It is reductive to say that dogs “exist in the moment.”
It’s a fallacy, used to apply unnecessarily harsh control methods onto them.
"They won’t remember it. They get over it. Move on."

Excuse me, have you ever truly met a dog?

When you leave your home with your dog, if you are sighted, you see your local area by means of your brain processing the light that hits the environment and bounces back into your eyes. You are experiencing at the speed of light when you step out into the day.

Dogs, as primarily olfactory (scent-based) animals, their experience of the world always contains echoes of what has gone before.
Chemical traces, pheromones, of dogs who have walked past your home last night, the cat that walked along your garden gate in the early hours.
Your dog is a literal time traveller.

Sensing residual paths of others moving through space - Those paths are stronger on the most recent footprints
Your dog knows which direction they went, hours ago, when you were all asleep.

The mixture of scent, the layers that are relevant to them versus those that are not.
Your dog can distinguish, they know who on the dog field has treats on them, even if that person forgot they had them in their pocket.

Scent carries emotional learning experiences, as with us, the smell of your gran’s perfume or Sunday dinner will stick with us. But our olfactory system is pathetic, we get 20% of what our dogs do when we take in a scent.
Your dog can have an emotional response to a molecule of a scent that was laid down a day ago.

…If they have vision, they also see. They experience the present now, too.

Try to think how that must feel.
Today, last night, yesterday. Friends, foes all there in front of you all at once.
Imagine all this, while someone is simultaneously demanding your attention and expecting you to perform a command before crossing a road.

Never forget that your dog experiences things you could never imagine. Your brain is human, your culture and lived experience are human. You will never truly be able to get into the mind of a dog; it is not within your imaginative capacity to do that. Such an intense sensory experience would be overwhelming, even for a short time. You’d go mad, you are not set up for it.

We are forever hobbled by our human-centric way of seeing, but that’s fine, if you are open to accepting that and using it to inform your behaviour.

If you are open to engaging with dogs as complex thinking, feeling, experiencing entities and give them space to dog.

Understanding the rich, multi-layered world your dog experiences can be complex and challenging. If you live with a dog (an animal!) And you’re struggling to bridge the gap between your human perception and your dog's lived reality, and you're looking for guidance in fostering a deeper connection based on empathy and understanding, get in touch.

Let's work together to help you truly understand and support your pal!

Yes, it seems obvious, but if your dog’s recall is a bit "Fenton!!", rewind and go back to basics.
Practice at home where there are fewer distractions. Practice outdoors with your dog on a long line so they can’t bog off completely. Reward them every time they return to you, whether or not you asked them to. Don't rely on your dog to recall out of the blue if they aren't used to doing it regularly.

Reinforcement drives behaviour
You are competing with the sights, sounds and smells of the great wide world when asking your dog to come back to you. Find out what your dog’s favourite foods are. Find out what your dog’s favourite toys are. Make them the thing you take on walks with you. Keep a variety of rewards on your person to make coming back to you really rewarding for your dog.

Reward your dog any time they choose to look at you, regardless of whether you asked them to.
By doing this, you make engaging with you worth doing, and they will want to do it more. Keep your conversation going!

Have fun together
Out with your dog, but actually spending your time scrolling your phone? You better believe they are going to find ways to amuse themselves whilst you’re doing other things, and it will almost certainly include getting up to no good. Keep your dog engaged by paying them attention, be mindful of their experience, play some games and explore with them. Be silly, chat to them, play chase, get off the path, get them doing some barkour, play hide and seek.

Before you even let your dog off lead, assess how excited they are.
If they’re pulling like a steam train and ignoring you talking to them when they are on lead, then you’ve no chance of them hearing you when they are off lead. Can they focus on you? Are they able to eat treats? Can they follow well-practiced cues, like “sit”? If the answer is “no” to any of these, then your dog may be just too excited to be unleashed.

You want your recalls to be successful so you can reinforce and encourage more success.
Don’t call your dog if you don’t think they are going to come. If they are hoofing off after a squirrel or an excellent scent, for example, you are wasting your breath by calling them more than once. Go and get them if you are able to. Otherwise, wait until they are at least facing in your direction before shouting them.

But dogs learn through consequences
Yes, it is embarrassing and frustrating if your dog won’t come back when called. If they get a royal telling off when they do come back to you they are not going to want to do that in the future. Always make a big deal of how clever they are and reinforce them when they come back to you (even if they’ve been leading you on a merry dance prior to their return).

Invest in a long line!
If you are not 100% sure about your dog’s recall around different environments. If they have hoofed off after squirrels, other dogs, scents. They are a fantastic management tool, there is no shame in having your dog on a long line. Long lines come in a variety of lengths, from 3 meters up to 30 meters. Using a long line shows that you are being proactive AND will help to give you confidence when you’re out and about with them.

Do you find yourself shouting "no" at your dog to stop them from doing something and find it works sometimes but fails at others? Let’s have a look at some of the reasons that's happening and alternative (more effective) options.

"No" doesn’t mean anything to your dog.
We are humans. Humans are generally verbal animals. We love words - reading them, writing them, and saying them with our mouths. Gotta love a word. Dogs, on the other hand, do not understand words. Much as I would love the Disney movies to be true to life and have my dog burst into song about how much she hates cats, dogs can’t speak. They do not come with an inbuilt dog-to-human translator. They don’t know what words mean until we pair them with a consequence.

Think back to when you taught your dog "sit." You likely lured your dog's front end up with a tasty piece of food, and when their bum hit the floor, you told them "good" and fed them the food. The dog learned that when the human says "sit," if they put their bum on the floor, they are likely to be given a piece of food.
Word + Action = Consequence

Now think about when you habitually say "no" to your dog.

• Is it when they jump, muddied from a walk, up onto the couch?
  
• Perhaps when they see and lunge at a squirrel?
• Do you shout "no" at them when they are hoofing off across the park after another dog?
• Maybe "NO" reverberates through the woods as you see your dog about to get shoulder-deep in an enormous fox poo?

Each of those "no"s means something different -

• Get down
  
• Don't pull
• Come back here
• Do not roll in that poo!!!
  

So they actually mean nothing to your dog, really.

At best, you will say, shout, or scream the word at a high enough volume that you successfully interrupt your dog, but they haven't learned anything other than that you sound scary sometimes.

What could you do instead of "no"?

A decompression day is dedicated time for your dog to unwind, reset, and lower its stress and excitement levels. While a 'decompression period' is often associated with newly adopted rescue dogs, decompression days are an excellent practice for all dogs. Just as humans benefit from downtime and relaxation, decompression days provide dogs with the opportunity to find their 'baseline' and regain a sense of calm. Decompression days can be especially helpful for dogs that are nervous, reactive, or have high energy levels and are always on the go. Decompression days can help teach these dogs to self-regulate after exciting or frightening incidents and generally encourage some chill time.

Decompression activities focus on allowing your dog to engage in natural behaviours. They are intended to promote relaxation and mental well-being. You can offer these activities during dog walks or while hanging out at home.

To improve your dog's behaviour, it's essential to understand the factors that influence it. Behaviour modification in dogs is a complex process that involves addressing specific issues and considering various factors. By working with or changing these factors, you can have a significant impact on your dog's behaviour without formal training. Let's have a look some of these factors.