About
About Good Dog Basics
A small, independent website with one job: give dog owners a clear, kind, step-by-step plan for the everyday problems that make life with a dog hard.
What we do
Good Dog Basics publishes free training guides for three kinds of homes: people with a new puppy, people who have just adopted a rescue dog, and people whose adult dog has a habit they want to change, such as pulling on the leash, jumping on guests or ignoring a recall. Each guide turns published guidance from veterinary and animal welfare organizations into a plan you can follow today: numbered steps, typical timings, troubleshooting and the point at which a professional should take over.
Who writes the guides
The guides are published by Good Dog Basics. No veterinarian, veterinary behaviorist or certified trainer writes or reviews them, and the site doesn't present itself as any of those. Guides are drafted with AI assistance, then checked against the sources listed at the bottom of every page before they are published. A second automated check compares every claim with those sources and holds back anything they don't support. You can read exactly how that works on how we write.
We don't put names or photos of invented experts on the site, and we never claim to have tested a product or trained a dog we haven't. When a guide uses an example, it is labeled as illustrative.
Our training principles
- Reward-based only. We follow the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's position that dogs should be trained with rewards, not with pain, fear or force.
- Management plus training. Prevent the unwanted habit while you teach the new one, and make every step small enough for the dog to succeed.
- Know the limits. Bites, guarding, severe fear and panic need a veterinarian and a qualified behavior professional. Every guide says so plainly.
- Show the sources. Every number and rule in a guide links back to where it came from.
How the site is paid for
The guides are free to read. Some gear pages include labeled links to Amazon, and As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. We may also join affiliate programs for products we review, and we'll say so on the page when we do. No company pays to be mentioned, and earning money never changes what a guide recommends. The affiliate disclosure has the details.
What we can't do
We can't assess your dog, diagnose a problem or give veterinary advice, by email or any other way. If you're worried about your dog's health or safety, contact your veterinarian. If you spot an error in a guide, please tell us: corrections are handled as described on how we write.
Pick your starting point.
New puppy, rescue dog or an adult dog with a habit to change: each path lists the guides in the order that helps most.