C.O.R Dog Training

🐶 Mouthing & Biting
One of the most common concerns puppy owners have is mouthing and biting. While it can be frustrating (and painful), it's important to understand that mouthing is a normal part of canine development.
Puppies use their mouths to explore the world, interact with their environment, play with others, and learn social skills. In fact, a puppy's mouth is one of its primary tools for gathering information about the world around them.
The issue isn't that puppies mouth—it’s what they learn from it.
From a behavioural science perspective, dogs repeat behaviours that are reinforced. Reinforcement simply means a behaviour results in an outcome the dog finds rewarding. If mouthing leads to attention, play, movement, laughter, physical interaction, or access to something desirable, the behaviour is likely to increase over time.
This is why many owners unintentionally strengthen mouthing without realising it. Pushing a puppy away, waving your hands, pulling clothing back, talking to them, or engaging in a tug-of-war style interaction can all become part of the reinforcement history that maintains the behaviour.
Neuroscience also plays a role. Young puppies have immature impulse control systems and are still developing the neural pathways responsible for emotional regulation, frustration tolerance, and self-control. Just like children, puppies require guidance and repetition to learn appropriate ways of interacting with the world.
Mouthing commonly occurs during:
• Play
• Excitement
• Attention-seeking
• Exploration
• Teething
• Frustration
• Overstimulation
Rather than focusing solely on stopping the behaviour, we should focus on teaching an alternative.
✔ Redirect onto appropriate toys and chews
✔ Reward calm interaction
✔ Teach impulse control
✔ Ensure puppies are getting adequate rest
✔ Consistently reinforce appropriate play
Mouthing is normal.
What matters is whether the puppy learns that using their mouth on people works—or whether they learn better ways to engage with the world.

🐾Community Dog Walk-You're invited! 🐾

After receiving some positive feedback from local dog owners, I've decided to organise our first community dog walk.

🗓Sunday 5th July
🕘11.00am
📍Lake Weeroona- meet near the Boatshed

The idea is simple: a relaxed walk where local dog owners can meet, enjoy some time outdoors, and spend time with their dogs in a calm, friendly environment.

This isn't formal training class or a dog park meetup- just a casual opportunity to connect with other dog lovers and enjoy a walk together.

Dogs of all ages and breeds are welcome, provided they're comfortable being around other dogs and people while on lead.

If you'd like to come along, feel free to comment below or send a DN, so I can get a rough idea of numbers.

Looking forward to meeting everyone! 🐶

Resilience is one of the most important skills we can help our dogs develop. 🐾
From a neuroscience perspective, confidence is built through experience. When dogs are safely exposed to small challenges, recover from frustration, problem solve independently, and learn they can cope without constant support, the brain begins creating stronger emotional resilience pathways over time.
This doesn’t mean throwing dogs into overwhelming situations or emotionally disconnecting from them. In fact, secure attachment and safe independence work together.
Confidence-building often comes from giving dogs opportunities to:
• settle independently
• explore new environments
• practise calm alone time
• problem solve through enrichment
• recover from small moments of frustration
• make safe choices without constant guidance
Dogs that never learn these skills can become more reliant on reassurance, struggle with frustration, or find everyday challenges overwhelming.
Resilient dogs are not dogs that never struggle — they are dogs that have learnt they can cope, recover, and keep moving forward.
Small experiences today can create a more confident dog for life. ✨
Save or share this post with someone raising a puppy or working on confidence-building with their dog.

Whining and crying are some of the earliest forms of communication dogs learn. Even as puppies, before their eyes are fully open, vocalisation is used to signal discomfort, distress, isolation, or a need for social contact.

As dogs grow older, whining can still occur for many different reasons, including:
• fear or anxiety
• frustration
• loneliness or isolation distress
• pain or discomfort
• over-arousal
• or behaviours that have unintentionally been reinforced over time

This is why it’s important not to immediately label every whining dog as simply “attention-seeking.” The sound itself is only the symptom — the real goal is understanding what emotional or physical state is driving it.

Context matters:

When does the whining happen?

What is happening around the dog?

What body language accompanies it?

What outcome usually follows?

The more we understand why behaviours occur, the better we can address them appropriately instead of just reacting to the noise itself.

Save this post for later, or share it with someone struggling with a vocal dog 🐾