My Hardest Hurdle in Dog Training Isn’t Dogs — It’s Owners — Controversial But The Truth!

Optimum Canine
Feb 3
3 min read

Updated: Feb 4

Before Covid-19, dog training was hard — but predictable. Six years on, something has changed. And no, it isn’t the dogs.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Rehabilitating dogs is now easier than rehabilitating owners’ habits.

And that should worry everyone.

My Knowledge Grew. Dog Behaviour Got Worse.

Over the last decade, my understanding of dog training has evolved dramatically.

I started with behaviourism, deepened into psychology, and more recently into neuroscience and ethology — how dogs’ nervous systems actually work, how learning is encoded, and how behaviour sequences are installed into long-term memory.

Ironically, this made training dogs easier. But it made working with owners harder. Why?

Because once you understand nervous systems and learning, you can no longer ignore the damage being done outside of training sessions.

Why Every Dog Looks “Reactive” or “Out of Control” Now

Let’s talk patterns.

Spaniels

Walked in a straight line.
No engagement.
No structure.
No training.

Result?

The environment becomes the trainer.
Smells, movement, novelty — all accelerating the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) at full throttle.
Pulling. Hunting. Scanning. Zero focus.

Guarding Breeds

Same walk. Same lack of engagement.

But instead of hunting, they’re scanning for threats.

Now they’re labelled:

“Reactive”

“Anxious”

“Protective”

No.

They’re under-trained and over-stimulated.

So the question is why is this becoming the norm? I know the answer, but it’s controversial to say it out loud. However, it needs to be said so that dog’s can be saved from “abusive” and “out-dated” methods.

I’ll say it plainly:

Modern dog behaviour problems are owner-installed.

Here’s how.

1. Walking Without Training

Walking isn’t training.

If you walk your dog every day in a straight line, letting them pull, sniff, scan and rehearse behaviours — you are training, just not intentionally.

You’re installing habits.

2. Free Access to Environmental Reinforcers

Dogs learn what works.

If the environment pays better than you — smells, dogs, movement — the dog will choose the environment every time.

That isn’t disobedience.

That’s learning theory.

3. Doggy Daycare & Dog Walkers

Here’s my biggest pet hate — and yes, this will upset people.

Doggy daycare and dog walkers are sold as “socialisation”.

What they actually are is behavioural outsourcing.

When you are not there, you do not know:

What behaviours are being rehearsed
What emotional states are being reinforced
What behaviour sequences are being installed into long-term memory

You are handing your dog’s education to someone else — often with zero structure, zero criteria, and zero understanding of learning.

Want The Cheaper, Better Alternative No One Wants to Hear?

Walk.

Train.

Feed.

All at the same time if you do not have the time.

Morning.

Evening.

That’s it.

Do this consistently and you’ll:

Save money on walkers
Save money on daycare
Save money on trainers

If you work long hours?

Absolutely — have someone come in to toilet your dog and spend time with them.

But that’s different from outsourcing their learning.

Dogs Aren’t “Ignoring You” — They’re Under-Educated

Here’s where things really fall apart.

Behaviour Sequences Matter

Dogs don’t learn behaviours in chunks like “recall” or “heel”.

They learn micro-sequences:

Context
Emotional state
Distractions
Timing
Reinforcement history

If you haven’t trained that sequence, the dog will fail.

Recall Example

A recall trained:

At home
Or in an empty field

Will fail when:

Other dogs are playing
Birds take off
The environment is arousing

Why?

Because that recall sequence has never been installed.

Yet what do humans say?

“He’s ignoring me.”

“He’s being dominant.”

So what do they do next?

They strap an e-collar on the dog.

Let’s Be Honest About “Corrections”

And this is going to undoubtedly going to strike some emotions.

Same story with walking.

Dog pulls → owner puts on a slip lead → dog is “corrected”.

Let’s be absolutely clear:

If your first solution is correction before education, that is abuse.

Not discipline.

Not balance.

Abuse.

You are punishing a dog for performing exactly as it has been trained — by you.

The Dog Is Not the Problem

This is the hardest truth for owners to accept:

Your dog is doing the best they can with the education you’ve given them.

They are not stubborn.
They are not dominant.
They are not ignoring you.

They are behaving perfectly within their learning history.

The Real Hurdle in Modern Dog Training

My hardest hurdle today isn’t aggression.

It isn’t reactivity.

It isn’t recall failures.

It’s convincing people to look in the mirror.

Dogs don’t need harsher tools.

They need better teachers.