These are some brief crib notes that might help you understand some of the terminology used by today’s sport dog trainers. Dogs are motivated by the desire to acquire something. This can be used to train a dog. Classical conditioning works with your dog’s natural behavior to create responses that generates a specific behavior from a dog. This is an involuntary reaction. If a dog sees a competition ring, or rally signs, and has always…   Continue

Engagement is a big part of both sport dog training and behavior modification. I’m currently training a mobility service dog. She picked up everything quickly at 6 months old and was already doing public access work in a mall. Three months later she wants to play and is trying to start a battle of wills. Understand Your Dog’s Motives The first thing to realize is that she is not being stubborn, or trying to dominate…   Continue

People are often dubious when I reply yes. Especially if they have gone to other trainers whose methods made the problem worse, or failed outright. I’m not very big, 5’ 3”, and I don’t come to a training class with prong collars, shock collars, and lots of talk about dominance and control. I’m not a dog whisperer. I have no ‘secret’. I haven’t taken a long ‘tried and true’ dog training method and marketed it…   Continue

One of the main causes of behavior problems is the belief you must dominate a dog or it will try to dominate you. I’ve lived with as many as 18 dogs at my home, and have never had a dog challenge me for dominance. I’ve owned giant schauzers, huskies, german shepherds, chinese cresteds, and other working dogs. I will admit that some breeds are difficult to manage, but when a dog is treated like a…   Continue

I’ve watched decades of dog trainers with the newest, latest, training methods. But almost everything goes back to theories and training methods used by sheep herders, and farmers, for hundreds of years. The fact is, dog’s haven’t changed much. They’ve adapted to urban living, and they are now competing in an ever growing number of sports. But when it comes right down to it, dogs are relatively the same as they have always been. 1….   Continue