09/07/2025
Allow your dog to be a dog!
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There’s this idea floating around in positive training circles:
Play is training. Training is play. You’re always training. The dog is always learning.
I know the intentions behind this are good. The idea is to remind us that dogs are always making new connections and learning from their environment.
But somewhere along the way, it turned into something else. Something that makes people feel like they need to use every single moment of their dog’s life for training.
I recently had a student tell me that even before her dog is allowed to curl up on the couch with her, he has to sit and stay first — because she’s “always training.”
And that is not what we, as trainers, ever meant.
Now, I say this as a dog trainer — someone who clearly values and believes in training. But if you only ever view your life with your dog through the lens of training, you will miss out on SO MUCH.
Your dog has so much more to offer and experience than constant training. Their life (and yours) will be richer, happier, and more fulfilled if you let go of the pressure to train in every moment.
Yes, there is a time and place for training. But there is also so much beyond it.
When your dog wants to cuddle up with you, you don’t need to turn it into a sit-stay exercise. You just cuddle your dog.
When your dog has the zoomies and is running around full of joy, you don’t need to worry whether it’s reinforcing the “wrong” thing.
You just smile, watch, and soak up their happiness. (Personally, seeing my dogs racing around is one of the single happiest things in my life.)
Not everything has to be about training. Not everything needs to serve a training agenda. You should do things simply because it makes yourself and your dog happy.
So no - play is not always training. Cuddling is not training. Zoomies are not training.
Your dog is not just a “training project.”
They are so much more than that.
