Adult Dog Training: The 30-Day Reset
He is not a puppy. Stop training him like one. Every training book on the shelf starts on day one — a clean slate, no history, no habits. You did not get a day one. You got a dog who was adopted at three, or rehomed at five, or who simply grew up while the habits set. This book starts where you actually are.
- A day-by-day 30-day plan — 15 minutes a day, as three five-minute blocks
- A problem index of 21 real behaviors — leash reactivity, counter-surfing, jumping, recall & more
- The RESET framework — five questions that solve any problem not in the index
- Reward-based throughout, with a chapter for newly adopted dogs and honest timelines
Kindle edition free with Kindle Unlimited.
Undo before you install
A grown dog's habits aren't stubbornness — they're practice. Week One trains nothing: it stops the old habit being rehearsed, the step almost every plan skips. Then the RESET engine takes over — five questions that turn any behavior into a plan.
Rule out pain
Sudden behavior change is a vet visit first — always.
Examine
What actually happens — where, when, with whom — not the story about it.
Spot the payoff
Every rehearsed behavior is being paid somehow. Find the wage.
Eliminate rehearsal
Make the old habit physically impossible while the new one is built.
Teach the replacement
A better-paying behavior for the same situation — rewarded every time.
Every day has the same shape
160 pages: today's goal, the exact fifteen minutes, what success looks like, what to do when it goes wrong — and honest timelines, so you don't quit on day nine of a six-week job.
Thirty days, one entry at a time
- Week 1 — Decompress: stop the old habits being rehearsed (and train nothing yet)
- Week 2 — Foundations: the handful of behaviors everything else is built on
- Weeks 3–4 — Real life & proofing: out of the kitchen and into the world
- Week 5 — Keep it: the maintenance plan that survives a busy month
- The problem index: 21 behaviors with fixes and timelines — plus when to stop and call a professional, and what the credentials mean
The dog who never got a day one
Adopted at three. Rehomed at five. Or raised from a puppy — while the habits quietly set. Any breed, any history. A dedicated chapter covers the newly adopted dog: why the first two weeks are misleading, and why week three gets harder before it gets easier.
No alpha rolls, no leash corrections — nothing that gambles on a history nobody ever told you.
Adopting? Our free rescue guideComplete the shelf
The 30-Day Reset is one of a family — written from the same life with dogs.
The Whole Family Puppy Training Book
Got a day one after all? The puppy edition of this shelf — 10 minutes a day, jobs for the whole family.
The Complete Dog Care Planner
The undated health record book your vet will thank you for.
Free training guides
Trainability, enrichment & brain games, separation anxiety — free on nsducktoller.com.