One of the most common struggles people have when training with treats is what to do when their dog won’t eat them. While some dogs are super treat-motivated, others are much less bothered or won’t take treats in certain situations. If your dog isn’t a super hungry labrador who will gobble down literally anything you put in front of them, you might wonder whether training with treats is ever going to work for you and your dog.

One of the biggest difficulties most people have when training is getting their dog to do anything without a treat right in front of them. Often when you’re teaching your dog a new behaviour you’ll show them what you want with a treat. But then how do you get rid of that treat? It’s completely impractical to have a treat in your hand every time you ask your dog to come back when you call them or you want them to walk calmly on-lead. That’s where a marker word comes in…

Let’s be honest: teenage dogs can be a nightmare to walk. You dream of relaxed walks with your dog trotting calmly by your side. But instead you’re dragged towards every single dog, person and tiny bit of rubbish your dog sees. You spend the whole walk desperately trying to get your dog’s attention but it’s like they don’t care that you exist. They’re only aware you’re on the walk with them because you’re a weight on the end of their lead stopping them from having fun.

We all want to be able to let our dogs off-lead to run free. The most relaxing and most adventurous walks are when our dogs have the freedom to explore without being restricted by a lead. But to be able to let your dog off-lead you need to train them so you know if you call them they’ll come back to you. Otherwise those relaxing walks become incredibly stressful as you watch your dog create chaos and worry whether you’ll ever be able to catch them.

You’ve brought your dog home and you’re dreaming of your perfect life together. Lots of lovely long walks, evenings snuggling on the sofa watching TV and the odd trip to a café or pub together… You know that to have that dream life you need to train your dog. But you’re not actually sure what you should be teaching them…

If you’re struggling with your dog pulling on-lead you’ve probably seen some very conflicting advice about what equipment to use. Some people will tell you that putting your dog in a harness will teach your dog to pull and there’s no way you’ll ever train your dog to walk with a loose-lead if they’re wearing a harness. These people will probably tell you that the only way to train loose-lead walking is with a slip lead or prong collar (I do not EVER recommend you use either of those). And then there are other people who tell you that buying the right harness will instantly stop your dog pulling.

There’s nothing better than calling your dog and watching them joyfully run back to you. To know they’ve not only chosen you over all those distractions, but they’re actually excited to get to you. If that sounds like a pipe dream then don’t worry, there’s one very easy way to improve your dog’s recall: play games with them.

One of the first questions many people ask when they start training their dog is ‘when can I stop using treats?’. And I completely understand why. A lot of people have concerns about the cost of constantly buying dog treats, whether their dog will become overweight and the impracticality of always carrying treats. We’re also all told by society that dogs should respond to trained cues ‘just because they’re told’ without expecting rewards.

‘FENTON, FENTON. JESUS CHRIST, FENTON…’ We’ve all seen the video of the labrador chasing deer while his human desperately tries to call him back. But what we’re all not super keen to admit is that we’ve all had our own Fenton moments. Luckily most people’s don’t involve a massive herd of deer (and aren’t recorded on camera for our eternal embarrassment). But we’ve been Fenton’s human, panicking because our dogs are completely ignoring us while running towards people, dogs, wildlife, livestock, traffic…

Picture this: you’re sitting with your friends in your favourite dog friendly-café drinking a flat white with your dog snoozing at your feet. Sounds like the perfect Saturday afternoon, right? But you’re probably thinking ‘there’s no way I could ever take my dog to a café, they’d just cause chaos’. If you are, then don’t worry. With a little bit of training and some pre-planning before your coffee trip you’ll have the café-friendly dog of your dreams.