Can dogs have ADHD?

So many people say their dog has ADHD, or is autistic, or something else.

And what they really mean is that in some way it’s the dog’s fault that he is as he is.

After all, it’s much easier to say that your dog behaves badly because of some obscure medical condition - rather than lack of proper nurturing - as in poor food, lack of exercise, lack of stimulation.

Far easier to say that, than to admit that you’ve fallen down on training and can’t manage your dog!

While dogs don’t have autism or ADHD, there is a thing. It’s called Hyperkinesis, and it’s VERY VERY RARE in dogs.

I only came across it myself for the first time recently.

It involves complete inability to settle, inappropriate responses (sometimes aggressive), chaotic behaviour, from puppyhood on.

You’d know if your dog had that - you’d really know!

This diagnosis is only given after extensive testing. And I was interested to read that in addition to medication it is universally recommended to use non-aversive reward-based training.

We already know that!

What about my hyper dog?

Some of us have very active dogs, some of us have shut down dogs, but very, very, few people in the world have hyperkinetic dogs.

This is good news!

So what do you do if you have an apparently uncontrollable, mad, dog who never seems to settle and seems to want to defy you all the time?

Double down on the training - especially All Day Training!

What’s All Day Training? It’s those little things you teach and expect all the time, like waiting patiently at doors, standing still to have a harness put on, sitting for a visitor, and so on.

It’s not a formal training session. Rather like we teach our children, it’s just little reinforcements of good behaviour - All Day Long.

And we must always 

🐶 be clear

🐶 be consistent

and it’s helpful to have set routines so your dog knows what’s going to happen next. He knows when he’s going to be fed, he knows when it’s playtime, he knows when it’s bedtime - throughout the day.

Enable your dog to tell you what he needs!

First … CALM!

Something that helps a lot of people is teaching their dog how to relax. Fully. Anywhere.

“I have been teaching my dog the Magic Mat technique from your Calm Down! book, and it's been great! Thanks for writing such a great and helpful guide!” JS

“Thank you, I've just read through the first 4 chapters of Calm Down! and I'm feeling excited to get started tomorrow, I love the way you write and explain everything!” WR

“Thank you so, so much for the Calm Down! book. It's already going brilliantly, it's like you're a dog mind-reader, you really know your stuff!” LN

By the way, if you are medicating your dog you must always combine this with a behaviour modification program designed by an expert in force-free training. This would ideally be a Veterinary Behaviourist, who can manage the dosing at the same time as the training.

Dog play is the best medicine

We all know about the marvels of Assistance Dogs (and other domestic animals) in helping people with physical or mental problems to dramatically improve their lives.

Whether they’re wheelchair-bound, suffering from PTSD, epilepsy, deafness, autism - they all get solid improvements.

But you don’t have to “need” an Assistance Dog to benefit enormously!

I’ve been looking at an interesting study (see Resources below), which found, in brief, that if you had an animal to care for, you would improve in these key areas:

👉 Less anxiety

👉 Lower blood pressure

👉 Better quality of life

👉 Lower cortisol levels (that’s the fight or flight hormone)

👉 Lower adrenaline levels (another fight or flighter)

👉 Lower heart rate

👉 Fewer doctor visits

👉 Better school attendance

👉 More empathy, less aggression

👉 Better social interaction

👉 Faster recovery from stressors, especially when the pet was present

👉 More smiles!

That’s quite a list, don’t you think? Which ones have you found?

So now, what about your dog?

Fair’s fair, so let’s see how we can help our dogs.

In the second study - linked below in Resources - relaxing, alert, and stress behaviours were measured after the various activities they tested. You can see the tables for yourself, but the key takeaway for me is that PLAY activities outscored FOOD activities in every area.

This means you can’t chuck your dog a bone and let him get on with it. Well, you can, and he’ll be happy with that.

But how much happier he’ll be if you can PLAY with him!

The particular play methods they tested were dog-dog play, dog-object play (like agility obstacles, puppy gym, things you can set up at home) and tug play with their owner.

We can’t all ensure dog-dog play. But we can certainly do plenty of adventure playground type play, and endless tug! (Yannick would like tug play to be endless, that I can assure you!)

Here are three of my dogs: 3-month-old Yannick, Coco Poodle, and (deaf) Lacy, keen to take turns with their favourite game.

And here’s another thing that’s been debunked. They used to tell us that coffee was bad for us. Now they’re saying that it’s really very, very good for us! So you may have no qualms if, in appreciation of what I give you freely, you choose to buy me a coffee. 😊 ☕️

 RESOURCES:

Psychosocial and Psychophysiological Effects of Human-Animal Interactions: The Possible Role of Oxytocin

Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Dog Behaviour: Pilot Study

Want to know more about how to teach your dog to play, and get the results you want? Watch our free workshop which might just change everything about how you see life with your pup!

Am I clear to my dog?

An old man is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old man simply replied, “The one you feed.”

This bit of wisdom is attributed to the Cherokees, but, in fact, it’s not known where it came from.

And what possible relevance does this have to me, and my dog, you ask?

It’s all a question of focus.

What you focus on is what you get.

What you reward will, inevitably and without any doubt, be repeated.

It’s a basic tenet of Learning Theory, in which our modern dog training is grounded.

I sum it up in my mantra, which I give to all my students and hope they learn by heart so they can recite it to themselves at any moment:

Reward what you like

Ignore what you don’t like

Manage what you can’t ignore

[Manage? That simply means arranging things so that the thing you don’t like is very unlikely to happen - like keeping sharp things out of a baby’s reach, keeping the street door firmly shut, and so on.]

Now this is the most simple way to train your dog - or anyone else, for that matter!

Don’t rise to the things you don’t like. As you will know and admit, that only makes things worse.

This can apply to things that are as basic as .. the dog peeing in the wrong place. Pointing to the offending patch on the carpet is not going to help your dog understand where he’s meant to relieve himself!

And heaping on praise, for anything that you do like, is going to speed up your puppy’s understanding of the house rules in this strange new human world he’s found himself in.

But is this what we do?

Sadly, no.

Most people harp on the bad thing and almost forget to teach the new, desired, thing!

Complaining to your dog about what he does “wrong” is only going to focus his attention on it.

As Dan Millman says, in his book Socrates,

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy

Not on fighting the old

But on building the new”

It really is simple when you look at it like that.

And remember - this doesn’t only apply to dogs! Oh, nonono! Look at yourself and your dealings with everyone in the same light.

Your child brings his plate back to the kitchen? Thank him profusely, rather than complaining about having to pick up plates from all over the house when he doesn’t do it.

Your chaotic co-worker turns up on time for once? Buy him a coffee, rather than grouse next time he arrives late.

Speaking of coffee - as I often do …

.. if you want to reward me for all the info I give you freely, here’s your chance!

And if your dog pauses while pulling on the lead and looks back at you, TREAT! And remember to brush up on your loose lead training as soon as you get home again.

Focus on the good

Thing is, focussing on the good makes your child/colleague/dog feel better and more inclined to repeat the good thing.

And, importantly, it makes you feel better too!

We aren’t here for long. Let’s make our stay a pleasant one.

Want to know more about how to interact with your dog to get the results you want? Watch our free Workshop which might just change everything about how you see life with your pup!

Dog Feeding Schedules - how important are they?

I’ve had a couple of people recently looking for help with their puppy because it was screaming all night. On enquiry, I’ve found that the (so-called) breeder - “Greeder”, I’d say - told them to feed 2 meals a day.

Two meals a day, for an 8-week-old small breed puppy!

Totally ridiculous - in fact, cruel.

Can you imagine feeding a new baby twice a day and expecting peace and harmony in the home?

So, while explaining this to the reader - who was of course not to blame but doing their ill-informed best - I was thinking about feeding schedules in general.

They are not set in stone!

 Feeding can, indeed should, change over the dog’s life.

Let me give you some examples.

My usual schedule with a young puppy is to start with 5 or 4 meals a day, gradually dropping to 3 at 12 weeks, then 2 at 6 months, then dropping to 1 meal a day at 9 months or a year or two (depending on size and make-up of the dog).

My dogs also get training treats throughout the day, and have access to meaty bones and healthy chews. Clean water is, of course, always available, in a clean container.

I have four dogs:

🐶 Lacy, English Shepherd, 14

🐶 Cricket the Whippet, 13

🐶 Coco Poodle, 10

🐶 Yannick, Border Collie, coming up to 2

And they all have a different feeding regime (they all have a big raw dinner):

🐾 Lacy - gets a small breakfast as she’s old

🐾 Cricket - started having panic attacks in the morning. Never after lunch. So I started feeding her breakfast - no more panic attacks

🐾 Coco - gets a tiny breakfast - he’s small and inclined to put on weight

🐾 Yannick - I stopped his breakfast at a year and he rapidly became thin, so he’s back on it, and doing nicely.

Plus treats, bones, etc as I feel the urge, and scatterfed kibble in the garden at lunchtime (this is a sure way to get Cricket to go out to relieve herself on wet days!)

So you can see it’s not a “one-size-fits-all”.

You need to observe your dog, view her with a stockman’s eye, check she is neither too fat nor too thin.  

And if you want to give me a treat for all the info I give you freely, here’s your chance!

How can I tell if my dog’s weight is right?

It can be hard - especially for the novice dog-owner - to assess your dog’s condition. You see him every day! These things can creep up on you.

Here’s an excellent chart to guide you:

If your dog has a dense coat which masks everything, you’re going to have to get in with your hands and feel your way round his body.

This is something you need to do regularly anyway - to hunt down parasites, injuries, strange lumps and bumps.

I find the shortcut ways of finding whether a dog is too fat are these:

1. Ribs: you can feel them easily but not cut yourself on them.

2. Pin bones (top of pelvis): easy to find but nicely covered.

3. Neck: the skin should be loose round the neck, no fat rolls or thickness.

If you make these observations - seeing and feeling your dog - regularly, you’ll be able to adjust his intake up or down as needed.

Always remembering the quality of the food you give!

Here are some useful feeding resources for you:

Is raw feeding safe for my dog? Let’s get to the Bare Bones

What food can I give my dog?

Beware the deadly mince pie! Christmas hazards for dogs

“My dog doesn’t like food”

Keep your dog and your Christmas food safe!

Dog feeding frenzy!

I'm not spending good money on a DOG!

How much should I feed my dog?

What can my dog chew?

What are the most effective dog treats?

And once you’ve got his outsides right, you can focus on what’s inside your dog’s head, with our free Workshop which might just change everything about how you interact with your dog!

Are you rewarding your dog or bribing him?

Do you know the exact difference between bribery and rewarding? 

Lots of people don’t!

And if you’re new to Brilliant Family Dog, it may be an area that puzzles you.

It can be so annoying when someone sees you reward your dog with a treat, then snootily says, “I don’t BRIBE my dogs. I expect them to do what I ask …”

So I thought that if you already understand this concept, I’d equip you with the science behind it all, so you can respond appropriately to this sort of comment.

If you can be bothered, that is! Some folk are better left to stew in their own ignorance as they absolutely won’t listen to you.  

They’ve made up their mind and don’t want to be confused by the facts.

Though I’m always sorry for their dogs …

And if you don’t understand it, then here you go! This will explain this mystery for you.

Bribery vs Reward

When you go to work, does your boss BRIBE you to work?

Or does he REWARD you for work done?

You make a choice whether to turn up to work or not.

• If you do, you get paid.

• If you don’t, you don’t!

Simple!

And it’s just as simple for our dogs.

We give them a choice: Will you do this thing?

• They do it, and get paid.

• They don’t do it, and they don’t!

Just the same!

There is no “commanding”, “ordering”, shouting or yelling. The only difference is that they won’t get the sack as you would if you didn’t turn up to work!

They have another chance to earn that reward next time you ask.

Let’s look at the science behind this!

Quick glossary:  

A CUE is what we say or do to elicit the action we want. So there are vocal cues, physical cues, environmental cues .. It’s not a “command” because - well we don’t “command” our friends.

A MARKER is what you do or say to tell your dog he’s got it right, like Yes, or Good boy.

A REWARD is whatever your dog finds rewarding and is appropriate at that moment, e.g. treat, opening the door to the garden, going for a walk, cuddles, running and chasing, etc. It has been proven beyond any doubt that a response that is rewarded will strengthen and become automatic.

The thing to remember is the sequence. It’s

CUE - MARKER - REWARD.

“Sit. Yes! Here’s your reward.”

Not

REWARD - CUE!

We don’t need to wave food around their noses.

We don’t need to hold food up in the air for them to sit, or on the floor for them to lie down.

(Of course, a little help is sometimes needed to get dogs to lie down when you’re first teaching them a down. Some find it quite challenging. And guidance with food can get them started so they say, “Oh, I SEE! That’s what they want!”)

The exciting thing about all this is that over time, the CUE becomes the REWARD!

Wossat? The CUE becomes the REWARD?

Magic! ✨ 💥

Want to reward me with a coffee, so I keep giving you helpful articles?

Let’s look at an example

What happens when you pick up your dog’s lead?

Excitement? Anticipation of a walk?

The lead is the CUE - it’s a physical cue - and the WALK is the reward.

Your dog knows, from constant repetition, that that’s how it goes.

And it’s not long before picking up the lead becomes the reward in itself! Hence all the lepping about when you touch the lead.

And of course this cue can travel backwards, till you just thinking it may be walk time is enough to get them going!

This is why your dog will SIT on CUE without need for a MARKER or a REWARD.

They’ve got it. They know this gig.

The pleasure centres of the brain light up when they hear the word SIT. It’s been conditioned to mean good things.

Though if your SIT starts to become hesitant or slow or sloppy, then it’s time for a return to training with

CUE - MARKER - REWARD

Can you see now, how you may respond to someone who suggests you’re using bribery? (That’s someone who’s honestly asking and is prepared to listen! You don’t want to waste your energy trying to convert the snooty, bossy, ones.)

And can you see now, if you didn’t get it before, what an incredibly powerful tool this is?

A-a-a-a-nd, why your dog may always do something when you do something? It’s because in some way he’s been rewarded for doing it, even it’s something you don’t want.

Example?

• Dog leaps about barking at the door.

• You leap about barking at him.

• Wheee! What fun! That’s a great reward!

Have a think about this as you go through your day with your dog!

They’re cleverer than we think.

And to learn more about how to reach your dog’s mind and get him on the same side as you, watch this free Workshop on getting your dog to LISTEN!

Time to get some action with your dog!

I came across this brilliant essay the other day.

It’s a great reminder for us who are always busybusybusy!

⏰ We have such great plans …

⏰ We’re going to do such marvels …

⏰ But we just have to get [insert distraction here] done first …

That wouldn’t be you, would it, by any chance? ;-) It’s definitely me! 😳

Christmas looms over us

I know we’re all busy around Christmas.

But look! The New Year is just round the corner!

What are you going to actually DO this year?

What will you look back on in December 2025 and say, “I DID IT!”

Read this essay below, and then tear up your To-Do List which contains all the things you think might be nice to do and that you know in your heart of hearts you never will do, and decide what’s important to you.

And do that.

[Thanks to Strangest Loop for that!]

In the meantime, enjoy doing your thing - and if it includes your dog, hooray!

He’s waiting for you …

See you next year.

And if you’ve enjoyed everything I’ve given you over this long year and fancy a little gift for me …

HINT: I drink a lot of coffee! ☕️ 😊