Canine - Human Relationship Institute

12/20/2025

I wanted to explain something about CHRI and my posts here, and shared information.

1. Mission: the purpose of all communications efforts is to provide perspective, education, information.

2. While everyone reads and looks at the information given through the lense of their own knowledge and perspectives, the intent behind this platform is to help.

3. Over the past few years, I have shared my journey with Bosch, and now starting to share a similar journey with Kate.

What I wanted to say is this:

I am always amazed when anything “works”. I have never gotten to a point where I assume that I am “in charge” of how a dog or human “turns out”. I am always humbled by any other dog, human, duck, cat, cow, that interacts and gives me trust, understanding, and makes an effort to trust.

I have to say, I believe the true key to reaching another living being is humility.

Confidence is built over long, long periods of time. A lifetime. But confidence has nothing to do with arrogance. Arrogance is a self view. Being humble is a self view.

You will be grounded properly if you hold amazement in every success and failure.

Sharing the stories about Bosch, Kate, Toffee, Callie, Bella, all of my dogs, is not to impress you. It is to show the process, and to provide real time growth of communicative clarity, trust building and the joy of becoming closer to this amazing species of animals that we share our lives with.

I am always surprised and amazed with what potential is realized. That is why I share.

12/19/2025

CHRI is making some “discounts” available to students for certain groups, classes and methods of payment. From this time, moving forward, through 2026.

Students for Courses II, III, IV and V have a 10% discount if paying by Check, Cash, Zelle or International Bank Transfer.

First Responders, Active Duty Military, Veterans, LE, Federal Agency Officers receive a 25% Discount on all classes (except for the monthly subscription).

There are also “Gift Cards” available to purchase for the Monthly Classes, and for amounts that can be applied to all other classes.

We are trying to give our students the opportunity to save money by not having to pay a service process fee to some third party. I would rather the students get the benefit rather than some large service.

All of them are listed in the website.

www.chrinstitute.com

12/19/2025

Kate and I spent a lot of time out together today. She went with me for several hours. Lots of places, shopping with mad house level of people, noise, activity, etc. She did incredibly well. Studying everything and everyone. Quiet. Cooperative. Unfazed.

I am very happy with her continuing improvements and intelligence. Absorbing all of it.

The photos were where we started this morning. At the Vet office. A scheduled visit. No big deal. She weighed in at 68.4 # with a lot more to grow. She is developing well physically, mentally and behaviorally. Her physical attributes are showing well against Bosch an Toffee with similar capabilities in strength, balance and speed. Her mind has all of the right focuses and is always enjoying what we do together. We both enjoy working together. That is as critical a factor as having the knowledge to guide to an end purpose and partnership. Another great dog. Another great GSD. And our third GSD from Good Shepherd Rescue of Texas.

It is possible to select a great dog, from the beginning. Even if it is from a rescue. Having knowledgeable and capable people who are willing partners in learning is also critical for those dogs. There is a reason I have tried to assist this rescue for several years. They have become partners in providing subject dogs, subject clients and their dogs, and other support elements to the Institute and our mission to teach, educate and help clients and dogs.

12/18/2025

We had a great Monthly Class tonight.

Individual training/behavior cases presented by subscribers. They presented the problems, we discussed things and problem solved. The purpose was to teach how to problem solve. What questions to ask and why they were important to solving the issues.

12/17/2025

I don’t usually post emotional things. I just had to. I just took Kate out with me to the grocery store and then to the Quik Trip. She did about as perfectly as an 18 month old would, except she is only 9 months old! As a new SDiT, working in real world conditions, I cannot ask a 9 month old to behave as well as an adult. Not just well behaved, but great placement, attention, focus, responses, a true partnership. Zero concern. From her or me.

At this age, I had Bosch with me too. I asked Valerie Erwin to hold Bosch for a minute, when one of my classes was meeting the night before at a nice restaurant. Asked Bosch to sit and left for about 10 minutes. Came back, Bosch still in position and watching for me. I approached and said “pretty good dog, huh?”. Valerie responded, “no, he’s exceptional”. She wasn’t wrong.

Kate, the past couple of days, and especially tonight, was exceptional. I might say, even more than Bosch at this stage. I know it’s early, but this was really special.

12/16/2025

Wednesday December 17 at 7:00 pm Central is the last Monthly Class of 2025.

This month’s class will be open to you presenting a training/behavior case you want analyzed, help with, etc. It can be a client dog or your own dog.

The purpose of this class is to show, in real time, how to have a conversation with someone who needs/wants help, listen to what they say, what you get out of it, and what questions to ask to receive information to fill in the blanks to problem solve.

If you are already a monthly subscriber, add your own case. If you aren’t a subscriber, you get December free to try it.

The monthly classes are 1.25 to 1.5 hours of very in depth subjects. Each month. Each year there are also some bonus classes. For $15.00 per month.

You can also catch up with any or all of the previous 36 classes by purchasing each of them individually, for $15.00 each.

www.chrinstitute.com

12/15/2025

I have been mildly ill the past 5 days. Enough that I don’t feel like working with my dogs. But I do. Just not as long as normal.

Kate, at 9 months old, is developing well. I feel like I am “behind” on her training work as a SDiT. But I have been trying to do daily work with her. Even with minimal time this past week, she is doing pretty well (considering my lack of time with her).

I had to go take a package to the Post Office, this afternoon, for my wife. I took Kate on an another real world training mission with her.

The PO was backed with people mailing Christmas stuff out. Very busy.

I was very happy with Kate’s behavior. She was calm, observant, and responsive to me. As we moved forward, in line, each step, she placed left heel and sat as we stopped. She made the decision to down at several points when we did not move forward for awhile. I have no problem with that.

The video I took (short and very poor because I was holding a package and a dog leash, and didn’t really want to look like a do**us) shows when we got close, after about 15 minutes in line. I had asked and placed her to center position (to give more room to people around us). She sat and placed herself down. It wasn’t straight in front of me, but I will take it for now.

12/15/2025

Many trainers, and others that follow trainers and training methodologies might be surprised at who my circle of same age/time friends include. While I have many trainers who I do consider friends or at least friendly, the “old” group that still talks, once in a blue moon, are the “heads” of, or creators of different systems of training. If you know anything about training, you would know of these. Funny how we don’t have problems talking with, and enjoying each other’s conversations together. We don’t see each other as competitors. We are colleagues that want the best for our students and dogs. That is all.

12/12/2025

This is the Calendar of classes planned for CHRI for 2026. Class descriptions and other information are also on the web page.

12/12/2025

During one of the CHRI Monthly Classes, online, I spoke for 1.25 hours about what the real meaning of “work with the dog in front of you” actually means.

Hear is another aspect about that, and about working with any dog. The key to that sentence is working “with”.

If you aren’t capable, willing, able, or care to receive all of the communication from the dog, initiated by the dog or in response to you or the environment, then you aren’t really working well with that dog.

If all you care about is what you can make the dog do, then you aren’t getting very much out of it.

CHRI was created to educate professional trainers, new trainers, enthusiasts, Vets, Vet techs, pet industry people, Military and LE handlers, show dog handlers, etc. about what a dog is, to the deepest aspect possible. That includes comprehending much more about what a dog is actually “telling” you.

If you don’t understand what you are working with, you are handicapping yourself.

Our focus is to teach Relationship Based Behavior Modification (RBBM) and Relationship Based Training (RBT) to all students at our Institute. RBBM was developed by Nelson Hodges over years of work in the rehabilitation of severe case dog behaviors from aggressive, to fearful, and shutdown dogs. RBT....

12/10/2025

Yesterday, my wife went with us. Kate is doing well. Learning. Already has good patterns and habits at 9 months old. When we come back to the car, I just say “Car” and she goes to the back door and loads up perfectly.

12/07/2025

Old photo of Bosch from August.

Just got back inside from taking Kate and then Bosch across the street to our neighbor’s driveway. The Fire Department had a truck pulled up and had instruments checking for a gas leak under their driveway slab.

I took Kate across to have her find scent. She indicated on several points at cracks in the driveway. I thought I would bring Bosch out and check. Same spots. Let the FD guys know. Seems those were where they got some mild readings.

Good dogs.

Edit: two hours later; Gas Company is here. He found the exact leak point. The same location that both Kate and Bosch indicated first. I took Bosch back out. I asked him to sweep, and he swept the exact area that the guy marked (underneath the sidewalk). The guy was duly impressed.