Life Skills

Loose leash walking

Pulling is not defiance. Dogs walk faster than we do, pulling has always worked to get them where they want to go, and a tight lead makes most dogs pull harder rather than less.

The work is teaching your dog that staying near you pays, and that a loose lead is what makes forward progress happen. That means rewarding the position you want rather than correcting the one you do not, and it usually means slowing down before speeding up. Expect the first sessions to cover very little ground.

Equipment matters here. A well-fitted harness gives you control without adding discomfort to every step. We do not use prong collars, choke chains or electronic collars. That follows the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior position on humane dog training, which advises against all three and recommends reward-based methods instead.

Off leash and recall

A reliable recall is not a dog who comes when there is nothing better on offer. It is a dog who checks in on their own, keeps track of where you are, and turns back mid-chase.

We build that in stages: first in the house, then the garden, then a quiet trail on a long line, then genuine off-leash environments. The long line is the part people skip, and it is the part that stops a dog learning that ignoring you works. We also teach the check-in itself, so returning to you becomes a habit rather than a command.

On the North Shore this matters more than most places. Trails run alongside off-leash areas, wildlife is genuinely present, and a dog who does not come back is a dog who ends up on lead forever.

Settling

Most dogs are never taught how to be calm. They are asked to be calm, which is not the same thing, and usually only once they are already wound up.

Settling is a trained skill. Your dog learns that a mat, bed, crate or spot at your feet means nothing is going to happen and they can switch off. Built properly it travels, so the same behaviour works in a friend's kitchen, at the vet, on a patio, or when the doorbell goes.

Polite and patient

Waiting at thresholds. Not mugging visitors. Leaving food alone. Sharing space with other dogs without needing to greet every one of them.

These look like manners and are really impulse control, and impulse control is a skill dogs can be taught rather than a trait they are born with. Practise it around food, toys, people, doorways and other dogs, and the underlying ability transfers to situations you have not specifically trained for.

Why this prevents later problems

A large share of the reactivity and anxiety work we do traces back to skills that were never built. A dog who cannot settle is a dog who is permanently a bit switched on. A dog who has rehearsed pulling for two years finds the outside world overwhelming rather than ordinary.

Once a dog's needs are met, they are happier, more fulfilled and more responsive. Life skills are the least dramatic training there is and the most useful, and they are considerably cheaper to build than to repair.

Where we work

Life skills training goes where the skill is needed. Settling starts at home. Leash and recall work move to real streets and real trails as your dog is ready. Training covers North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond and New Westminster, with online sessions available across Canada.