Framework

DogLovesYou has four parts.

1. Goal — what you are working toward.
2. Measurement — how you know where you are.
3. Principles — how you act every day.
4. Method — what you do in each daily activity.

Goal

Your dog loves you the way you love your dog.

In behavior terms: you, by yourself, are a reward to the dog. Your attention, your praise, and your presence are worth more than food from a stranger.

This is one sentence. Read it every week.

Measurement

You cannot improve what you cannot see. So we measure.

The 10-stage test is a list of ten observable behaviors. Each stage is a yes or no.

You take the test once a month. The score tells you where you are. The next stage tells you what to work on.

Read the 10-stage test.

Principles

Three rules for daily life.

1. Bonding is the gateway.
2. The dog chooses.
3. Rules over praise and punishment.

Read the principles.

Method

Six daily activities. Each one has steps you can practice.

• Feeding
• Potty
• Walking
• Grooming and bathing
• Manners outside
• Play

Each activity uses the same three principles. Read each method page when you start working on that activity.

Why these four parts

Many methods have only two parts: training drills and treats. The drills give a behavior. The treats pay for it.

This works for tricks. It does not build a bond.

We add two parts that most methods skip:

• A clear goal that is about the relationship, not the behavior.
• A measurement that tracks the relationship, not the behavior.

A dog can sit on cue and still ignore you on a walk. A dog that loves you may not have a perfect sit, but will check in with you in a busy park.

We work for the second one.

The money idea

This is the only metaphor we use.

Money is paper. By itself it is worth almost nothing.

But people work for money. They wake up early for it. They cross cities for it.

Why? Because money buys primary things — food, shelter, safety, time with family.

A person becomes that kind of value to a dog by being the gateway to primary things. Food, walks, smells, play. Done daily, with care, the person becomes the dog's money.

A dog with rich owners — owners who give freely — values the owner less. A dog whose owner is the only path to good things values the owner more.

Note: this is not about being mean. It is about being the gateway.

Order of work

1. Read philosophy and principles.
2. Take the 10-stage test. Save your score.
3. Look at the lowest stage you have not reached. Pick the method page that fits.
4. Practice for one month.
5. Take the test again. Compare.

Slow is fine. The bond is built over years.