Welcome to another episode of "Rewriting the Rules" with Bethany Bell, where we venture beyond conventional dog training methods to foster deeper connections. Today, we're exploring the often-overlooked aspect of canine behaviour: the distinction between teaching dogs to tolerate and compelling them to like certain situations.

Throughout the episode, Bethany invites listeners to reconsider the traditional and conventional training techniques, questioning whether our objectives are truly about safety or simply about enforcing silence through compliance. We delve into the emotional landscape of our dogs, urging a shift from imposing our will to understanding their genuine emotions and needs.

This episode challenges the norm by highlighting the dangers of pushing dogs towards a "performance" of comfort, rather than nurturing authentic emotional safety. We examine real-life scenarios and offer an alternative methodology - the Canine Dialogue Dynamics Method- that emphasises trust, choice, and relational safety over traditional desensitization strategies.

We often hear advice about training dogs to “like” certain experiences — whether it’s grooming, vet visits, or meeting new people. But do they really need to like it? In this episode, we explore the difference between genuine enjoyment and simple tolerance, and why blurring that line can backfire. We’ll look at how reward-based approaches can sometimes mask a dog’s true feelings, what it means when that mask drops, and why this moment of honesty is actually a breakthrough. we’ll share how to support your dog through tolerance in a way that’s ethical, choice-led, and built on trust — and why not every situation needs to be “trained” at all.

Join us as we reimagine a more empathetic and effective approach to dog training, one that respects their autonomy and emotional signals. Tune in to discover how true progress arises when we stop fixing our dogs, and start understanding them instead.

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Let’s raise dogs with dignity. Let’s teach through connection. Let’s begin the conversation.