Field notes · Dog training in Angier & Raleigh, NC
How do I teach my dog to make better choices?
Set up a situation where the right choice is genuinely available, then let him make it. If he never gets a choice, you are managing him rather than teaching him.
In the trainer's words
Without choice points, you're just stuck managing. You're your dog's micromanager slash prison guard.Kelton, Head Trainer, Angier K9 Consultants
Seen with 3 dogs: Bun, Finn, Reaper
14 recorded moments, each one linked to the exact second it happens in a full training session published unedited. Trainers call this lawful choice points.
10:02
It makes a dog's life less fulfilling
16:16
Why he lay down instead of finding heel
45:11
I just allowed Bun to make his own choice
45:39
Without choice points you're just managing
48:08
Allow the choice, then use what he chose
38:18
You're not a prison guard
38:44
He forgot about it and went back to sniffing
0:53
Natural exploration, and the long line is there to allow it
20:34
What a six-foot leash would have taken away here
31:45
You can't do that with a six-foot leash
5:27
A walk is a sensory experience for Finn. Let him have it
44:25
You didn't lock the leash up." "No, I was ready." "You let him make a choice
45:06
I'd ban those six-foot leashes if I could
31:51
He needs to make choices. We give him a choice point.
Related questions
Recognize your own dog in this?
Most people who call us have already been told their dog is a lost cause, or that they should manage it and hope. We train dogs in Angier, Raleigh and across the Triangle, and we take the serious aggression and reactivity cases that other programs turn down.
How it works: tell us what your dog is actually doing. We tell you honestly whether we can help, including when the answer is no. If we can, you leave with a plan and a start date.
What you get back is a dog whose world gets bigger instead of smaller.
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