On our trip to northern Minnesota and my talk at the gorgeous Virginia Public Library (thank you for your gracious reception!) Jim and I stopped at the International Wolf Center in Ely.Lucky us, we just happened to arrive when the "enrichment" exercise was the delivery of a rack of ribs and a beaver. A caretaker delivered the goodies in a wheel barrow, and then we all got to watch, behind glass and just a few feet away, as the wolves sorted out who got what, and when.I got a few photos that I thought you'd enjoy seeing, given that they are such good examples of canid social communication through facial expressions and body posture.It's pretty clear in the photo below what wolf Denali is communicating. I especially like how this "offensive pucker" shows the classic "tight C" Read More

I'm out of town again, speaking at the Virginia Public Library (that's in Minnesota, not the east coast) and spending some time with the dogs in a cabin on a lake. Knowing I'd be gone, and that July is my designated summer break, I looked for a blog to re-post. I found this one from October, 2014 that uses one of my favorite stories from my youth as an introduction to the concept that kindness and positive reinforcement in animal training is not a new concept at all. Here it is:Here’s my proudest moment in life (so far): It’s 1967, when the idea of women wearing pants was still a tad radical. But “pants suits” had just came out–dressy outfits that put trousers on your legs instead of a skirt, even for evening wear. I worked as a salesgirl in a boutique in Scottsdale, AZ, and bought Read More

Not long ago I had the pleasure of watching a rising star in the dog training world, Chirag Patel. There were a number of things I loved about his presentation, but I kept thinking about one in particular: The importance of knowing when your dog needs a brief break during a training session.This is not something that we humans are hard-wired to do. After all, we--the trainers--are fine, being the ones who know the goal of the exercise. We're cruising along giving positive reinforcement boom boom, boom, one right after the other. It's all positive, right?Well, no it's not. No matter how many pieces of chicken can go down a dog's eager throat, it can be exhausting to learn something new, especially when one doesn't know the goal. It is easy to forget how stressful learning anything Read More

Lately I've had a lot of occasions in which I needed Willie and Maggie to walk beside me, whether on or off leash. It has reminded me what a joy/time saver/relief it is to be able to walk with your dog and know he or she will stay right beside you. That's not something that dog's naturally do (unlike us primates), but it is something that most of us want and expect, often unrealistically. That's why I'm repeating this post Making Leash Manners Fun from November 2014. I've added some updates in italics. While you are reading, please think about what advice from any source was most helpful (or the opposite) when working on your dog's manners.[From Nov 2014]: Maggie, all 35 exuberant pounds of her, has lousy leash manners. That is because 1) she is a dog and walking beside me, shoulder to Read More

I'm not sure how this is possible, but Willie turns twelve years old today (July 3rd). Wasn't it just last month that he was a seven-week old fuzz ball? Or just yesterday when he finally stopped being terrified of unfamiliar dogs after years of conditioning and training?Time is indeed relative. It's been no time at all since Willie came into our lives. And yet it's been an eternity, because I can barely imagine life without him. Those of you who have read my memoir, The Education of Will, know that our story together is a complicated one. His fears as a puppy set off my own, and things got a lot worse before they got better. But they never would have gotten better at all if Willie hadn't forced me to dig deeper in my own recovery efforts than I had in the past. Every dog we have is Read More