Following on from my interview with Sue Ailsby [1], reader Naomi had some great questions about loose leash walking which I answered here. [2]

Something I forget to mention in my last email to you is a plan I wrote for dogs who bark when their owners leave which you can find here. [3]

This plan is incomplete, in that further training will be required for different situations, but it's a good start and teaches the basic idea quite well. You've got to start somewhere! After you master the basics, it's time to put on the thinking cap and dream up new scenarios that set your dog up for success and emulate actual situations where your dog barks.

Is Your Dog Afraid of Stairs? Or is your dog afraid of agility obstacles, doorways, or even the crate? Reader Michelle had a question about how best to handle a dog who is afraid of using stairs.

An article she had read seemed to take a positive, little-by-little approach but we both agreed that it was not in the best interests of the dog. You can read more about that here. [4]

Which leads me to this thought - sometimes we think we are doing the right thing by our dog, but does our dog see it that way? I remember trying to lure my dog inside our new home after I had just ripped up the carpet and driven all the nails home. I hadn't even realised how afraid he was because he was outside and I couldn't see him while I was setting the nails. It wasn't until I asked him to come inside because it was raining and we didn't have any gates that I realised how afraid he was.

To add insult to injury I did what most positive trainers considered to be the kindest approach at the time, which was to lure him inside with food. The theory goes that he is free to follow the lure, he is not being forced, and the food brings a positive association. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, all it did was reinforce Django's tentative, fearful first steps into the house before he quickly raced back outside, terrified.

The theory didn't add up in practice.

We had worked on targeting a stick for some time. I didn't have a stick handy so I rolled up a catalogue and asked him to 'touch' it with his nose. Within minutes I had him inside, exploring the house.

I think this is because Django was "thinking" instead of "reacting". He was just following a simple task with the thinking part of his brain, rather than avoiding a fearful stimulus with the reacting part of his brain. Once inside, he realised there was nothing more to fear.

It took me many more similar experiences to realise that the best tool for the job is the tool that gets the animal thinking.