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

Mindy-Penny and the Return to Ordinary Life

young puppy lying down beside table with cheese and crackers
This entry is part 25 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

So Penny, née Mindy, is a pet dog now. Aside from the obvious things like no longer accompanying us into restaurants, church, grocery stores, etc., her life has changed in other subtle ways. Like, I can feed her what I want now, instead of sticking to a national brand available at… Continue reading

Dice as Training Tools

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Training Tools

To train an animal, you really need only two things: a marker it can recognize, and something it wants as reinforcement. To train an animal efficiently, you need a way to track and plan your sessions, or you’ll waste time in moving too quickly (confusing your learner) or moving too… 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