Blog

Join me as we kick off a monthly series: 

"Preventing and Managing Common Problems". 

This month’s topic: Scent Articles

In this video, I dig into some of the most common challenges handlers face, ...

I was training a Golden Retriever for field trial competition, a competitive event where hunting dogs compete against one another in retrieving and other aspects of bird hunting. He had developed a pr...

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Considering the incredible power of your dog’s nose, none of us should be surprised when they want to sniff. However, we must be able to communicate when it’s appropriate to sniff and when it is ...

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Commit to practicing keeping your dog focused and attentive as you walk into the ring!

That transition—from warm-up to the start of your performance—is more important than many handlers realize....

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Warming up to perform can be difficult, especially at the larger, crowded shows.

For those situations, I teach my dog to wait on a portable bed, and to "Find Heel," by coming off the bed with in...

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Many obedience skills just aren’t naturally fun for most dogs. Sure, they may love to jump, retrieve, or even heel—but sitting squarely or doing position changes with enthusiasm? Not so much.😏

S...

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One of the most common problems obedience handlers encounter is a slow return on the Scent Discrimination exercise. Your dog trots to the pile, finds the correct article… and then seems to deflate ...

Scent Discrimination involves two skills. First the dog must learn to recognize the desired odor, then he must communicate that he has found the odor. This is called offering an alert.

Traditionally,...

Let's discuss some scenarios that force the dog to look for the handler's odor, not the most heavily scented article in the pile.

When performing Scent Articles, you want your dog looking for the ar...

Automatic finishes can be a frustrating issue, especially when they only seem to happen in the ring and not during training. 

In this video, I’ll discuss common reasons why dogs default to an automat...

Matches are valuable, but often scarce - let’s make the most of every opportunity! In today’s video, I’ll discuss strategies to use match time effectively, whether you’re prepping for a show or tackli...

The "Stand for Exam" might seem like one of the simpler exercises, but as many handlers know, it can present some unique challenges! Two common issues I often hear about are: “My dog doesn’t like bein...

The rule book says that a judge should “hold a picture of a perfect performance.” When it comes to heeling, do you hold such a picture?

For me, perfection involves rhythm and smoothness, on both the ...

We spend a lot of time talking about Reward Markers. Do you use a "no-Reward Marker?" That is, can you communicate to your dog that a behavior will not make reward happen?

Especially when your dog is...

If you enjoy training your dog, it comes as no surprise that you are participating in multiple venues. Add the complexity of multiple dogs to multiple venues, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed as yo...

Competing in obedience for a weekend implied two trials, one Saturday and one Sunday. Each trial had 6 classes: Novice A & B, Open A & B and Utility A & B.

Now we’re faced with far more choices. Many c...

When my dog has a disappointing performance on Saturday, I am almost always willing to try again on Sunday. However, I absolutely train between the shows, addressing both the exercise(s) that my dog f...

It certainly seems that after you teach your dog to perform the obedience exercises, you should be able to go to an obedience trial, and earn your title.  Unfortunately, simply learning the skills is ...

Do you have a dog that whines when setting up for a retrieve, or barks when sent on a go-out?

Noise in the ring can be a difficult problem to tackle!

How can you clearly communicate to your dog that...

Becoming a proficient obedience team requires repetition and rehearsing, but dogs are at their best, that is engaged and attentive, when they are learning new skills.

Inexperienced Dogs are always le...