was needed!
What we implemented:
🐾 Initially, blinds in our bedroom were constantly closed to pause this behaviour and allow Tucker to get used to laying on the bed without keeping watch
🐾 The blinds were then opened slightly, but tucker only went upstairs when we were with him so we could keep check!
🐾 Lots of counter conditioning training to pre-empt Tucker’s barking
🐾 Tucker then made the choice to check in by himself rather than fixating and barking
Now, Tucker will happily sit with his piggy toy watching the world go by! He may still have the occasional bark if someone comes through the back gate, but that’s fine with us!
