by Denise Fenzi | Aug 9, 2018 | Generic training advice
You have a new dog or puppy, and you’re either feeling pro-active and want to get off on the right foot or you’ve got a problem brewing and you need to do something about it. How do you find a dog trainer for your pet dog? The typical advice you’re going to get will...
by Denise Fenzi | Jul 30, 2018 | Generic training advice
Today my husband and I faced our seventh failed attempt to protect our vegetable garden from squirrels. As I thought through our recent war with the critters, I was reminded of the principles of excellent animal training: 1. Set up challenges that become increasingly...
by Denise Fenzi | Jul 25, 2018 | Generic training advice, Musings
What does positive reinforcement based training mean to you? For some trainers, it means a lot of cookies and maybe throwing a toy into the mix on occasion. I see that kind of training a lot. As a matter of fact, it’s the most common type of positive...
by Denise Fenzi | Jul 12, 2018 | Brito, Generic training advice, Lyra, Raika
I am not a dog “behavior” trainer; I train dogs for competition dog sports, and I limit my behavior training to within that realm. For example, dogs that stress up, stress down, uncomfortable with the stand for exam, etc; that’s my territory. House...
by Denise Fenzi | Jul 5, 2018 | Brito, Generic training advice
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...
by Denise Fenzi | Jul 2, 2018 | Brito, Generic training advice
Heeling games are things that we do to increase our dog’s drive and enthusiasm for heeling. Dogs can learn heeling games even if they have no heeling at all; indeed, probably the best time to teach heeling games is roughly when you are teaching precision...
by Denise Fenzi | Jul 1, 2018 | Generic training advice
In my last blog I talked about “making your dog’s radar”. Now I’d like to talk about how much you might want to be on your dog’s radar under different circumstances and your options for adjusting that using dog-friendly methods. Here are...
by Denise Fenzi | Jun 28, 2018 | Generic training advice
Recently I was talking with a group of people about how I trained my neighbor’s free-roaming dog not to come through her gate and harass me and my dog. First I tried talking nicely to the dog. That had no effect. Second, I tried crossing the street. That seemed...
by Denise Fenzi | Jun 23, 2018 | Generic training advice, Musings
I recently asked a few people to set some goals for themselves. And they did! Big, general, enthusiastic stretch goals! Lots of goals! All the goals! Does that sound like you? I don’t do that. I don’t like big goals. They overwhelm me. Depress me. Make me...
by Denise Fenzi | Jun 21, 2018 | facebook live, Generic training advice
Yesterday I answered questions for two hours; people were told that they could ask me anything. And they did! If you’d like to take a look, click the following thread through to Reddit. Ask Me Anything with Denise Fenzi – LIVE from r/k9sports
by Denise Fenzi | Jun 19, 2018 | Generic training advice
Many years ago I sat in on a behavior consult with Trish King. She spent 90 minutes listening to and supporting a very unhappy woman who wanted to talk about her long list of woes. Honestly, I found her hard to take; I had this overwhelming urge to tell her to grow...
by Denise Fenzi | Jun 14, 2018 | Generic training advice
Imagine this. You are learning a foreign language. Some aspects of learning that language are easy for you and others are hard. It could be that you learn vocabulary easily, or conjugating verbs, or that you’re very good at listening, writing or speaking. But...
by Denise Fenzi | Jun 7, 2018 | Generic training advice, Uncategorized
Julie Flanery, my friend and fellow instructor at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, wrote a short article on this topic, and I’m sharing it here with you. Thank you, Julie, for your generosity! If you’d like to work with Julie directly, she is teaching a class...
by Denise Fenzi | May 30, 2018 | Generic training advice, Musings
Wherever did anyone get the idea that the definition of a science-based trainer is one who believes in the four quadrants? The quadrants are a reality that explain the ways that we acquire behaviors. They exist. If you know that, then you’re educated as to the...
by Denise Fenzi | May 28, 2018 | Generic training advice
Sue Yanoff, a student at FDSA and a longtime obedience competitor, wrote the following description of her journey to her CDX with her Beagle Ivy. I asked Sue if I could share it here because in my experience, ring stress is the most common problem trainers run into...
by Denise Fenzi | May 24, 2018 | Generic training advice, Most Viewed Posts, Musings
If you have a puppy, or if you are a breeder who sells puppies, or if you are a rescue who places puppies, or if you just like reading, thinking, or dreaming about puppies…. then keep reading. The instructors at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy (FDSA) have created a...
by Denise Fenzi | May 23, 2018 | Generic training advice, Musings
Note: I wrote this blog post within a few days of starting my blog in 2011. I don’t recall why I never published it, regardless, I found it here in my drafts folder today. Because I think it’s interesting to observe how thoughts about training (and writing...
by Denise Fenzi | May 9, 2018 | Generic training advice
If you were standing in the kitchen with your two-year-old and you noticed that they were about to climb on top of your kitchen table, what would you do? You would probably say something along the lines of “uh uh” and remove them as they climbed up the...
by Denise Fenzi | May 8, 2018 | Generic training advice
Imagine the following scenario: You have gone through all of the stages of engagement and are now working your dog at stage 4; your dog has opted in. You believe that your dog is well acclimated and clearly has asked to start work. You send your dog to fetch the...
by Denise Fenzi | Apr 20, 2018 | Generic training advice
I recently wrote a blog about the importance of asking “Why”. If you don’t know why something might work, don’t try it! Now I want to refine that discussion. While I need to know why something might work before I try it, I do not need to know...
by Denise Fenzi | Apr 17, 2018 | Generic training advice, Musings
I recently asked on Facebook what a typical dog purchase contract looks like. I asked from the breeder’s and also from the buyer’s point of view. The good news is that most people were able to find a breeder with a contract that worked for them and...
by Denise Fenzi | Apr 16, 2018 | Generic training advice, Uncategorized
If I am shaping a retrieve and my dog moves her mouth one inch from the dumbbell to half an inch, then I am closer to my goal. I will mark and reward. But consider this. Rather than watching the dog’s mouth in relation to the dumbbell, someone else might be...
by Denise Fenzi | Apr 8, 2018 | Generic training advice
Engagement training is the very specific training process where responsibility for starting and pushing for work is transferred from the human to the dog. That is different than having an “engaged dog, which could happen with no specific training at all. Do you...
by Denise Fenzi | Apr 6, 2018 | Generic training advice
In a recent seminar, someone commented that they needed to play with their dog in new environments even if the dog wasn’t asking to play. If the dog refused then she would have to crate the dog. That belief doesn’t happen to mesh with my philosophy so I...
by Denise Fenzi | Apr 2, 2018 | facebook live, Generic training advice
Here is a Facebook live that I did on reducing reinforcers. Hopefully, someone will find it helpful!
