Whether we like it or not, AI is part of our lives now and is embedded into so many of the products and services we use on a day to day basis. Now of course, AI can't train our dogs (as in, physically get out there and do the training), but it can answer dog training questions. I believe. I've not actually asked it any as such🤷‍♀️ Which leads to the question of how I, as a dog trainer with online content, use AI in my business. I'm going to break this down into three main ar

Reinforcement strategies are one of my absolute passions when it comes to dog training; thinking about what to use, and when with each dog. It's a rabbit hole I went down nearly a decade ago, when it became clear that what I was doing with Ripley wasn't working. I talked about this in another blog post - Tug Isn't The Be All and End All . With Peak, I’m now having to consider a much more specific issue: what happens when the potential reward becomes too high stakes? Peak is a

When you’re looking for a trainer, behaviourist or other pet professional, I think it’s worth thinking about a few things. How do you feel after working with them? How does your dog feel? And here’s an important one that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough: what happens when you ask questions about their approach, or even say 'I don’t want to do that'? Anybody on my email list will probably recognise the subject line 'Boundaries'. Some of you may even have received that e

I don’t think I could get up from a chair these days without saying the word 'right' and slapping my thighs. I am very definitely British 🙈 My dogs have definitely noticed.

Only the learner can decide what is rewarding. It's as simple as that; the dog gets to decide what they do and don't like, and we can only know the effect of an offered consequence (treat/toy/tug) by the impact it has on whatever we were training at the time.

One of those days where you think you've got it all planned, but forget some crucial bits...

I mean, how, why and when did somebody decide that throwing a thing, gettting the dog to go and get it, bring it back and repeat was a...

Not going to lie, Loose Lead Walking (LLW) is one of the most common issues that people post about in dog training related groups. Believe me, I struggle with it too! Ripley can walk on a loose lead, whether it's attached to a collar or harness, pretty much anywhere. Regardless of the lead length. He's been able to do this fairly reliably since he was probably 18mths to two years old. Of course there are exceptions, but mostly he walks with his head up and not suddenly diving

A question I've seen asked more than once goes along the lines of 'when do you use 'stay' versus 'wait'?' For the most part, my answer is 'I don't use either'! When I very first attended a dog training class in the late 90s the trainer I met told me that 'sit should mean sit until they're told to do something else'. Apart from switching 'told' for 'asked', this is a philosophy I've followed ever since. It doesn't just apply to 'sit' either - it could be a down, go to mat or

One of the hottest talking points in dog agility at the moment is the ever-increasing speed of our dogs, and the impact this has on their safety. Speed has also been on my mind of late, but from a slightly different viewpoint... I am strongly of the opinion that to go fast, we must be able to move slowly. Especially if we want to move at speed safely and efficiently. Many people think that the way to build speed is to practise speed, and whilst this is certainly one considera

Does your dog default to take it or leave it? Stay or go?

This morning we went for a walk in the woods - a location we go to at least once a week (although we'll be taking a break as they're closing the main path for up to ten weeks!) Usually we see pretty much the same people and dogs, which is at least one of the reasons we go there😁 Today we met a new dog, let's call him 'Fred'. Peak was the first to meet Fred; he'd gone a little ahead of me and Ripley, and I heard the owner say something along the lines of 'oh hello' before Pe

A common issue I see mentioned goes along the lines of 'I've tried food, but my dog's just not that interested'. At the basic level, food is a primary reinforcer - our dogs need food in order to survive, and it's very rare for a dog to actually starve themselves. Sometimes, the issue can simply be that you're not making the food more interesting than whatever else is in the environment. So I thought I'd share some of the ways I use food; in every instance here I'm using ki

A question that has come up a few times recently in one of the canine fitness groups I'm in is how to build duration in conditioning...

This is a question that comes up time and again - what is/was/should be the first thing to teach a new puppy or dog in you household? The answers are often quite similar - their name, sit, some sort of leave it, stay and so on. My answer changed a number of years ago, and since getting a new puppy last year, I'm really happy with my choice! So - what was the first thing I taught my puppy? Reinforcement strategies! What are reinforcement strategies? Simply put, they are the

Cue related things have come up a few times in my training in the last week, so I thought I'd write about them! Let's start at the...

It doesn't matter what you're training, whether it's the basics or complex competition skills, there are only three reasons why your training goes wrong. It doesn't matter who your learner is, a new puppy or a trick dog champion - the reasons are still the same. Here's one of my favourite meme versions. It all comes down to timing, criteria or rate of reinforcement. There could be a combination going on, but it's usually just one at a time. Let's have a look in a bit more

I wrote a lengthy Facebook post last week, which you can read here. This Facebook Live by Denise Fenzi covers what prompted it. I'm...

I live with a spaniel. Until recently I lived with two. I'm a member of a few spaniel related groups on Facebook (not many - more on...

I video a lot of my training, and I share many of those videos in different places - to help answer questions, or maybe get feedback on...