Projection only works if you have really strong draw. And you create really strong draw by proving to your dog that you are a trustworthy person. You do that by allowing them to make as many choices as possibly safe on their own. And when you step in to make…
Emotional Regulation
How do I help an over stimulated dog recalibrate to calm? You share in that energy with them. You invite them to give some to you. And you take it in and let it go because you have the tools to do so. And in doing so, you set an…
Gunther and the Goose
I think you could watch this video and say “Well you didn’t get that dog to drop it, he dropped it on his own.” And to that I would say, “exactly.” I want my dog to make the best decisions for me AND him. And I want him to make…
Rubber Band Ball
Recently I’ve been working with a dog to unravel her anxiety. She’s very well loved and is overweight. We were walking down a hill to exit the park at the end of our session. Every couple of feet she would speed up and begin to pull us down the hill…
The Whirlpool Effect | Part 2
The second evolution of the whirlpool effect takes some imagination. Imagine all along that leaf was actually a frog egg (could also be a fish egg, but I like frogs.) After being laid in a clutch safely attached to algae, your frog egg is swept away, separated, and freely floating…
The Whirlpool Effect | Part 1
I have had this implanted in my head for a long time now and is really why I wanted to start the blog. The whirlpool effect popped into my head while doing mostly off leash work with dogs either on hikes or in a daycare setting. For a hike, imagine…
Influence
From the moment your dog can sense you, you are “training” them. You are teaching them how to treat you, how to act, what you expect, what to be scared of, etc. I’m going to share my personal experience of raising Gunther to communicate how I learned this. When Gunther…