Building Confidence With Sensitive 11-Month-Old Jack Russell Terrier

This is a very sensitive Jack Russell Terrier (Ezra) being introduced to the possession game.

I will do a full breakdown of this video in my group… but I will say this here because it’s so important…

Too many are hung up on specific techniques to "teach" play and in dog training in general.

If you are thinking about “techniques” you will not be playing well… or playing at all.

You will also be missing the most important part of play… the emotions of the dog.

You can have hundreds of “techniques” to play with a dog… if the dog is not in the right emotional state… they will not play with you.

In this video, I start by trying to trigger Ezra’s instincts to chase and bite the toy.

I quickly acknowledge she needs some love from me to be comfortable enough to open up and experiment with this new situation... and let her instincts go.

I just met her yesterday.

She is away from he owner for the first time.

You can see how she opens up after I kneel down and give her what she wants.

This is very common.

Don’t ignore the dog when they tell you they want something.

Don’t just say… no we are going to play this game with this toy.

Acknowledge what they want and need in that moment.

Give it to them and use that to create the proper emotions and guide them into the game.

Play is incredible for many reasons.

One is… you can MAKE a dog do a command.

You can MAKE them sit or down or come to you.

But you cannot make them play.

You can make them fetch… but you cannot make them actually play.

The emotions must be right… and they must love the game and love playing with you.

So listen to them.

It’s all about them.

If you make it all about them… magic happens.

Dogs love you… love being with you… respect you… and can’t wait to do things with you.

You create bonds that are not created any other way.

If you’ve played sports, you know the bonds that were created with teammates.

Friendships that last a lifetime.

I’ll go out on a limb and say the bonds I create with dogs are better.
In this video you can see it forming.

Matt Welch Professional Certified Dog Trainer
561-504-1509
Text to work with me.