Lessons From The Leash (Chapter 4): The Owner Who Meant Well

Part 2: The Human Side, Training the Trainer...

Photo by Fernando Gago on Unsplash

The Story

She was kind, gentle, and loved her dog deeply. We’ll call her Lisa.

Lisa had adopted a young Lab-mix named Jasper, a sweet, energetic dog who meant well but seemed stuck in a cycle of chaos. Jasper jumped on guests, barked for attention, pulled like a freight train on leash, and rarely came when called. Lisa said she tried it all: group classes, YouTube videos, online advice forums. Her phone was filled with screenshots of dog training tips. Her kitchen counter had three types of treats and two clickers.

But despite all her efforts, nothing seemed to stick.

When we started working together, I immediately noticed that Jasper wasn’t the problem. Lisa’s intentions were good, but her follow-through was inconsistent and in most cases, non-existent.

One day, she’d reward him for sitting patiently at the door. The next day, she’d let him bolt out ahead of her because she was in a rush. One moment Lisa ignored his barking, and later she’d talk sweetly to calm him down. She was doing her best, but “her best” differed daily. For Jasper, the rules were blurry. And blurry rules are the enemy of a focused dog.

Dogs don’t need perfection. But they do need clarity. When the boundaries change moment to moment, dogs stop trying to follow the rules and start trying to manage the chaos themselves.

Jasper wasn’t stubborn. He was confused.

So we simplified. We stripped things down to just a few core behaviours:

• Sit (calm around distractions and to decrease jumping)

• Wait (safety and calmness when excited)

• Come (safety - recall to Lisa regardless of the circumstances)

• Place (calm and decompression)

We committed to consistency, even if the reps were messy. Lisa practiced responding the same way, every time, especially when it was inconvenient.

And slowly, something changed. Jasper started looking to her for direction instead of charging ahead. The jumping stopped. The barking faded. The leash walking improved. Not because Lisa found the perfect cue, but because she became reliable.

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Training Lesson: Clarity Over Complexity

Many dog owners try to fix problems by adding more commands, more tools, and more treats, but micromanaging often creates more confusion, not solutions.

Your dog isn’t asking for more information. They’re asking for consistency.

If a cue works on Tuesday but not on Thursday, it’s not the cue; it’s the clarity behind it. If your body language changes every time you give a command, your dog learns to guess. And if you sometimes follow through and sometimes don’t, they learn to wait you out.

Training is about patterns. Patterns that your dog can recognize, rely on, and respond to.

Consistency builds confidence. Inconsistency creates noise.