Don’t confuse your dog

Don’t confuse your dog. Say what you do, do what you say.

Everything we offer to a dog creates a picture in their head. It brings certain emotions, motivation, and behaviors.

When you offer food, the dog goes into food-related behavior—sniffing, searching, eating, focusing in that way.

When you offer a toy, the dog goes into chasing, grabbing, hunting-type behavior.

All of that together—emotions, actions, tendencies—we can call it a repertoire.

Food brings out a food-related repertoire.
A toy brings out a completely different repertoire.

Think about it like this.

If you walk into your friend’s house and see pizza on the table, you already know what’s going on. You’re going to eat, sit, talk, relax. Your brain is already in that mode.

If you walk in and see tequila, music, people getting ready, now it’s different. You’re thinking about a party.

If you walk in and see hiking gear, boots, backpacks—you’re not thinking about food or partying anymore. You’re thinking about going outside.

Same place, different picture, different mindset.

Now imagine your friend tells you, “Come over, we’re going to party.”

You walk in… and he asks you to help clean the backyard.

You’d feel confused.

That’s what happens with dogs.

When your dog is reacting, chasing, or highly aroused, their body is already in a specific repertoire—intensity, action, sometimes even survival.

And at that moment, if you offer food, you’re mixing two different repertoires.

Same thing when you’re playing tug, building drive, and then suddenly switching to food for the out.

It doesn’t match the state the dog is in.

I recently saw someone working on reactivity like this: playing fetch, then stopping the dog mid-chase and giving food.

From the dog’s point of view, that’s confusing. The dog was in one repertoire, and suddenly everything changes.

Dogs learn through clear associations and clear expectations. When those are not clear, learning becomes messy.

Keep it simple.

If you play, play.
If you feed, feed.

Match what you offer with the state you want.

Don’t confuse your dog.