My Life as A Blogger

365 days ago, I started a blog.  I had no agenda, except to create a “diary” of the process of raising my new puppy, Lyra.  I had no intention of posting every week.  I had no intention of using my blog as a soapbox; a chance to talk about whatever...

Balance – Trainer and Student

I have lots of opinions about how dogs “should” be trained.  I prioritize toys and play over food, speed over accuracy, short sessions over long ones, etc.  At the same time, I also have a range of students in both private lessons and in seminars with...

The Guilt of Knowledge

We know a lot about good training these days. We know about errorless learning, setting up environments to foster success, and using our knowledge of total circumstances to change behavior in ways that are both kind and effective for the learner. We know how to create...

Are we having fun yet?

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...

I have an old dog

I have an old dog. When did she become old?  Maybe it started with the decline in her manners. Doesn’t she see me standing here as she pulls something out of the trash?!  Maybe, but it doesn’t matter because she knows I won’t enforce the rules and she can’t hear me...

Setting goals

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...

The concept of Choice

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...

Podcast

Do you like podcasts? I was interviewed by my friend Ryan Cartlidge recently for his Animal Training Academy Podcast.  If’ you’re interested, take a listen!  We covered a lot of territory, so it’s hard to say what all we covered, but we did talk...

Thank you

Have you thanked your instructor lately?  Your training buddies? Your support system? Your trial volunteers?  Your advocates?  Your spouse? I am incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by people who are positive and appreciative of the things that I do, therefore I get...

“Have to”

I heard it again today. A team entered the Open obedience Ring and the dog was clearly disengaged so the handler pulled the dog for the weekend.  Probably a good choice! Another trainer’s response? If the dog knew she “had to” work then that...

The weed people

When I was a kid, my mom used to rage about people who had weeds growing in their gardens.  Those weeds go to seed and those seeds get blown around the neighborhood, leaving my mom’s pristine garden a hapless victim. Weeds in her garden were the result of...

Philosophy or behavior?

You had a bad training day. You got angry. You yanked at your dog, jerked them around a little bit and generally behaved badly. Ugly stuff. What happens now? One answer is to blame the dog. The dog deserved it. The dog is stubborn and hard. There is no other way to...

Do words matter?

Do words affect our thoughts, feelings, and responsive actions? If I “cue” you to sit in a chair, what is your reaction? What is the language that suggests a cue? What relationship might we build from there? If I “direct” you to sit in a chair,...

Molecular Redistribution

Here on my blog I generally talk about dog training, but on Facebook, I cover a good deal more territory. The following conversation is one of a regular series of conversations that I have with my 13-year-old dog, Raika.  Some of our conversations are funny and some...

The need for space

I do a huge amount of training in my house.   I do that because it’s quiet, it’s familiar to my dog, and it’s convenient for me.     That is very much a winning proposition, and the convenience allows me to get in several tiny sessions per day if I...

The myth of ring experience

If I had a dollar for every time someone said they were showing for ring experience, I’d be a very rich woman. “Experience” can be a wonderful thing for creating comfort and enthusiasm for a task. When you train your dog on a regular basis and...

Competitive Obedience

Originally published on Facebook: My preferred dog sport is competitive obedience. The sport is struggling right now and various powers-that-be are working to make it, in theory, more appealing. How might we get there? Making dog sports easier is not going to solve...

Opinions

You just read something. Or you heard something. Or a thought entered your head, and now you have an opinion. So the question is, should you express it; that thought or opinion? As an avid user of social media, I am consistently amazed at the number of people who feel...

Judges, coaches, and competitors

Judges, coaches, and competitors are all important to the success of dog sports, but they are different.  There’s not much value in asking a judge a question that is more suited to a coach and likewise, you may not get much help asking a competitor a question...