Does your dog react to EVERYTHING outside the door?
Do you know why I love my work?
I am always on a journey to learn more about dog training…
Improve dogs’ lives even more…
And to the best of my ability, help my students live their happiest and most fulfilling lives with their canine companions!
That’s why I love what I do so much.
Every now and then, I come across a novel idea that makes me SO excited that I just have to share it with everyone.
This happened a few weeks ago in our SpiritDog Academy forum.
One of our students posted that she was struggling with counterconditioning by the door.
(Here’s a sneak peek of the training idea behind this.)
Her dog would go from calm to worked up pretty fast, and managing the solid door, storm door and snuffle mat was not working:
“Kicking the snuffle mat out of the way so I can close the solid door before he reacts (or was reacting 😒) was taking too long.
I needed something that fit in the threshold between the storm door and the solid door.”
But then she had an ingenious idea 💡
And it’s fantastic!
How smart is this?
I love the idea of a “threshold” snuffle mat so counterconditioning can happen right by the door.
Do you enjoy sewing? I created a PDF with my student’s instructions for you…
Click here to see and download it!
If you are not into sewing, here is a tutorial for how you can do this without a sewing machine:
Click here to see the non-sewing tutorial!
Big thanks to my creative student for sharing this idea!
If you make, or are planning to make, your own threshold snuffle mat, please share a photo with us. We would love to see how yours turns out.
Looking forward to hear how it benefits your reactivity training!
P.S. Reactivity is a particularly tricky issue to manage in dogs. It might even be harmful to your dog if dealt with the wrong way. If you struggle with a reactive dog, check out Tackling Reactivity, my course on taming your dog with just 10 minutes a day of training.
It’s the most comprehensive course out there on teaching you how to calm your dog and manage their triggers effectively. What’s more, it’s affordable and fun to go through! Start transforming your reactive dog today.
