Untrainable dog, or lack of a bond?

Chris Brown, from Alpha 1 Dog Behaviour and Training, is incredibly knowledgable when it comes to understanding dog behaviour. With over a decade of experience working with untrainable dogs and those that have been deemed unfixable by their owners, vets, and even other trainers, Chris understands that life with an ‘untrainable dog’ is difficult – but it definitely doesn’t have to be that way. It’s all about staying calm, managing your energy, and providing consistent leadership in your dogs life.

Life is stressful. We’ve got bills and mortgages to pay, children to look after, full time jobs and households to run. That doesn’t leave much time for fun, and definitely doesn’t leave much time for focusing on the relationship between you and your animals. These days, dogs are bought as pets for us to love and for them to love us back. Before getting a certain breed or specific member of the litter, we aren’t doing enough research around the needs of that particular dog – a lot of people are just thinking about the love and cuddles and enjoyment they’ll get from their new pet. 

And this is where the problems start. if we aren’t setting rules and boundaries for our dogs from the very start, and providing the leadership that they need, many dogs will try to fulfil that ‘pack leader’ role themselves. The longer it goes without being addressed, the more ‘set’ in their behaviours they become and generally, the harder it is to reverse. 

Very quickly, your beloved pet can go from a small pup with a minor biting issue to a large, full grown dog with dominance issues. If these issues are ever-present and re-occurring, even after months of work, it’s likely that you might be hit with the label of an ‘untrainable dog’ from those around you – or you might even be thinking it yourself!

Many trainers are based in positive reward and reinforcement training, which is great for things like agility, teaching tricks, scent training etc. However these techniques are not able to solve deep rooted issues – once the treats or bribes are removed, dogs revert back to their original behaviour. So you haven’t got an ‘untrainable dog’, you just haven’t used a method which will be ever-present in your dogs life – and a lack of consistency won’t get you the results you’re after.

Dogs are pack animals, with examples live in nature today – like Wolves and African Painted Dogs. This means that naturally, they are attuned to live and hunt in packs in the wild. Social structure and hierarchy is extremely important in a pack. The alpha leaders mentality is strong, confident, assertive and in control. The alpha leads the pack in their daily life, and motivates and inspires others around them, always maintaining the higher status over their pack and providing direction. Should a pack-member misbehave, the alpha will be the one to disagree with its behaviour and show them the appropriate ways of the world. Without an alpha, chaos ensues. 

…And this is where ‘untrainable dogs’ get their bad rep. If you don’t have control over your dog, or are having issues like aggression, possessiveness and dominance, it’s likely that your dog is trying to fulfil the role of the alpha in your pack. This mentality is generally what causes the behavioural issues that you are struggling with. THIS is why other people may be telling you that you have an ‘untrainable dog’ – but don’t listen to them, it’s definitely fixable, when you know what to do and how to correctly manage your dogs behaviours. You need to learn to empower yourself, build confidence and be aware of your own energy.

Chris can help you transform the relationship between you and your dog, and teach you how to manage your energy and provide leadership for your dog, so that it becomes a happy follower. With proper understanding of their behavioural cues and correcting unwanted behaviours consistently, you can become the pack leader of your own family pack and ensure a strong bond between yourself and your dog. Your untrainable dog will be a distant memory and you will be living (and loving) your life full of calm, love and mutual respect between humans and dog/s. 

And isn’t that what we all want?

If you would like to know more about the services offered by Alpha 1, head to our homepage, or check out our list of extended services and offerings here. Chris is confident that he can help you turn your untrainable dog into a balanced, loving and respecting member of your pack, and give you all the tools you need to keep it that way.

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