If you are doing dog sports, it is critical to review your cues to ensure they are distinct. Late last year I ran a ‘clarity check’ for Momentum and me as an agility team. You can read how I did this clarity check [...]
Fun is an essential ingredient to training success for you and your dog, and the secret sauce to maintaining enthusiasm and engagement in a training session is to take a break. We call these "balance breaks" and also use "reset cookies". It might seem counter-intuitive [...]
Last week we looked at understanding triggers. There are all sorts of triggers for your dog, good and bad. This week we are looking at good triggers that can be used to benefit your life with your dog to build YOU into your dog's rewards. [...]
If you live with a dog, it is important to understand triggers. Triggers can be a massive help or a massive detriment to your dog. Understanding triggers is the first step in knowing how they will help your dog have a better life and be [...]
Recently we looked at the difference in shaping with a video from the archives of my shaping progressions. Today I'm sharing 6 keys that I consider are critical for shaping success. If you are new to shaping or want to brush up your skills, Crate [...]
Stoni & Shelby circa mid 1990's Last week we looked at luring vs shaping, so it's only fair that this week we are looking at shaping vs shaping. Recently in one of our Inner Circle coaching calls, we were discussing shaping, successive approximations, [...]
When you are training your dog, it can seem easy to pull out a cookie and lure your dog to do something. But you need to ask yourself what learning will be taking place in the dog's mind. Generally, it is “do nothing and I [...]
A puppy's mind is fully capable of learning at an early age, so there is no need to consider putting off his or her education. What we do need to consider is how that education happens. My puppy controls when we move ahead to the [...]
The Say Yes Team has taken over Susan's blog for a day, as we have news to share ... great news, good news and some bad news. [Update November 04, 2018] Our free training series has ended now, but if you visit any link below [...]
As you may know, I have recently returned from the FCI Agility World Championships in Sweden. When travelling home, I decided I wanted to document my experience as a way of running a ‘clarity check’ for Momentum and me as an agility team. No matter [...]
Shelby with a beloved reward, a rock, at the 1998 USDAA GP Nationals. I've been blogging about dog training, dog behaviour, dog agility and dogs in general, with a few diversions, for many years now .... far more years than I probably thought [...]
You know, people think I've been really lucky with the dogs that I've owned, and the success each of those dogs has achieved, but the truth is I've worked really hard for a lot of years and over the course of time I've found that [...]
