Northwest Canine Professional School and Advanced Behavior Services

19/10/2023

Sneak Peek!

The previously professional only-in-person CCSPRO foundational material is up and available for pre-order! First course releases tomorrow (10/20), full launch next week.

Link to full product line-up page on Thinkific in comments, early registration codes through December 1, 2023:

Full program without assessment $100 off: earlybird100
Full program with assessment $200 off: earlybird200

You'll be prompted to sign in for access, but there's no obligation and the intro is free.

Share freely, available internationally!

10/10/2023

It's been a very long times since I've launched something I feel so strongly about, with (happy) butterflies in my gut, but here goes:

The Operant/Foundational Material from the CCSPRO Program is...NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE. (link in comments)

If you've ever wanted to attend but found the location, cost, or commitment prohibitive, this is for you. Motivated by the increasingly harsh economic climate facing my applicants (with loans up to 26%!), and accessibility to those wanting a hard-hitting training program but not ready for immersion in the advanced course, this is for you.

Alacarte tuition or full-program discount, you can't miss. Prereq format with assessment available for those wishing to go on to the Advanced CCSPRO (dropped tuition!), or regular without assessment.

Add your name to the email list to be notified first upon release, and forward liberally. Please.

21/07/2023

 With an uptick in cougar interactions, and my own personal terror sharing space with one I have come to know better than I ever wanted, I do this to help folks stay safe and confident in a situation that can still be good.

Share with those who frequent the trails, and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want upcoming tips. Theres a bunch.


27/07/2022

Friends, Colleagues, Dog Lovers, thank you for coming to accept the invite! Northwest Canine is mightily back in full swing after being raked over the proverbial coals during the pandemic.

Because the NWSCS is classified as an institute of higher learning, we were allowed to re-open only in December '21.

Your arrival here is a great joy for me personally, as well as for the new business offerings launching over the next few months. Please look for these events:

*Reactivity Rehab by Satellite Behavior Group, Sept '22 (registration open, remote/travel booking available)

*A brand new team of my own trainers again in Seattle in Oct '22 (released on website Aug '22). Remote booking available, all sessions in person.

*CCS Professional Evening course at SPSCC Jan '23
(Application window open)

*CCS Professional Weekend course at SPSCC April '23
(Application window open)

Lastly, look to the horizon for an announcement like none other from us before. We're working on a brand new certified professional program never seen before in the US--and we have the school and professional field to support it!

I can't wait to get my hands on your dogs again, and my face in your faces.

Huge, humble, from-my-heart thank you.
Cristine Dahl, Owner
www.nwcanine.com

13/10/2021

Can’t help but share a comment from one of our most successful grads, Charity Knight, in response to the current professional trainer and behaviorist class in session in Seattle.

She KNOWS the state of the field…and she knows the Sattelite/Regard method is revolutionary while humane. We haven’t seen something like this in over a decade, and owners are taking notice…our waiting list reflects it.

If you or someone you know is contemplating a career pivot, there has never been a better time.

I do what I love every single day.

You really can, too.

https://www.northwestschoolofcaninestudies.com

Northwest Canine | Home of the Northwest School of Canine Studies, Ignite Behavior Group, and the Lodge at DogWood

01/07/2021

We know what NOT to do. Here’s what TO DO! 🙏🏼

30/03/2021

I almost NEVER push rehoming stuff here, and this is NOT a break from that general position except this:

This is THE most genius adoption writing I've ever seen. This writer needs a bigger reach!

03/03/2021

I’m usually very deliberate in how I use compassion with my clients and students making mistakes. I genuinely love people and it comes naturally.

But for all that is holy this is THE STUPIDEST CHALLENGE I’VE SEEN YET AND IT IS UP TO ADULTS TO HELP.

Never. EVER. Take your dog’s bone or other resource away in this manner, child or adult. Parents/guardians, this is YOUR responsibility. I’ll bet both kidneys there’s will be bites to children and euthanasia of dogs for this.

On the upside, it’s hard to get bite encounter videos, so we’ll be flush there.

Like share and subscribe xoxo.

14/01/2021

OMD, you guys! (and gals and folk)

THIS is Ruby Keefe. She's a fairly recent grad, and particularly clever and wonderful. An unrelated friend sent me this and asked, "have you seen this?" knowing what it would do to my mood.

This is wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Walking with Regard. Quiet connection, massive diminished or disappearance of reactivities before a formal D&C plan is even needed, and just listen to the coaching from Ruby. THIS is NWSCS. These are CCS's.

You all make me proud and happy every single day in your earnest trust in the methods we use and hard work to learn them. That you then go on to teach them to owners is....well, it is literally a dream come true.

I live my mission through you. For that, I am forever humbled and grateful.

Four-day Walking with Regard workshops are packaged and simmering on my desk, ready for booking when restrictions lift. The essential workbook is finalizing trademarks and legal business now, expected to roll out this year, too.

2021, you're our oyster. And Ruby? Yours can be tofu. xoxox

15/10/2020

Pro-tip: Reck is trained to these blankets as spots to target in new areas until he learns where he’s allowed and not allowed.

We’re slowly moving into the new Lodge at DogWood where behavior is key.

It’s easy for him to “get it right” everywhere we go if that blanket comes with. Lots of front-end loading and the result is spectacular. Its part of our new Board and Train House rules!

15/09/2020

Have you ever thrown the ball for your dog and he loves it and you keep throwing it for his life and then one day, out of the blue, you stop?

You know that look on his face then?

That was my March 16th face.

As a small business, the NWSCS was knocked off our paws hard by COVID changes in March. This seasoned entrepreneur had long since settled into a cozy routine of hard days working dogs and loving people, buttoned up by hot showers and tiny piles of ibuprofen.

Two choices then; adapt or perish.

I've yet known a dog to accept perish, so that's good enough for us.

Six months. Long hours, tired bones, exhausted brains, weary relationships, seriously thinking outside the box, tenaciously pushing boundaries, and wrestling alternatives. A slow, steady, deep water turn for this tanker. It's harder at 45 than 25. I'll try to remember that next time. Also, remember there will be a next time.

But I am proud of, comforted and excited by, the joy of announcing our brand new organization. None of our new services are "instead of" or "until COVID [fill in the blank]." They are primary lines of business that thrill my heart and soul.

I humbly invite you to newly familiarize yourself with our parent company, Northwest Canine, as home of the Northwest School of Canine Studies, the Lodge at DogWood, and Ignite Behavior Group.

Ignite Behavior Group is booking now, and the NWSCS is taking Spring 2021 applications for Seattle. Board & Train and the Lodge booking opens later this month for reservations starting in October

Need some assistance with your canine companion? Have no fear, Cristine Dahl is here! Drop us a line and see if we can help!

08/06/2020

We've just published to the website information pertaining to COVID-19 and the Northwest School of Canine Studies, Ignite Behavior Consulting Group, and Cristine Dahl, Speaker/Coach. Thank you.

The NWSCS has published an official statement on services and how they are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

21/02/2020

Pro Tip! NAIL TRIMMING

Owners (and even pros) dread cutting nails with the #1 reason for avoiding it being fear of cutting too short. Next is aggression.

There are lots of ways to humanely clip nails, with this being my favorite for small dogs.

I place a folded towel on the counter for Truman’s comfort and security.

One spoonful of peanut butter smeared on the bar. The picture is a dollop...I spread it out a little before I begin.

As long as he’s licking, I’m clipping. If he stops, I stop. When he starts again, I start.

This ability for him to partially control what’s happening, (licking=trimming, no licking=no trimming) just keeps strengthening our relationship by changing the monologue of husbandry to a dialogue.

For those of you using the leadership and whole dog approach, the decision is “having nails trimmed,” the choices are “lick or don’t lick.”

31/01/2020

Note from Cristine:

"Hello All! I've just returned from a planned month-long cyber cleanse for personal and professional growth (thank you for the inspiration, C. Maleka!).

The experience itself was not only incredible (so uncomfortable, ranges of emotions, etc) but transformative. All great.

Please look for the formal announcement of my brand new advanced behavior consulting team, Ignite Behavior Group, serving the veterinary, commercial, and consumer markets in 2020.

Comprised of our most talented and accomplished CCSs, we're answering a need severely under and inadequately served since I started in this field 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, if you haven't peeped our recent doings, check'em out! (CCSPRO Seattle is running a monster 2020 session starting in Feb, Fall in Olympia is already filling).

WWW.NWCANINESTUDIES.COM for the direct site, or click below for our most recent video.

PS. Cybercleanse takeaway; I still hate Facebook."

23/10/2019

Over its twelve years, the NWSCS has watched the CCS community organically develop its own culture of support, camaraderie, and care unlike any other group of humane practitioners.

I don’t do enough bragging on the CCS (Certificate in Canine Studies) grads, who tirelessly reshape the canine behavior landscape in truly measurable ways. They need to be celebrated widely, and I’m going to work on doing just that.

Simon’s Hope is the brainchild of 2018 graduate, Charity Knight, (Salem, OR) and I find myself struck silent each time I read of what she’s up to next. Always spot-on with her info, always ethically solid, and my favorite thing about Charity’s work; her unwavering compassion and dedication to PEOPLE through dogs.

Please please take a moment to follow Simons Hope, read what they’re up to, and relax into a smile.

Here’s to Charity and Simons Hope!

“He’s being the alpha dog.”
“She’s dominant.”
“You have to be the pack leader.”

We’ve heard these phrases before. There’s always people telling you that your dog needs a firm pack structure and that you need to be in charge otherwise your dog will think he is the leader and take over your household with disastrous consequences.

‼️FALSE‼️

The knowledge now is that dogs and wolves descended from a common ancestor. Dogs do not live in a pack structure. Left to their own devices, they form loose social groups, not structured packs. We can see this clearly in international stray dog populations.

There’s no such thing as an alpha dog or pack leader.

💟 Don’t try to be a pack leader. Try to be a better guardian. Be the leader who wants their learner (dog) to be successful. 💟

If you need help with your dog’s behavior, look for a trainer who uses positive, reward-based methods (where the dog is rewarded for doing things right, not punished for things he does wrong).

If the trainer mentions phrases like “pack leader,” “dominance,” “alpha” —or suggests equipment that causes discomfort and suppresses behavior, find another trainer.

💘 Your dog is your best friend. Make sure you’re his. 💘

17/07/2019

How has it been THREE years since this incredible group graduated!!?? Team Adonalope; a standout gang of movers and shakers impacting dog welfare in big ways—pleasure to be a part of that journey.

11/07/2019

Cristine Dahl is truly a dog trainer's trainer. She runs Cristine Dahl, Northwest School of Canine Studies and she's the author of Good Dog 101, a book designed to help dog owners change behavior using humane, reward-based methods.

We are so very excited to see the work Cristine is doing with her students and to know that she's turning out the next generation of high caliber dog trainers!

30/04/2019

29/04/2019

The NWSCS CCSPRO 2019 class is in full swing and this was just one of those weekends to celebrate the school as a whole.

A group of grads attended a continuing ed conference and they found one another as community—a rarity to be celebrated in our field.

I met with two talented grads for mentorship with challenging cases and we sorted the behavior mod plans for some beautiful dogs and their people.

Huge improvements in the current CCS students in both practice and applicaiton, a visit and stay from another grad to a support the current students, and the weekend ending with spitballing and playing with another standout grad and his newest addition.

Thank you all, for letting me be a part of this amazing community, and inviting me into your ideas.

09/03/2019

Well THIS is something to celebrate!!

The effervescent, polished, talented, funny, highly-skilled Kay Attwood was just awarded the KCAI Trainer of the Year award at Crufts!

I’d admired Kay from across the globe for awhile before I had the immense pleasure of sharing the speaker stage at APDT NZ last Summer.

If you get a chance to see her, do. If you can follow her, do. If you get to be her friend? Well, then lucky you.

Congratulations, my friend!

26/02/2019

Worth the short read from one of the greats.

“Morality and science are two separate disciplines.”

"I Do Enjoy Being Kind to Other Animals" by Roger Abrantes is a MUST read. Clear and right to the point, this short blog hits the nail on the head and clarifies some of the doubts we all have in these tribulated days of ours where social media, commercialism, and demagogues seem to confuse it all for us. Please, read it. Here at the office, we gave it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://ethology.eu/i-do-enjoy-being-kind-to-other-animals/

01/02/2019

Off to see puppies!

01/02/2019

I remain firm in my position that it is positive trainers, and those who identify as such, who are driving the uptick in usage of aversives.

We need to do better. And we need to coach those around us to do better as well.

https://www.seattledogspot.com/reappearance-aversive-dog-collars/

After years and years of decline, it seems that aversive dog collars have made a comeback. In this article we examine the factors behind this disturbing trend - and why we believe the trainers have a training problem.

16/12/2018

The new CCS grad group...that first quote is the only one I can take credit for.... 😂

31/10/2018

Welcome, dear Puck!

Please meet the newest addition to Dogwood and the Dahl family. We have been given one of the greatest gifts imaginable – – the trust and care for a dog of unmatched temperament and amazing potential. Bec Lewis, you are right that Puck is the universe’s dog. We will do everything we can to make his every day here better than the one before. 🙏🏼❤️

28/10/2018

I’m teaching class here, PHIL.

22/10/2018

Though not yet officially announced, we received several CCS applications last week. Thank you for your patience while we put reviewing them on hold for the search for Fiona! Look for news by the end of this week.

22/10/2018

Sunday’s CCS class kicked butt with Lucy even levitating with joy! ❤️

21/10/2018

Yesterday’s CCS crew put in a 10 hour day finishing with a remarkable performance in student coaching!! Sleep, good pups....you’ve earned it!!