Attentive Cooperation: Using Puppy Politeness Poker for Healthy Relationships

Whether you have a newly adopted dog, a brand new pup, a challenging adolescent dog, or any age dog with behavior problems, Puppy Politeness Poker (PPP) can be helpful. PPP teaches your dog to be attentive and cooperative in return for real life rewards (RLR). Easy, quick interactions throughout the day create positive changes in the dog/human relationship.

What the dog learns through PPP is simple and important: “You do this for me, I’ll do that for you.”

Effective and humane, Puppy Politeness Poker:
•relies on intrinsic motivation

•uses real-life rewards

•develops attentive cooperation

•teaches self-control

•improves communication

•is force-free, no equipment necessary

•is non-confrontational, making it suitable for dogs with aggression or other behavior issues


Started early in life, attentive cooperation becomes the natural response from the dog.

You may discover the value of PPP when your adolescent dog is sliding out of control. PPP is useful for teaching teenage dogs self control, and can help rebalance the relationship in humane, effective, force-free ways.

PPP is ideal for adopted & rescued dogs who haven’t yet learned about kind relationships with people. PPP emphasizes choice for the dog, and offers a way for the dog to feel in control of his life.

Innovative trainer Suzanne Clothier (author of Bones Would Rain from the Sky) is well known for her Relationship Centered Training approach. In ATTENTIVE COOPERATION, her usual humor and thorough understanding of dogs is obvious. She provides practical, sensible and humane advice, while keeping the dog/human relationship central at all times.