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Vol. 26, No. 4 · Colliesvonkottensgarden · 2026

Notes on Dog Training

Emerson Carver

Colliesvonkottensgarden · Tartu

Abstract

A small, honest site about training ordinary dogs at home — what actually works, what does not, and the small habits that make daily life with a dog easier.

This is a small site about training pet dogs at home. Not competition obedience, not protection work, not gun-dog drills — just the everyday cues that make life with a dog easier. Reliable recall, walking on a loose leash, settling indoors, not losing your mind during the first month with a puppy.

Most dog training advice online is either too aspirational ("your dog should respond off-leash in any environment") or too negative ("dominance, alpha, pack leader" — terms that have not survived contact with modern behavioural science). The aim here is somewhere in the middle: realistic standards and methods that most people can actually apply consistently.

Where to start

If your dog will not come when called, start with recall — it is the single most useful cue and the one most owners get wrong. After that, leash walking is the daily problem most worth fixing.

If you have a new puppy, the first month page covers what actually helps — and what just stresses everyone out. Crate training is its own subject and worth getting right early.

What this site avoids

No equipment endorsements, no breed politics, no training-method tribes. Methods that rely on fear or pain consistently produce worse long-term results than reward-based training, but the actual mechanics matter more than the label. A clear cue, a consistent consequence, and timing that works are the same regardless of what you call your method.

I am not a professional trainer, just someone who has lived with dogs for a long time and reads the research. If you are dealing with serious aggression or anxiety, please find a qualified behaviourist locally — that is not a problem to solve from a website.