Be Proactive, Not Reactive: Preventing Problems Before They Start

One of the most useful shifts you can make in dog training is to stop waiting for things to go wrong.

So much of dog training becomes reactive.
- Your dog sees another dog and starts pulling, so you try to get them back under control.
- Someone arrives at the door and your dog starts barking and jumping, so you try to calm them down.
- Your dog spots something exciting and takes off, so you call them once they’re already completely focused on it.

But often, training is much easier if we think about what happens before the unwanted behaviour.

Instead of asking: “How do I stop my dog doing this?”
Try asking: “What can I do before this happens?”

Preventing a problem is often easier than fixing one

Dogs get better at the things they practise.

That applies to the behaviours we like — but unfortunately it also applies to the behaviours we don’t!

If your dog practises pulling towards other dogs every day, they get very good at pulling towards other dogs.

If they practise racing out the door every time it opens, that behaviour becomes stronger.

If they repeatedly chase cars, bikes or birds, chasing becomes more and more rewarding.

That’s why sometimes the best training happens before there is even a problem to fix.

How I used this with my dog Azmin

A good example of this is something I worked on with Azmin when she a puppy.

Azmin had never shown any interest in chasing cars.

But her Mum was a car chaser and, being a Border Collie, I knew chasing moving things wasn’t exactly an unusual behaviour for her breed.

I didn’t want to wait and see whether it became a problem.

So I trained for it proactively.

When we were out walking and I saw a car coming, I would scatter treats onto the footpath for Azmin to find.

Instead of watching the car and becoming interested in chasing it, she learned:

Car appears = look down and find food.

I wasn’t trying to stop her from chasing cars.

I was creating a different association before chasing ever became a habit.

Inside my online training community, I share the actual training process with Azmin so members can see what this looks like in real life, rather than just reading about the theory.

Look for the moment before the behaviour

This idea can be used with all sorts of everyday dog behaviours.

If your dog gets overexcited when visitors arrive, give them something useful to do before you open the door.

If your dog tends to pull towards another dog, create some distance and engage with them before they’re already hanging off the end of the lead.

If your dog struggles with recall around distractions, call them while they’re still able to respond rather than waiting until they’re fully absorbed in something exciting.

If your puppy jumps all over people, start rewarding four paws on the ground before jumping becomes their usual greeting.

The key is learning to notice the early moments.

That is where you often have the best chance of influencing what happens next.

Set your dog up to succeed

Being proactive doesn’t mean controlling every second of your dog’s life or trying to prevent them from ever making a mistake.

It simply means thinking ahead.

Ask yourself:
What does my dog usually do here?
What would I rather they did instead?
How can I make that easier for them?

Good training isn’t always about correcting unwanted behaviour.

Often, it’s about teaching the behaviour you want before the unwanted behaviour has a chance to become the default.

Coming next…

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing more practical training tips, including clicker training, luring versus shaping, and some simple training challenges you can try at home with your own dog.

And don’t worry — you won’t need a perfectly trained dog.

The whole point will be to have a go, enjoy the process and see what your dog can learn.