When trainers come to me looking to improve their results with behavioral cases, the biggest gaps usually are not about missing techniques or needing more complicated methods. More often, the real breakthroughs come from changing how they are thinking about the problem in front of them: how they are framing the dog’s behavior, how they are planning the work, and how they are choosing to spend their time and their client’s time during the training process. A small shift in perspective can change the entire trajectory of a case.
There is one simple mental exercise I have trainers use before they begin any behavior-modification plan. It consistently brings clarity to even the most tangled cases, and it takes less than a minute.
The Exercise: Ask Yourself Two Questions
1. What is the problem the dog is trying to solve through their behavior?
2. If I could speak to this dog in plain language, as if they were my friend or roommate, what would I want them to know about the situation that is triggering them?
These two questions do not just help you understand the dog. They also reveal the message your training plan must communicate. Tools, exercises, and protocols are not neutral. They either support the message you intend to send or they send a different message entirely.
Once you know what you want the dog to hear, every part of your plan should be chosen because it helps you communicate that message through your actions, timing, structure, and responsiveness.
These questions work because they force us to take the dog’s point of view seriously. Instead of assuming the dog is being stubborn, dramatic, spiteful, or unpredictable, we remember that all behavior is an attempt to solve a perceived problem.
And if we want to change the behavior, we must address the dog’s perceived problem and not just the behavior itself.
Example 1: The Leash-Reactive Dog
The Problem the Dog Is Trying to Solve
“I need more space. That dog or person or bicycle is too close, and I do not feel safe.”
The dog’s strategy is simple:
Get bigger, get louder, and push the threat away.
And because this often works, the pattern becomes reinforced.
What I Would Want the Dog to Know
- “If you need space, you can have it.”
You do not have to manage this by yourself. I will help you. - “I am very good at helping you get space.”
I can choose routes, change pace, and manage distance. - “But the behavior you are using is not acceptable, and we will replace it with something better.”
How This Shapes the Training Plan
- Manage distance early so the dog never feels abandoned.
- Teach a calm, predictable behavior that earns space.
- Interrupt and redirect reactive behavior so the dog learns a new strategy.
The Critical Point
Your choices must communicate the message you want the dog to understand.
If your plan does not demonstrate that you will create space and set boundaries, the dog receives a different message entirely.
When your handling consistently aligns with the message you want to send, leash reactivity often improves far faster than expected.
Example 2: The Resource-Guarding Dog
The Problem the Dog Is Trying to Solve
“I want to be left alone while I eat, and I need to know the other dogs will not steal my food.”
This is a survival-based concern, especially in multi-dog homes.
What I Would Want the Dog to Know
- “You do not need to worry about other dogs stealing your food.”
I create the rules that protect your meal. - “I will enforce those rules every time.”
- “Your guarding behavior is not acceptable, even though the feeling behind it makes sense.”
How This Shapes the Training Plan
- Manage the environment so the dog never feels threatened while eating.
- Feed dogs in separate spaces or with clear boundaries.
- Teach all dogs the household rules regarding food and space.
- Build trust through consistent enforcement.
The Critical Point
The structure you create must communicate safety.
If the dog does not see your system protecting their food, the guarding behavior remains logical from their perspective.
Why This Exercise Works
These two questions bring the real issues into focus.
They reveal the dog’s perspective.
They clarify your message.
They force you to consider how the dog will interpret your plan.
They highlight the gap between what the dog is trying to accomplish and what we are trying to train.
Most importantly, this exercise anchors your plan in communication rather than technique. When a dog feels understood and supported, and when your actions consistently communicate the message you intend, behavior changes more quickly and more reliably.
The beauty of this exercise is that it scales. It works with fear, aggression, separation anxiety, destructive behavior, boundary issues, social deficits, overarousal, and nearly anything else you encounter.
It also works regardless of methodology. Whether a trainer prefers a reward-based approach or a more balanced path, learning to think more clearly about the problem the dog is trying to solve and the message your training plan needs to communicate will dramatically elevate your results. Thoughtfulness is not ideological. It is simply good training. And clearer plans lead to better outcomes, stronger client relationships, and a healthier business.
Two questions:
What problem is the dog trying to solve
And what would I want them to know if they could understand me word for word
Answer those with honesty and compassion, and the training plan becomes clearer, cleaner, and more effective.
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