Does residential dog training (boarding and training) work? - Diary of a reactive dog

The gold nugget here is the clarification/explanation of what the causes of problem behavior are. I wish more owners (and dog trainers) recognized these. Great!

I tried your method for leash walking! Changed my life! I like the way you speak so calmy and soft, and I try to apply it too with my dog and my life. Thank you again for puting this videos out. Greetings from Romania,

It can only work if after someone like you is willing and capable of continuing what you have started. My sport is competitive obedience and if I were to train someone else's dog and they weren't capable or willing to carry that training through it would all go to waste. Down to whether the owner is going to keep it going. Always good to follow your adventures Regards

I love beautiful Dante's gentle focus on you! Every time you mention his name, in conversation, he whips his head around and looks at you. So beautiful. Dante looks like a happy dog. It doesn't seem like he's looking at because he feels he has too. He looks curious and a little excited, in a good way.

I love watching you build up the confidence of dogs! My heart burns to do the same with my rescue dog. On the days I get it right, I see him blossom and relax into his true self. On the days I get it wrong he slips back into an anxious state. I try SOO hard and treat every day as a training day. I read books, watch videos like yours, see my trainer every now and then but self-doubt can creep in and sometimes I just don't wake up confident. Residential training is GREAT to boost the confidence of the dog but I feel we humans could do with residential training to build our skills and confidence too! I am 100% devoted to doing everything I can to be the leader my dog needs but I don't feel a few 'handover' sessions from a trainer is enough to transfer the nuanced skill needed to read and react to the changing variables each day brings. The confidence in the dog is built by working together with a skilled handler EVERY day for a period of time. The confidence in the handler could do with a similar approach to help rewire the brain of the human. I hear a lot of trainers saying, "they can help the dog but if the owners aren't willing to put in the work, there's not much they can do". Sadly I feel a lot of owners are willing to do that but without regular experiential training themselves, it's a struggle. Personally, I would pay a lot to go somewhere to learn how to be a confident calm leader. Hands-on, with my dog, practising REAL things until it feels more natural. Unfortunately, we don't really have that in the UK. Do we?

just the words i needed to hear! Thank you so much Nigel!

He’s an incredibly lucky dog to have had your amazing input, and what a beautiful boy he is. Well done both of you. Me and my rescue could do with you down Penzance way!

This is a good video, and one that I think a lot of people should see, but the title might not draw in casual viewers/dog owners. I wasn't familiar with the term "residential training" before watching it, so I thought the video was about something else entirely. Perhaps renaming it "Does Hiring a Home Dog Trainer Work? (Residential Dog Training)" or something similar would get more average viewers to watch it. Just a suggestion. I think you make the best dog training videos on YouTube.

Yeah this is my struggle. I can’t get any space outside to give my dog any confidence. As soon as we are out the door there are other dogs, cars, and people, all which triggers his barking. We can work in the house, but there’s no easing in to getting outdoors without him losing it.

Can't wait for your next video thanks

Amazing, thank you so much. I'm excited to learn how to train my dog and see transformation. 😁

Learning so much from your videos and promoting them to other dog owners all the time 😊. Our lovely rescue dog has learned to trust us as leaders….unless the dogs two doors down start barking. (Happens a lot!) Then, she feels compelled to get wound up and bark back. We just keep assuring her all is fine and calling her away from the fence. Doesn’t seem to be getting better but perhaps we just keep at it? Sometimes we don’t even let her out when we hear them barking but that seems unfair to her. 😊. Otherwise she is very calm.

Hi, I’m loving your videos, my issues are having 3 dogs. I have a puppy I’m trying to train but being able to separate is hard all tips and tricks would be welcome. I have two reactive mini schnauzers and our puppy is a standard schnauzer who I don’t want to become as reactive as the minis! Help… thank you

That is an interesting topic I have been wondering about. Just because you now have such a bond, if Dante werd to regress, would you ever consider taking him back?

Just found your videos & ordered your book. My 21-month old puppy has no confidence in me as a leader (found out from your video on the 5 ways to know). We are in the US and so am watching your YouTubes as quick as I can to get my head around what's going on and how I need to change. Thanks for all this information. We tried in person training, but that's not worked. They wanted my Whippet in a Martingale collar with chain and then switched to Gentle Leader head halter, but that's not helped his confidence and he resists. I need to make some adjustments. My first Whippet was an alpha and he and I had a very deep natural bond. Our second Whippet is bonded with my husband as desired but he barks loudly regarding food, so I am hoping to make some changes with him as well as the third Whippet puppy who does not walk well when we see other dogs.

My German shepherd is 7 months and isn't comfortable around other dogs, is it an age factor?

Hi Nigel, I have spent my day watching all your videos and they're fantastic. Thank you for such great and helpful content :) I have been considering becoming a dog trainer myself, and know that I obviously need to have a lot of practise in order to become any good. I do not own a dog myself anymore, but was considering fostering dogs in order to practise on a variety of different breeds, as well as provide these dogs with a loving home. I was wondering, in your opinion, if you think it would actually be bad for the foster dog's psyche if I did start training and providing leadership for the dog, but then when the time is up (fostering on average lasts a month, but could last a lot longer in some cases) either have to give them back to the shelter, or give them over to their new family. Potentially even without the opportunity to tell the new family what training I have done with the dog. Do you think that doing this would perpetuate abandonment issues that this dog may have or do you think it's still an okay (or hopefully positive) thing to do? Thank you in advance, I would very much appreciate your insight and opinion on this matter. - Bec :)

In othrt words the owners need training too 😂