A canine trainer has shown how he gets his nervous and excitable puppy to follow his rules so home life can be calmer.
It is thought that around 28 per cent of adults in the UK own a dog. This means there are around 10.6 million pups living with their owners, according to the 2024 PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report. While there’s no doubt that man’s best friend is one of the most popular pets to welcome into the family thanks to their loyalty and the positive benefits they can bring to both our physical and mental well-being, they can be tricky to train, which can in turn lead to chaos.
One expert, who specialises in helping owners of dogs that are unresponsive to commands and jump up, run away, bark excessively or who lunge towards other dogs and people, has shared his most important tip for a calm and happy home. He took to his TikTok page thedogtherapist where he shares his “no-nonsense, no negotiation” methods and said that he’s often asked about the best command you can teach your dog to obey.
While filming his adorable black cocker spaniel Nora he revealed the one simple thing he advises owners to do at home. Nora can be seen sitting curled up in her grey bed, furiously wagging her tail as she looks up at her owner Craig excitedly, who is talking off camera. “While you’re working or while you’re in your house, just get them to sit still,” he says. “Literally just get them to sit still in their bed without moving – you can see the little tail there is like a little rattle snake,” he says referring to Nora.. “Once you tell a dog to sit still, they mustn’t move. There’s no negotiation with a dog so when you give them a command, when you say, ‘you’ve got to stay still’ – you’ve got to stay still.,” he enforces.
As Craig – whose website states he has 25 years of training and working with gun trial dogs – explains the command, guidelines pop up on top of his clip. They include: “Set rules and regulations of how they MUST behave / Practice sitting still in their bed / Don’t negotiate / Once you tell them to sit and stay YOU MUST follow through / When YOU practice a no nonsense, no negotiation mindset your dog will improve.”
By the end of the video the obedient Nora, for whom this is presumably not the first rodeo, has edged forward in her bed and is looking like she is about to explode, so he bends down and pets her telling her she is a “good girl”.
Followers of his page were curious about how to manage if their pets didn’t comply, with one asking: “What do you do if they move? Do you just tell them to go back into their bed?” Another queried: “That’s great, but how?”. A third also wanted more information on his ethos behind the training tip: “Genuine (truly not being a troll…) question though, why!!” they asked. “I’d hate to be told to sit and stay still all day. My 2 year old WCS [working cocker spaniel] roams freely around the house whilst I work from home. I genuinely don’t understand the ‘why’…”
What’s your best tip for training a dog? Let us know in the comments below.
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