Pet Project Dog Training

Pet Project Dog Training Communication, compassion, & connection on both ends of the leash.

05/31/2026

Mark your calendars and join me, Frida, and this Thursday at 1p ET. Can't make it live? Don't worry, the recording will be available! 100% free!
DM me for the link!

05/27/2026

Insider tip: Happy Howies meat rolls are the only treats I bring with me for most dog training clients anymore and I've yet to meet a dog that doesn't think they are the best thing in the world. Bonus: they can be cut up into teeny tiny pieces, are low calorie, have limited ingredients, and even my dogs with tummy problems seem to tolerate them well. In case you're wondering, this post is NOT in any way sponsored, although given how fast we go thru these maybe it should be? 😉 Frida will gladly be your spokespup at any time!

05/17/2026

Last year ear drops required 2 people, a muzzle, and a prayer. And now.... just some whipped cream, and the sweet sounds of Justin Bieber.

A little context: we spent a few weeks last year doing 3-5 min a day of a cooperative care ear cleaning protocol (shoutout Waite et al., 2025). Frida's been maintaining the skill since. So when a double ear infection popped up last week requiring daily drops, we had something to build on.

To clarify, this here isn't true cooperative care. She can't opt out, and this is a different setup than our usual protocol so we don't poison that one. But when you can't skip the procedure, you make it as good as possible: best possible reinforcers, warm up reps, waiting until she's focused and ready before each one. And whipped cream at the end because she's earned it. We do the best we can with what we've got, but it sure helps to prepare before you need the skills! Show Frida some love in the comments!

PS- if you want to read the Waite ear cleaning article, comment and I'll DM you the link.

05/06/2026

Videos like this drive me nuts. Everyone is free to use whatever training methods or tools they want with their dogs, but I don't understand why people feel the need to pretend they are anything other than what the science clearly shows. These tools work because they are uncomfortable. They typically work via positive punishment (give a pop/zap following unwanted behavior to reduce the future likelihood of that behavior) or negative reinforcement (apply continual pressure/zaps until the dog does the behavior you want, then stop, thereby increasingly future likelihood of that behvaior). Neither of these mechanisms work if the stimulation the tool gives isn't uncomftable or something the animal wants to escape or avoid.

Here's how I think of it:
Harm in dog training is any procedure that produces measurable increases in distress, fear, avoidance, aggression/challenging behavior, or that impairs functioning/communication of the dog, without building functional adaptive replacement skills. If behavior is suppressed but no functional alternative is learned, or if the dog begins avoiding the trainer, context, or cues, the procedure is causing harm. IMO dog training should always improve the quality of the dog's life, their freedom, and their opportunity to make choices and communicate, not just make them obedient.

05/06/2026

Introducing our soon to be trademarked method: the seagull protocol! I'm not sure what all the fuss is about...it's pretty easy to get dogs to take pills!!

🤣🤣🤣

Notes from the field: next time would do this on a carpet in case she misses so we don't lose the pill forever...not that she ever does...

Also, in case you didn't know...this is a joke. While it might work for some dogs like Frida who has never once tasted anything that went in her mouth and has lots of practice catching, it probably won't work for most dogs. If you need actual help getting your dog to take pills there are lots of tried and true training methods. DM me if you need help!

05/03/2026

Some dogs, especially teenagers, have difficulty controlling their excitement and moving from high arousal (think: jumpy, barky, excitable behavior) to calm behavior. But, behavior is always changeable and sometimes we just need a little extra, explicit teaching. Think about how we teach human toddlers to control their bodies when they are excited: we use games like red light, green light or freeze tag to practice quick behavior changes. We can do that with dogs too! I like to practice a version of red light green light by playing, having fun, and getting a dog a little excited, then quickly switching to asking for calm, still behavior, then back to fun again. Making this a game and giving dogs lots of practice switching between excitement and calm makes it easier to do in real life!

04/30/2026

Frida has never been a fan of any body handling, but her nails have always been especially problematic. Here's a few simple changes I made that helped a ton:

1. Having her sit in a way that she feels comfortable but not restrained, can see what's happening if she wants, and can see the treats she's earning.

2. Using a very quiet dremel that doesn't heat up as it grinds and doesn't use sand paper.

3. Playing music that helps drown out the noise of the dremel.

4. Having my phone or a mirror in front of us so I can check in on her body language while I'm working.

5. Working on nails 2x a week, only working on 2 feet each session, and giving her tons of breaks. I do one nail quickly, turn off the dremel and feed, and make sure she's calm and relaxed before we start the next nail. If she starts to tense up or shows she doesn't want to continue we take a break and try again later.

I know committing to intensive cooperative care training is too much for a lot of humans to handle, but sometimes just making simple changes to your setup can make things a lot easier and safer!

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