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