We walk, think, and dream dog...

Seems our dog brains rarely power down, and there has to be a depository for all our musings. We hope you enjoy this ongoing collection of our training thoughts, with a bit of CNC news thrown in here and there.

Guilty Dog?

by Lisa Lyle Waggoner A couple of videos have recently been making their way around the internet purportedly showing dogs looking “guilty.”  One video, aired on Good Morning America, was of a Lab “looking guilty” after having been accused of eating her way into a bag of cat treats.  It’s

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Barking Dogs, Caterwauling Cats & Attention

I’m continuing to enjoy the attention training which is the first foundation behavior in the Canine Freestyle Course in which I’m currently enrolled.  Last weekend, I took the practice outside for the first time.  Nothing like a barking dog and caterwauling cat to provide some distractions.  In reality, I think the

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A Little More Attention Please

I took the canine freestyle foundation behavior training into our home today.  I just didn’t want to drive to the training center and I felt as if Gibson was more than ready to begin working on duration of attention with some distractions…..our four furry felines.  Only a three of them

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FETCH – Animal Assisted Interactions Class Vies for $5K Grant

Hat’s off the Animal Assisted Interactions Class at Tri-County Community College!  They’re doing their utmost to bring their FETCH Program (Fun Exercising Together for Children’s Health) to reality. Yesterday, about 20 of us met at the Cold Nose College Training Center so Chasing Destiny Films could shoot a video in

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Going Back to Square One for Canine Freestyle

I recently enrolled in the Canine Freestyle course offered by the Karen Pryor Academy and taught by Michele Pouliot, winner of multiple International Freestyle competitions.   It’s a distance learning course and I have 2 months to study and work diligently to learn the material in the curriculum.   I hope to

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A Commitment to Train My Own Dog

by Lisa Lyle Waggoner Personally, I can’t think of many things more fun than working with and training a dog, especially my own dog.   I did create a bit of time recently to work on some tandem “wait” and “individual release” practice with Gibson & Cody.  However, because Brad and

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Holiday Hazards for Dogs

by Lisa Lyle Waggoner Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches…..and what a hazard you can be.  No, I’m not talking about a fire hazard.  All those wrapped presents around and on the Christmas tree, all those special human goodies everywhere and all those poinsettias that

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The Training Log

by Brad Waggoner It’s sometimes said that the shoe maker’s children have no shoes. Well sometimes you could say the same about dog trainers. I was reading a blog by Laura Dorfman of Kona’s Touch and was reminded of this. When I was attending the Karen Pryor Academy I got

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Tips for Hiking with Your Dog

by Lisa Lyle Waggoner Ahhhh, early autumn and changing leaves!  As the days get cooler, my thoughts turn to hiking with my dog.  I’m fortunate to live in an area where I can easily walk outside of the fenced acreage around my home and hit a few trails. I love

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Operant Conditioning

by Brad Waggoner So what’s all this operant conditioning people are talking about? It seems that many in the positive training world have capitalized on the term.  Yes, we do use Positive Reinforcement, but that’s only one quadrant of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning consists of four principals or, as they’re

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