Connect The Dogs

08/27/2025

I’ve been noodling on what it means for a dog to be “territorial” and these are some initial thoughts. I’m all out of noodles for the day so I’ve got nothing to add in the caption ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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07/22/2025

Sometimes I sit around and noodle about the way we’ve lived with Maeby these past few years, reflecting on what it is about our day-to-day routines and rituals that make sharing our lives with her so (relatively) easy. The thing I often come back to is the strength of our two-way communication.

From the day we brought her home, we’ve prioritized predictability, choice, and clarity. One of the key ways we did this was to attach “predictor” cues to regular events and experiences, and to carefully observe her reactions and preferences.

Before every walk I say “let’s go for a walk” while picking up her harness; on my way to get her a fish skin from the cabinet I tell her I’m getting her a “choo-choo”; when she brings me a toy I say “tug!” before I try to grab it. I’m intentional yet casual in my applications— there’s no formal training sessions, no contrived setups. I just name and narrate the daily flow of our life together, helping her make associations between stimuli over time.

The beautiful thing about this two-way communication is that our “predictor” cues naturally become questions we ask our dogs. If I say “let’s go for a walk” and Maeby doesn’t perk up and trot over to put on her harness, we don’t go. If she brings me a toy but moves away when I say “tug”, I ask her if she wants to be chased instead.

Of course dogs don’t naturally come to us understanding any spoken language. But by thoughtfully pairing words and phrases with consistent outcomes, we give our dogs valuable information about what’s happening to and around them so they can be active participants in their lives instead of passengers along for the ride ✨

05/28/2025

In the dog training world, there’s a long history of pseudo-professionals preaching about the importance of “respect”. They’ll insist that behavior challenges are a result of dogs not “respecting” their guardians, and when asked to elaborate on what that means, they reliably rattle off a list of arbitrary rules and boundaries that must be enforced using punishment in order to gain “respect” from your dog.

It’s bu****it. Dogs are not capable of respect.

What dogs *are* capable of is learning whether or not people are safe. Whether or not using certain behaviors in the presence of a person leads to unpleasant outcomes. Whether or not outcomes for using those behaviors are even predictable at all. Whether or not they can trust someone.

I am wholly uninterested in gaining respect from a dog (or a person!) when respect is just a codeword for compliance.

I want dogs to trust me. I want dogs to feel safe around me. I want dogs to be their fullest, most genuine selves in my presence because they have no fear of being punished for doing so.

I’ll take trust over compliance, trust over respect, trust over results. Always.

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05/21/2025

Living in a culture that views time as little more than a commodity to be monetized is… depressing. Seeing how that culture negatively impacts peoples’ relationships with their dogs, which should be a source of such joy, is… even more depressing.

The idea that time is always of the essence and behavior becomes cemented if we don’t act fast enough to change it permeates every area of dog training discourse, from bringing new puppies home to addressing complex challenges. And it sucks! For everyone!

Instead of rushing our dogs through life and viewing behavior change as the end goal, let’s all take a little time with our dogs to just be.

Let those sniffs go on for a while. Let them watch that squirrel for a bit. Let them settle in and learn about their world at the pace that feels good for you both, together.

The time we have with our dogs is already tragically short. You’ll never regret slowing down to make the most of it.

01/29/2025

One of the most common questions I’m asked is “Why won’t my dog come when called?”

And as always, my response is to ask a ton of questions to suss out why a dog might not be responding to their recall cues. Do they know what the word means? Has it been taught under a variety of conditions? Are there competing motivators at play? And perhaps most importantly: what have the consequences been for coming when called?

There are so many ways we might unintentionally punish our dog’s recall behavior in the course of our daily lives. Whether it be removing them from something fun or calling them for something unpleasant, our dogs can learn that coming to us when called results in things they’d rather avoid.

With the thoughtful application of positive reinforcement based principles, we can teach our dogs that their recall cue is cause for celebration. And if you need help with an individualized plan for refreshing your dog’s recall, click the link in bio to book a free Discovery Call!

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12/24/2024

eternally grateful to have spent another year working with dogs and the people who love them ✨ see ya in 2025!

image description: Maeby stares up into a snow-covered tree in a snowy yard. Navy and white banners in the top third read “out of office 12/24-1/5”

12/15/2024

In animal welfare, there exists the concept of the Five Freedoms. They are:

-Freedom from hunger and thirst
-Freedom from discomfort
-Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
-Freedom to express normal behavior
-Freedom from fear and distress

The argument for the use of e-collars in dog training often centers around the goal of more “freedom”. The assertion is that these tools provide freedom to express normal behavior (exploring off leash) to dogs that would be spending their life on a leash or otherwise managed or confined by their environment.

I take significant issue with this assertion. The “freedom” that tools like e-collars provide is a tricky one. Sure, the dog may be physically “free” to move their bodies however and wherever they want to. But for the e-collar to be effective as designed, they are doing so under threat of fear, pain, or discomfort. If the e-collar is not effective, they are “free” to put themselves and those around them at risk.

Freedom in one area at the expense of another is not a purer form of freedom, it’s a trade-off. My dog is free to explore and move as she wishes within range of her 50 foot leash, and she’s free from the threat of a shock on her neck if she tries to go further. She’s free to blow off my recall cue while following a good sniff, and she’s free from the danger of following that sniff directly into oncoming traffic.

These are the trade-offs I’m willing to make in the name of ✨ freedom ✨

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11/26/2024

When I was expanding my training and behavior knowledge beyond just teaching beginner’s obedience classes, I often came across the nebulous concept of “confidence building”.

I saw this vague strategy recommended by other professionals as the remedy for everything from shy puppies to reactive adult dogs. What I *didn’t* see was any consistency in definition nor application of what “confidence building” actually meant.

Over time, I personally started to define “confidence building” as “building a robust history of positive reinforcement for a variety of behaviors under a variety of conditions”. Essentially, I aim to ensure that dogs I’m working with experience desirable outcomes for using their behavior in as many settings as possible. I want them to learn that new and novel stimuli predict good things, and that they can use their behavior to successfully work through challenges.

Critically, building confidence in any learner requires that they have choice and control in their exposure to it. Forcing a dog to confront something they find scary does not build their confidence. Using a leash or food to lure them into interacting with something they’re unsure about is unlikely to teach them that that thing is safe.

To me, a confident dog is one who approaches the world with optimism and curiosity, without fear or worry. And to me, the surest way to achieve that is through the thoughtful application of positive reinforcement based teaching principles.

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10/14/2024

07/11/2024

There are few qualities in a dog that I appreciate more than mischievousness.

Of course traditionally, “mischief” is a completely human construct based in punishment culture with all the flaws that come with it. But as a former mischievous child, I’m on a mission to reclaim the label for our dogs!

Getting into mischief often requires engaging with the environment in ways that aren’t prescribed by an authority, which suggests confidence and curiosity. The naturally occurring consequences of mischief can be unpredictable, and this can build resilience over time. These are all qualities associated with behavioral health and welfare.

And perhaps most of all, mischief is communication. Many behaviors we as humans consider “mischievous” are just our dogs finding ways to meet their own needs using what’s available to them— and that’s information for us that we can be grateful for!

Basically, I love a dog who follows their heart and their nose, even if it results in some mild, non-life-threatening chaos 😈

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06/10/2024

Walks with a dog who has a propensity for street scavenging can be stressful, frustrating, and expensive! For those of us living in cities, a discarded chicken bone or stray THC edible lurking in a seemingly innocent bush feels like an omnipresent threat.

Teaching a “leave it” cue (commonly understood to mean some variation of “ignore The Thing and look at me”) may seem like the most obvious way to keep our dogs safe among the potential hazards, but what else might we consider as we aim to have less stressful walks with our dogs?

To me, it’s about assessing the function of the scavenging behaviors at their core: what is motivating the dog to seek and consume “inappropriate” items, and how might we address that in the most functional way?

Is there an underlying medical issue that’s contributing and causing symptoms like excessive hunger or GI upset? Does the dog have ample opportunities outside of walks to engage in species-typical scavenging and foraging behaviors? Is the dog’s diet varied and diverse, or do they eat the same few foods every day with little variety?

Before we ask and expect our dogs to ignore and dismiss every interesting, unauthorized morsel that comes across their path, let’s endeavor to make that as easy a lift as possible for them ✨

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