Latest Articles
Advocating for Humane Techniques
This article examines the scientific data on aversive dog training methods, and discusses:
- Potential fallout such as habituation, learned helplessness, pain sensitivity, physical damage, emotional damage, and contact force;
- The ...
How to Manage Dogs with a High Prey Drive
More Articles
Handler Signals in Dog Training
While much of dog training seems to be focused on the dog, smart trainers know that handlers can and do affect their dog’s behavior and learning. Masters of body language subtleties, dogs are finely attuned to us, aware of how we move, act, ...
Raising a Puppy
Think of your relationship with you puppy as a bank account. Every positive interaction is a deposit and every time you scowl or get cross or punish you make a withdrawal. As soon as your account goes overdrawn then things will most likely ...
Dog Guardian Etiquette
Let’s say you have a dog who loves to charge about but is also a complete softie (I do!). He’s in area where it’s safe and permitted to be off leash and you see a dog in the distance. You shout, “It’s okay, he’s friendly!” But you have ...
Technique vs. Emotional Involvement: Finding the Balance
Handlers have an obligation to be trustworthy for their dogs. A handler who is calm and affectionate at times but who becomes anxious or disconnected in some situations can lead a dog to distrust them. For handlers, trust also means trusting ...
Surviving the Storm
It was if the world had suddenly just stopped and everything was standing still. For me personally, not only did I take immediate action and close my physical training location, I also moved out of the premises ...
Aging Gracefully
It is important to bear in mind that our dogs may be experiencing physical ailments, just as we do in our aging process, and we need to ensure their lifestyle stays balanced between being too sedentary, to overdoing it because they are no ...
Creating Positive Workspaces
It goes without saying that quiet and calm creates an environment which is more conducive to learning. Pick your time when the kids are least likely to be running wild and other family members need your attention. Cut off background noise ...
Troubleshooting the Hand-Delivered Retrieve
There are many different ways to train a dog to hold a retrieve item in their mouth. One approach involves shaping and differentially marking and rewarding for increasing duration. This approach requires very precise marking. Another ...