How the plan works
We are product designers and engineers. We built a system that turns ten answers about your dog into a 12-week plan, and a walk log that moves the plan each week. It follows the approach veterinary behaviour groups recommend for dogs that react on the lead: keep the dog below the distance where it reacts, pair the trigger with food, and close the gap slowly.
Step 1: the free check finds the line
Ten questions: the trigger, what the reaction looks like, how far away it starts, how fast your dog recovers, any snaps or bites, pain, size, whether they eat on walks, and the gear they wear. The distance you give is the start. A slow recovery widens it by 25%; a snap widens it by 50%.
Three answers change the plan before anything else:
- Bitten and broken skin: no plan is sold. We point you to a veterinary behaviourist (DACVB) or a certified trainer who can see the dog in person.
- Snapped or air-bit: wider distances and a muzzle comfort drill from day 1, plus a vet check note.
- Pain, limping or illness: a vet check first. Pain and reactivity are closely linked (Mills et al., 2020).
Step 2: the plan is built from that line
Weeks 1 and 2 are home and quiet-street games: name game, hand target, mat settle, loose lead, the calm U-turn and "find it". They give you the tools you will need when a trigger appears, before you meet one. From week 3 you work near triggers at 1.5 times your dog's trigger distance, then step in a little each week toward a planning target of 40% of it. Every seventh day is a rest walk. See a real sample week.
The drills are counter-conditioning and desensitisation, the methods the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends over punishment (AVSAB, 2021). Confrontational methods such as hitting, staring a dog down or an "alpha roll" drew aggressive responses in a quarter or more of the dogs they were tried on, in one survey of owners at a behaviour clinic (Herron et al., 2009). Reviews and a study of companion dogs link aversive methods to more stress and worse welfare (Ziv, 2017; Vieira de Castro et al., 2020). That is why the plan never uses a correction, and why the check asks about prong and choke collars.
Step 3: the walk log moves the distance
| What you logged (last 3 walks) | What the plan does |
|---|---|
| 3 calm walks, at most 1 reaction, calm at or inside this week's distance | Closes 5 feet |
| 3 or more reactions | Adds 25% more space and repeats the week |
| Anything else | Holds the distance |
The same answers and the same log always give the same plan. Nothing is guessed at the moment you buy.
Who does what
| Part | Done by |
|---|---|
| The check, the safety rules, the distances and the weekly rule | Fixed rules we wrote and tested on example dogs; no AI runs when you take the check or open your plan |
| The wording of the 13 drills | Drafted with an AI writing tool from the published methods above, then checked step by step against them |
| Walking your dog, every day | You. Nothing replaces the practice |
| Diagnosing pain or deciding on medication | Your vet. We never do this |
What we do not promise
We promise the work: a day-by-day plan built from your dog's answers, and a rule that follows your log. We cannot promise your dog's behaviour. That depends on practice, your dog's history and what you meet on the street. Full refund within 7 days of paying, no questions asked. Refund policy.
Sources
- American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. Position statement on humane dog training, 2021. avsab.org
- Herron M.E., Shofer F.S., Reisner I.R. Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2009. doi.org
- Ziv G. The effects of using aversive training methods in dogs: a review. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 2017. doi.org
- Vieira de Castro A.C. et al. Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare. PLOS ONE, 2020. doi.org
- Mills D.S. et al. Pain and problem behavior in cats and dogs. Animals, 2020. doi.org
- American College of Veterinary Behaviorists: find a board-certified veterinary behaviourist. dacvb.org