Are you a fan of my training style, but can’t travel to Kentucky to see me in person? No worries! I offer an awesome online dog training course, which includes access to an array of exclusive videos and content, personalized coaching, journaling, and in-depth mentoring and evaluation by yours truly! If you just need some an advice or have a couple questions you need answered, I also offer professional consulting by the hour. Both of these great services can be found here: www.kentuckycanine.com Thank you all for your remarkable support over the years! I cannot express enough how grateful I am for your appreciation and patronage of this channel, my training style, and my kennel. Always remember, it’s a great day for a puppy-sized adventure!

Herding dogs (GSDs, Aussies, Mals, Dutchies, etc. . .) are literally BRED to be reactive. They are watchful, alert, and have a genetic tendency to react and intervene to control humans or livestock. It is incumbent upon us, the owners and handlers of such dogs, to do what Stonnie says -- teach them what situations require their reaction and intervention and which situations are normal, expected, and must be tolerated. 100% the ways to achieve this are through progressive exposure, obedience training, impulse control, confidence, and attention to the trustworthy handler.

“If you really want to prevent reactivity… buy the right dog”. I need to have this tattooed on my forehead 😂😂 Great video, as always Stonnie.

One thing I would add to this is the owner of the dog needs to learn to control their reaction to things as well. Their behavior can negatively or positively influence their dog. We breed labs. The owners of our puppies will bring them back for us to puppy sit when they go on vacation. I'm amazed at how the personalities of the owners will show up in their dogs.

I adopted a boxer/gsp mix at 8 months old and sadly he was already very fearful, had no confidence, and was extremely anxious. As someone who didn’t know a lot about dog reactivity, it’s been a roller coaster of a year with him. I’ve put a ton of time into reconditioning him and building his confidence but ultimately I don’t know if he will ever be a “normal” dog. There are definitely no quick or easy fixes, it’s constantly two steps forward one step back or sometimes the reverse, once those aggressive behaviors are engrained it’s near impossible to completely eliminate them. As much as I love him and am proud to have given him a home and happy life, I do t know if it’s something I would have done again, the stress that comes with having a reactive dog is never ending.

I love these videos. All the dogs, milling about, bums swinging, tails wagging, tongues lolling. I just love this !

Stonnie I thought I’d send an update about my deaf pitbull that I got as a surprise on New Year’s Day. My husband convinced my son to give her to me because he couldn’t do right by her while working 50 hours a week with an 80 minute commute I probably watched a hundred different training videos before finding your channel. Once I found your channel I watched every single one 😁 and practiced with her every day, even if only for a few minutes. Where we live the seasonal farmers market recently opened up and we took her to it for the first time. First we took a 3 mile walk around the lake then strolled down Main Street towards the farmers market. There were tons of distractions including a horse drawn wagon, which she had never seen before. She was alert but neutral and we were approached by several people wanting to pet her. So all in all your training program has been utterly successful in spite of the fact that she is deaf and I didnt have her from the start. Thank you so much for your videos and wisdom! ✌🏼🕊️

Spot on! I made a poor decision on a half malinois pup (didn’t think long term) and had a dog reactive rocket launcher who was asked to leave a puppy obedience class. It was just too much for him. So I walked him offleash A TON, gradually exposed him to dogs OUTSIDE OF DOG PARKS, taught him how to pull like crazy when he’s haltered and to walk politely when on slip. He still is rocket launcher occasionally but loved in our neighborhood and lots doggie friends. Fabulous dog but never again! Im too old

Reactive dogs are often very insecure and unsure about new experiences. I have two Corgi. The female tends to be pretty calm until she is startled by a sound or object. She is hypersensitive to sound, high energy, nervous and intelligent. I liken her to a child with ADHD. From a puppy of 3-4 months I introduced her to and encouraged her to approach and investigate new items such as a fire hydrant across the street. I would tell her it was alright and that I am there to protect her. I never interfered or tried to control the situation. I just stood there and let her be curious. She is now 2 yrs old and I am continually working on building her confidence and socializing her to not be so afraid of sound.

This is a GREAT video for prospective dog owners! So many people make their decisions based almost solely on the looks of a dog.

My gsd puppy is just as high drive as any malinois, but the difference is he is confident, he will do anything without hesitation & loves people & doesn’t care about other dogs. That’s what a dog should be.

I am looking forward to see what happens next with the Malinois. Thank you for clear words: buy the right dog.

I didn’t buy my Aussie, someone (a horrible person) had dumped him off down a dirt road and I happened to find him. I didn’t know much about Aussies so I did a ton of research and took him to puppy classes. & as much as I hate home depot & lowe’s I took him there every chance I had to socialize. I thought I was doing everything right until a year later he started becoming reactive. We do basic obedience almost everyday, and we also do some agility work together, + he’s a confident dog. He’ll get up on anything I ask him to and he’s not afraid to try new things. He just doesn’t like people. Im so glad I found your channel so I can help my boy because I don’t want to fail him.

We adopted a one year old Aussie who turned out to be reactive. With positive training he is learning to look to his humans for direction then self soothing. He is now the star of the neighborhood. It takes work but our Aussie is so much happier.

I wish shelters were more honest with people about this. It's even worse that so many shelters tell people that dogs are "lab mixes" when really they are bully breeds.

I love, love, love that you say get the right dog. The mistake people make is that all dogs are the same, and it’s always the owners fault if the dog is a spazz. Breeding and socialization are key.

A very well thought out presentation. I love Mals, but they do need a lot of work. I currently have a Labrador, but my last dog was a Mal. She rarely reacted negatively, thank heavens! However, when we first got her, she went EVERYWHERE with us. Out to the shops, car rides, visiting places…. Everywhere. It made a huge difference.

1) Puppies don't always show their anxiety until they grow up, particularly to an inexperienced person. 2) A first time dog owner may try the Volkhard and the other test but still get a reactive dog due to misinterpretation of the puppy's reactions.

Thx so much Stonnie! It fascinates me how what you explain about dogs also applies to human genetics, growth and behaviour. If parents, educators and school administrators had a better grasp for these concepts, I feel that we would live in a better world🙂. I enjoy your insights keep up the work.

I'm staying tuned for the progress training videos. Excellent information, Stonnie!!

If/when possible, please provide lessons on how to create a calm, confident dog by using an adult rescue dog as an example. Help us to heal the shelter crisis created by irresponsible owners.

I’d say, no matter how experienced a dog person you may be, take every new puppy to a training/socialisation class or club.

I have a 21month old Belgian Malinois, have had her since 10 1/2 weeks, and I can tell you this, the Belgian Malinois is like no other breed I've had or even been around... She continually thinks she's the smartest one in the room, and I have learned to anticipate what she's thinking or thinking about doing... IF not kept occupied and mentally, as well as physically stimulated, the Belgian Malinois will become a monster, not like Gojira, more like being into anything and everything...

"Old Hat!" Good to hear that term - it's one of mine, and you just don't hear it that often anymore....

Good ol' fearful Maligators. I had a co-worker with a 10-year-old Maligator. He's kept in a cage for much of the day and will bite you if you make eye contact with him, and supposedly only tolerates those within the close family group. Makes one wonder whether such deep-rooted behavior can even BE changed at this point in time. He's not a bad dog, just fearful by nature, bred to bite when afraid, isolated for much of his life, and isn't given the chance to burn off all that penned up energy. In my line of thinking, you can't force a Maligator to have the nature of an English Chubby Lab. God bless you, Stonnie. Love the commonsense approach you use.

Sadly there are a lot of dog trainers who would not want people to see this video. That’s why it’s a great video!

Great common sense video in an era when common sense seems scarce. Hopefully the right people get to see it.

My eyes are your eyes, to watch and protect yours. My ears are your ears, to hear and detect evil minds in the dark. My nose is your nose, to scent the invader of your domain. And so you may live, my life is also yours. In dogs we trust!

I have several dogs, one purchased - yellow lab, all others adopted. Recently adopted an aussie that was born in rescue in less than ideal circumstances. I've had her since she was 7 weeks and wish I had understood the breed better before I agreed to adopt. She is constantly on high alert and reactive to her "siblings" every movement in spite of 3 rounds of obedience classes and lots of early socialization. I look forward to these videos to help me give her the skills to relax at home! Thanks for all your content, I've been watching you for a long time. If I had to do it over again I would only have labs from a reputable breeder. I have a yellow "show line" and a black "working" lab - the best sweetest dogs.

Thank you for this!! More people need to hear this message. Also love your obstacle course! Fabulous!

This is great, thank you. Please keep showing more of his progression!

I sooo agree! Thanks so much for this good explanation and video on 'energy' levels and behaviors.

This is fantastic content! Thank you for breaking this down and sharing such good information.

Brilliant video, I just love watching ❤

You explain things in the most informative, easily digestible manner. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us all!

Great video! We have 3 Airedale Terriers and one new Airedale pup. Early socialization is key. Take the pup with you every where you can as much as you can those first few months. Keep him by your side.

Super agree about long-term consistency and natural demeanor vs. an owner's availability to invest time and attention. Artificial variety is academic. That is to say, an obstacle course is helpful at the training facility but most people probably have enough natural variety in their daily lives such that they wouldn't need to construct it. Progression makes a lot of sense too--dogs generally don't need to be shoved into the deep end. I find the people with the biggest problems, though, weren't explicitly addressed in the video. It was kind of implied in phrases like 'basic obedience' and 'manners'. The problem is: some people are unwilling to use any level, not even mild/progressive amounts of aversion. They're not willing to tell their dog, "no" or "what you're doing is unacceptable (or counter-productive)". They're certainly not willing to back up such statements with consequences. Sometimes it's laziness. Sometimes it's a sense of inadequacy where they themselves don't feel authorized to assert a standard. Sometimes, though, it's a screwed up philosophy and a demonstrably untrue set of beliefs about the world. The dogs who belong to such people become better off if they can be dragged into the shallow end ...and afterwords have some consistency around the new baseline expectations. It's okay to be scared sometimes. It's not okay to constantly use fear as an excuse to let your dog be an @$$hole.

I did your "Hobo Walk" idea with our standard poodle puppy at Home Depot and elsewhere. That worked great.

2:54 ...awww.... Labradors doing Labrador things!!! What a goofball!

I really feel that "your way" is pretty close to "a dog's way" to build up trust and reliability. These dogs get to know, where their place is and who they are.

Reactivity is a typical problem when people adopt dogs. I know there is a beautiful feeling and emotion when wanting to rescue a dog in need, I applaud that. But many times people dont know what they are getting into, and end up with dogs they cant manage, so the vicious cycle begins...

Look at your gray hair Stonnie! The place looks amazing and so fun!

Great therapy session. THANK YOU! Great advice for people too! JC

I just adopted a 5 month old 45 lb male Golden Doodle. I’ll be following your channel. This boy is sweet, non aggressive, receptive and a quick learner. He’s going to be a great walking companion. He loves doing new and interesting stuff. I wish we lived in Kentucky!!

Brilliant post.

Love that yellow lab!

This is amazing! Thank you

So true, as always

Love this video. You are absolutely correct. I love your trail. It is amazing. I did ability in the beginning to build up my rescued dogs confidence and strengthen our bond. It helped her so much. So thank you for your work.

Thank you…I have a Labrador Dudley he’s such a big teddy bear but not loved by neighbors full of anxiety…he loves playing fetch but as I can see he needs more exposure…thanks for this video very helpful. Now to do the work.

getting a german shepherd puppy in september, well aware they are reactivity frequent fliers. uncle stonnie is my motivation to get that dog out on adventures! tired dog, happy dog + "hobo training" is the plan

I recently got two sibling puppies after losing my 16-year-old buddy right after Christmas. 💔 I found your channel, and I think I'm in love, in more ways than one. 😉 You would make a better therapist than most licensed human therapists!

I lucked out and chose my dog who is super confident. On the flip side it means he constantly pushes boundaries and rarely has an off button lol. I do let him interact with other dogs as it’s such a joy to see dogs playing together.

finally someone who sees that quick fixes wont work in the long run. it took my dog 4 years but he is finally stopping his reactivity issues. he still needs help with joggers and fluffy large dogs though.

Filling my Brain with all this puppy training ! My husband and I are thinking of adding a new furry family member and all these videos are amazing ! ❤

Or adopt the right dog. As someone who has fostered a good number of dogs, I take issue with the "buy" part. Most of the dogs I've fostered (specially non-working breeds) just needed a bit of structure and routine, some boundaries and play, to adapt. It truly was just adopting the right dog and giving it some time.

Thank you for video, I agree my puppy lab was socialised to everything as a puppy but she still reacts to pigeons and foxes

A very beautiful clip

Another great video Stonnie and others My bluetick mix is still overstimulated at age 7.5 towards deer behind fence in back yard . It’s time I get this under control if possible. It does wear his energy out . But not all positive on his behavior

Nice and good information well done

Agree, that in breeds like Mals, Dutchies, GSD agression in the first place are based on fear while they are puppies. Also 💯 agree to expose them to many different situations as possible to build resilience and confidence. But there is a but...there are patterns in those breeds, specially in Mals and Dutchies, that come "preinstalled" with delivery - like biting for exploring and biting with a chase before for releasing stress what has been built just moments/seconds before for their scanning and controlling talents they were made and selected for. So my anecdotal experience with now my third 2nd hand Dutchy is, that they will become amazing family dogs, who are "functioning" perfectly under overwhelming stress situations (like big crowds in big cities - i'm living in Berlin, Germany), but if they are in "boring" situations they are looking for a job, taking then action in this job just before most handlers are aware, that there could be a something the Mal or Dutchy would take as a controlling job. Those dogs seem to me start to begin adults with 3 or 3,5 years and that's the time when they start to be confident, their fear goes almost against zero not only by experience, but mostly by hormones and they start to decide independent from the handler to follow patterns they came geneticly preinstalled and what patterns they've learned to combine with those programs /talents. At this point of age they are still incredibly fast and good learners, but there is no way to decline 💯 old learned patterns... So what my anecdotal experience with those dogs are is that they need a much higher exposure to stressful situations in a higher frequency and longer time to get focused on the handler and on his commands compared to happy go lucky breeds like show line Retrievers (for example) When I picked up my 2nd hand Dutchies (with 7 months) I always had them for one week 24/7 on a leash and exposed them to everything in the household and the city (big crowds, shopping malls, public traffic, forests, parks, horses, cattle, sheep, zoo, playgrounds for children) and started then to give more and more space with a leash After 2 or 3 weeks they followed totally focused and motivated and i started to introduce carefully commands...our 3 hours morning walk every morning is filled also with training and it's how we start every day...that's what we both need, the dog/s and me to get ready for working

Im doing basic obedience and building confidence on my 6mo Malinois puppy since it was 2mo (letting him drag me and win playing tug...), it only barks to "strange" sounds when we are at home like ppl running down the stairway (we live in an appartment and most of ppl use the elevator so its kinda rare to have ppl close to the main door). She was a little reactive at first not fear based in my eyes cuz she just want to meet everyone and every dog on the street. I've let ppl pet her when she calmed down and sit so she doesn't jump on ppl and I'm tryng to keep her neutral to other dogs when we walk on the street (we live in a busy Spanish city). So far so good, she is learning to be calm when meeting new ppl and she starts to ignore other dogs when walking. The only "reactive" issue she still show every time is wanting to play wtih kids when they are playing soccer on the street, she sees a soccer ball bouncing and obedience and looking for direction is out the window, same goes for packs of pigeons roaming parks. I'm trnyg to play with her around those distractions to keep her engage and I'm not really sure if I'm not having succes or if its hapenning but way slower. Should I stop playing fetch (witch I dont do often) with her and just play tug for now on ? I was wondering if im making it worse teachin her to chase a Kong an retriving or it has nothing to do with the issue. Thx in advance

Great info love the videos. One question how do you keep water out of all your tires? It’s an issue for me with my obstacle set up. Thanks

I felt this in my heart. I thought it must have something to do with how timid a dog is as a puppy because my other dog doesn’t bark at people. I am trying to desensitize my little dog.. I pray it works!!

I personally love when my lab alerts me of people.

4:19 this concept, that all dogs are reactive but the TYPE of reaction is what’s important has flipped a switch in my brain for how to assess the dog my hubby and I just adopted. He reacts in kind at the moment, mostly neutral or inquisitive, especially with people but sometimes very loud noises, less fireworks and more very loud garbage trucks right next to us, can put him in that fear mindset. Good way for me to anticipate issues as we train.

Great video, love your explanation of reactivity. All of my terriers have that high arousal reactivity of varying degrees. My bulldogges, almost zero. Buy the right dog is key - bloodlines and breed matter. I knew what I was getting with the terriers, and with exposure and time, they typically do well. Honestly, the more dogs they meet or are exposed to in a positive manner, the less reactive they become, and this is opposite to my former beliefs and goes against what a lot of trainers push. PS. Dying to see more of that cute little JRT you got kicking around 😁

My Doberman was introduced to a lot of people as a puppy and as an adult loved to meet new people. The vet told me not to have any contact with any dogs until all shots given and it was dog reactive.

This is a perfect explanation.dogs are hard work and will be to the day they die.i love the work and problem solving.my dogs are hooligans, they love people ,love life .my neighbours suffer,i have a 1yr old 2yr old and 18yr old.❤❤❤

This is amazing. So which smaller dogs are the “happy confident” ones? Thanks for the great work you do! ❤

I’ve never had a reactive lab (4 at that point) until I got my chocolate lab during Covid. It took a long time to socialize her and we are STILL working on the barking bullcrap.

I would have loved to go to Stonnie dog training, but I live in Alberta. A bit of a hike to Kentucky though. I have to be content learning everything I can from his videos. I want a dog that can function in the real world so I trained him in the real world. I joined an outdoor group training group. We met 3 times a week for 1.5 hours. Every class was held in a different environment. My Aussie has been on an escalator, elevator, practiced going up and down stairs and even went on a rapid transit train. We have gone to a pub and walked around a CdnTire. We practiced polite human to dog and dog to dog greetings on leash before every class when the group had gelled. We went on hikes through forests and walks around downtown. We went to a couple of off leash parks with the whole group to practice recall with distractions. We practiced long stays with lots of distractions so they could learn to just chill. A group of teenage girls with a boom box approached my Aussie and asked if they could pet him, to my surprise he was really excited to meet them, despite the loud music. I have a very happy confident dog that can adapt to almost anything. Except the vacuum cleaner.🤣 When we completed the core classes I was able to join the year long club that offers 20 different classes a month with a variety of interests, like camping, hiking and checking out dog friendly pubs and patios after a neighborhood walk.

Entertainment is why Hendrix is doing awesome!

Oh, this sounds really good. I can’t wait. Will you videotape this week by week by week now? I would love to see every few days, but that could be a pain so week by week would be great, but I will say one thing I do have this type of breed and some of them genetically you just cannot change it. All you can do is manage it and I think you probably understand that so that’s why I’m so excited about this, but he doesn’t seem real. He seems for the breed.

My Boxer is really aggressive towards dogs and my Cane Corso is chill and dog social. (So happy it's not the other way around!). WE had one incident when another dog tried to attack the Boxer pup. The Corso ran between them and brought the pup back before she was hurt. That's the only adverse incident the Boxer has experienced. She's constantly looking for weaker dogs to bully. I've had lot of Boxers - only one before has been dog-aggressive. Pups seem to just come out the way they are but I don't know if it was that incident that started it off with her.

Off topic, but I love how you only see the GSP at the beginning and end, but the labs stay nice and close. My GSP would do the same. 😆

the dog i have now is the first reactive dog i've had. she's half lab and half gsd. my other dogs were gsd's and this is my first lab

Stonnie always training the clueless hooman

In my experience, terriers and Chiwawas are the most aggressive-reactive. Go for a walk, and it will be the terriers and Chiwawas that challenge you, and bark continuously. Across-the-street neighbors had 3 of them, and they never got used to me being in my own driveway: bark! bark! bark! bark! bark! bark! bark!, etc. every single time they saw me. Any one of them barked more in 10 minutes than my part-Catahoula or my part Aussie barked in their entire lifetimes.

My dog negatively responds to certain dogs in the area and I can't figure why for some of them. Some of them act up so I get those ones, the others no clue. He tries to be friends with the majority.

While i agree the long term strategy has to be progressive exposure, i also think it very important to shut down any barking the *instant* it starts. That's because barking in and of itself is a very stimulating behavior for dogs, and is also what's called a self-reinforcing behavior. So if you're sitting in your living room and your dog starts barking out in the yard, and you're really slow to get up and out there to snap the dog out of it, just know that each second that dog continues barking, it further undermines any progress you've previously made. So it's like 1 step forward 2 steps back. And if you don't want to immediately drop everything and run out and physically stop your dog from barking the instant it starts, then don't let it be out there unsupervised in the first place, untill you have taught it how to. Ps. yelling at your dog from inside your house does nothing, and can even make things worse and just add to the noise.

🇮🇪 very good video sharing

I had a Mal for 10 years. Best dog ever. Could take her anywhere & around anybody but it was A LOT OF WORK those first couple years. It's been 3 years since she passed on the 23rd of this month & I'm still torn....Want to get another Mal or Dutch but I'm not sure at this point in my life (43yrs) if I want another crazy athlete/MMA fighter. Once they are solid, it's the best but it takes a lot to get them there.

Hi Stonnie, great videos. Love to understand about dogs. Aporeciste your common sense. Enjoy your rambling style of explaining. I have a 5 month old 4 lb Chihuahua. I see you working with big dogs. Got any advice for small dog? Thank you. Janice

I chose for temperament and even before I ever knew of Stonnie Dennis I believed the very same core values he always states. It's so weird to hear that people would think that too much socialisation produces reactivity. Like what are they doing so wrong!?

How do you socialize dogs with children while also teaching the kids limits to how they handle the dog? My super sweet golden nipped a child when we were visiting another house recently. He does well with kids, but a child crawled up to him from behind and my dog was spooked and turned around and bit him. Really threw me for a loop. Child is fine, but now I’m a little paranoid of his interactions with kids. He always loves the attention of kids but in that situation he reacted.

Have you ever worked with a Newfoundland or Newfiedoodle? WWhat they say about them might be what my 73yo self needs or self train one or a mobility service dog. I will getting my new pup December or later so I am still hunting breeds. thank you for your your input if you have any on this breed.

What about a dog who nonchalantly goes over to the door to see who's knocking now, & doesn't let out a peep. BUT when someone knocks fast & hard (Urgently), it comes unglued, until after it sizes up the situation. Should the dog be desensitized to urgent knocking?

I dog sit a reactive Poodle puppy (18 mo.) several times a week. So a far cry from a Malinois and the likes. Well socialised from the start and inquisitive, not anxious or scared until he hit puberty at about 9-10 mo. Or rather, my guess is we missed the signs because of lack of experience. He's owners are first time dog owners and I've never had a dog either. I liked the video overall but a detail I didn't like was making it seem like the only reason someone would struggle with reactivity training is them being lazy, "that type of owner". We've implemented the basic principals of reactivity training much like presented in this video, and lemme tell you, this 💩 is hard! We have not been lazy with training but both the dog and the world around us simply refuse to function in this simplistic way presented in the video. For the average person controlling the dogs environment in a way that is needed for gradual exposure training is super hard. Your home environment is what it is. You have very little control over how many people walk past your house every day, how close to the house cars drive by or how loud your neighbours kids are. And those electric scooters, the menace of European cities (that I'd like to see banned within city limits 😂), totally random driving going on there. We live in the middle of the city and there is no way we can drive an hour to the city limits every time the dog needs to go outside so we can be in control of his evironment. The dog simply cannot get the best gradual exposure training at home. Cannot. It's going to come close to the ideal at times and at other times nowhere near. That being said the dog has made huge progress, huuuuge. Being inexperienced a lot of trial and error has gone into trying to adapt these types of "this is how to train a dog in a dog training facility" advice into the home environment. Not that training in a facility doesn't help, it definitely does, but said poodle happens to be very confident and obedient in this type of environment. It's the caotic city streets he struggles with quite understandably. We'll get there some day, it seems, but until then I wish folks weren't so quick to judge all owners by the behaviour of the dog. It could be a case in progress for all you know.

My dog was reactuve to all non dog or human mamals, after a lot of experience with rabbits & squirrels he's fine on leash. Other animals not so much, why lack of exposure, pretty simple. He has a good friend who used to be reactive but after multiple exposures to my guy he's great now. It works, pretty simple.

That's what I've been doing with my pup and it's working just like you say it does. There has been a huge parvo outbreak in my area so my vet advised that he not mix with other dogs or go in public until he had a 4th parvo combo shot. So that put us behind where I wanted to be in his socialization and training. What I have done is sit outside my apartment building a ton so he could experience many different people and dogs coming and going. And I let him socialize with the dogs in my building who I know are vaccinated. I obedience train him in my apartment and outside it. I've gotten him used to being good in the car. And now that he's fully vaccinated plus one I'm taking him places like pet stores, the vet clinic just for weight and treats, and the park. But I've added just a bit at a time. He's doing great. Starting sooner would have been better. But he's doing excellent considering. Oh, and I chose the right dog. His dad is a Boxer and his mom is a Great Pyrenees. Out of 2 litters totaling 13 puppies he was the nicest. The foster family helped me to pick him out for me to train as a service dog for myself. And we did choose the right dog. He's naturally calm, curious, and usually unafraid. He's sweet, too, and eager to learn. He's a good pup. I've watched many of your videos and have been training dogs for years. I'm not perfect. But I'm glad to see from this video that I'm on the right track. Thank you as always for sharing your wisdom with us.

I’m very much looking forward to this series! We just fostered then adopted two burnedoodles from the rescue. They are littermates and adorable. I have been watching and enjoying your videos soooo much these past few months as they’ve grown from 8 weeks when we got them to now at 21 weeks and double in size so far ❤. I loved your video with the Bernese mountain dog…so helpful. Also your Littermate videos were so wonderful. We rescued them and didn’t plan on getting two puppies and your video has been inspirational to be persistent and consistent as we go along. We already had them when I found your Littermate video thankfully. We are giving them all kinds of experiences and puppy-sized adventures (my new favorite term!). Their temperaments are overall fabulous. One of them is a barker by nature. We have been working on it with him since he came to us at 8 weeks and see improvement but I am definitely looking forward to more tips and insights from this series!! Thank you!!!!! I appreciate your work so much!

Use Volhard puppy aptitude test to assess the dog before buying. It has tests for touch, sound, and sight sensitivity as well as several other tests. It is less the breed than the individual puppy. Next to that, it is training from puppyhood to desensitize and learn acceptable behaviors. There are horses that can't be trusted to pull a wagon on a back road, and there are horses that can go into battle with gunshots all around, the difference is in training.

I have a 2.5 yo GSP/border collie mix, adopted from the shelter….she’s a worker, has the tons of energy i was hoping for…she goes for work in the field at least once a day, more than once when it’s not as hot and has at least one 1.5-2mile walk…daily, plus then lots of backyard play-daily. DO NOT BUY OR ADOPT a working breed if you can’t do even my minimum daily exercise, the dog and you will not be happy….when we finish field work she’s ready for a nap….but would keep working if i asked her to, i just know her I’m tired signs. This is my first working breed, and it’s been a joy to train her because she’s so smart, my golden retriever, RIP, was smart…but no other dog I’ve owned has been on this level of intelligence.

How far would you go in progressive exposure to fear-inducing situations? Stop at the first sign of a fearful reaction or rather progress through the reaction until the task is accomplished, as long as the dog is willing to follow?

Oh man we bought (our choice) two Maltese mix siblings. They cutest but both anxious and reactive especially with people and dogs. When they are separated and go with me to a pet store they don’t bark at people but when together they are enter the store barking at everyone. I don’t know what to do to get them to be less scared😢 I think they were born like this

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My cavalier king charles isn't so much reactive as he is assertive towards large male dogs. He's beautiful and sweet with people, loves girl dogs and some boys. If he likes a dog he will play with it and even lick its face, especially older ones. He was meant to be shown and studded and was still intact when he was rehomed to me at 2 and that may be part of his bde. Trying to teach him not to lunge at random dogs before he picks on the wrong one and gets hurt. We live in the city so there are dogs everywhere. He also smiles at me afterwards because he's extremely proud of himself after he asserts because he thinks he's the man. He doesn't bite, just talks trash. Open to suggestions.

Like a Lab 👊

Tell me about building attention span. Maybe in a video with that Malinois. BTW my Labracadabradoodle has benefited greatly by your videos. We've been having crazy adventures in the suburban creeks of Melbourne Australia. Thanks Stonnie.