Dragon Canine Training

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Lehi, UT
Dragon Canine Training

Positive Reinforcement
AKC EVALUATOR
Getting IAABC-ADT, CDBC
Waiting on enrollment for KPAs new Behavioral Consultant certification course
Psychology Student

05/29/2026

Do you struggle to stay motivated? Do you ever feel like you are not progressing fast enough?

Some days it can certainly feel that way. You can look down the line to your big goals and get overwhelmed.

So here are some things to keep in mind to stay motivated when progress is slow!

1. Progress isn’t linear. You will have ups and downs, and that’s completely normal. Comparing yourself to someone you think is at their top game daily is not healthy, and you need to remind yourself that you are not falling behind in any way.

2. Focus on the process. Remind yourself on the purpose and goals. Break your goals down into simple steps that are easier to achieve. Soon enough you’ll find yourself further in the process and have some relief.

3. Acknowledge your growth. You have come so far but don’t realize it because you may be too worried about what is ahead. Think about small goals you have achieved in the past to motivate you to continue meeting future small goals.

4. Slow progress is still progress. Small steps are better than no steps. If you are able to just nudge yourself to take a few steps in the right direction whether it’s practicing old tricks, or starting the first foundational of a new behavior for just five minutes, it’s five minutes more practice than you had before.

So what motivates you to keep going when you feel your progress is slowing down? Let me know down below!

05/28/2026

Things I wholeheartedly believe in as a trainer

1. You can slow down. You don’t have to feel rushed. As many of my clients know I like to quote “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast” from Modern Family.

2. Reward your dog *and* yourself. How often do you say “Wow I’m doing great with staying positive.” “I’m keeping up on my dog’s fulfillment needs really well!” and more. Encourage yourself with affirmations to keep up the great work you are doing with your dog.

3. Don’t push yourself to burnout. You don’t have to do everything all at once. Focus on one thing at a time, give yourself breaks, and keep a solid steady pace.

4. You don’t have to please everyone. Simply that. Some people may not like the way you convey yourself in life, and as a trainer, and that’s okay. If you feel the need to constantly change yourself to appease others then you will lose sight of the real you.

5. Practice being gentle with yourself. So many people become overly critical of every small mistake they make when training their dog, or just in every day life. Be forgiving of your mistakes and realize the best thing you can do most of the time is just try better tomorrow.

6. Some of your best decisions won’t make sense to everyone. I personally experienced this a lot when I crossed over from aversive training to positive reinforcement. I was friends with “balanced” trainers who stopped talking to me because I did what I believe was best, and honestly? Crossing over was the best decision. I was able to expand my education far more, build a better relationship with my dog and even people in my life because of psychology, and set positive goals for myself.

So what are some things you believe in? Let me know below!

05/27/2026

The middle of the week can feel sluggish, so here is a bingo card for you! How many bingos did you get? Did anyone get a blackout board? Let me know in the comments!

05/26/2026

What helps you when you are having a “bad” training session?

It’s easy to get frustrated. Sometimes your dog isn’t meeting your expectations. Sometimes the environment isn’t what you expected. Sometimes it’s just simply an “off day.”

Here are some basic essentials to fall back on when you are having a “bad” training session.

Relax yourself, leave, take breaks, and rely on your support system.

The truth about it though? It’s harder than it seems, especially in the moment. Don’t feel like you need to push yourself or your dog to flip the difficult training session a full 180° as that can make things more frustrating when you can’t turn it around the way you want.

It is okay to get reminded that you should try to do an engagement game you do often, it is okay to change plans for what your session looks like, it’s okay to go back to your car, breathe a bit and then try again, and it’s okay to even try again another day where you and your dog are more set up for success.

So, what do you like to do when you are having a “bad” training session? Let me know down below!

05/05/2026

This weekend I spent time doing education shows with ( ) at the !!

Doing the education shows is super fun, and I’m grateful the company owner Jason allowed me to share information on my positive reinforcement based rattlesnake avoidance training.

I’m currently being trained to be under his licensing for Venomous Reptile Relocation in the state of Utah, and have combined my knowledge of reptiles and dogs to train Rattlesnake Avoidance in a safe and humane way.

Rattlesnakes are a protected animal in Utah, touching, harming or killing one can result in heavy fines.

Each year, approximately 150,000 dogs in the U.S. are bitten by venomous snakes. Of those, it’s estimated about 99% of them come from rattlesnakes. With aversive avoidance training, trainers like to use live snakes and electronic collars to associate the presence of a snake with fear. The problem with that is fear responses can make things more dangerous. During my training for handling rattlesnakes, I have been taught that if you are flighty and nervous, it will show in your behavior and will increase your risk. You need a stable level of confidence, but not too much otherwise your overconfidence can get you bit too. This happens with dogs. If a dog runs its face right up to a rattlesnake, it will be more likely to get bit, but if a dog panics near a snake and becomes flighty , the snake will be more likely to bite. Putting both the dog and snake at risk of harm.

So what do we do instead? We educate handlers on rattlesnake and dog behavior, and we teach the dogs what to do instead.

Rattlesnakes don’t purely escalate to a bite, this is why they have a rattle to warn you. During this training we associate the smells and sounds of a rattlesnake with alternative behaviors, using reinforcements to reward the dog for doing the right thing. This not only helps the dog get away from the snake safely and fast, but is more conducive to long term learning.

I will be opening a virtual webinar class and will be holding in-person classes as well to learn more about rattlesnake avoidance.

Questions! Send a DM! 📩

04/09/2026

Get the dog best for the job!

Labs are chosen for service work most often for a reason. But even labs differ greatly! A well bred lab is more likely to have a stable temperament and the right energy and drive.

Toothless is not a great example of a well bred dog if I’m honest as he’s from a show mill! I wouldn’t support his breeder again, but I did get lucky with his temperament.

When working with a dog always consider the Hierarchy of Dog Needs and your dogs individual temperment.

(I was just having some fun in the backyard with toothless while my baby took a nap. So I decided to film, despite how I hate how I look right now being postpartum!)

04/03/2026

Short post today!

When training your dog it’s important to remember progress is not a straight shot. There are ups and downs and some days you may feel upset, defeated, frustrated, and others you may feel happy, accomplished, or relieved.

Don’t let a bad day make you feel lesser than you are. Just keep trusting yourself and your abilities.

03/29/2026

How much do you know about Operant Conditioning? What do you know about the Hierarchy of Dog Needs?

When it comes to Operant Conditioning, not all Quadrents are created equal. This is why a “balanced” approach is not actually ideal. While it may sound good to use all four quadrants, it is not necessary, and often actually harmful to learning.

There are a lot of things about the Quadrants of Operant Conditioning that I use to think I understood, but after studying psychology, learning from expects in the field, and educating myself on science based methods, I realize that using all four Quadrents was holding me back in my training and education.

When it comes to dog training, our goal shouldn’t be to fix behavior but to look at the full scale of needs, and assure the dog is in good health, in a good environment, has the essentials needed for good relationships, and much more.

Have any questions? Let me know!

I’d recommend to all of you to read Linda Michaels (M.A. Psych) book “The Do No Harm Training and Behavior Handbook: Featuring the Hierarchy of Dogs Needs.” As well as joining the Do No Harm Training Facebook group which has lots of great resources.

Citations:

Staddon, J. E., & Cerutti, D. T. (2003). Operant conditioning. Annual review of psychology, 54, 115–144. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124

Michaels, L. (2022). The do no harm dog training and behavior handbook: Featuring the hierarchy of dog needs®. Do No Harm Dog Training

03/26/2026

Hello Everyone! I am holding a virtual group class on April 12th at 1:00 MST. This will be an hour long lecture style class, and will cost $25 to sign up. Payment must be made up front and refunds will not be available.

We will be discussing when dogs are ready for public access, common challenges, dogs thresholds in public, what do to when things aren’t going the way things planned, body language, and more. We will have opportunity for questions and comments.

Because this is a lecture style class, there is no requirement for a dog to be present! This will be a class held over zoom and we ask every participant to stay in a low distraction environment with their cameras on and to keep their microphones muted unless speaking so it creates a conducive learning environment.

This is a limited slot availability (about 5 or 6 people!) so sign up while the spots are open. If you can’t make it then look for class opportunities in the future.

Please let me know if you have any questions! The Google form will be linked in the bio, or comment CLASS for the link!

03/20/2026

Updated prices! Please contact me if you have any questions!

(Reposted due to spelling error.)

02/26/2026

Often I see a phrase come up when it comes to dog training, often recirculating in popularity and then simmering down some. That phrase is “Hold your dog accountable.”

So why don’t I like this phrase? Because accountability is a human concept, and it isn’t fair to apply it your dog, when your dog doesn’t understand what it means.

Why is it not fair? Because it seems when people use this idea in their training, it comes from misunderstanding dog’s behavior and what it is driven by.

There’s no reason your dog should do something “because I say so” and there’s no reason to hold a dog accountable when in my opinion it seems there’s likely a missing factor that someone isn’t seeing. Whether that’s underlying pain, a higher value motivator, an under taught cue, or something else, it’s better to reevaluate what’s going on then just assume your dog should know better.

I understand it can be frustrating for your to break or not follow through on a cue they’ve done 1,001 times, but maybe consider what you could be doing different to assure the dog can do it consistently on the 1,002nd time.

This post was inspired by Dr. Cari B Cannon, and my friend Noah.

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