Canine Higher Learning

09/01/2025

My boy, Quill, had an argument with the ocean. I managed to translate it to English! 😄

08/24/2025

When the days are too hot (or cold, or blustery) for outdoor exercise, treadmills are a great option!
Treadmill Training Tips:
* Convince - Don't Force!!
* Take your time, using lots of treats.
* Lure them on, start slow, gradually increase speed.
* Allow them to get off whenever they wish.
* Stop treats when they get off, resume treats when they are on.
Have fun!

Music: "Lalani" (c) Walter Saleme Used by permission

08/09/2025

Sharing a booth at Bark in the Park San Jose with my good friend and colleague this year of Stacy's Wag'N'Train ! Come see us there in our agility demos throughout the day, or ask Stacy about your training questions.

Send a message to learn more

08/02/2025

07/24/2025

Check out the latest projects from Focus for Distractions class! So proud of the progress all of these dogs made with their people!
(Oh, and they actually graduated on July 16!)

Music: Distracted by Walter Saleme

07/23/2025

I've always said that loose leash walking, while necessary for our modern dogs, is not a natural behavior. This is a great article, reminding us to have more patience as we teach our dogs this very challenging skill.

Loose lead isnt natural. It’s a skill that has to be learnt. Biomechanically, dogs are built to move faster than us. Dogs choose to shift to a natural trot and on average walk at 2.5 - 4 mph (Hildebrand, 1966) where us naked monkeys on the otherhand average 2-3 mph walking (Kirtley, 2006). Do you know what 2.5 feels like? You should!

Because the mismatch alone creates tension — physically with the lead and emotionally in the relationship. Infact Dogs Trust found 30% of owners considered it a reason to rehome.

Now add in breed differences with research by Fischer & Lilje (2011) suggesting that Different breeds have different locomotive profiles based on original function. Malinois and Vizslas who are bred to move, track, cover ground; hearding breed like kelpies and collies who are bred to arc out infront; scent hounds like Beagles and Bloodhounds - designed to follow their noses with purpose, drive and speed; and of course breeds like Huskies who are literally bred and built to pull - it’s in the actual job description.

Its not a suprise that Rooney & Cowan (2011) found Lead tension and restricted gait was specifically a negative welfare marker for working breeds.

So when we expect all dogs to plod beside us through a park at human pace, ignoring smells, distractions, and natural instinct…we’re arent asking for a behaviour: We’re asking for the dog to restrain their pace, suppress their instincts, and constantly self-regulate.

In my opinion loose lead is one of the three essential skills I believe every dog pro needs to understand in depth - gait, drive, motivation, mechanics, assessment, different technique and exercise, consequence gradients and all.

Because when you understand what you’re really asking for,
you stop calling it stubbornness
and start training it like the advanced skill it actually is. And this leads to way better pet dogs with way happier relationships. ###

07/12/2025

Fascinating new study about the effectiveness of clicker/marker training.

Many of us are sure that we *know* that training with a marker - a signal that bridges the moments between when an animal performs a behavior that we want, and when that animal receives their reward - can be more effective than just delivering a reward as soon as possible... but is it really true? There has been little research on this, but now a paper comparing marker-based/clicker training with reward-only training in dogs being taught to detect specific odors, and found that using the clicker gave a big advantage:

"Compared to dogs trained with the reward only, dogs trained with the marker as a signal for reward completed the training phase in fewer trials, performed the alert response more accurately in the odor recognition test, indicated the location of the odor source more precisely in the operational searches, and exhibited greater resistance to extinction when the primary reward for a correct response was withheld. These results provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of markers in animal training, and demonstrate benefits specific to the challenges commonly faced in detection dog training."

07/04/2025

The more you work with your dog to desensitize to things, the less stress they'll experience when "scary" things happen, including fireworks.
Stay safe everyone!

06/25/2025

I'm seeing so many posts about lost and found pets on NextDoor and the rest of social media. From , here are some helpful tips to keep your pets safe during fireworks season.

06/20/2025

Super interesting! I have seen stories of dogs riding busses and waiting for lights (or perhaps watching traffic patterns.) Fascinating.

06/20/2025

Need to train your dog in the car, but not sure how to do so safely? This PVC treat dispenser is easy to make, and allows you to drop treats to your dog in the back seat without having to turn around!

05/31/2025

My boy, Quill, did a thing with his friends, Squish, Mojo, and Indie! Check it out at 10:07 on the video.

https://youtu.be/nBfK04-QPpg?si=9aF0mv6W-n0vEDtv