Let Your Dog Speak
for Themselves
If this is one of the most meaningful relationships in your life…
… shouldn’t understanding be part of it?
We’ve spent decades learning how to teach dogs to understand us.
Almost no one has taught us how to understand them.
Most dog behavior problems don’t begin with a dog
They begin with a misunderstanding
What if your dog has actually been communicating with you all along…
…and no one ever taught you how to understand what they were trying to tell you?
If you’ve ever found yourself lying awake,
wondering whether you’ve done something wrong…
If you’ve ever searched for
One more video…
One more article…
One more answer…
You’re not alone.
The problem isn’t that you lack information.
It’s that no one ever taught you how to make sense of what you were seeing.
Let’s Let Your Dog Speak for Themselves
Imagine your dog doesn’t come when you call. What’s the first story that comes to mind?
“They’re ignoring me.”
“They’re stubborn.”
“They know exactly what I’m asking and just don’t care.”
Maybe.
But before we tell ourselves a story…
Ask:
What did your dog’s body do?
Did they freeze?
Lower their head?
Turn their face or body away from you?
Take a moment.
What did you see them do?
Once you begin with an observation, stories begin to lose their grip.
Behavior is how dogs communicate with us.
The question is:
have we learned to understand them?
Let’s Let Your Dog Speak for Themselves
After 20 years as a professional dog coach, I was guilty of believing the traditional story:
Dog behavior modification must happen in person to be successful.
When the 2020 pandemic shut down Santa Monica and brought in-home sessions to an abrupt halt, I had no choice but to begin coaching through video calls.
I was convinced it would be a temporary, inferior compromise.
I was completely wrong.
Within a month, I realized I was learning more about my clients and their dogs than I ever had before.
Soon, I understood why.
The moment another person walks into your home, everything changes.
Your dog changes. You change. The interaction between you changes.
Through video calls, I was able to observe clients and their dogs interacting at home, without another person physically entering their environment.
For the first time, I could see more of their daily reality.
I was no longer watching people and dogs respond to me.
I was watching them respond to each other.
That realization led me to begin asking clients to record short, smartphone videos of their practice sessions.
During our next video coaching session, we watched those videos together—frame by frame.
What’s Walter telling us?
Humans tend to judge a dog’s behavior by the last thing they see.
In this example, Walter entered the doorway after she lowered her voice. Possibly an attempt to be more “stern,” or “dominating” with Walter?
The human is likely to have decided that’s what “worked,” so she should be more “stern” with Walter. Walter was responding from the first “Walter come inside.” In fact, he was responding the entire time. Unfortunately no one understood what he was telling them.
Walter’s body language matters because it literally tells us what he’s feeling. When we recognize what a dog’s communicating, we can respond in ways that connect to our dog, rather than resorting to threats or punishment because we don’t know what else to do. In other words, we can learn respond in ways that are more likely to be effective.
In Walter’s case, I suggest less pressure in the form of moving a few steps back from the doorway, or turning her body so her side faced Walter, and giving him time to respond before repeating the cue could do wonders for his cooperation and the relationship between Walter and his guardian.
Dog Behavior Video Analysis — $149
If your dog appears to not listen, or only listens when they want to, or ignores your requests, send me a video. I’ll show you what your dog may be trying to tell you.
Describing Behavior is Like Describing Music
You can describe the melody.
You can explain the rhythm.
You can point out every note.
But it will never be the same as hearing it for yourself.
Watching your own videos frame by frame—with an explanation of what is happening—changes everything.
For the first time, you can objectively see what you’re doing…
…and how your dog responds.
No more guesswork. No more frustration trying to recreate a behavior for the coach.
Just a bird’s-eye view of what happened.
That’s when stories begin to lose their grip.
And your dog finally has the opportunity to speak for themselves.
Why Does This Work?
Studies have determined that the presence of an audience affects a dog’s behavior. Whether it’s their guardian or a stranger.
Research involving domestic dogs found that their behavior and facial expressions change when another human enters the room. In fact, it changes according to who that individual is.
This phenomenon is known as the Audience Effect.
In other words…
I hadn’t discovered a better way to coach.
I had discovered a better way to observe.
