Yocum Dog Training, Springfield, MO (2026)

01/06/2026

“I want a guard dog for protection.”
Okay. Let’s slow that down for a second, because I hear that a lot, and most people don’t think about the weight of the decision they make when choosing a guardian breed.
Let me ask you something.
When you say guard dog, what do you actually picture happening?
Do you mean a dog that lets you know something’s off?
A dog that looks intimidating enough that most people won’t try anything?
A dog that might step in and stop someone?
Or a dog that makes its own call and handles the situation without waiting on you?

Because those are very different dogs.

Most people think they want a dog willing to act if needed. But when you really unpack that, that’s usually not what they mean.

What they usually mean is presence.
Deterrence.
Something that makes people think twice.

They usually do not mean they want to live with a powerful, serious animal that makes decisions, isn’t socially flexible, and requires excellent handling every single day. That’s a big responsibility most households don’t consider.

A guard dog is a lot like a weapon.
Not in a scary way. In a responsibility way.

Weapons require knowledge, skill, handling, and knowing when to use them and when not to. Owning one doesn’t automatically make you safer. Misunderstanding one absolutely makes things worse.

Same thing with serious guardian dogs.

There’s a difference between a watch dog and a guard dog.
A watch dog alerts.
A guard dog engages.

And there’s a difference between a dog that holds a threat and a dog that decides what happens next.

A Bullmastiff, for example, was meant to stop and hold poachers when they found them.

Dogs like Bernese Mountain Dogs, Bullmastiffs, Rottweilers from stable lines, Great Danes, and Newfoundlands.
These dogs are generally easier for most people to live with. More socially flexible. More forgiving. They provide presence and deterrence without needing to make heavy decisions on their own.

Dogs like Gamprs, Tibetan Mastiffs, Caucasian Shepherds, Central Asian Shepherds, Filas, Presa Canarios, and the Cane Corso
These dogs tend to be more aloof, more deliberate, and more independent. They often think twice before responding to commands and take their role very seriously.
That doesn’t make them bad dogs.
It makes them high-responsibility dogs.

So here’s the real question.
Do you want a dog that fits easily into your everyday life
or a dog that takes protection very seriously?

Most people don’t actually want a dog that makes decisions for them.
They want a dog that buys them time. Alerts them. Looks the part.
And that’s okay.

The problem is choosing dogs based on the idea of protection without thinking through the responsibility that comes with it.

I get compliments about my Gampr Bear all of the time, people tell me he’s incredible. And he is, he’s got a stable temperament but I put in so much work to help him become the incredible dog you see. He is a serious guardian at his core and my job is to responsibly handle him every day. It’s a lot of work.

01/05/2026

Loki has some work still but he’s doing well! Years of meltdowns and unsuccessful walks. His plan started way before we touched the leash. He’s had successful walks now so we decided to start work on his reactivity! Not an easy session but his mom did great!

01/05/2026

Reactive dog Loki has meltdowns and climbs up the leash. His behavior plan started weeks ago in the house working on boundaries, impulse control, and a calmer mindset. The owners can take him on walks where he walks nicely on the leash so we started to address his reactivity. The goal? Environmental neutrality. It wasn’t pretty but he’s on his way to success! training dog

01/04/2026

Come play ball with me…

If I handed you a tennis ball, a basketball, and a bowling ball and said, “Let’s go play ball,”
you wouldn’t nod and try to make it work. You’d immediately say, “Okay… which game?”
Instinctively. You don’t even have to think about it.

Some are easy to handle.
Some take more strength.
Some forgive mistakes.
Some don’t.

Nothing is wrong with any of them, but if you pretend they’re interchangeable, the whole experience changes.

That’s how we should see dogs.

Somewhere along the way we started acting like because they’re all dogs, the rest is just details. Breed, type, instincts, intensity. We’ll figure it out later. Love them enough. Train them enough. Adjust as we go.

And then people are surprised when life with their dog feels way harder than they expected.
Because they planned for a different game.

And yes, before anyone jumps in, training helps. Lifestyles can be adjusted. Good trainers absolutely help people change how they play the game.
That’s not what this is arguing against.

What people don’t realize is that different dogs change the weight of the game.

Take guardian breeds, for example.
A Bernese Mountain Dog and a Cane Corso both get called guardians, but living with them is not the same experience.
A Bernese was built to live close to people, handle a lot more social movement, be around families, visitors, other animals. Steady. Present. Protective, but generally more socially flexible.

A Cane Corso is a more serious guardian by design. More discerning. More reserved. Less socially forgiving. That means more responsibility on that dog and more responsibility on the person handling it.

Yes, both are capable of causing harm. Of course they are.
That’s not the point.
The point is that one comes with a much smaller margin for error. More power. More consequence when judgment slips or expectations are off. Same category. Very different responsibility.

Or think about the person who wants a quiet porch dog and brings home a pit husky mix. Not a dog exactly happy with porch sitting unless you givr that dog a lot of movement and acitivity. You don’t get a laid-back game when you picked high-energy equipment.

Most frustration I see with dogs isn’t really about training.
It’s about expectations.
People keep trying to change the rules and then wondering why the game still feels hard.

When trainers step in, we shouldn’t swapping dogs out or trying to turn one into something else. We’re helping people understand what they actually have in front of them. How this dog moves through the world. What pressure works. What rules matter. How to play the game responsibly with the dog they chose.
Choosing the right dog isn’t about fear. It’s about honesty.

Love doesn’t erase differences.
Training doesn’t make all dogs the same.

So yeah. Choose the game first.
Then choose the dog.

12/10/2025

There’s a narrative in the dog world suggesting that boundaries, manners, impulse control, and rules are unnecessary because they are “human constructs,” and that if we simply meet needs, enrich the environment, reduce pressure, and offer choice, dogs will naturally regulate themselves.
It is a comforting concept.
It is also incomplete.

Ethology shows us that structure is natural.
Dogs practice boundaries with one another through spatial pressure, yielding, turn taking, controlled access to resources, and ritualized de-escalation. These are not human inventions. They are innate social regulation systems. When we teach dogs to wait, to pause, to give space, or to follow direction, we are not imposing artificial rules. We are aligning human environments with the dog’s natural regulatory patterns.

“Just meet the needs” isn’t an auto fix it.
Welfare matters.
Pain matters.
Enrichment matters.
Choice matters.
But these alone do not create regulation.
A dog can have every need met and still be unable to cope with novelty, frustration, pressure, or arousal.

A real example from my behavior cases:
I worked with clients who own acres of wooded land. Their dogs had constant freedom. Fresh air, wildlife, water access, endless enrichment, unlimited movement, and total choice. It was, by all standards, exceptional welfare.
Yet the moment the owners wanted to take the dogs camping, everything unraveled.
New people, confined spaces, unfamiliar dogs, changing routines, and reduced predictability triggered:
• reactivity
• frantic scanning
• inability to settle
• explosive responses to noise and novelty

These dogs had excellent welfare.
What they did not have was regulatory skill.

Because welfare alone does not teach:
• yielding
• pausing
• arousal shifts
• disengagement
• handling frustration
• sharing tight spaces
• accepting constraints

Freedom without these skills does not produce stability.
It produces overwhelm.

Management and enrichment cannot replace regulation training
A popular example is:
“If your dog jumps or barks while you prepare their meal, toss treats on a snuffle mat.”
A snuffle mat can prevent rehearsal, but it does not produce skill.
The moment the snuffle mat is gone, the behavior returns because the dog has not learned how to regulate arousal around food preparation.

Redirecting is not teaching.
Distraction is not impulse control.
Management is not regulation.

Enforcing boundaries is not punishment
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the conversation.

A boundary is information.
Boundaries tell the dog what is safe, what is expected, and what is appropriate. Dogs use boundaries with each other constantly through space-taking, blocking, pausing, and delayed access. These are natural, stabilizing behaviors.
When we uphold a boundary, we are not “dominating” or “controlling.” We are creating predictability. Predictability lowers stress, prevents conflict, and supports emotional regulation.

A dog who understands boundaries is not restricted.
A dog without boundaries is unregulated.

Calling boundaries “punishment” misunderstands both canine social structure and the needs of dogs living in human environments.

A personal example: capability…
I manage my own environment well, and I rarely leave accessible food out when I’m gone. Keep an honest dog honest.
But recently I accidentally left a piece of chocolate cake on the coffee table and left for hours.
When I came home, it was untouched.
Not because my dogs lacked opportunity.
Because they have been taught that access does not equal permission.
That level of reliability does not come from enrichment alone.
It does not come from choice alone.
It comes from structured learning that develops genuine impulse control and internal regulation.

The bigger idea is this..
Welfare is mandatory.
Need fulfillment is essential.
Enrichment is essential.
Choice is valuable.

But none of these replace:
• teaching boundaries
• teaching regulation
• teaching inhibition
• teaching arousal shifts
• teaching coping skills
• teaching how to function in human environments

**Welfare without structure produces overwhelm.

Structure without welfare produces suppression.
Dogs need both.**

Freedom is not the starting point.
Freedom is the outcome of a dog who has been taught how to use freedom safely.

Boundaries do not limit dogs.
Boundaries equip them.

**pic of my dogs and our kitten during our meal time ritual. Everyone comes in and lays down while we cook our meal and prepare their meal. A simple boundary was taught, no need for tossing food onto a snuffle mat to distract them**

12/09/2025

We Are Not as Far From Mech’s Early Findings as We Like to Believe

When Mech corrected his early wolf research, many people took that correction and ran too far with it.
They assumed that because captive wolves behaved differently than wild wolves, dominance and role-taking do not exist in dogs.
That interpretation is not supported by behavioral science.

Dominance, hierarchy, and social roles are normal in social mammals, including domestic dogs.
What changes is how strongly these roles appear based on the environment.
And the environments most Western dogs live in are not natural canine systems.
They are human-made, confined, interspecies family structures that create many of the same pressures seen in Mech’s captive groups.

Modern dogs experience:
• forced proximity with unrelated dogs
• limited space and no ability to create distance
• unpredictable human behavior
• human-controlled access to resources
• high stimulation with little instinctual outlet
• inconsistent rules
• owners who often reinforce pushy or controlling behavior without realizing it

These conditions naturally increase the expression of social roles.
Dominant roles become more visible.
Assertive dogs become more assertive.
Unstable or inexperienced dogs may begin controlling access, guarding space, or interfering with other dogs because the system requires regulation.

This is not ego or a desire for power.
It is a normal response to environmental pressure.
If humans do not provide structure, dogs will attempt to organize the group themselves.
That can look like guarding, entitlement, pushiness, or taking responsibility for movement and interactions.

Free-ranging dog groups show the opposite pattern because they can regulate themselves with distance, optional interaction, natural spacing, and consistent environmental rhythms.
They still have dominance and role-taking, but the roles are fluid and low-conflict because the environment supports stability.

In the modern home, none of those natural regulators exist.
Dogs cannot choose group members.
They cannot avoid conflict.
They cannot set space.
They cannot control when arousal enters the system.
They are expected to function inside a compressed social structure that makes role intensity sharper and more visible.

This is exactly why professional leadership and guidance are necessary.
When humans provide predictable structure, clear rules, and stable emotional behavior, dogs do not need to manage the household or take on roles they cannot handle.
Leadership reduces pressure, prevents learned entitlement, and gives dogs the clarity they need to regulate themselves.

Dominance is real.
Role-taking is real.
Learned pushiness and control are very real in homes where reinforcement history and environmental pressure shape those tendencies.
These behaviors do not disappear simply because wolves behave differently in the wild.

We are not far from the dynamics Mech observed in captivity. Our homes recreate many of the ecological pressures that make social roles more intense.
Once we understand this, it becomes clear why dogs benefit so much from stable human leadership and from learning the skills needed to regulate in the modern world.

12/07/2025

There is a story going around of a recent tragedy where a 3 month old infant and her grandfather lost their lives to a multi dog attack from family dogs within the home. To the family, we give our deepest condolences for such a tragic loss. I do have an opinion and it’s taken me days to decide if I wanted to post it. Here is my two cents

We talk about dogs with so much love in this country…
but with very basic understanding.

And that gap between affection and real knowledge is where bites, tragedies, behavior issues, and broken homes begin.

Dogs are domesticated predators.
Loving, loyal, deeply bonded family animals, yes.
But still predators with instincts, drives, arousal patterns, and physical capabilities that don’t disappear because they were raised gently.
Some dogs, because of genetics, size, lineage, or purpose are capable of severe injury or death.
Not because they’re “bad,”
but because selective breeding built traits meant for gripping, guarding, herding, chasing, or confronting.
Yet as a society we act as if:
• genetics don’t matter
• breeding doesn’t matter
• instinct doesn’t matter
• pressure, arousal, and stress don’t matter
• and love alone is enough

We humanize dogs until we ignore the traits that actually NEED structure and understanding.
And because of this, we’ve become careless.
Careless in breeding.
Careless in placing dogs in the wrong homes.
Careless in raising dogs without boundaries.
Careless in ignoring instinct.
Careless in expecting good behavior without meeting biological needs.
Careless in underestimating what a dog can do when startled, stressed, or overloaded.
Meanwhile, behavior issues, bites, attacks, and fatalities are rising and dogs are losing their homes and their lives because people never understood the animal in front of them.
Most people imagine a “dog attack” as an extreme event.
But it doesn’t have to be a prolonged attack to change a life.
It doesn’t have to take multiple bites.
It doesn’t have to take minutes.
It doesn’t have to take a history of aggression.
One bite in the wrong place can permanently disfigure a child.
Pressure + instinct + opportunity.
That’s all it takes.

I come from a world where you don’t handle powerful weapons casually.
You learn everything:
• how they function
• how they fail
• how to clear malfunctions instantly
• how pressure affects performance
• where the limits and failure points are
• and how to troubleshoot under stress
That level of knowledge wasn’t optional.
It’s what kept us safe, alive, and our weapons working reliably.
I don’t compare dogs to weapons they’re living, emotional beings, but the responsibility is similar:
If you live with an animal capable of serious outcomes under the wrong conditions, you MUST understand it far beyond basic obedience.

You need to know:
• what your dog’s genetics were designed to do
• what activates instinct
• how arousal changes behavior
• what stress does to the brain
• where your dog’s thresholds sit
• how quickly instinct overrides training
• how to interrupt safely
• how to meet species and breed-specific needs
• how to prevent behavioral “malfunctions”
• and the dog’s full potential — the incredible and the dangerous
Respect means acknowledging the whole animal.
Respect means choosing the right dog for the right home.
Respect means learning the breed and species before bringing one home.
Respect means stopping the humanization that blinds us to biology.

Dogs thrive when they are understood.
Dogs stay safe when they are guided.
Dogs remain stable when their instincts are respected.
And dogs stay in their homes when people choose and raise them with knowledge instead of impulse.

We don’t honor dogs by pretending they’re harmless.
We honor them by understanding them fully,
the same way we would any powerful system that deserves respect.

12/05/2025

Most people think training falls apart because the dog “forgot.”
They didn’t forget.
They went home and stepped right back into the same emotional patterns they’ve lived in for months or years.

Dogs don’t learn the way people think.
Commands aren’t the real driver.
Patterns are.
Daily habits are.
How you show up is.
The dog reads your energy and your behavior long before they care about sit or down.

If the house is chaotic, the dog stays chaotic.
If the house is soft and emotional, the dog takes control.
If the house is anxious, the dog becomes the protector and the watcher.
That becomes the dog’s identity.
Not because they’re stubborn
But because the environment taught them to be that way.

Pushy dogs push because they’ve always been allowed to.
Clingy dogs cling because someone needed the emotional closeness.
Reactive dogs blow up because arousal has been a normal part of life in that home.
These are emotional habits, not “behavior issues.”

This is why I push owners to change.
Not because I’m blaming you
But because the dog cannot do the work alone.

Training is not 30 minutes a day.
It’s how you live.
It’s your tone, your structure, your follow through, your boundaries, your presence.
It’s changing how the dog feels you, not just what the dog hears from you.

You have to shift the dynamic
Shift your patterns
Shift how you respond
Shift what you allow
Shift what you reinforce without realizing it

Your dog believes what you show them consistently
Not what you do once in a training session

Board and trains work
Day training works
But if the emotional climate and relationship stay the same
The dog goes right back to the role they know

When you change
When the lifestyle changes
When the emotional habits in the home change
That’s when the dog finally changes too.

12/02/2025

What You Reinforce Will Always Come Back Around

Most people understand reinforcement when it looks like a clean training moment.
Sit, reward.
Down, reward.
They understand that part.

What they do not realize is that reinforcement is happening all day long.
Every decision you make with your dog is teaching something.
Most of the behaviors that get reinforced are the ones owners never meant to pay for.

Reinforcement is not limited to a treat pouch.
It is built into your daily life with your dog.

Your dog pulls and you move faster.
Your dog whines and you open the door.
Your dog jumps and you automatically pet them.
Your dog barks so you change direction.
Your dog gets loud on a walk and you avoid the trigger.

Your dog walks away thinking, “That worked.”
And you walk away thinking, “At least the moment is over.”

Both of you learned something.
Both of you were reinforced.

Dogs do not only learn from food.
They learn from access.
They learn from attention.
They learn from movement.
They learn from relief.
They learn from the way you respond.

Reinforcement can also build the behaviors you want.
People get so focused on preventing bad habits that they forget they can use reinforcement to create peace.

This is where you can change the entire direction of your relationship with your dog.

If my dogs are laying peacefully, I toss a treat.
If my dogs greet me or a guest calmly, they get affection.
If my dogs stay loose on the leash, we move forward and go where they want.
If they make a good decision, I let them know I noticed it. I want to try to notice every good choice they make.

Those little choices add up.
Calm is not an accident.
Calm is reinforced.

Your dog repeats what works.
And you repeat what works for you.

Sometimes both sides accidentally build patterns nobody wanted.
A little pressure from the dog, a little relief for the human, and suddenly the behavior is locked in.

But the reverse is just as true.
Catch the behaviors you like.
Reward the small moments you usually ignore.
Feed the peace you want in your home.
Reinforce the choices that make life easier instead of harder.

Training is not something you do in ten minute drills.
Training is the way you respond to your dog during regular life.

So ask yourself throughout the day.
What did this moment reward.
What did I just teach my dog.
What did I just teach myself.
And is that something I want more of.
Remember, what gets reinforced gets repeated, for everyone in the house.

12/01/2025

I am seeing a lot of dogs turning on the dogs they live with. These are not bad dogs or aggressive dogs. They are dogs living in environments that feel unclear to them. And most owners have no idea the early signs are even happening.

Dogs are not walking around trying to compete. Most dogs prefer cooperation. They want predictability. They want space that feels safe. They want to know how to move through the day without guessing what everyone else is doing.

But competition can show up when the household rhythm leaves too many decisions up to the dogs. Not because the dogs are choosing conflict, but because they are trying to make sense of things. Animals will compete for resources, dogs are animals.

This is where owners miss the early moments.

Two dogs squeezing through a doorway at the same time.
Both pushing in for attention.
One dog quietly stepping in front of the other.
A tense pass in a hallway.
A dog deciding when play stops.
Small nudges. Small blocks. Small wins.

Humans see excitement.
Dogs see information.

None of this means the dogs are fighting. None of it means they are aggressive. These are simply social signals that tell the dog what belongs to who, who gets where first, and who can move another dog without anyone stepping in.

Now here is where everything changes…Dogs hit social maturity.

Social maturity is not a personality change. It is not aggression. It is simply brain development. The dog becomes an adult and starts caring about things they did not care about as a puppy. Confidence increases. Tolerance shifts. Social awareness becomes sharper. They notice more.

Most dogs move through this stage with no issues.
Trouble happens when social maturity meets a home where the small moments have been stacking for months or years.

A young dog who let things slide might stop letting them slide.
A dog who always won tiny moments might start pushing harder.
A dog who never cared about space might suddenly care a lot.
Not because the dog is trying to take over the house, because the dog is participating in the group with an adult brain now.

This is why so many households see problems around the two to three year mark. The dog is not changing into something new. The dog is finally old enough to act on the patterns that were already there.

The good news is that dogs are incredible at coexistence when the humans guide the parts dogs should not have to manage.

Doorways
Affection
Space
Transitions
Access to people
Movement around the home

When the humans take care of these things, the dogs relax. They stop interpreting every moment. They stop trying to organize the house. They stop feeling responsible for social decisions.

That is when peace comes back.

If you are seeing small signs like blocking, hovering, stiffness, pushiness, or tension around you, that is the earliest point to intervene. Not out of fear, but because the dogs are telling you the environment needs more clarity.

11/28/2025

Let’s talk honestly about play.

People tell me all the time,
“They were just playing… and then it turned into a fight.”

And every time, I think… yeah. That makes sense.

Most owners see two dogs having fun and assume that means everything is safe.
But play isn’t just fun. It’s actually a complex and fascinating set of behaviors.
Play is where dogs rehearse real behavior with the brakes halfway on.

Dogs and humans are some of the only species that keep playing into adulthood.
Not because we’re childish
but because play teaches social skills we actually use throughout our life.
During play, dogs practice:
chasing
biting
pinning
wrestling
taking turns
handling frustration
reading the other dog
pushing limits
and negotiating space

So when play tips into conflict, it’s not random. It’s not “out of nowhere.” Play already uses the same ingredients as competition. All you need is one dog getting tired, overwhelmed, too excited, or simply done with the game.
And suddenly practice turns into the real thing.

That doesn’t mean the dogs hate each other. It doesn’t mean something is wrong with them.
It just means they crossed a line that was already sitting right there.

This is why you can’t just “let them play.”
You have to watch HOW they’re playing.

Healthy play has:
pauses
loose bodies
soft eyes
role switching
and both dogs choosing to stay in the game

When those disappear, it’s no longer play. It’s competition.
And competition needs guidance.

Now let me say the part people miss:

Play is one of the BEST places to teach your dog rules, boundaries, limits, and impulse control.

Some trainers tell you not to play with your dog or not to play hard
or not to wrestle or tug.

FALSE.

Avoiding play doesn’t prevent problems.
Avoiding play just hides them.

Play shows you who your dog really is when the energy goes up.
That’s the version of the dog you absolutely need to know how to work with.

Guided play teaches balance.
Unguided play is where things tip.

So yes, let your dogs play.
Play with them.
Build it into your day.

Just guide it.
Pause when you need to.
Interrupt when it gets sharp.
Teach them how to turn on, and how to turn off.

Play isn’t the break from training.

Play is training.

Yocum Dog Training

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