The Cognitive Canine with Sarah Stremming CDBC

11/30/2025

Generally speaking there are three ways to have a dog in any given situation.

🤩Let the dog be free: only intervene if they are going to make a "wrong" (dangerous, unacceptable, etc) choice or needs to be switched into one of the two below.
🤐Regiment the dog physically: restrict access to any "wrong" choices with physical restraint of some kind. Leashes, fences, muzzles, crates, all count.
🤓Regiment the dog mentally: engage the dog with you and tell them how to behave in the scenario. Use contrived outcomes to reinforce.

I believe dogs want the first option the most. I think they value freedom much more than most of us think about. I think they appreciate physical regimentation the least, and I think while some dogs thrive under mental regimentation (and can even become too attached to it) those dogs need freedom just as badly as the ones who dislike to be mentally regimented.

This is the Cog Dog Club topic for discussion this week. Cog Dog Club is a monthly live call provided in my membership (both the live and the recording are available to members). Annual membership is still on sale--now to the end of the year--with code BLACKTRIDAY2025 (black TRI day, not friday!). Hope to see you there.
🔗 https://sarahstremming.com/cogdogmembership/

And now, a little video of freedom.

11/26/2025

My first black tri.
My queen.
It would have been her 17th birthday this week.
She was my guide into R+landia, onward to R+2.0 and beyond into the relationship centered, welfare-forward, holistic model I embody today.

It’s black tri day coming up and my membership is 50% off. It’s a place where I share everything I’ve learned, including wisdom from queen Idgie.

The code is BLACKTRIDAY2025, it’s at https://sarahstremming.com/cogdogmembership/

11/24/2025

🤩It's that time of year! The best day is Black Tri Day. From now until the end of 2025 join my membership for a whopping 50% off the ticket price.

What's included?
🤓 Access to all of my courses available for purchase
⭐ Exclusive access to all past webinars
📚 Access to courses not available for individual purchase
💻 Monthly live calls, and all past monthly calls
🤝 Community forum that is inclusive and informative

https://sarahstremming.com/cogdogmembership/

10/29/2025

As I say in the podcast, if you think a robot can do my job you grossly misunderstand my job. 😇

Behavior pros, is AI coming for your job? Yeah, k…

10/24/2025

Here’s the thing: I tell my dogs no. And I teach my clients how to communicate to their dogs when a behavior should not be repeated or continued. Pretending that’s not part of the equation is a mistake.

But it’s a drop in the ocean of the actual work.

The real skill, the true magic, is in the yes. Most people have no idea how to tell their dogs which behaviors should be repeated or continued in ways that actually matter; and that’s a vital skill to master. The vast majority of lasting behavior change comes from fulfilling the complex minds and bodies of the dogs in our care while crafting environments in which we can effectively apply our “yes” skills.

09/07/2025

"If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared - most of all - to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself... then truth will not be withheld from you."
(Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love)

Thank you, Felix. For flipping every single thing I’d ever been taught on its head. You were a gift and I will miss you for the rest of my life.

June 3, 2015–September 6, 2025

07/11/2025

🎉 EPISODE 400

🎙️Cog Dog Radio is 9 years old and 400 episodes deep. Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoy this conversation about capacity with Karishma Warr.

In this special episode of Cog Dog Radio join Sar…

06/18/2025

Are mistakes necessary for learning? Are they ever beneficial?

Dog trainers LOVE to talk about errorless learnin…

06/11/2025

Your response to any given trigger matters.

Should you approach your young dog’s reactions to…

06/03/2025

Sit down this week with Sarah and Tara Stillwell, a licensed family dog mediator of the working division who co-owns Glimmer Dog where the innovative Forrest School operates. Forrest School integrates natural environments, stable social groups, and support and skill development to solve all manner of behavioral concerns in dogs.

Join Tara June 16 for her webinar all about Forrest School, and use the link below or the discount code COGDOG20.
https://glimmer.dog/forrest-school-webinar?promo=COGDOG20

Sit down this week with Sarah and Tara Stiwell, a…

04/15/2025

In dog sports the dog can’t be an equal teammate because the human is fully in charge. But a dog can be treated like a partner or they can be treated like a tool, and it is important in either case to know what your values are and stick to them.

In dog sports the dog can’t be an equal teammate …

04/01/2025

🏳️‍⚧️🥰

Happy Trans Day of Visibility. We see you. 🏳️‍⚧️