Benson Ranch Livestock Guardian Dog Training

21/05/2026

19/05/2026

There is just no end to the super-cool things you can do with animals! Food can be provided to animals in ways that enrich their brains as well! Getting enough to eat is important, of course, but so are mental challenges. Animals, all of us, love to solve puzzles!

17/05/2026

I love this post, particularly the very last sentence!

The truth is, we’re all here trying to encourage you to take the path we believe in when it comes to being a dog guardian.

I believe in kindness, compassion, ethics, and truly listening to what our dogs are telling us. Someone else may tell you dogs need hierarchy, control, dominance, or “a strong leader.”

But the reality is: you have to be your dog’s advocate.

You have to stay open to learning, to current data and science, to thinking critically about the impact our choices have on our dogs, not just whether the behaviour changes in a way that benefits us.

Our choices matter.

There is a lot of strategic marketing in the dog world. A lot of promises of obedience, quick fixes, and “perfect behaviour.” But stop and ask yourself: at what cost for the dog!!

Remove the human desire for compliance, quietness, and convenience for a moment. Instead, lean into compassion. Ask why. Offer support. Build trust.

Achieving goals where both sides benefit is key ( for me at least)

Dogs are not here to simply obey us. They are living, feeling beings trying to navigate the world alongside us.

Be the person your dog feels safe with, not the person they fear disappointing.

16/05/2026

So cool! I have done clicker training with these birds; they are amazingly smart and oh, so fast. It's an easy way to be reminded of humility as a trainer and a great way to hone skills as a dog trainer. Working with different species is hugely beneficial!

15/05/2026

This is an excellent protocol to follow when using a long-line to introduce LGDs to new livestock, or any other situation that makes their respiratory rate increase. Do you need to do this? That depends on how high the dog's arousal level becomes. I have a rule; I count to three and do nothing to influence the dog in that time frame. This gives the dog a chance to process what is going on and maybe hone his skill of self-soothing. However! If the dogs is really upset, I immediately move as far away from the trigger as the dog lets me know he needs - not one question asked, no failure, no shortcoming. Just information going forward. Never try to talk a dog out of what he is feeling and ALWAYS have a compassionate response.

“You’re just avoiding it" 🙄
Yes and no.
What we are avoiding is escalation.

Or if they’re already in a full verbal reaction, we are avoiding keeping them there for a second longer than necessary.

But we have to remember something really important here.

Dogs are often reacting long before we hear barking, growling or lunging.

They fixate.
Their movement changes.
The body slows and stiffens.
Breathing changes.
They can posture.
Their nervous system is already shifting.

That stronger reaction we see?
It’s often the final stage, not the beginning.

The U turn is not about pretending the trigger does not exist.
It is about recognising emotional change earlier and responding before the dog fully tips over threshold.

Distance changes behaviour.

As distance increases you will often see
• softer body language
• reduced fixation
• quicker disengagement
• less emotional intensity

And above all else, it teaches you to observe.

You begin noticing the tiny changes before the explosion happens and you start recognising patterns.
You begin trusting that your dog’s body language is giving you information, constantly.
Way before the barks.

15/05/2026

This is a beautiful post. This issue comes up for me A LOT as a trainer. I may let a client know they need better fencing, they may tell me they can't afford to fence their 40 acres, and I point out that isn't what I suggested they do. Statements like this are usually are product of fear or frustration; I just stay, keep talking, and we work it out. But grandiose statements get in the way of quick resolutions.

13/05/2026

Ken is one of the trainers I have learned the most from, having completed several courses at his facility in Washington. He even used one of my Maremmas there for several months. I do recommend the Karen Pryor Academy courses!

13/05/2026

I love being reminded that there is still kindness in the world. Today, I was asked why I have NO use in my life for obedience; for me, or my animals. Obedience, in my view, is "do it because I said so". Can you imagine how far that would take you with training goals such as this? Get real. Partnership and compassion rule the day!

12/05/2026

I really like this post; I respect her position and admire it. Free-feeding wouldn't work well for me, in most cases, but it clearly works for her dogs so good for her! And really, all the "shoulds", the multitude of cumbersome, traditional thinking about dogs. I question everything! Everyday! I will be the student of my dogs until the day I die, and indeed, my world is set up with them in mind as well. Makes us smile.

11/05/2026

This one is so, so misunderstood! Awww, he is protecting me. No! This is one of the common ways dogs learn to be aggressive. Protect your dogs. If they are uncomfortable, change the environment/situation until they relax and appear to feel safe again.

I get it, your dog growls when someone comes close to you. Yes, it could be that they are protecting you, but more likely they are protecting themselves.

Maybe the person is approaching them and you at the same time.

Maybe they only feel safe with you and the idea that the person will get between you and them is terrifying.

In clinical practice, dogs described as “protective” are often responding to perceived threat—not guarding a person, but creating distance from something that feels unsafe.

This sort of reframing is important because it reduces misconceptions and allows you to see your dog for what they really are.

If you think your dog is protecting you, you may feel that your dog loves you intensely and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you see that your dog is protecting herself and is so petrified that she couldn't stand to even be separated from you by a couple of feet then you can see that this is affecting her quality of life and it has to do less with your dog's intense love and more with his pathological anxiety.

True protection behavior is context-specific, trained, and controlled.

Fear-based aggression is reactive, generalized, and influenced by the dog’s internal state.

This distinction matters.

When fear-driven responses are misinterpreted as desirable, dogs are more likely to be placed in situations that exceed their coping capacity. Each repeated exposure reinforces the association between approach and threat.

11/05/2026

This is something I am paying a lot of attention to as I raise my little Border Collie pup. It is so important to dogs to be able to just rest comfortably.

When did nothing become so uncomfortable?

A dog lying quietly? We worry they’re bored.
A slow day? We feel guilty and fill it.
A calm moment? We fill it with action.

So the chews come out.
The games start.
And the constant stimulation begins.

It’s a fine balance here.
We absolutely need to provide opportunities for enrichment, exploration and mental stimulation.
Just not all the time.

Yes, we can “over provide .

Many reasons for this, sometimes it starts when they are very young and we are determined that all chewing will be on a toy or longer lasting chew, rather than our chair leg.
When they get bored with that, we provide another to entertain and distract.

From a very, very young age we may have begun to teach them a lesson they really don’t need to learn, that we will fill every small quiet moment with “something”.

Then slowly, without meaning to, we can create a dog that struggles with stillness and “nothing”.

Busy is now their normal.

Then:
They can’t switch off.
They pace.
They follow constantly.
They can be persistent with wanting interaction and attention.

And we think:
“They need even more stimulation.”

The loop goes around and around.