3 Lost Dogs

We're professionals, probably.

Academy members: the new episode, "From 'Stubborn' Dog to Adventure Dog," is here. Check it out on your member dashboard or in your favorite podcast app (if you've set up your private feed yet. Message us for instructions on how to do that).

Your life has basically become nothing but saying "no."

𝘕𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘕𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨!

𝘕𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦!

𝘕𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨! 𝘕𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳!

𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴!

When you got this pup, you dreamed of snuggling on the couch and going on adventures. Instead, you feel like you're babysitting a tiny demon.

You 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to love this dog. But you're exhausted.

And the more you try to train them, the more they tune you out. Or worse - seem to dislike you.

I went through that with my first puppy, Friday.

She preferred literally everyone else in the house because they got to be the “fun” people. They never had to tell her no.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗜’𝗱 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻:

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Training should build the relationship, not strain it.

If it feels like you're always the bad guy, you've probably been taught a version of training that puts you and your dog on opposite teams. (“Don’t let bad behavior get rewarded,” etc)

But you can turn this around.

You just need an approach that puts you and Sparky on the same team.

𝗧𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁:

✅ Prevent problems instead of just reacting to them, so you’re not forced to always be The Person Who Says No

✅ Meet their enrichment needs (not just exercise) in a way that naturally leads to good behavior.

✅ Address 𝘸𝘩𝘺 they’re doing the “bad” behavior (instead of slapping random bandaids on the problem)

✅ Communicate clearly so they understand you (I’m not talking about teaching more obedience commands)

✅ Become The Provider of Good Things so they actually WANT to listen to you

⬆️ That's the short version of the strategy we teach in Puppy Survival School.

It's how our members go from "WHAT WAS I THINKING" to "we've got this!"

If you're sick of being the villain in your own puppy story, come see what it feels like to be the hero instead. See Puppy Survival School at the bio link.

"My puppy only bites my partner/child/housemate like that.'

We hear that a lot.

There are a few possible reasons for this phenomenon. Here, Erin explains one of the most common but least understood reasons.

This clip is a small excerpt from one of our live group coaching sessions inside the Academy. The full, hour-long replay is available for members to watch now.

Most of this session basically turned into a nice puppy support group meeting, where we (and a few of our "veteran" puppy parent members) gave new members some guidance on taming their little landsharks.

We also covered:

✅ Healthy ways to channel puppy biting instead of trying to suppress it

✅ How to start building a better relationship between the puppy and the person they chew on the most

✅ Increasing crate duration with a puppy

✅ How to handle puppy witching hour

Members, check out the full video on your dashboard.