Access Canine Solutions

10/19/2026

Interesting study.

05/23/2026

URGENT - Emotional Support Animal status under HUD is now in flux. The Trump administration on Friday withdrew guidance papers and inner office memos suggest they're trying to significantly reduce ESA coverage. Not sure this will stand up in the courts under FHA.

But the courts move slowly, so this could take a while. In the meantime, ESA folks could face difficulties finding HUD housing or even face potential eviction.

I recommend calling and writing your reps and let them know this is not acceptable. Yes, they actually do keep track of calls, letters and emails. It can make a difference.

I'm sick, so I'm going to be lazy and post the AI answer.

Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), emotional support animals (ESAs) are still generally considered reasonable accommodations, not pets. However, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines are currently in flux. HUD recently withdrew prior ESA guidance documents and issued an internal memo seeking to narrow ESA protections to formally trained service animals.

The current legal status and guidelines for ESAs in housing include:

The FHA Protections: The Fair Housing Act requires landlords (with 4+ units) to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. This means ESAs must be allowed even in "no pet" buildings, and landlords cannot charge pet fees or deposits for them.

Guidance Withdrawals: HUD quietly withdrew key enforcement memos, leading to some confusion regarding how landlords should process ESA requests.

Recent Policy Shifts: HUD issued internal directives attempting to tighten ESA rules, shifting focus more toward specifically trained service animals rather than untrained emotional support pets. However, federal FHA statutes still protect disabled tenants' rights to ESAs.

Documentation Requirements: Landlords are generally entitled to request reliable documentation from a licensed healthcare provider to verify your disability and your disability-related need for the animal.

State & Local Laws: State-level fair housing laws continue to provide a baseline for housing rights, and many states have specific regulations regarding how landlords must evaluate reasonable accommodations.

Because policies and enforcement stances are actively changing, be sure to review your rights directly through the HUD Assistance Animals portal and check your local state tenant protections to ensure you have the most up-to-date guidance when submitting an accommodation request.

05/19/2026

Check out the wafting that occurs when they walk by. Now imaging that during a trial happening all day

05/04/2026

/Heat Stress Injury can occur even in mild temperatures. Be particularly aware of big jumps in temperatures.

Reposting our most shared info piece each year!

Get detailed information in our free webinar on heat injury in working dogs here: https://youtube.com/?si=2vn9z9Q054AZe6L2

05/03/2026

For my Nosework students, an interesting read. What do you think?

Dogs don’t work labels. They work odor.

02/24/2026

Some great advice, here! My nosework students should take note.

These past two weekends I've had the honor of judging NACSW NW3/Elite-P/Elite and AKC Scent Work Trials.

I have some observations from around 180 searches in NACSW and around 90 searches in AKC Scent Work.

1. Search Area Management is a Critical Handler Skill. If you haven't covered the area, and all productive areas with in the rules, you haven't searched it. The probability of odor/source detection goes up with systematic coverage. A dog's nose is extraordinary, but scent pooling, airflow, and odor behavior mean a dog can be near a hide and not commit if the handler hasn't positioned them to access it. Physics effects odor and the only way to encounter odor is put the dog in proximity to the odor plume. The belief that a talented dog will "just find it," is great. However, what do you do when talent doesn't solve the problem? Are you a spectator or team mate? The natural human tendency is to reject feedback that implies we're leaving something on the table. I got it. However, Detection work is more than walking a talented dog around and hoping for the best. As the handler you have an active role in every search.

2. Don't rush to beat the clock. If your dog is naturally fast great. However, when you travel to a trial and pay what you do to participate use the time you paid for. Far to often I see GREAT teams get cocky and call a search complete before they should. Ego is the enemy. If I had a choice of being fast and wrong or slow and right, I'm choosing right. Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast. "Fast is fine, but accuracy is final [or everything]. You must learn to be slow in a hurry." - Wyatt Earp

3. Prepare for distractions. Bottom line. I don't care how you train they're going to be there. If you started by searching for primary, then start proofing off of your treats, and others, sooner rather than later.

4. Learn to distinguish interest from in odor behaviors. Catalog you dogs in interest and in odor behaviors. A great way to do this is this not that drills. Between Mackenzie's scent work indicators and other discussions, this is what READING your dog is.

5. Leash handling is an art, and it takes practice. No matter how many webinars, podcast, or videos you watch, nothing replaces getting out there and doing it. Even the best handlers and trainers (me too) fall prey to the Law of Disuse. At the same time, no two search areas are the same. Your leash will get hung up on all sorts of things. Get out there and work on it.

6. Deliberate off set from start lines has been the best practice of the best teams. This has been a pleasant surprise to see manifest. Think of it this way, odor does what physics makes it do. Standing back a few feet from the start line and reeling your dog out, letting it take the lead, to cross the start line lets the dog encounter the odor before or at the threshold. Then essentially the dog is working as it hits the start and should have a greater likelihood to encounter threshold hides. This puts you in the perfect support position for your dog. Now you can see where they're going.

7. Finally the Obstacle is the way. Trial failures are just diagnostic information dressed up as disappointment. The handlers who treat their losses as data rather than defeat are the ones who climb levels consistently.

The False Alert Problem
Most handlers want to avoid false alerting at all costs, so they become hesitant and second guess their dog. But the handler who leans INTO understanding why they false alert, is it a reward history issue, a threshold problem, handler pressure, comes out the other side with far deeper understanding than someone who just got lucky.

The Missed Hide
Devastating in a trial. But if you missed it, your area management has a gap. That gap is now visible. That's actually a gift.

Time Pressure
Handlers who struggle with the clock and rush their dog are being shown exactly where their systematic search pattern breaks down under stress. The anxiety IS the lesson.

The Unproductive Dog
Frustrating to watch, hard to handle. But it forces you to develop leash skills, spatial awareness, and patience that handlers with "easy" dogs never build.

Overall I've seen some great people and dogs the last two weekends. I'm amazed at the all Volunteer Army of people who make trials happen. Without them, NONE of this would be possible.

Thanks to everyone who has ever supported me at trials, and for letting participate in this crazy world.