MAD DOG
Author: Erin Dixon
“HE IS JUST BEING STUBBORN”
KEY DATES TO REMEMBER
“He is just being stubborn and showing me up today”
We have all been here, your dog who nailed it in class last week suddenly acts like they’ve never heard ‘sit before. It is tempting to think that they are being stubborn or trying to embarrass you, but dogs don’t think like that.
1.Context Confusion
Dogs learn by association. Your dog might know ‘sit’ perfectly in your kitchen, but at class, new smells, people and sounds make it feel like a different cue entirely.
2. Stress or Fatigue
Learning is hard work! If your dog
has been mentally or physically taxed, they might struggle to focus.
3. Mixed Signals
Sometimes our body language changes when we are nervous or distracted. Dogs notice, even a small shift can confuse them.
Instead, try to lower the difficulty, go back a step. Reward small successes and keep it light and positive. Frustration only adds pressure. Remember, your dog is not giving you attitude, they are communicating. Every ‘off’ day is just feedback about where they need more support.
Reactivity doesn’t start with a lunge or bark - it builds up from smaller signs of stress that often go unnoticed. Learning to read those early signals help you step in before your dog feels the need to ‘explode’.
Early signs of stress:
Yawning when not tired
Lip licking or nose licking
Turning the head away or avoiding eye contact
Shaking off
Sudden sniffing or distraction
Slow movement or freezing
When you notice these, it is time to create distance, Move away calmly before your dog feels trapped. Lower the pressure by skipping the greeting and turning away from the trigger. Engage in something easy such as a ‘find it’ game or hand target that can redirect focus.
The earlier you respond, the safer and calmer your dog will feel, and the less chance there is of a reactive outburst. Prevention beats correction every time.
Reactivity is simply a dog’s big response to something in their environment, another dog, a person, a sound , a car or even a smell. It often comes from overwhelm, not defiance. Your dog might be frightened, frustrated, or over-excited, and their nervous system shifts into fight or flight mode.
At that point, thinking and learning stop and the body takes over. The goal isn’t to ‘correct’ reactivity but to recognise and reduce the stress that leads to it.
If you can teach your dog that they have options, to look away, to move behind you or to check in, rather than feeling trapped or forced to react, you’ll see incredible progress.
P E R F E C T Y O U R S I S T A Y I N 5 D A Y S
A sit stay is one of the most underrated but powerful foundation skills. It teaches your dog patience, impulse control and confidence in waiting for your cue. When taught thoughtfully, it strengthens the communication between you and your dog and helps in everything from door manners to calm greetings.
The sit stay is not about making your dog wait because you said so. It is about teaching them to feel comfortable staying put until released, even when distractions happen.
Before You Start: The Foundation
Make sure your dog already understands ‘sit’ and has a release word such as ‘Out” or ‘Ok’ as this tells them the stay is over. Prepare high value treats, a quiet space to start and a positive calm tone.
Day 1: Establish the Concept
Ask your dog to sit, count to one second and then reward in place and release.
Day 2: Adding Duration
Now try adding more reps for two, three, four seconds before releasing. If the dog breaks the stay, no problem - simply reset and start again.
Day 3: Adding Distance
Ask for a sit and take one step back, return, reward and release.
Day 4: Add Mild Distractions
Introduce simple challenges, drop a treat on the floor, clap, shift your weight side to side.
Day 5: Change the Environment
Practice in a new location.
There is a funny assumption that dog trainers must live with flawless, calm, obedient dogs who never pull on the lead, bark or ignore cues. But here is the truth, even trainers face the exact same challenges that you do. The difference isn’t that our dogs are ‘better’, it is that we have learned how to work through those challenges with patience, consistency and a sense of humour.
Trainers dogs aren’t immune to temptation! Whether it is food on the counter, squirrels in the trees or the excitement of stimuli, impulse control takes practice. Even for us, teaching our dogs to pause before acting can be messy, especially when they are naturally energetic. We don’t expect perfection, we build habit in small doses. We use structured games to make self control fun.
Yes, dog trainers dogs bark too. They can lunge, growl or get startles. It happens! Dogs are living, feeling being not robots. We manage environments and focus on creating calm, controlled experiences. If our dogs react, we don’t punish or scold - we listen. That behaviour is communication. We ask if the situation is too hard, did we miss an early stress signal and how we can set them up better next time.
Reactivity isn’t shameful, it is information.
ChihuahuaBreedFocus
The chihuahua may be the smallest dog breed in the world, but for anyone who has ever met one knows they have the confidence and personality of a much larger dog. These little dynamos are intelligent, spirited and fiercely loyal to their people.
Many people think the chihuahua is a handbag dog, when in reality, they are bright, sensitive and highly trainable. Like any dog, they thrive when treated as real dogs, with structure, enrichment and respect.
Originating from Mexico, they are ancestors were believed to be the Techichi, a small companion dog kept by the ancient Toltec civilisation. The modern Chihuahua emerged in the Mexican state of the same name and became popular in the late 1800's.
Their role was and still is, to be close to their people. They are companionship dogs through and through, bred to form deep attachments rather than perform
specific working tasks.
That closeness is their superpower, and is sometimes their downfall, when overattachment leads to separation anxiety or overprotectiveness.
They often act as though 10x their size. They are bold, curious and quick to let you know how they feel. Some are cuddly and affectionate, others are feisty and independent, but nearly all are opinionated.
They are perfect for smaller homes and apartments, but still need their exercise, mental stimulation and social experiences.
“GOOD ENOUGH”
Why settling for ‘that’ll do’ can hold back your dog’s progress and how to bridge the gap.
You know that moment in training when your dog sort of does what you asked, they sit but it is half hearted; they come back, but only after a scenic detour; they stay, but wriggle the whole time and you think, ‘Well, that’s good enough’?
We have all done it. It is human nature to compromise, especially when we are tired, short on time, or just happy our dog did something close to what we asked for. But when ‘good enough’ becomes the goal instead of the stepping stone, we accidentally teach our dogs that halfway is okay.
This doesn’t mean chasing perfection, it means knowing what your ideal outcome looks like, and building toward it intentionally.
Why We Settle for ‘Good Enough’
There are a few reasons this happens and none of them mean you’re doing anything wrong. Understanding why we compromise helps us make better
choices next time.
If your dog usually ignores recall, then coming back eventually can feel like a win. You might reward it, thinking you’re encouraging the right thing, but your dog is learning that ‘come back when you feel like it’ works just as well.
When we have been working hard on a behaviour, it is easy to celebrate small progress (which is good!), but then we sometimes stop there instead of progressing to the next level.
If you don’t know exactly what your ‘ideal’ looks like, it is hard to teach it consistently. You might get inconsistent results because you are rewarding variations of a behaviour, not the final version you want.
The ideal behaviour is not about robotic obedience, it is about clarity and reliability. Your dog knows exactly what you’re asking, and they can confidently perform that behaviour even with mild distractions.
Anti-tank Dog
During WWII, one of the darker and more controversial experiments in animal warfare was the Soviet program to equip dogs with explosives and train them to run beneath enemy tanks. Often called ‘anti-tank dogs’ or ‘dog mines’, the idea grew from desperate tactical thinking on the Eastern Front and from earlier military interest in using animals for specialised tasks.
Early attempts aimed to have dogs deliver a charge to a vehicle and retreat, when that proved impractical, the simplified method resulted in an impact-detonated charge that killed the animal. In practice the program suffered serious problems, dogs trained on stationary tanks often refused to move beneath moving, noisy vehicles, many were frightened by battlefield conditions and returned toward friendly lines and accidental detonations caused friendly casualties.
Modern military and humanitarian norms, plus public revulsion at weaponising animals as disposable munitions have made such programs extremely rare and widely condemned. The story is a reminder to weigh tactical thinking against ethics and the predictable suffering such measures inflict.
