I read a dog training quote that said “If we give our dogs treats, rewards, and praise for nothing, what are we left with?” The vast majority of federal agencies using dogs prefer toy reward to food reward. There are good arguments for both. Your puppy will take time to develop the extreme desire to […]

I have been a passionate dog sports person for 36 years. I started in Schutzhund and have started a half dozen clubs across the nation as it evolved into its present state. Clubs are a relaxed environment that allow for a lot of observation of the dog/handler team across different disciplines (Tracking, Obedience, and Protection). […]

I was watching a TSA instructor working with a student and his canine. The dog was searching passengers waiting in a moving queue through those retractable stanchions. The handler had to approach each passenger as a potential target and continue to search in this scenario for up to 20 minutes. The student was a little […]

[accordion] [accordion_panel title="2019"] December Understanding reinforcement in detection dogs Play is pay!!! July  Training with food machines Creating behavioral pathways June Let's talk about food reward [/accordion_panel] [/accordion] [accordion] [accordion_panel title="2018"] December An Economy of Resources Generalization versus specialization Self reward/self discovery [/accordion_panel] [/accordion]  

[accordion] [accordion_panel title="2019"] June Our journey to today [/accordion_panel] [/accordion] [accordion] [accordion_panel title="2018"] October The Jackson Laboratory studies: Then and Now [/accordion_panel] [/accordion]

The first AKC Detection Dog Conference revealed a basic dilemma: There was a considerable gap in the supply chain between the person who breeds dogs and the person wanting to train dogs for sale as a detection dog training candidate. That gap was the development period. Breeders like to sell puppies, whereas those training detection […]

[accordion] [accordion_panel title="2020"] March Genetics of anxiety January  Why Assessing Canine Behavior is so Important [/accordion_panel] [/accordion]

[accordion] [accordion_panel title="2020"] June The two dog trainer paradox Catching up!!! Obedience or no? May Trying to simplify April Costs Theory and practicality (a short review) Lemonade January Citizen Science [/accordion_panel] [/accordion] [accordion] [accordion_panel title="2019"] December Wishful thinking versus training A global problem October Terminology June  Our journey to today Who I am and how […]

The first AKC Detection Dog Conference revealed a basic dilemma: There was a considerable gap in the supply chain between the person who breeds dogs and the person wanting to train dogs for sale as a detection dog training candidate. That gap was the development period. Breeders like to sell puppies, whereas those training detection […]

The other day, Molly and I were working the puppies through Tractor Supply. As I got out Pitter Patter, an older woman was in the parking lot with a German Shepherd puppy. Her puppy was showing obvious aggression toward the Malinois puppy, so I moved quickly and got the pup in a routine of following […]