Foundations are everything!

Obedience alone does not fix all behavioural challenges. Chances are we will still need to address things head on, whether those are big feelings towards other dogs, resource guarding or chasing cats. That said, foundational obedience training will always be a big part of our work together during our sessions, regardless of your dogs specific challenges we’re targeting.

We can use these obedience skills to support our training around their challenges - for example, ask for a sit or polite walking or going to their bed as an alternative for existing problematic behaviour.

But more importantly we can use the concepts these skills teach to support our dogs in their challenges. For example:

Yes, you can hold it together and maintain a behaviour (like sit or down) even with distractions and exciting things.

Yes, you can stay in one spot away from the human and not die because you are a strong individual.

No, sometimes things are not optional but it really pays off for you when you do what is asked.

Yes, we can be trusted to mean what we say and follow through to keep you safe.

Yes, engaging with your humans is really worthwhile.

Yes, you can understand the communication system and respond to the leash.

For minor behavioural challenges such as overexcitement and even mild reactivity, just teaching this foundational obedience along with adjusting the lifestyle to meet the dogs needs is all that is needed for the owner and dog to live a successful and happy life together. For more severe challenges, we can then draw from these solid foundations for our behaviour modification work.

But everything starts with getting the foundations solid.

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Need help with your dog? Training Waipa & Hamilton NZ 📧 hello@wolfedogs.nz