So in previous post I broke down different kinds of winning/fighting behaviours - Pull - Head shake - Drop weight - Push I also created a poll asking you to vote on how your dog is winning the game. Head shake is winning — no pun intended. 😄 I have to admit, head shaking is probably my favourite way of fighting for the toy. Maybe I even unconsciously encourage dogs to use it. Why? Because, unlike some of the other winning strategies, a strong head shake usually gives me a very clear picture of the dog’s emotional state. The dog looks confident, feels good in the game, and is actively fighting to win the toy. Hard to get it wrong. But what about the other strategies? This is where it gets interesting, because the same behaviour can come from very different emotions. Let’s start with pulling. A dog may pull simply because this is their natural fighting style — something strongly influenced by genetics. But pulling does not always mean confidence. Some dogs pull because they are unsure or sensitive to pressure of handler/decoy. They do not want to give up the toy, but they also do not feel completely comfortable in the interaction. They are almost trying to take their “piece of meat” and create distance. Sometimes you can clearly see that the dog is pulling from insecurity rather than confidence. Look at the whole picture: body language, eyes and, especially, the grip. If the dog is pulling away while maintaining a shallow grip on the toy or sleeve, it can suggest that they do not feel comfortable close to the handler or decoy. With these dogs, the goal is to develop confident pulling rather than simply rewarding the pulling itself. That is where the Play with Purpose framework comes in. Then we have dropping weight. Dropping weight is a more passive way of fighting. Some dogs use it with huge confidence. They simply plant themselves, stop the handler/helper and make it very difficult to move them. But other dogs drop their weight because they are not yet confident enough to fight for the object in a more active way.

Funny enough! We were chatting umbrellas here @Lynne Willmott and now instagram is bombarding me with ads of custom made umbrellas… shall I do Reactive Dog Umbrella with K4D Logo on it? I think I want one eg. Yellow or Black umbrella with writing: Recall Your Dog! The best part is nobody will see it unless blocking the other dog lol What do you think?

ok I decided to do something crazy. Heelwork for Dummies online course is now for 1$ !!! for this weekend only. Go to https://www.skool.com/karate4dogs/classroom and grab while you can :)

Thanks for jumping in here early – you’re basically the founding members of this community. This space is for all of you who already follow my work and want a place to go a bit deeper together. Please say hi in the comments and share: - Who are you and what dog/dogs you have? - What are you mainly working on right now? - What’s the first thing you’d like to learn here – one topic or problem you want me to cover as soon as possible? Many thanks, Alex