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

Precision Heeling and Games – Finding the Balance Point

I love precision heeling. I love seeing a dog heel with a perfectly parallel body, not moving out of position even an inch, pulling up on the left turns and powering through to the right. I also love heeling games! I love how they add energy, flow, and confidence to...

Your dog made an error. What do I do RIGHT NOW?!

You cued your dog to something and your dog did something else. Or maybe your dog did absolutely nothing at all. Now what? If you stand and wait quietly then you are teaching your dog that silence means they are wrong, or maybe you will teach your dog that whenever...

Counterconditioning, Distraction food or distraction training?

Counterconditioning is a staple of behavior change. In a nutshell, it means associating something that elicits positive emotions, like cookies, with something that elicits negative emotions, like a monster! That monster might bring up a variety of emotions from fear...