Podcasts about Books & Training!

I had the opportunity to chat with Melinda Schiller on her fantastic Elite Pets Podcast, in two episodes themed around my training books. We had some great questions about training and problem-solving and problem-prevention. (Also there’s a bit of news hidden in the Fired Up talk!) You can catch each… Continue reading

Better Together is Coming Soon

Hey, there’s a great new training book hitting the shelves! Better Together: The Collected Wisdom of Modern Dog Trainers is a comprehensive collection of both practical and inspirational advice from some of the best trainers in the world. Learn the methods of modern dog training through more than 60 articles from 28… Continue reading

Fear and Fun: A Behavioral Approach to Vacationing

Laura in red helmet and black wetsuit, abseiling into narrow gap, smiling.

“As I mentioned before, I work in behavior, and my specialty is managing fear and aggression, so all my professionalism is coming to bear right now.” I have newly returned from a dream trip I’d been planning for fully ten years, a visit to New Zealand and then a cruise… Continue reading

The Training Game and What It Teaches: The Rat Is Always Right

Many clicker trainers are familiar with what is almost universally known by the ridiculously simple name of The Training Game. It’s a shaping game played among humans, and most often a learner is sent from the room while the group determines a (physically and socially safe) behavior to shape, and… Continue reading

“A Walk in the Park” Is Supposed to Mean “Easy” – When Aggression Isn’t Funny

Yesterday Mindy and I met some friends at the park for a picnic lunch. I debated and then decided to make it a rare “non-working” outing for Mindy, so she wasn’t in her vest and was free to sniff around and be a puppy. (She gets plenty of puppy time at… Continue reading

Fly Casual: The Importance of Posture, and its Rewards

Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke, Obi Wan in Millennium Falcon

Body language is really important. When dealing with species that don’t use English, it’s really, really important. Trainers who work with a lot of fearful, aggressive, or fear-aggressive dogs soon learn not only to read dogs’ body language, but to communicate effectively with their own. I often enter a home… Continue reading

On Fear-Aggression and Leadership

Laura & Shakespeare

World’s shortest CIA blog post, just because I was just surprised by my own succinct summary in an email I was writing. I don’t use “leadership” or social hierarchy to work with fear-aggression; they’re generally not related. A child may love and respect his mother, but still find the dentist… Continue reading

ClickerExpo San Francisco: Day 0

Laura feeds Tiki at the Oakland Zoo

It has to be Day 0, you see, because ClickerExpo doesn’t even properly start until tomorrow…. First off, KPACTPs had the opportunity to go behind the scenes at Oakland Zoo and see some amazing training. We were asked not to share photos or video — not because of anything they… Continue reading