A Purtee Pack

08/29/2026

Authorities said Kwong “Tony” Chun Sit, an Irvine trainer, killed 11 dogs by keeping them in small crates in a hot van. He covered up the deaths by impersonating the dogs' owners and having the pets cremated.

08/22/2026

Force-Free dog trainers, and inconvenient truths…

I recently came across this post from Terrierman (follow him on Facebook for some outstanding posts on common sense dog training!). In his full post he walks the reader through esteemed force-free figurehead, and author of “Don’t Shoot The Dog” Karen Pryor’s actual life with her own Border Terrier.

For all of her persuasive arguments about the value and effectiveness of force-free training, apparently, and in her own words, she was unable to 1/ keep her Border Terrier in her yard without using a high voltage invisible electric fence, and 2/ was unable to ever have her Border Terrier off-leash. It was always on a leash or longline—because otherwise it would run off.

This of course is a bit troublesome if you’re one of the force-free advocates who claim that anything that can be achieved via balanced training can also be achieved with force-free methods.

When your methodology’s god is unable to keep her own dog in her yard without an electric shock from a fence, or allow her own dog the freedom to ever be off-leash, even with years of force-free training… it should make the devotees rather nervous, and it should make those contemplating the force-free path for their own dogs… do some extra deep contemplation.

There’s a reason I go on and on about this stuff. It’s not because I’m deranged or obsessed. It’s simply because I know the truth, and I know what you, the unsuspecting owner is being told is the truth… and they are very much not the same.

The question you should ask yourself is: “Self, how come the god of force-free training had to use punishment to create the behavioral effect she desired with her own dog? And self, why couldn’t she train her own dog to be off-leash reliable when countless balanced trainers achieve this goal daily, extremely easily, and reliably?”

Some good questions.

Thanks again to Terrierman. Go read his full post on Karen—it’s quite the revealing read.

08/16/2026

I’m so grateful to have these girls in my life. They are my motivation, my safe place, my kids, my coworkers, my best friends, my family. I can’t imagine doing life without them.🥹🐾

Photos by the great Anabel DFlux 🖤

08/10/2026

I love building dogs. This has all been free shaped and lured. Built with lots of attention to detail and precision in small increments over time. This will continue to be one of my favorite projects. 🥰

08/04/2026

08/02/2026

Every day starts with warm-ups.💪

Before field trips, new environments, or adding distractions, we begin by running through the language we’ve already built together.

These aren’t about teaching new behaviors. They’re about keeping communication fluent.

Heel, Sit, Down, Place, Position changes, Engagement.

The goal is to make these behaviors feel effortless through repetition, not because she’s memorizing commands, but because we’re strengthening a shared communication system.

Warm-ups also let me see where Katana is mentally each day. Is she focused? Is she distracted? Does she need a quick reminder or is she ready to move straight into more challenging work? That information helps me set her up for success before asking more of her.

The polished dog you see in public isn’t created in public.

She’s built through these quiet, consistent daily reps at home.

Consistency builds fluency➡️Fluency builds reliability➡️And reliability is what gives dogs the confidence to succeed anywhere. 🐾

08/01/2026

I love being able to allow my dogs the ability to sniff and move at their own pace on our walks.

All I ask is they listen when needed and we have the drills down for passing people/dogs. So l am grateful for such a cohesive and well mannered pack and allowing them to be able to just be dogs.🥰