about Denise

Denise Fenzi is a prolific writer, story teller, dog trainer, problem solver, philosopher, business owner, and advocate for people and animals – in no particular order.

As a competitor, Denise is best known for her flashy and precise obedience work, as demonstrated by two AKC OTCH dogs and perfect scores in both schutzhund and Mondio Ringsport obedience.

She has titled dogs in obedience, tracking, schutzhund, mondioring, herding, conformation, and agility.

Scroll down to learn more about Denise.

While a successful competitor, Denise’s real passion lies in training dogs and solving the problems that her own dogs and her students’ dogs present.

She is a recognized expert in developing play, motivation, and engagement in competition dogs, and is known internationally as an engaging speaker and an expert in no-force training for sport dogs.

Denise has consistently demonstrated the ability to train and compete with dogs using motivational methods in sports where compulsion is the norm.

Denise and OTCH Raika SchH2, MR1 in Mondioring
Photo credit: Jason Roberts.

Denise and Lyra TEAM3 play during a training session.

Denise is highly active on Facebook; follow her there to engage in lively well moderated discussion, watch Facebook live presentations on various topics, and learn more about training dogs!

Click here for all of Denise's books (with links to buy!)

Denise and Deb Jones have recently finished a four-book series, “Dog Sports Skills,” which has received widespread acclaim in the dog sports community. Several of these titles have won Maxwell awards for Best Training and Behavior book from the Dog Writers of America

Denise has written several additional books on her own..

Denise works tirelessly to break down barriers that prevent people from obtaining a truly interactive and enjoyable sport relationship with their dogs. As a result, she created both the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy (FDSA) and the Training Excellence Assessment Modules (TEAM) program.

Denise with her dog, OTCH Cisu SchH3 FH

Latest Blog Posts

Developing a Confident Team: Re-Defining Leadership for Dog Sports and Life

What is Leadership? What is it not? And how might one get from "Ugh that's hard!" to " Yeah, bring it on!!" Leadership has nothing to do with dominance. It is about stepping up and removing choice when that is in the best interest of the other. If you want your dog...

Reducing Possession for Tug Toys

You read about dogs who don't play tug and you shake your head. Dogs that don't play tug? That makes no sense because your dog has never seen a tug toy he didn't love. As a matter of fact, he loves them so much that he doesn't bring them back - pretty much...ever....

Training Taffy?! Facebook live

I admit it. I'm a little obsessive about dog training treats. Not so much what goes into them, as in figuring out how to make the perfect one. And I just might have it. Training Taffy. Check out the following Facebook live: Improvements since I did the Facebook live...