Living with a dog that requires a lot of training and management can be really hard on the pet parent. Most people did not bring a dog into their home to take on a training challenge. Join me on this episode of the Paws & Reward Podcast as I interview Lisa Mullinax, a behavior consultant in Seattle, and discuss what life is like living with and training difficult dogs and what to do in order to support everyone during the training process.
Lisa and I are defining difficult dogs as canines that have a hard time navigating their environment emotionally. They could be displaying behaviors associated with fear, anxiety, and/or aggression when encountering other stimuli or experiences.
During this episode, Lisa shares 3 critical topics when living with and training difficult dogs.
Three Topics to Consider When Training Difficult Dogs
When we modify behavior for dogs (and humans) we always want to think about giving the learner something to do instead of telling them what not to do. In other words, replace an undesired behavior with a desired one.
So, in the spirit of that principle, here are the behaviors we encourage YOU to do while living with a difficult dog:
- We want to avoid setting unrealistic expectations and focus on small achievable goals for success.
- We want to avoid going down a shame spiral and instead focus on offering ourselves and our dogs forgiveness.
- We want to avoid operating from comparison and celebrate the small wins along the way!
Listen to the podcast to learn more about how to incorporate these principles into your life and how they can make a positive impact on training difficult dogs.
More Resources on Training Difficult Dogs:
Need more help on training difficult dogs? Use the resources below to learn more and strengthen your connection with your dog.
Explore Lisa’s Website:
4paws University: https://www.4pawsuniversity.com/
Listen to Other Podcast Episodes & Read Our Blog:
- Podcast Episode #18: Support for Reactive Dog Clients
- Podcast Episode #30: Real Behavior Change for Reactive Dogs
- How to Walk a Reactive Dog