Your Dog. Trained.

05/31/2026

I’m not saying you should let your dog sleep in the bed - that’s up to you. But please treat him or her with consistency and kindness.

Imagine how your dog perceives a situation before jumping into punishment.

Make a conscious effort to enrich your dog’s life, whether through regular walks, play, training together, going with the family on outings, or all of the above!

But please don’t say, “it’s just a dog” and leave this remarkable sentient being whose life is so full of potential chained up outside.

11/20/2022

If you deck the halls, make sure the holly boughs aren’t where the fur-people can get them!

07/09/2022

There is always something new to learn when you’re working with dogs! When we first started working together, Rye was extremely skittish and timid, yet at the same time, he came here because he had some mischievous puppy rambunctiousness that needed to be dialed back!
I could not fall back on the training methods I’d relied on in the past - he was so afraid of certain features in my yard that no toy or food was enough of a motivator to keep him at heel, or even to coax him to sit. Eventually I realized that what I needed to do was dedicate my efforts purely to gaining his trust. Sure, he was a sweet-tempered dog who readily accepted me snapping on a leash, coming and going from his kennel, etc, but what he needed was to REALLY trust me if we were to get anywhere.
I think it is a pretty common problem we humans have that when we set out to “train the dog”, we have a bit of a pre-conceived timeline in our heads. After over 20 years of training dogs, I had slipped into sloppy, generalized thinking: that two weeks would be fine to establish basic foundations in on-leash obedience. Rye has reminded me to pay attention to the individual at the other end of the leash! Once I slowed down and listened to what he needed, the trust was established, and we are now off and running!

02/28/2022

Here’s a short clip from some proofing I did with Manny when he was here. Once your dog consistently sits, heels, etc in the environment where he’s used to working, start adding distractions. A crinkly plastic drop cloth following him was a bit creepy at first, but Manny quickly learned that everything will be okay if he just stays at heel with his human.

02/24/2022

Manny is now nicely consistent with his “stay”, and is working well with a soft collar and leash (no pinch collar). His family will need to continue discouraging the paw throwing and occasional mouthiness so it doesn’t creep back into his regular behavior.

02/14/2022

Here is more from Manny! This is now his third day here and he’s starting to predict me: At heel, he often sits when I slow down a bit, and is starting to pop to a nice quick “down” ever so often before I have fully given the hand signal/treat lure. He is also much more consistent about staying on my left rather than zigzagging all over under my feet - always a nice plus! As you can see, I am working to extinguish the paw-throwing habit. (You’ll see a repetitive series of “no” at one point when I’m trying to lure/signal a down. I want to help him understand that this paw-throwing thing is not always useful to humans, cute though it may be! He’s just being submissive and playful, but at the moment it’s too much. Paws flying everywhere when I go to put on his collar, etc! We’ll get it under control first and train a paw shake on command later.

02/12/2022

Manny just arrived for some basic obedience and manners training. Here is our first session, using food lures to get him in the right place, and then pairing the command with the moment he is moving into the right position.

12/05/2021

While weekly sessions with a trainer will certainly help you gain an understanding of how to effectively train your dog, there is rarely enough time to really discuss why the details of any given training technique are important. It is all to easy for owners to run into misleading information about dog behavior, whether through old movies or common misconceptions handed around among acquaintances at the dog park.
Here is a reading list for those who would like to better understand this species who is sharing their roof. These are the trainers and behaviorists who most shaped my growth as a trainer. They are well-written and do a good job of explaining the reasoning behind their approach, so you are able to be the judge of what you want to keep and follow. Ive listed them more or less in the order I’d recommend for most new dog owners. Dunbar and Bailey both will take you straight into training applications in a very user-friendly way, but I strongly believe that for your best understanding of the complexity of our relationship with dogs, Donaldson and/or McConnell are must-reads. You can get them through Audible now, too!
Here’s the list:
Ian Dunbar: great videos about training and dealing with behavioral issues
Jean Donaldson: The Culture Clash
Patricia McConnell: The Other End of the Leash
Karen Pryor: Don’t Shoot The Dog
Gwen Bailey: The Perfect Puppy
April Frost: Beyond Obedience
Sheila Booth: Purely Positive Training

11/03/2020

07/15/2020

Can someone tell me what kind of plant this is?