Canine Culture

19/12/2024

Physics can be predictive of future CCL disease

28/11/2024

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours! I'm incredibly grateful for all of my students and their determination to bring out the best in their dogs.

23/10/2024

I loved that there were kids bar setting this weekend. I'm also happy that my dogs didn't think a thing about it. When your dog is totally engaged with you, the rest of the world does not matter. I hope we continue to see more kids at trials and that they are welcomed like they were here. Future junior handlers in the making!

01/10/2024

📣Registration Open - October Intake
Online Dog Agility Class with Working and Active Auditing

𝑭𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑬𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔

How great would it be to improve your dog's agility course times and Love for the Game!
👉Has your dog has lost some of its desire for playing agility and is not running as fast as they could?
👉Do you just want to get a bit more speed out of your sort-of fast dog?
👉Do you struggle to make course time?
👉Join this class for a faster, more motivated and passionate teammate. Let's show your dog that running agility with you is like Doggie Disney World! Perfect for young dogs too! Learn more by clicking on the photo below!

Dog agility training to bring out the best in your Teammate. Focus on building speed, motivation and enthusiasm for competing.

05/09/2024

Why do dogs get Ring Stress? Short answer: they are NOT resilient to triggers in a competition environment that causes too much anxiety. They can't cope. The top 5 triggers are:

1. Other Dogs
2. Humans
3. Sound/Motion
4. Reinforcement Frustration
5. Late Handling (you)

All dogs that compete have stress. I estimate that about half of the dogs are coping (resilient), and the other half are not coping. If you have a dog that is anxious, too excited, or demotivated, they have Ring Stress. This just means they are not mentally able to give their best performances. I find that most dogs with Ring Stress are triggered by multiple things in the list above, plus maybe a few other issues are at play too. Dogs navigate the human world through associations they have formed over certain situations and in environments. What does your dog associate agility competitions with? Is it positive or negative? A worried dog could be associating it with other dogs its not comfortable around (reactivity). Or with a history of late handling and being corrected in the ring (confidence deflated). Or with loud sounds or dogs running in the ring (sound/motion sensitivity).

The long answer to why dogs get ring stress has much to do with the effects of neurobiological processes at work in the brain. When dogs become over-aroused by a trigger, hormones are produced. The physical signs you may see in your dog will have you think that your dog is either unmotivated to run (goes slow, sniffs, etc) or has extreme excitement (barking, spinning, running).

28/08/2024

Missed training opportunities. I see them frequently in agility. Answer the dog's question with immediate reward when they are unsure. Questions are moments of hesitations, head checks, and then they commit to the obstacle. Instead of building a skill, handlers just continue on in their sequence FAILING to reinforce the dog's answer to that questionable moment. In order to build skills, "rewarding to the dog" reinforcement must occur. Don't miss these moments. Train smarter, reinforce smarter. Pay the dog a CEO salary for answering these questions correctly.

24/08/2024

The West Coast seminar tour is in full swing. Just arrived at Corral Creek Dog Sport Center where I'll be presenting my signature Ring Stress Seminar on Saturday and Ring Impulse Control on Sunday. Let's build resilience!

15/08/2024

Proofed Obedience for Agility
✅️ Sit
✅️ Down
✅️ Stay
✅️ Come
✅️ Leave it
✅️ Place/Station

Without these skills, my dogs would not have the success we've achieved in agility. But honestly, I am most proud of their training that shines out in public and around triggering stimuli 🧡🧡🧡

Most agility training centers now require that a dog have graduated obedience classes before starting agility. I concur! So what does obedience have to do with agility?

✅️ Arousal control
✅️ Engagement
✅️ Focus
✅️ Listening
✅️ Relationship
✅️ Teamwork
✅️ Structure

Just to name a few. What else do you think it helps with?

13/08/2024

Barrier Reinforcement Frustration is real. Many handlers stand right outside the gate waiting their turn while feeding treats to their dog. As soon as you go in, the reinforcement stops. Dogs are incredibly savvy and know that "things" are different on the other side of the gate. It is a source of stress for many dogs. Many handlers have commented to me "he is happy outside the gate, but the moment we go in, he is stressed". How we use reinforcement at classes, seminars and our backyards is significant. What to reinforce, when to reinforce, how to reinforce and where is the reinforcer are factors that take careful consideration. Are you building a resilient dog for competition by how you reinforce in practice? Training and trialing should look the same to our dogs. We don't run in competition with food on our bodies. We don't shovel treats continously before we go out and practice. So what can we do? First, get food off your body. Put it in a cookie jar, Treat n Train, lotus ball, fur pouch and practice remote reinforcement and delayed gratification. Second, stop feeding treats at least 15ft away from ring gates. Use a practical pattern like the up/down game for focus & engagement while waiting your turn to run. If needed, add an arousal game to your Start Routine, to get your dog in Peak Performance on the way to the start line.

30/07/2024

Overfacing the dog is asking a dog to do more than what your training has prepared him for. Pay careful attention to not ask confusing questions.

17/07/2024

It's a Continuing Education day for me. I want to stay at the forefront of my craft. Because I specialize in dog behavior issues in agility, i.e. reactivity, I am always expanding my knowledge base and brushing up on my skills. I'm also getting CEU's to maintain my Certification. I'm a big proponent of the notion that whenever you stop learning about dog training, you should stop training dogs. So here's to the pursuit of more eloquence in my tool bag!

07/07/2024

📣2 Seminar Spots open
Ring Impulse Control 8/25
Corral Creek Dog Sports
Newberg, Oregon
Register here: https://www.canineculturecompany.com/Forms.aspx?FormID=484

01/06/2024

Training in the ring FEO

Here's how I like to start the day. First part of the video is of my 8 yr old doing a speed loop that is fast in and fast out. I opt for toy outside the ring. She prefers it thrown 👍

Second part of the video is 18 month old Whoopi getting Seesaw and A-frame rewarded. It's so important to reinforce your criteria. I didn't reward the first Seesaw cause she slid off.... she tried, it was so close. She has a "4 on" behavior. Frame was perfection 😊🎆🧨

31/05/2024

I like these reminders posted on the ring gates.