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.

No dog is perfect. We all have things we wish our dogs would stop doing. Your dog might be pulling on-lead, not coming back when you call or jumping up at visitors. Or maybe they’re stealing and destroying your stuff, digging at your carpet or eating things they shouldn’t. You could just punish your dog to try and stop the problem behaviour. But that’s going to affect your dog’s welfare and damage your relationship with them. And it’s not going to deal with the root cause of the behaviour so it’s unlikely to work long term.

Our dogs live in a human world and the rules and expectations are often very different to the dog world. Your dog doesn’t automatically know why they can’t jump up at people, why they need to walk on a lead and why they shouldn’t steal food from your kitchen counters. They don’t understand that not everyone likes muddy paw prints on their clothes, that they could be injured or killed if they get hit by a car and that some human food is poisonous to dogs. Life skills training teaches your dog everything they need to know to live in our confusing human world safely.

We all dream of those lovely, relaxing walks with our dogs where they walk calmly next to us. But if you’ve tried training your dog to walk calmly on a lead you’ll have found it’s harder than it looks. That’s because those exciting walks come with lots of distractions for your dog. There’s so many things to see, hear and smell and it’s really hard for them to focus on walking with you when there's so much other stuff happening.