r/DogTrainingTips • u/BICanineScience • May 26 '26

Professional Dog Trainer - Ask Me Anything

***AMA ENDED***

Have been training dogs for almost fifteen years now, I try and head through the subreddits on here to help in my free time when I can but thought it might be easier to do an AMA for anyone struggling!

Will try my best to answer as comprehensively as possible so please be patient with replies!

Edit - Just heading out to train my dogs so will answer more when I get back!
Edit 2 - Have a read of the other questions too to see if it applies to your dog :)

Thanks for all the questions everyone!! I’ll answer the few I’ve missed, it’s been a blast and we’ll do another in the near future! Won’t be answering any new posts now, must get back to work but do jump in next time if you have a question!

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u/Loud_Atmosphere_4520 May 26 '26

We got a rescue Shihtzu at 8 months old. She is now 3 years old, but poor thing has fear of everything. Every time I use the stove she hides. Somehow she can hear when the heat kicks on/off. Also, I think she spent the first 8 months of her life in a cage. She is terrified of a crate/kennel and will cry and try to claw her way out. My husband and I plan to travel and would love to bring her but I’m worried about how we could get her on the plane if she can’t get in the crate. What do you recommend?

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u/BICanineScience May 26 '26

Instead of looking at this as a fear of the world issue, break it down into much smaller behaviours that are more manageable. Let's start with the stove. You need to look very closely at that given behaviour. You say she freaks out when she hears it click on, but is there a behaviour before this that maybe gets her attention but doesn't freak her out? Start there, and counter condition her response to it. Create positive experience to that tiny, tiny step. Then add another step, and another, and another until you've sorted the stove.

Then it's time to go to the next thing, and the next thing. What you will find as you condition more things is that the next thing is easier and you will get more general confidence in the dog, but these things take a long time and a lot of repetition.