Creative Canine, LLC

15/09/2025

I guess it works for the kiddos too.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CN8pgS1K3/

12/09/2025

Will was a good boy practicing his people watching skills at the bank today! What are some out-of-the-ordinary places you take your dog for people watching?

28/08/2025

And.. it's officially open for registration! Will I see any of you there?

22/08/2025

I did a thing! And it was fun! Have a listen to the FDSA most recent podcast!

​Curious what musical freestyle is and whether it might be for you? Join Julie and I for a conversation that includes tips and tricks for laying out your routine, choosing which tricks to train, and more!

21/08/2025

Hey all! I'll be doing a webinar next Thursday! I hope you'll join me in learning more about the amazing sport of Musical Freestyle!

When first getting started in musical freestyle, many feel over-whelmed by the process of creating a routine. After all, we are trainers! Not dancers! The cool thing is you don't have to know how to dance to do freestyle. This workshop will break down the components of choreography giving you an overview and better understanding of how to create a freestyle routine, starting with music selection and finding your inspiration, to putting behaviors into sequences that create flow, right down to your ending pose. Come learn about one of the most challenging and fun sports out there!

Julie Flanery - Musical Freestyle: From Inspiration to Realization!
Date: Thursday, August 28th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD

14/08/2025

I posted this over on the FDSA Alumni group and someone asked that I post here and make it sharable. Here you go!

Something interesting - though not unexpected - is happening in the "Game Changer" class. This class is not a sport based skills training class. The goal is to build a repertoire of games that lay the foundation for the dog to choose you under a variety of circumstances. Not just in ideal training conditions, but in the messy, real-world moments too. These games offer consistency and predictability, and emotional safety. They are designed to be both enjoyable and effective.

So what is this interesting thing? Handlers are training... and that's a good thing, right? They are excited to start to integrate the games into their sport skill exercises.... And why not? I mean isn't that the point?

Well, yes, and no.

I posted something about this in the discussion forum and decided to add it to the lectures as well. I want to share it here as I know many of you already use games and play in your training. And that's cool! Really cool! Games and play help create awesome reward events! They are fun and can be powerful reinforcement.

But here's the nuance: we often start blending these specific games with work too soon, and when we do, something subtle shifts. They can lose their emotional clarity. Rather than the work taking on the value of the games, the games start to take on the labor of the work.

So I added this lecture to help students notice this very natural, very human tendency. When we treat games as just another reinforcement tool, we risk missing their deeper value. The way they build connection, choice, and emotional safety. The way they create a relationship where the dog looks to you for support and engagement. And that’s the real game changer.

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We often think of “training time” with our dogs as a means to an end—a series of transactions: do this, earn that. And in the beginning, that’s perfectly okay. When we’re introducing the rules and structure of a game, we rely on extrinsic rewards to teach criteria and help our dogs understand how to play. That’s the foundation. There’s no need to complicate it or test the waters with variations. Keep it simple. Keep it clear. Make it easy for your dog to win.

In these early stages, there’s no such thing as too much reward. The more, the better. Flood the game with reinforcement. Let success be obvious and abundant.

Even though it may feel mechanical at first—like you’re just checking boxes—it’s also the perfect time to begin layering in you. Your voice. Your praise. Your delight. A spark of pride when your dog gets it right.

As your dog begins to understand the game, and as you grow more comfortable with the mechanics, start to show up more fully. Let your dog feel that this isn’t just about food or criteria—it’s about you and them, playing together. You’re not just the rule-giver or the dispenser of treats. You’re part of the game. An essential part. It might feel a little awkward to be in “training mode” and “party mode” at the same time, but that’s where engagement begins. This is how the game becomes a shared experience, not just a task. And that's the point... a shared experience, not just a trained task.

As your dog learns the rules and begins to succeed, they also learn something more important: that being with you, paying attention to you, and working with you feels good. That sense of emotional safety and enjoyment becomes the foundation for deeper connection. Over time, the games help your dog develop a stronger desire to stay engaged—not just when things are easy, but when distractions, stress, or uncertainty enter the picture.
By layering joy, clarity, and consistency into your training, and through the games, you’re building a kind of emotional muscle. Your dog learns that connection with you is not only valuable, but reliable. That trust and shared experience become the anchor in more challenging environments. The games aren’t just practice for performance—they’re practice for partnership.

08/08/2025

I met with one of my students today, and our conversation drifted toward a challenge she’s having with her horse. The issue was that the horse sometimes becomes “stubborn” about moving into position to have its halter put on. Despite her experience using positive reinforcement with her dog, her instinctive response with the horse was different: she would swat the horse’s rump and use a sharp voice to insist it move forward so she could reach the horse and put on the halter.

She wasn’t sure how else to get the horse to cooperate—how to bridge the gap between where the horse was and where it needed to be to achieve the end goal: haltering.

As we talked through the scenario, we explored the environment in which the interaction occurs, the desired behavior, and how to reframe the process so that both horse and handler experience success. I think she had an ‘ah-ha’ moment. She began to see that shaping behavior isn’t just about being a “trainer” or “getting the behavior”—it’s about thinking like an educational psychologist and an engineer. It’s about designing conditions that make the desired behavior easy, rewarding, and emotionally safe.

How about a little exercise? Here is the scenario: The horse is in the stall facing out towards the paddock. The opening is just big enough for the horse and there is no room for the owner to move past the horse. The rear of the horse is where the owner enters the stall. She needs the horse to move forward into the paddock a little so she can get around the horse to put on the halter. Horse won’t move forward, and instead pins its ears back, turns its head and “glares” (her words not mine) at the owner. The swat and the commanding voice get the horse to move forward. Owner moves past and horse gets haltered.

How would you engineer this situation so that both the horse and owner have success without the emotional fall out for either of them?

You can post your answers (or your questions!) before reading what we came up with.

Random horse photo for interest

05/08/2025

Woot Woot! My "Creating a Musical Freestyle Routine" online course is now available anytime in the self-study section of the FDSA website! You can't beat the price! Check it out!

Wk 1:
Considerations and an Overview of the Process
Assessing transition behaviors
Freestyle or Heelwork?
Choosing Music

Wk 2:
Choreography: Getting Started
Getting it on Paper
Musicality and Sequencing
Opening and Closing Poses

Wk 3 and 4:
Sequencing
Punctuation Points!
Transitions and Flow
Mapping it out
Costume Considerations
Integrating Props
Scoring Considerations

Wk 5:
Handler Interpretation
Timing of cues
Over-lapping sequences
Choreography Cues

Wk 6:
Training, Practice, or Rehearsal?
Back Chaining
Ring Preparation
Reinforcement vs Stamina

Online dog training classes for obedience, rally, agility, tracking, nosework, dog behavior, freestyle, and foundation skills.

05/08/2025

Wow! just wow! I am blown away to be invited to present at the CANIS Conference (Canine Advocacy, Networking, Innovation, and Science) in Illinois in October 2026

Co-created by AggressiveDog.com and APDT International, and backed by a powerhouse group of partners including Best Friends Animal Society, FDSA, Family Dog Mediation, NACSW, IAABC Foundation, and more, this event is built to bring people together from every corner of the canine world:

Trainers
Veterinary and behavior professionals
Shelter and rescue staff
Sport competitors
Academics and advocates

Over 2,500 professionals are expected to attend, creating a one-of-a-kind space for meaningful collaboration, innovation, and growth.
Our annual Aggression in Dogs Conference will now be part of this collaborative event so you can access the same high-level content and community, now within a even broader educational and unified experience!

What to Expect:
Inspiring keynotes from thought leaders across disciplines
Five educational tracks spanning behavior, training, veterinary care, sheltering, and sports

Hands-on sessions, panel discussions, and immersive workshops
Honest conversations about science, ethics, and real-world application

A vibrant community experience with social events, games, vendors, and connection

Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned pro, CANIS is where the future of our work takes shape and where the conversations that matter most actually happen.

When: October 7 to 10, 2026
Where: Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg,

Info on the conference including speakers:

https://www.canisconference.com/

I'll post the links for registration in the comments! I so hope to see you there! What an awesome conference this will be!

01/08/2025

02/04/2025

I was looking through some old blogs I had written and came across this one so thought I would share here.

All For One

The other day, I had a student ask me what my cues were for pivots. When I told them I didn’t have any, they were surprised. And when I went on to say that I didn’t have cues for side passes or backing in heel either, they were really confused!

Well, it's not exactly accurate that I don't have any cues....

In my experience, many handlers tend to overcomplicate their cueing for what is essentially heelwork. If you’re nodding in recognition, you’re going to love post because I’m going to simplify all of this for both your dog and you. It’s easier than you think!

All For One ….And one for all
In Freestyle or other performance sports, handlers sometimes use a variety of cues for directional changes, which can sometimes lead to moments of uncertainty for the dog. The result is often a handler relying on additional signals like hand gestures or body movements, which can affect flow and precision. Sound familiar? Let’s simplify it!

The Magic Word
I use one word for moving with me in heel position on the left and one word for moving with me in heel on the right. This includes not only forward heeling, but backing, sidepasses and pivoting, as well. If my dog is on my left, my cue is “heel.” If she’s on my right, it’s “right.”

This makes it clear to my dog that the only thing they have to do is stay with my leg, no matter if it goes forward, back, to the side or in a pivot. It’s also a lot less for me to remember and to say during a performance!

This one-word approach not only reduces the complexity of cueing but also lays the foundation for defining clear criteria that ensure precision in heeling movements.

The Defining Moment
Thinking about heeling this way simplifies training, too. Instead of having to teach my dog the meaning of four words for each direction, I just need to teach them one. If I’m asking my pup to maintain heel position, I need to have a very clear picture of what heel position looks like.

Setting clear criteria is critical. If you continue to reward your dog for lagging when moving forward or for crabbing away from you when moving backwards, these problems or other variants will carry over into your pivots and sidepasses, as well. If the game is to stay in heel and you’ve taught your dog that heel means their shoulder touching your thigh while they look up at you, this is what you should reward. If your dog is a little crooked or just a bit farther forward than you’d like, you can move slightly to place yourself in perfect position before feeding. Always reward in perfect position! This builds value into your heel positions.

Success Pivots on Understanding
I use pivots to teach my dog that my heel cue means to move with me. Pivoting is a multi-functional skill that not only teaches rear end awareness, right turns, and how to find heel position, but also teaches the dog the cue for moving in heel position. So unless you’re going to use “pivot” as your cue for staying with you and moving in any direction, it’s not a cue I would use for pivots on a prop such as a bowl or perch, or on the flat or floor.

Pivoting is heeling. My cue for heeling is “heel.” My cue for pivots on a bowl or perch is “heel.” My cue for coming into heel on the standing platform is “heel,” and my cue for sidepasses and backing in heel position is “heel.” My dog is doing the exact same thing for each of those – staying in heel position while standing. “Heel” has a single definition that both my dog and I agree on. This simplifies heeling for both of us!

Want to practice? Here is a fun heeling game using pivots.

Pivot If You Cone!
This game is excerpted from my book, “The Joy of Heeling.” It's also one of the exercises in my "Positions, Laterals and Backing" class at FDSA. It can be played either with your pivot platform or while pivoting on the flat. If you and your pup enjoy this, you can find many, many more fun games to build enthusiasm and precision in my book or several of my FDSA classes!

How to Play the Game:
Step 1: Start with your cone in front of you and about 6-10 feet away, and your dog on the pivot platform, next to you in heel position. Send your dog to go Out and Around the cone. As they round the cone, give your heel cue. Mark and reward when your dog comes into heel position.

Step 2: From here you can either send your dog to the cone again, or do a pivot until you are back again facing the cone, before sending for another rep.

Step 3: Add some challenge! Pivot to a point where the cone is not directly in front of you but off to the side. Send your dog and give your heel cue. Can they still come back to you and find the position even if you move again?

Be sure to provide fast food when they do! Finding that position again is all about the value you’ve put into it.