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Canine Constitutional Home of Canine Constitutional Animal Rescue, Po Box 3882, Santa Rosa, CA (2025)

07/04/2025

Help Chico Get His Second Chance:

Meet Chico, a shy, beautiful soul who’s been holding onto hope longer than any dog should have to.

Chico was rescued from an abandoned house in Clearlake, along with his two siblingswhen they were puppies. They found homes long ago, but Chico stayed behind, not because nobody tried, but because fear had such a tight grip on him that no one could even get a leash or collar on, let alone bring him to the vet or out for a walk.

He’s lived his whole life cohabitating with his foster dad and his best dog friend, Beesha. He’s never been neutered, never had his nails trimmed, never had a bath. People told his foster dad to euthanize him, that he was too far gone, too wild, too broken.

But Chico isn’t broken. He’s just scared, and he’s brave enough to try anyway.

A couple of weeks ago, I met Chico. I brought him into my home for a weekend to see what he could do with a little patience and kindness. By the end of that short time, he had a collar on for the first time in his life. He went on a walk outside the house. He let himself be a dog — not just a ghost hiding behind old fears.

His foster dad said it best:

“Despite everything, Chico is slowly becoming more confident. He loves his food and treats, and you can see how proud he is when he pushes past his fears. It’s like he knows he’s being brave.”

Now Chico has a chance to do more than survive. He has a chance to blossom.

I want to bring Chico into my rescue program for 3 months, to give him gentle, ethical training, help him heal, so he can get him the vet care he’s never had, and prepare him to finally, truly live.

I’ve got more than a few fosters living here rent-free at the moment, so I’m leaning on the kindness of our supporters to help give Chico his best shot.

You can donate on our website: https://dogmarch.com/ccar

Just make a note that thes donation Is to cover Chico’s boarding, training, basic expenses, and care.

Chico has spent 3 years waiting for a chance. He’s ready now, he just needs us to say yes.

If you believe that no dog should be thrown away for being afraid… please help us help Chico.

Donate, share, and spread the word, every dollar brings Chico one step closer to the life he deserves.

From all of us, and especially Chico, thank you.

07/04/2025

Hey folks, I wasn't sure about rescue training this weekend based on it being one of my daughter's birthday's. That said, I am going to go ahead and cancel class on those grounds. Last weekend was really very productive and I am looking forward to picking back up next weekend.

07/03/2025

Like a lot of people, I always say we should start by assuming a dog doesn’t want to be hugged. But every dog is an individual, and while plenty will simply tolerate a hug, there are some, like Domino here, who go out of their way to get one one.

07/02/2025

“Stop Destroying the Calm.”

I came across a post a couple of days ago from a well-known trainer. The gist is this:

“When your dog is calm, don’t praise them. Don’t reward them. Don’t touch them. Just appreciate them silently. If you praise or treat them, you’ll ruin the mindset and undo all your hard work.”

The idea is that calm is so fragile, so delicate, that saying “Good boy” is enough to destroy it.

Let’s unpack that.

Claim 1: Reinforcement ruins calm

According to this logic, owners “snatch defeat from victory” because they celebrate a dog’s good behavior, they give a treat, or say “Good job!” and suddenly the calm is gone.

What this ignores is that reinforcement is how calm actually gets taught. If you never mark, reward, or acknowledge the calm you want, how does the dog know what you liked? How do they know why holding that mindset works for them? Obviously becasue they arent being punished 🙄

Calm isn’t a bubble, it’s a skill. Good reinforcement builds it. It doesn’t break it. When reinforcement “ruins calm,” the real issue is that the dog was prepared not to be calm at that time.

Claim 2: Dogs should already be pristine

Another part of this mindset is that training only happens in two states:

Point A — the dog’s a mess.
Point Z — the dog is perfect.

There’s no space for progress. No space for rewarding the middle. Either the state of mind is pure, or you’re destroying it.

But behavior doesn’t work that way. Real learning happens in approximations. You reinforce the small pieces that get you closer to the big picture: a calm pass-by, a relaxed “place,” an easy heel. If you only accept perfection, you skip the entire teaching process and rely on controlling the dog instead of building understanding.

Claim 3: If it fails, it’s your fault

What’s interesting is this logic has a built-in shield:

When the dog’s calm, the trainer’s genius.

When the calm falls apart, it’s because the owner celebrated too soon.

If the same thing happens in someone else’s system? Must be the method’s fault.

This is how you end up with a system that’s built to suppress behavior, not teach it, and one that always has someone else to blame when the suppression cracks.

Another story:

If your dog’s calm shatters because you whispered “Good boy,” it was never really taught, it was just held in place by tension and fear of what happens if they break it or whatever you used to hold it in place.

Behavior doesn’t stick because you suppress all signs of life. It sticks because you make it clear, rewarding, and worth choosing again.

So no, you don’t “destroy the calm” when you reinforce it. You build it. You name it. You show the dog: This is what works. Calm is not a tightrope. It’s a skill we can teach step by step.

07/01/2025

When Labels Stop Helping

Every time I talk about force, balanced training, or force-free training, someone will jump in to say, “That’s not what balanced means!” or “That’s not what force-free means!” or “My trainer does it differently!”

And they’re right, because the truth is, these labels mean wildly different things to different people. And that’s a problem for trainers and for dog owners.

Here’s the thing: It’s my responsibility as a trainer to be upfront about exactly what I intend for any dog in my care. But it’s the owner’s responsibility to be their dog’s best advocate and too often, people hand their dog over without asking a single question about what’s actually going to happen.

They hear “balanced,” “force-free,” or “positive,” and they think they know what that means. But those words don’t guarantee anything if you don’t ask for the reality behind them.

Someone’s version of balanced might mean 95% positive reinforcement and an occasional “no.”
Someone else’s version might mean heavy leash pops, e-collars, and “dominance.” Same label. Wildly different experience for the dog.

Someone’s version of force-free might mean truly hands-off, cooperative, consent-based training. Someone else’s might mean “force-free until the dog resists, then we force it anyway.”
Same label. Same confusion.

This is why I often say I don’t call myself a “force-free trainer.” I don’t label myself as “balanced.”
Not because I don’t believe in force-free principles, but because I didn’t invent the label, I can’t control how others define it, and I can’t control how it’s used.

So instead, I just tell people exactly what I’ll do.
How I train. What methods I use. What I don’t do.
And why.

Labels can be helpful for critiquing big ideas and trends. I use the labels all the time when writijg about the Ideas behind them. But they’re not enough when it comes to the real dog standing in front of you.

So next time you’re choosing a trainer, or trusting someone with your dog, don’t stop at the label. Ask questions. Make them tell you what they’ll do, and what they won’t. Let it stand on the merits.

06/30/2025

“Enrichment is just emotional manipulation,” I heard a trainer say recently, “a scam from the marketplace to get your dollars.”
Funny thing is, he said this while trying to get your dollars for the thing he was selling instead: an “off switch” for your dog.

Let’s break that down for a second.

What is enrichment really?
It’s not about turning dogs into hyperactive task machines. It’s about meeting species-specific needs that modern life or life in captivity often neglects. Chewing, sniffing, problem-solving, digging, shredding, these are normal canine behaviors. When dogs have safe, structured ways to do these things, their needs are being met.

If we don’t provide for those needs, dogs will find their own outlets, sometimes in ways we don’t appreciate. But that’s not the point of enrichment; that’s just the side effect. The goal is the dog’s well-being. The fact that your shoes survive is the bonus.

The word itself is misleading.
Honestly, “enrichment” isn’t even the best word for it. It sounds like an extra, a luxury add-on. But these outlets aren’t “extras.” They’re a core part of good welfare. In zoos, where the modern concept comes from, enrichment is built on five categories: nutritional, sensory, cognitive, social, and physical. These five areas help captive animals express normal species-specific behaviors they’d otherwise be deprived of.

What’s funny is that the same trainer dismissing enrichment listed walks, play, and rest as “what dogs really need.” But those are enrichment by definition:

Walks? Physical and sensory enrichment.

Play? Social, cognitive, and physical enrichment.

Teaching an off switch? Only possible when the brain and body feel safe and satisfied because those other forms of enrichment came first.

Food puzzles and scatter feeding?
Sure, they’re popular because they’re easy to use. But food isn’t the whole picture. Dogs need to sniff, shred, dig, solve problems, socialize, and rest, on their terms.

The irony here is that the people who shout the loudest about how “dogs need an off switch!” often skip the part where the on switch needs somewhere to go first. A tired brain and a satisfied body settle down naturally. An under-stimulated one doesn’t.

Enrichment isn’t a scam. What is a scam is pretending you can skip a dog’s real needs, slap a new label on “do nothing,” and sell that as whatever your version of “real training” is.

06/28/2025

Why is what she did any different?

If you’ve seen the video of Amy Pishner and Valor K9 Academy making the rounds, you know exactly why so many people are upset.

A golden retriever in “training” to combat resource guarding. Amy drags him across the floor by the leash, yanks him back and forth, shoves the bowl in his face, narrates: “See, he’s calm and submissive. No reason resource guarding should take months to fix.”

The reaction was significant, angry trainers, revoked credentials, statements distancing entire training camps from her methods.

I agree that she should not be working with dogs, probably in any capacity. And to preface what I am asking here, I agree that the degree to which she is engaging in that type of behavior is worse in degree.

But why is what she did any different from what so many “balanced” or punishment-based trainers do every day?

It’s not that different at all. The method is the same: force the behavior to stop. Suppress the dog’s communication. Call learned helplessness “calm.”

The only difference is in degree, how obvious it is to anyone watching. But this woman was certified by multiple institutions, had been working quite a while, and PROUDLY recorded the session for the world to see. I swear I thought it was parody.

She did it on camera.
She made it dramatic.
She bragged about it.
The dog was muzzled and fully shut down for everyone to see.

Plenty of trainers do the same thing behind closed doors:

The prong collar pop when the dog growls.

The shock collar zap to stop a bark.

The leash jerk for a defensive snarl.

All in the name of “leadership” or “balanced training.”

So why does this matter so much more? Because it blows up one of the biggest myths:
“It’s not the tool, it’s how it’s used.”

We hear this line all the time, prongs, e-collars, slip leads, “It’s fine if the person is skilled!”

But here’s the thing: This was the “skilled person.” A professional. Years in business. Clients trusted her. She was certified by major organizations. And still, this is what she did. On purpose. Proudly.

So when people say, “It’s only a problem if you don’t know what you’re doing…” Maybe pause and ask:

What happens when you hand these tools to the average owner?

I already know the answer. I see it frequently enough walking their dogs frustrated through a park or along the street, people dragging their dogs on prong collars, cranking leashes to stop reactivity, shocking dogs for barking, repeating the cycle because the real problem never got solved.

If a pro can do this on camera, what do you think is happening in backyards, parks, and living rooms when nobody’s watching?

Resource guarding doesn’t magically disappear because you yank it out of a dog. Fear doesn’t fade when it’s punished. Mistrust doesn’t heal under threat. Does anyone actually believe that sending that dog back to its owner would have been safe? The dog was growling at the owner already if the owner even held the bowl.

Force can shut a dog down, but it can’t build trust. Suppression is not resolution. Behavior is communication, and punishment doesn’t fix what the dog was trying to say.

So if you’re angry about what you saw, good. Be angry. But don’t stop there.

Look closer at what else is being sold as “training.”

Question quick fixes that break trust.

If we agree that too much force is abuse, we have to ask, why is ‘less force’ somehow acceptable in the face of other options?

One trainer got caught on camera, but the bigger lesson is about the system that says this is normal enough to teach your neighbor to copy. It shouldn’t be. The lesson learned I have no doubt wasn’t, don’t train like that. For some, it was be very careful about getting caught.

06/27/2025

Hey folks, rescue training will be at 10:15AM this Sunday. I’ve got another class at 11:30 and I don’t want to push rescue training into the hottest part of the day.

06/26/2025

Attention: The Filter Behind Every Behavior

When I was researching cognition for the training manual, one thing became clear fast: attention is the unsung hero of training. Everyone talks about cues, timing, and behavior. But attention is the filter that determines whether a dog even notices the cue in the first place.

It’s not obedience. It’s not compliance.
It’s not about whether the dog is “looking at you.”
It’s about what they notice, what they don’t, and what they choose to act on.

Attention is allocated based on perception. If attention is the filter, then perception is the gateway.
There are different types of attention, and understanding might help change how you think of training:

Sustained Attention – Staying focused over time (like holding a down-stay).

Selective Attention – Focusing on one thing while filtering out distractions (like choosing you over the barking dog across the street).

Divided Attention – Juggling multiple stimuli at once (like walking on leash while checking in and navigating smells).

Orienting Response – That reflexive head-turn, ear flick, or glance toward something new. That’s where it all begins.

And that orienting moment? It’s gold.

It’s not defiance. It’s not inattention. It’s your dog’s brain saying, “Something might matter here.” And you get to decide what happens next. Punish it, and you might teach the world is unsafe. Reinforce it, and you open the door to curiosity, confidence, and connection.

I’ve worked with so many dogs who’ve been punished just for noticing the world. But in my program, we start there. We reinforce noticing. Because that pause? That’s the foundation for real learning.

Attention isn’t a demand, though you can demand it, it’s a gift.
And if we respect it, our dogs just might give us more of it.

06/25/2025

You might remember Birdie started her trial period for group walks a couple of weeks ago. Even though we knew each other from training class, this new routine made her a little nervous at first. But she got over that initial hurdle, and she’s really settled in beautifully. Proud of this sweet girl!

06/24/2025

“Management is just punishment”

I saw a trainer arguing, in very smug fashion, that people that use management as a training aid are in fact using positive punishmentt and negative reinforcement by way of management. This is his big “gotcha” to the force free movement.

“That’s just negative reinforcement!”
“That’s actually punishment!”
“You’re controlling the dog, same as us!”

Let’s clear something up. Management is not punishment.

It’s not a consequence at all. It’s an antecedent arrangement, a way of setting the stage so unwanted behaviors don’t occur in the first place.

Punishment or reinforcement happens after a behavior is performed. An antecedent arrangement means the behavior is never triggered in the first place, because the cause of the behavior never presents itself.

When I prevent a dog from accessing the garbage by putting it behind a cabinet, I’m not punishing the dog. I’m making success easier and failure harder. No fear, no intimidation, no discomfort, just structure in the environment.

If I use a leash to prevent a dog from bolting, I’m not delivering an aversive. I’m keeping them safe before the mistake happens. If I use a baby gate to block access to a room, I’m not issuing a consequence, I’m shaping the environment.

Could that same leash be used as positive punishment? Absolutely.
Just the other day, I saw someone “training” their dog by hitting them in the face with the leash. That’s positive punishment.
But that doesn’t mean every appearance of every object in the environment is inherently punishing or reinforcing. It depends entirely on how it’s used and how the learner experiences it.

So no, I’m not calling a leash “negative reinforcement.” I’m calling it what it is: a way to protect and guide the dog while we build real behavioral skills.

Proactive trainers aren’t waiting for the dog to make a mistake just to correct it on leash. We’re teaching the dog from the start what leash politeness looks like, through clear expectations, strategic reinforcement, and setups for success.

The leash isn’t there to punish. It’s there to support the learning process, to help the dog build fluency in skills like walking politely, checking in, and choosing connection over conflict.

And here’s something else worth noticing:
When a trainer insists that every instance of control is inherently aversive, they’re often telling you more about how they use tools, and how they view relationships, than about the tools themselves.

If you assume that putting a dog in a crate can only ever be punishment, that says more about the emotional tone and function you assign to confinement than about what the crate inherently is.

Ethical trainers use structure to create security, not suppression.

Let’s not confuse language with ethics.
Let’s not pretend a crate is a shock collar.
Let’s not let rhetorical games rewrite the debate.

Because no matter how smug the delivery, calling every instance of antecedent arrangement or environmental management a form of punishment or reinforcement still doesn’t justify the deliberate use of aversive control.

You don’t get to redefine the terms just to avoid answering the ethical question.

06/23/2025

The Sales Pitch Changed. The Harm didn’t.

When I first started working with dogs, the way punishment was sold to me was through relatability:

“A prong collar doesn’t hurt. It mimics how a mother dog corrects her pups.”

It was appealing because it felt natural. Familiar. It justified pain by romanticizing it as instinctual, never mind that mother dogs don’t routinely grab their pups by the neck to correct leash pulling.

But in todays discourse, that language has mostly faded.

Now it’s:

“It’s just a tool.”
“You’re being emotional.”
“Bad behavior needs consequences.”

What used to be sold as understood by dogs is now framed as misunderstood by people. The dog’s experience is no longer the selling point, the trainer’s authority is. And if you disagree, you’re accused of not caring about outcomes.

But here’s the thing: I don’t know a single ethical trainer who isn’t working to prevent “bad” behavior. That’s literally what we do; through structure, reinforcement, and proactive management.

So what exactly justifies the leap to shock, choke, or poke?

If your argument is that consequences matter, I agree. But consequences can take many forms. They don’t have to hurt. They don’t have to frighten. They don’t have to suppress the dog’s voice to manage behavior.

Let’s not confuse a shift in sales tactics with a shift in ethics. The story has changed. The tool hasn’t.

Canine Constitutional Home of Canine Constitutional Animal Rescue

07/04/2025

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