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19/04/2025

We work hard to maximize motivation in every behavior with our dogs.

And while it is a powerful driving force, it is also fleeting.

Progress in teaching and generalizing behavior isn’t linear - for our dogs, or for us as their handlers.

In fact, the pursuit of progress can often feel like walking through mud. Stepping too quickly can result in a slip, too slowly and we haven’t left our starting point.

Some days we feel ready to take on the world, and other days we dread the training field for the exercise in frustration it can quickly become.

Discipline is the force that pushes us forward, even when motivation wanes.

It’s the daily commitment to show up and do the work, even when we don’t feel like it.

Find enthusiasm for the grind. For the incremental progress. When motivation fades, allow discipline to carry you through.

Keep showing up. It what separates those who achieve their goals from those who don’t.

15/04/2025

More of this, please.

More moments that slip through my hands like grains of sand.

More moments that make me feel.

The kind that make me reflect between heartbeats and find value in every second.

I ask the universe to gift me more of these.

To remind me that life isn’t just about the big milestones, but the little moments that take my breath away and remind me how precious it is to love and be loved.

📸:

13/04/2025

Retirement; there’s no rulebook for this chapter.

No guidelines to follow. No scenarios to concoct or behaviors to teach and troubleshoot.

And over the last six months, I’ve struggled with that.

Nearly a decade of my life with this dog has been lived with big goals in mind -

Our journey has brought us all across the country, and has forged friendships and connections all around the world.

But there’s no rulebook for this next chapter.

The hungry pursuit of the next training session, the next trial, the next season, has all come to an abrupt halt.

We are satiated.

We have soft goals, certainly, but I don’t view them with the edge and intensity I did in years prior -

And I feel a tremendous guilt for finding so much enjoyment in it.

I find myself reflecting on whether or not I’ll regret not taking advantage of Patty’s continued health and fitness, whether I’ll regret not approaching our soft goals with the same seriousness of goals in years prior.

But then I remind myself that there’s no rulebook in retirement.

There’s no rulebook for the what comes after - so we are making our own, and I’m intent to celebrate it no matter what this new chapter looks like.

12/02/2025

The name of the game here lately has been formalizing in motion exercises. I like to break this exercise down into incremental pieces. This allows me to work out all of the “kinks” before asking for it from heeling behavior. Want to know about the progression? Learn more about this and more via Patreon - link in my bio.

03/02/2025

Don’t eat with people you wouldn’t starve with.

📸: @3.bullies.and.a.blonde

27/12/2024

Capacity limits potential.

Capacity refers to the maximization of inherent physical, mental, and behavioral traits that determine an animal’s potential and ultimately their suitability to different tasks.

Genetics lay the foundation for a dog’s capacity, as well as their suitability to specific roles given that capacity. Traits such as drive profiles, environmental soundness, and temperament are often influenced by hereditary factors.

Capacity is physical. Capacity for endurance, strength, speed, and natural jumping technique.

Capacity is cognitive. Capacity for trainability, memory, and problem-solving.

Capacity is behavioral. Capacity for drive expression, emotional stability, handler sensitivity, and recovery.

Even within the same litter, puppies inherit a unique combination of genes from their parents, leading to variations in capacity within different traits.

While genetics provide the baseline for capacity, environmental influences and training shape the realization of that potential. Training maximizes a dog’s innate capacity.

Even with strong genetic traits, untrained dogs may not reach their potential. Likewise, even the most experienced of hands cannot create excellence where capacity limits it.

Consider every individual trait as a drinking glass. Genetics determines the size of each glass. Training fills the glasses.

No amount of training can make a glass larger. The glass of a dog whose capacity in any given area has been reached in training cannot accommodate more.

Pouring into an already-filled glass will not make it hold more.

Capacity defines the upper limit of potential, while potential represents the possibilities within that limit.

Our jobs as working dog breeders, trainers, handlers, and enthusiasts is to be honest and critical in evaluating the capacity of our dogs.

Good training maximizes potential in good genetics. But good training cannot create what is not there to begin with.

24/06/2024

We ask a lot of our dogs in and out of the work. And while purposeful exposure and training is a tremendous part of owning and raising a working dog, there is so much that genetics brings to the table when it comes to a dog that is well suited for high-level work.

I find that in searching for litters, both in the works and on the ground, many handlers struggle not only with determining where to look, but also (and perhaps more importantly) what questions to ask when searching for and interviewing breeders for working prospects.

In reflecting on this, I wanted to take the time to discuss what I consider before entertaining the idea of getting on a waitlist.

I’ve detailed what I would consider the “minimum” in questions to ask (numbered questions in bold), as well as the more in-depth line of questioning I’d recommend in researching a prospective litter in my latest Patreon post.

Link to the full post available below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/finding-breeder-106644708?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

13/03/2024

You asked and we answered!

Our Foundations for Success seminar is back, and rescheduled to include a little more time before the event for your planning purposes.

Registration will be released Friday, March 15th.

All ages, stages, and levels of competitors are welcome!

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http://www.discerningdogtraining.com/

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