Owning a dog should be enjoyable!
Let Mark help you change your dog’s behaviour, while improving your relationship at the same time.
Mark provides individual advice based on your unique situation,
using exclusively positive reinforcement techniques.
Raising a puppy gives you a unique opportunity to prevent nuisance behaviours from developing into major problems. Learn how at puppy school.
Attending a professionally run puppy school is critical to having a well behaved dog joining your family. As we learn more about dog behaviour and development, there has become an increased emphasis on early, thorough, positive socialisation of young puppies. Research has shown that it is vital that this occurs during the Critical Socialisation Period […]
Read more
Mark offers private, personal dog training sessions to help with most behaviour issues. Why Hire a Professional? It is quite normal to try and fix your dog’s behavioural issues by speaking to friends and family, searching Google, reading books, and watching videos on the internet. Often times this advice can contradict itself, and it can […]
Read more
Mark Ehrman of Canine Counselling by Mark is the first Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Trainer (VSPDT) in Australia. After completing a certificate in dog training and behaviour in 2006, Mark continued to study and learn about dogs and dog training. As a result of his continuing education, Mark changed the way he trains, adopting the […]
Read moreAdvice, News and Tips
Read the latest news and advice from Mark and other dog training experts
My *second* biggest piece of advice for puppy owners (and anyone training new behaviours or cues) is: take smaller steps.
Our natural tendency is to see a little bit of progress, and immediately think "he's got this!". We then start asking for more and more too quickly. But then we start to get frustrated when all of the sudden he "doesn't get it anymore..." 😠
Dogs generalise very gradually, and we need to take very small steps when increasing criteria.
So when teaching 'stay' or 'come', we increase duration, distance, and distractions very gradually. If at any time we start getting more misses than successes, we need to go back to getting easier successes, then take a smaller step.
Some dogs are very quick learners, but others need more time and guidance. When teaching, always work to the learner's pace, and never assume that they can handle a big jump in expectations. Like the picture below, what may be easy for you can be a challenge for your puppy.
So remember to be patient, and take small steps. This will keep both you and your puppy happy in the training and will allow you to see more progress than trying to force things too quickly. 😀👍
©2019 Canine Counselling by Mark
