The Illusion of Instant Results

If you own a dog, you most likely have seen social media offerings about how to train a dog, or fix problem behaviours. Unfortunately, what you see online is often more illusion than instruction.

Far too frequently, it’s a curated, polished version of reality—a magic trick, where the hard work disappears and the result looks effortless. The problem is, real training doesn’t work like that. Dogs don’t go from reactive to relaxed in one session. Behaviours don’t “click” after a single command. And the road to success isn’t smooth or glamorous—it’s made up of practice, setbacks, small wins, and a whole lot of repetition.

When people believe in the illusion, they end up feeling discouraged, like they’re doing something wrong or that their dog is “broken.” But the truth is, you’re just not seeing the full picture—and that illusion can do real damage to your confidence and connection with your dog.

In this issue, you’ll find:

• Facts about Dog Training Posts

• How to Escape the Illusion

• An invitation to our May Social Walk! 👀👀😉😉

🪄🪄Beware the “Magic Wand” effect. 🪄🪄

If you are struggling with a problematic dog behaviour, it’s really tempting to chase social media tips. These are the reels, posts and stories of “How to train your dog to… (stop pulling on the lead, stop jumping on strangers, stop eating the postman and so forth).” They show amazing results in a very short space of time. What’s wrong with that?

👉 Most of the dogs you see in those videos already know the behaviour.

The “how-to” content often features dogs that already know the behaviour—they’re being used to demonstrate a finished product, not to show the full process of learning. So, what you are seeing is not a genuine reflection of a learning a beaviour, with all the messy trial and error that tends to involve. Typically, real behavioural change takes successful repetitions in different environments, over time.

👉 That dog in the video is not your dog.

Your dog has its own unique personality, learning history, preferences and aversions. Good dog training involves understanding the unique personality of the dog you have in front of you, and making adjustments to training methods to suit your dog, not parroting some idealised version that doesn’t reflect your reality. You need an approach that will resonate most strongly with your dog’s personality and learning history.

👉 People don’t post their failures!

It seems obvious, but it is important to acknowledge. No-one wants to be known for how badly a training session goes. Especially in this social media climate where armchair experts quickly seize upon the opportunity to cast judgement on others. What that means is you will usually see the carefully curated examples that show people and their dogs in their best light, not when something goes badly! Sometimes the road to success involves taking a wrong turn on the way, and as long as that helps refine the training and get it back on course, that’s okay. It just doesn’t make a great social media post.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the polished perfection of social media, you're not alone. If you’ve tried “sure-fire” fixes to your dog’s behaviour that you’ve seen on social media, only to see them fall flat, you’re not alone. And you're not failing—you're just in the middle of the process, where real progress happens. To see behind the smoke and mirrors of social media, here’s a few tips:

👌👌Appreciate the unique personality of your dog. That is, who and what your dog is, not what he isn’t. Comparison breeds discontent, and is unfair to your dog. It’s very easy to be influenced by the social media “shoulds” and and that needs to be balanced with an appreciation that your dog is unique and needs a tailored approach.

👌👌Critique what you see in social media, and don’t accept everything at face value. Is it genuinely helpful content, or is it more marketing, entertainment, or a fishing expedition for more “likes”?

👌👌Learn from the trustworthy. I follow some trainers who post about difficulties, challenges and the process of overcoming these. Often it’s not flashy, just real. If you are looking for a teaching page that is actually helpful for a wide variety of dog owners, one Facebook page I would recommend is Consider the Dog. This is the front page of a learning platform that has many free videos designed to help people, and a paid version if you want to go deeper.

I work with real dogs and real people in their everyday environments. I find that although many of the canine behavioural issues I encounter are similar, each dog is very individual in their needs. My goal is to help people build a lasting, trust-based relationship with their dogs - through consistent, clear communication and understanding.

I’m always happy to talk through your dog issues and discuss what I can offer. You are most welcome to book a free call

There is no obligation to proceed any further, just the opportunity to start to explore.

Time for some safe dog/dog socialisation! 🐕🐕

You’re invited to the next social walk around Hamilton Lake on Sunday, 4 May, at 9 am. Dogs will be around other dogs, all on-lead and in a controlled manner. We meet on the grass opposite the Hamilton Yacht Club.

Rules of the Walk

• Dogs must stay on the lead at all times

• No dog-to-dog greetings without the owner’s consent, please. Not all the dogs will welcome random dogs in their space.

• Pick up all poop (goes without saying, but there, now it’s said).

• Respect pedestrians and other dog walkers on the path. Make way for people as appropriate, so we’re not road-hogs.

• Remember to act as good ambassadors of the dog-owning community at all times (not everyone likes dogs - weird huh?)

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