One of the common topics during lessons is distractions. Dogs can be distracted by other dogs, people, wildlife, cars, leaves-shaped-like-animals or even just the smells in the area. It can be very frustrating on our end because we are perceiving the world so differently than our dogs. With most distraction Read more…
I’m thinking about rewards all the time. Unwanted behaviors are typically maintained through reinforcement and we can use reinforcement to create new behaviors or change feelings. I help new students come up with some reward options prior to our first session and we do some additional planning after our first session Read more…
Over the next few weeks I am sharing the most frequent advice I gave over the year. Unsurprisingly, over-excitement/reactivity was the most common reason for families to reach out over the year. Many dogs will bark, lunge, jump, or vocalize about something in the environment such as people, dogs, cars, or Read more…
As usual we have had a very busy year. Every time I think we’ll get caught up – more exciting things happen. We can’t say no to interesting opportunities.
I want Griffin to be happy and comfortable for as long as possible. Early in the winter he had a noticeable decrease in range of motion. We’re really lucky in that the local veterinary teaching hospital now has a functioning sports medicine/rehab department which means we don’t have to do Read more…
Last month the training center hosted our first UKI agility trial – and our first agility trial of any type. We had a great team of help and a great small group of exhibitors who helped make it a success. In the end, it felt more like a party than Read more…
I really like buying training-related books but over the last few years I’ve not done a good job of reading most of the books I purchase. In the last year I decide to restrict my book purchases unless I catch up on reading what I already have. That said – Read more…
My dogs and I are lucky – we have places we can go for off leash walks. Central Ohio can be very hilly and so there are moments where the dogs our briefly out of sight behind a ridge or circling some plants. And then they’re back in sight. But Read more…
When I was in high school I did one quarter of an “Internship” class. We did some practice writing resumes, talking about being responsible, and then spending most of our time out doing some sort of internship. The local community was really great and let the students come and participate Read more…
When I was in school I was really good about posting regular blog updates of our adventures. This gave me a way to look back on our training events and the reflection time spent writing the points was also useful. Now that I’m differently busy, I am not as reliable Read more…