Here are some of the things I’ve learned about dogs:

• Dogs are body language communicators. While they do not intuitively understand the meaning of words, through patient repetition and well-timed reinforcement they can learn what words mean.

• Dogs do what makes them feel good. Understand what makes them feel good and use that to your training advantage.

• Dogs value aerobic exercise.  Training helps make that possible.

• Olfactory stimulation is vital to your dog’s mental and emotional wellbeing. 

• Dogs don’t always want to “say hi” to every unfamiliar person or dog they meet. 

• Dogs are not always motivated by food.

• Every dog is capable of biting.

• You can’t change a dog’s temperament but you can modify their responses to the environment.

• Almost everything that dogs do — resource guarding, aggressive displays, chewing, barking, rolling in stinky stuff, eating poop, etc — is completely normal.