You're an animal, too: the human side of dog training
When we talk about dog training, we tend to focus on what the dog needs to learn. But there's usually another animal being asked to change their behaviour: you.
You might be learning to respond differently when your dog barks, notice and reinforce behaviours you'd previously overlooked, or introduce new activities that support their wellbeing.
These changes can sound straightforward in a training consultation. Putting them into practice in everyday life is another matter. You might leave with a clear plan and every intention of following it, only to realise a week later that you've barely practised. Or perhaps you started enthusiastically but gradually slipped back into old habits.
It's tempting to put this down to a lack of discipline, but our behaviour is shaped by much more than good intentions. Habits, environmental cues, competing demands and the consequences of our actions all influence what we do.
If we want dog training to stick, we need to understand how to change our own behaviour, too. Here are eight practical ways to make that a little easier.
1. Turn good intentions into specific actions
The science: Implementation intentions and the intention–behaviour gap
Wanting to do something doesn't necessarily mean we'll do it. A goal like "I need to be more consistent with training" leaves important questions unanswered. When will you practise? Where? What exactly will you do?
Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer's research on implementation intentions suggests that specific plans can help bridge the gap between intention and action. The basic structure is:
When [specific situation occurs], I will [specific action].
You're making decisions in advance rather than trying to work everything out in the moment.
What this might look like
Imagine your dog is frightened of unfamiliar people. When visitors arrive, they become anxious, bark, retreat, or struggle to settle.
You know your dog needs space and predictable arrangements, but it's easy to slip into familiar routines when someone arrives at the door.
Instead, establish a clear arrival procedure:
Before the visit: Send guests a standard, friendly message explaining that your dog is nervous. Ask them not to approach, stare at, touch, or attempt to interact with your dog.
Prepare a safe space: Set up a comfortable area behind a baby gate, with somewhere your dog can retreat out of sight. Have suitable enrichment ready to help them relax.
Make a checklist: Put the arrival procedure somewhere visible so everyone knows what to do before opening the door.
Your plan becomes: "When someone arranges to visit, I'll send our standard message and prepare my dog's space before they arrive."
Ask yourself: Can I describe exactly what I'll do, and when, without making several new decisions at the time?
2. Build new habits onto existing ones
The science: Habit stacking and behavioural automaticity
Much of everyday life follows familiar routines. You make coffee, brush your teeth, or settle on the sofa without consciously planning every step. Habit stacking uses these established behaviours as starting points for new ones.
After I [existing behaviour], I will [new behaviour].
By repeating the sequence in a consistent context, the new behaviour can gradually become easier to remember and initiate.
What this might look like
You'd like to introduce more enrichment into your dog's day, but it keeps slipping down the priority list. You already have a reliable morning routine: make coffee, sit down, and enjoy a few minutes before the day begins.
Try adding a simple sniffing activity: "After I sit down with my morning coffee, I'll scatter a portion of my dog's breakfast in the garden or on a snuffle mat." You're not creating an entirely new routine. You're using an existing habit to prompt an activity that supports your dog's natural foraging behaviour.
Choose an anchor that happens reliably and leaves enough time and attention for the new activity. A rushed or unpredictable part of the day isn't an ideal starting point.
Ask yourself: What do I already do regularly that could become a natural starting point for this new behaviour?
3. Reduce friction: Make the helpful behaviour easier
The science: Response effort and environmental design
We're often drawn towards familiar, low-effort behaviours, especially when we're tired, distracted, or under pressure. In behavioural science, response effort refers to the work required to perform a behaviour. Increasing that effort can make a behaviour less likely, while reducing it can make the behaviour easier to perform.
The practical lesson? Make helpful behaviours easier and unhelpful ones less convenient.
What this might look like
Your dog has a strong interest in chasing wildlife, so your management plan involves using a long lead when they're outside on your property.
But the lead is usually in the loundry or car. Every trip outside involves finding it, and on a busy morning, it's tempting to skip that step. Instead, put a hook beside the back door and keep the long lead there.
The management strategy hasn't changed. You've simply removed an obstacle to following it consistently.
Ask yourself: What's making this behaviour inconvenient? Could I remove a step, prepare something in advance, or change the environment?
4. Give yourself reminders at the right moment
The science: Prospective memory and environmental cues
Knowing what to do and remembering to do it at the right moment are different things. You might understand how to respond when your dog pulls on the lead, but remembering that intention while navigating traffic, watching for other dogs, and thinking about your day can be difficult.
Psychologists call the ability to remember an intended future action prospective memory.
Rather than relying on memory alone, we can arrange for something in our environment to prompt us. Unlike habit stacking, which attaches a new behaviour to an existing action, environmental cues use something we see, hear, or encounter as a reminder.
What this might look like
You're working on loose-lead walking, and your trainer has encouraged you to pay more attention to how you're holding the lead. You know unnecessary tension can be unhelpful, but often catch yourself gripping tightly without realising.
Try attaching a small, brightly coloured tag to the lead handle. Each time you notice it, use it as a reminder to check your grip, soften your hand and allow a little more slack in the lead.
The tag doesn't train your dog. It reminds you to practise the behaviour you're developing. Over time, you may find you need the reminder less often.
Ask yourself: What could remind me to perform this behaviour at exactly the moment it's needed?
5. Understand what your existing behaviour achieves
The science: Reinforcement and competing behaviours
Existing habits often persist for a reason. They might be convenient, familiar, immediately rewarding, or effective at ending an uncomfortable situation.
Reinforcement occurs when the consequences of a behaviour make us more likely to repeat it. Understanding what's reinforcing our current behaviour can help explain why we keep repeating it, even when we intend to do something different.
What this might look like
Your dog starts barking at something outside. You shout, "Quiet!" Sometimes your dog pauses, even briefly, and you feel a moment of relief. That relief can reinforce your habit of shouting, even though it doesn't address why your dog is barking.
Simply telling yourself to stop shouting may not work. You're trying to replace a familiar response that occasionally produces an immediate result.
Instead, develop an alternative. Depending on your dog's needs, this might mean calmly inviting them away from the window, reinforcing disengagement, and adjusting the environment to reduce repeated exposure to the trigger. Practise when things are calm, rather than trying to learn a new response in the middle of a difficult moment.
The goal isn't just to stop an old behaviour. It's to develop a practical alternative that can become familiar and effective in its own right.
Ask yourself: What does my current response achieve for me, even temporarily? How could a different response meet that need while better supporting my dog?
6. Make the plan fit your actual capacity
The occupational therapy perspective: Person, environment, and occupation
Occupational therapy offers a useful perspective: whether an activity is achievable depends on the interaction between the person, their environment, and the demands of the activity.
A training plan might make perfect sense in theory but be poorly suited to the person expected to carry it out. Time, energy, physical capacity, sensory preferences, emotional demands, family responsibilities, and access to support all matter.
Sometimes the answer isn't to practise harder. It's to change the conditions.
What this might look like
You're working on loose-lead walking, but walks have become physically or mentally exhausting. Perhaps pulling aggravates an injury. Maybe the lead feels unpleasant in your hands, or traffic noise and unpredictable encounters leave you overwhelmed.
You understand the training, but the activity itself demands more than you can comfortably manage. Rather than pushing through, consider what could change.
Could a friend, family member, or suitably qualified professional take over some walks temporarily? Could you try a different lead texture or handle, choose quieter locations, shorten outings, or provide alternative opportunities for exercise, exploration, and enrichment?
The goal isn't necessarily to make yourself capable of following the original plan exactly as written. It's to find an approach that supports your dog's needs while respecting your own.
Ask yourself: Does this plan fit my current capacity? What could I change about the activity, environment, equipment, or support available?
7. Make yourself accountable to someone else
The psychology: Social support, commitment, and accountability
Knowing someone else will check in can make it easier to follow through with a commitment. External accountability provides structure, encourages reflection, and creates opportunities to get help when things aren't going to plan.
But it doesn't need to involve pressure, criticism, or someone checking whether you've done your homework. Supportive, collaborative accountability is much more useful.
What this might look like
You're trying to establish a routine of short, positive cooperative-care exercises, but keep putting them off.
You ask a friend who's also training their dog to become an accountability partner. You agree to exchange a quick message twice a week about what you've practised, what got in the way, and what you'll try next. You might even share an occasional video of something that went well.
The aim isn't to monitor each other's performance. It's to have someone who understands what you're working towards and can offer encouragement, especially when progress is gradual.
Ask yourself: Who could I share my goal with, and what kind of regular check-in would help me follow through?
8. Reinforce your own progress
The behavioural science: Positive reinforcement and self-monitoring
We spend plenty of time thinking about how to reinforce our dogs, but rarely give ourselves the same consideration. Positive reinforcement means adding something following a behaviour that makes that behaviour more likely to happen again.
Many benefits of dog training are delayed. It might take weeks or months before your dog feels noticeably more comfortable in a difficult situation. Meanwhile, your efforts today may produce little obvious reward. Recognising and reinforcing your own progress can help bridge that gap.
What this might look like
You're helping your dog feel more comfortable around other dogs by creating distance early, recognising subtle signs of discomfort, and choosing environments thoughtfully. Progress is gradual, and it's easy to dwell on the encounters that didn't go well.
Instead, keep a simple record of your own successes. Perhaps you noticed another dog early enough to change direction, or recognised that your dog needed more space before they started barking. Take a few minutes each week to acknowledge what you've managed.
And make it fun! Treat yourself to a favourite coffee, share your successes with someone who'll celebrate them, or put a little money aside towards something special. For bigger milestones, perhaps some fancy new walking gear, a favourite treat for you and a dog-safe treat for your dog, or even a mini-break somewhere you'll both enjoy.
The important thing is to reinforce the behaviours you're developing in yourself, rather than measuring success solely by your dog's performance.
Ask yourself: How will I notice and celebrate my own progress, particularly when the longer-term results are still developing?
When the plan isn't happening: A quick troubleshooting guide
If you're struggling to follow through, start by asking why. Different obstacles call for different solutions.
| If you're thinking… | Consider trying… |
|---|---|
| "I keep forgetting." | Attach the behaviour to an existing routine or add a reliable reminder. |
| "I never get around to it." | Reduce the effort or preparation involved. |
| "I react differently in the moment." | Identify what reinforces your current response and practise an alternative. |
| "I practise, but I'm not very good at it." | Simplify the exercise, practise the mechanics, and ask your trainer for feedback. |
| "It works at home, but not outside." | Practise in easier environments before gradually increasing difficulty. |
| "I started well, then stopped." | Consider what changed in your routine or capacity and adjust the plan. |
Your turn: Try a small experiment
If you're finding it difficult to follow through with a training plan, The Human Behaviour Lab can help you identify what's getting in the way and work out what to change.
This short, interactive exercise will guide you through creating a practical, personalised plan to test over seven days.
Progress doesn't require perfection
Helping your dog feel more comfortable in the world, and building a better relationship together, often means making changes on both sides of the lead. That's not always easy when life is busy, messy, or unpredictable.
And it's hardly unique to dog training. How many of us have joined a gym in January, only to abandon the whole idea by February? Rather than beating ourselves up, we can get curious about what's getting in the way and use what we know about behaviour to make change easier.
A good dog trainer or behaviour consultant should understand this, too. Supporting your dog also means supporting you, with realistic plans that fit your circumstances and can be adjusted along the way.
The aim is less frustration, more progress, and a better life together.
