It’s Earth day and seems an opportune time to bring up a subject I love chatting with people about: eco or carbon footprints. Footprints are something left behind after you’ve traveled through. So an eco footprint refers to the impact…
Buy In
Last night I taught an agility workshop, kicking off the start of agility lessons here. It was a nice small group of competitors preparing for this weekend’s trial. I had a lovely time with them all and we had good…
How to Be Bored
Often times life for dogs involves a fair amount of “hurry up and wait.” Waiting for meals to get prepared, walks to happen, car rides to end, owners to return home, balls to be thrown, for neighbors to stop chatting…
More than One Way
In any activity humans are passionate or invested in you’re going to get strong opinions. Expressions of the way things have, or should, or must be done. Dog agility is no different. Yet many, likely majority, of those expressions are…
It’s in the Tone!
“It has to do with your tone of voice! Dogs respond to the tone not the words!” How many times have you heard that in the past? I’ve heard it many times. Most often in reference to the way a…
Alternative Agility equipment descriptions
Inspired by this awesome think outside the box exchange: “That waffle thing” Me, with confusion, “I have no idea what you are talking about…” “That waffle thing on the stand, there are two of them with a stick across…” A…
Connection
Connection: the relationship of a person, thing or behavior to something or someone else. Connection is an all the rage buzz word in the current world of dog training. In years past the word instead was “Attention”. Attention: the act…
Where's the water dish?
I’m a big fan of modifying environments so you don’t have to train the dog. Or more a big fan of modifying environments so you don’t have to train the dog on niggly bits of life that go against what…
Think about the Dos
When thinking or talking about a behavior your dog does that you want to change, do you think about the dos or the don’ts? The things you do want your dog to do? Or the things you don’t want your…
Yes, I train medical behaviors before I ever need them
All of my dogs learn how to wear basket muzzles, cloth muzzles, Elizabethan collars (the cone). They learn how to have their teeth brushed, ears cleaned, eye drops administered, nails trimmed. They learn how to be restrained a multitude of…