Upcoming courses

Excessive barking, intense staring, circling around? Lunging towards cars, bikes and other moving things and not wanting to stop doing these behaviors? Loads of energy and difficulties to relax? Intelligent and learning new things fast? A herding breed dog can be the best companion you will ever have, but also behave in ways we humans find disruptive. The typical behaviors for herding breeds were very useful when working on the farm but may cause challenges in urban environments. An urge to stop a moving car might even cost a dog’s life. Deal with herding dog’s problems with Saara!

Herding dog’s problems can look like:

• Stalking moving things intensively
• Freezing to stalk something that is not moving
• Lunging towards moving things
• Nibbling ankles, shoes and things that go by
• Very fast movements
• Fast reacting to small changes in environment
• Tendency to circle around objects or living things
• Tendency to outrun moving things and turn in front of them
• Excessive barking
• Difficulties to turn away from things
• Strong need to control surroundings
• Not being able to respond even to familiar cues when executing these behaviors
• High arousal when restrained executing these behaviors
• Low frustration tolerance

The origin of the breeds lies in the purposeful reinforcing of different aspects of the hunting behavior chain through generations for various purposes where dogs were useful to humans. Herding breeds such as border collies, corgis and heelers have been bred for intense working on herding sheep and other cattle for centuries. Nowadays very few of them actually work on farms, but the genetic behavior models may still be very strong. Fortunately, we have dog-friendly ways to help these amazing breeds to cope with their impulses and redirect them.

In this herding dog’s problems solver course we will investigate following:

• Why are the herding related behavior models existing and usually very strong
• How can we help our herding breed dogs to relax trough enrichment
• How to offer opportunities to work and think in a safe context
• What kind of skills are important for the dog considering preventing the non-desirable herding
• And how to teach them in a dog friendly, consent and reward based manner

This course is suitable for all herding breeds of different ages. If you have a young puppy, it is the best time to teach these skills strong. When you have an adult dog with a history of executing herding behaviors, you need to be prepared for working a long time since the herding behaviors tend to get stronger just by executing or even only starting to do them.

You will learn to:

• Understand your dog’s behavior and needs better
• Provide enrichment for daily basis to help your dog to feel good and relax
• Redirect behavioral needs to more suitable targets
• Practices to manage situations where your dog “loses it”
• Find working rewards and how to increase their value if needed
• Ways to let your dog to use his intelligence and desire to work
• Teach variable skills through different exercises for your dog to help him cope with the inner impulses

By training these subjects you will help your dog to feel more relaxed, choose behaviors that are more suitable for the context and prevent over-arousal, possibly dangerous situations from happening. The daily living with your dog will not be so stressful anymore -for both of you. Consent and reward based training and feeling more secure with your dog increases the quality of dog-human relationship.

Your dog may also be able to perform better in group classes and dog sports as he is not constantly searching for opportunities to herd and is thus able to focus on you.

Week 1: Understanding the origin of herding breeds, Enrichment

Week 2: Impulse control and flexibility, Wellbeing

Week 3: Alternative behaviors 1, management

Week 4: Redirecting herding tendencies, Increasing calmness

Week 5: Alternative behaviors 2, the importance of being clear

Week 6: Desensitizing to movement

Excessive barking, intense staring, circling around? Lunging towards cars, bikes and other moving things and not wanting to stop doing these behaviors? Loads of energy and difficulties to relax? Intelligent and learning new things fast? A herding breed dog can be the best companion you will ever have, but also behave in ways we humans find disruptive. The typical behaviors for herding breeds were very useful when working on the farm but may cause challenges in urban environments. An urge to stop a moving car might even cost a dog’s life. Deal with herding dog’s problems with Saara!

Herding dog’s problems can look like:

• Stalking moving things intensively
• Freezing to stalk something that is not moving
• Lunging towards moving things
• Nibbling ankles, shoes and things that go by
• Very fast movements
• Fast reacting to small changes in environment
• Tendency to circle around objects or living things
• Tendency to outrun moving things and turn in front of them
• Excessive barking
• Difficulties to turn away from things
• Strong need to control surroundings
• Not being able to respond even to familiar cues when executing these behaviors
• High arousal when restrained executing these behaviors
• Low frustration tolerance

The origin of the breeds lies in the purposeful reinforcing of different aspects of the hunting behavior chain through generations for various purposes where dogs were useful to humans. Herding breeds such as border collies, corgis and heelers have been bred for intense working on herding sheep and other cattle for centuries. Nowadays very few of them actually work on farms, but the genetic behavior models may still be very strong. Fortunately, we have dog-friendly ways to help these amazing breeds to cope with their impulses and redirect them.

In this herding dog’s problems solver course we will investigate following:

• Why are the herding related behavior models existing and usually very strong
• How can we help our herding breed dogs to relax trough enrichment
• How to offer opportunities to work and think in a safe context
• What kind of skills are important for the dog considering preventing the non-desirable herding
• And how to teach them in a dog friendly, consent and reward based manner

This course is suitable for all herding breeds of different ages. If you have a young puppy, it is the best time to teach these skills strong. When you have an adult dog with a history of executing herding behaviors, you need to be prepared for working a long time since the herding behaviors tend to get stronger just by executing or even only starting to do them.

You will learn to:

• Understand your dog’s behavior and needs better
• Provide enrichment for daily basis to help your dog to feel good and relax
• Redirect behavioral needs to more suitable targets
• Practices to manage situations where your dog “loses it”
• Find working rewards and how to increase their value if needed
• Ways to let your dog to use his intelligence and desire to work
• Teach variable skills through different exercises for your dog to help him cope with the inner impulses

By training these subjects you will help your dog to feel more relaxed, choose behaviors that are more suitable for the context and prevent over-arousal, possibly dangerous situations from happening. The daily living with your dog will not be so stressful anymore -for both of you. Consent and reward based training and feeling more secure with your dog increases the quality of dog-human relationship.

Your dog may also be able to perform better in group classes and dog sports as he is not constantly searching for opportunities to herd and is thus able to focus on you.

Week 1: Understanding the origin of herding breeds, Enrichment

Week 2: Impulse control and flexibility, Wellbeing

Week 3: Alternative behaviors 1, management

Week 4: Redirecting herding tendencies, Increasing calmness

Week 5: Alternative behaviors 2, the importance of being clear

Week 6: Desensitizing to movement

Does your dog growl, bark, lunge or show fear when seeing other dogs and people on walks and at home? Do you struggle to keep your dog calm and relaxed when out and about? We can help you with that! Linlin knows everything about management and training for reactive dogs!

When it comes to reactive dog training, handlers have two toolboxes: management and training.

Management, in my understanding, involves the handler making the choice for the dog. It doesn’t actively change the dog’s emotions but management helps to reduce reactive frequency to prevent trigger stacking and rehearsal of the unwanted behavior. Training for reactive dogs, on the other hand, involves the dog making the decisions. As a handler, our job is to make sure the dog makes the right decision.

This course focuses on everything you need to know about living with a reactive dog. You will learn useful management skills for real life dog walking to reduce the frequency and intensity of your dog’s reactions, and strategies to help your dog recover after a reaction. You will learn essential training for reactive dogs skills and fun and predictable pattern games to actively change your dog’s feelings towards triggers—dogs, people, sounds, etc. This course will also discuss many reactive dog related topics and how to take care of the other end of leash—because we need to take care of ourselves in order to be good advocates for our reactive dogs.

Having a reactive dog can be hard and lonely. But we are in this together! <3

Course outline

Management skills: 

• Error-less learning wait at door and reorientation at the door
• Leash handling
• Leash skill: Emergency U-turn
• Leash skill: Touch
• Leash skill: Switching sides
• Leash skill: Changing speed
• Leash skill: 1-2-3 (Control Unleashed^TM)
• Mat work
• Find it
• Name game

Training skills:

• Look at that (Control Unleashed^TM)
• Pattern games for operant counter conditioning

Discussions:

• Safe enrichment ideas for reactive dogs
• Equipment: collar, harness, leash, and clicker
• Self-care as a reactive dog owner
• “But my dog is not food motivated!”
• What to do when my dog hurts my hand when taking treats?
• Putting it together: when to use management and when to use training

In this class, we will work specifically to have third parties perform care such as the veterinarian, osteopath or groomer.

It is intended for people who have completed Level 1 and who want to translate the techniques learned to the care done by professionals (the foundations of cooperative care will not be re-explained, your dog must master consent behaviors before entering this class).

Veterinary visits are often anxious times for our dogs and for us as well.

Knowing that your dog is going to be stressed at the clinic prompts many pet owners to postpone care. The objectives of this class will be to make these visits more enjoyable for our dogs so that their emotional well-being is also taken into account in the care, not just their physical well-being.

Among other things, we will discuss how:

• Make clinic visits enjoyable.
• Prepare your dog in case of hospitalization.
• Generalize your co-operative care skills in other environments.
• Prepare for the most common veterinary care.
• Working with a third party.
• Work in collaboration with your clinic.

But if you haven’t started such training yet, nothing is lost!

Start cooperative training today! Your dog will thank you for it.

This course is dedicated to getting the highest level of fluency in our behaviors by getting geeky and diving deep into each training session.

How do we do that?

The short answer is: We focus on behavior! Both ours, and our learnes behavior.

We are going to analyze everything in the session, both from the handlers position and timing, to everything the dogs does.

So I will emphasize,- this course is geeky, and it is a good thing, if you are prepared to use quite a lot of time, of practicing using the schedules, and being comfortable with just focusing on behavior.

You will, as a premium participant, be asked to fill out quite a few schedules ad homework, to get comfortable with them.

Analyzing our sessions to this degree can be slightly scary and seem overwhelming in the beginning.

Luckily, as with anything else, the more we practice doing it the right way, the more fluent in behavior we become. And what we leave this course with, is very fine-tuned observation skills, that will help us in the future. Both when we want to improve our own sessions, and also if we are helping someone else. Having practiced your observational skills, takes you a big step towards being a favorite training partner.

In this course, we will work on a few specific behaviors that you would like to have perfected. You can chose some, or I can suggest some. This course is not about teaching as many behaviors as possible – that is the “Off cue- off control” course. Here, we dive much deeper into fewer behaviors.
We work with the learner offering the behavior off cue and perfecting it, till we have the behaviors freakishly fluent.

This is a course where there is going to be a significant amount of work, taking data, and reviewing the videos from every session, again and again.
We use a lot of benchmarking schedules to track the progress, and you will learn how to take your training to the next level with this tool.

This course covers:

• Introduction to what fluency is and how we get it
• The science and definitions behind it
• Benchmarking schedules on the following topics
  • Timing
  • Criteria
  • Reinforcement
  • Off cue behaviors
  • Stimulus control
  • Chaining
  • Training focus
  • Mechanical skills

When this course finishes, the goal is for you to have ninja skills in clicker training, and have freakishly fluent behaviors!

Set your puppy up for success! 

The number one reason for dogs being handed over to an animal shelter or rehomed is behavioral issues. Those issues start in puppyhood and many of them can be avoided with the right plan and actions. 

Raising a puppy is filled with a lot of joy and cuteness but also an equal amount of frustration! Even professional dog trainers with the new puppy have days when they question their decision to get one in the first place! The path to raising a puppy is not easy! That’s why it’s best to do it with others who understand you. Join this course with other puppy caregivers to have the community to lean on when things get tough. 

Learning the best practices now will equip you with everything you need for your pup’s future. Set your puppy up for success and create a relaxed life for both of you! Having a dog doesn’t have to be a struggle. Let me help you create a strong relationship so you will be able to call your dog your best friend that you always wanted. 

Why would you consider joining the course and setting your puppy up for success?

• Starting with your puppy from a get-go will help you avoid any aggressive behaviors from ever developing in your puppy,
• You will learn how to avoid separation anxiety which not only saves your furniture from shredding and your neighbors from complaining but also increases your puppy’s wellbeing which often translates to lower vet bills!
• Teaching your pup how to navigate through a human world will eliminate the embarrassment of having your puppy behave in an inappropriate way like get spooked and run or bark at things, 
• Teaching your pup how to greet people and dogs politely will save you from uncomfortable conversations and apologizing for your pup’s behavior,
• You will learn how to teach your puppy to ‘settle ‘ which will allow you to take your pup out and about to a cafe or a pub and enjoy uninterrupted time with your friends.

Some of the lessons in the course:

• Toilet training
• Puppy biting and play with toys
• The importance of sleep and teaching settle 
• Being left alone – first steps to avoid separation anxiety
• Body language essentials
• Socialization with people and dogs
• Puppy play with other puppies and/or dogs
• Exposure to life in a household (inanimate object, sounds, etc)
• Exposure to life in a human world (cars, traffic, etc)
• 4 paws on the floor and how to avoid jumping up on people
• Handling exercises and vet visits
• Enrichment

Set your puppy up for success! 

The number one reason for dogs being handed over to an animal shelter or rehomed is behavioral issues. Those issues start in puppyhood and many of them can be avoided with the right plan and actions. 

Raising a puppy is filled with a lot of joy and cuteness but also an equal amount of frustration! Even professional dog trainers with the new puppy have days when they question their decision to get one in the first place! The path to raising a puppy is not easy! That’s why it’s best to do it with others who understand you. Join this course with other puppy caregivers to have the community to lean on when things get tough. 

Learning the best practices now will equip you with everything you need for your pup’s future. Set your puppy up for success and create a relaxed life for both of you! Having a dog doesn’t have to be a struggle. Let me help you create a strong relationship so you will be able to call your dog your best friend that you always wanted. 

Why would you consider joining the course and setting your puppy up for success?

• Starting with your puppy from a get-go will help you avoid any aggressive behaviors from ever developing in your puppy,
• You will learn how to avoid separation anxiety which not only saves your furniture from shredding and your neighbors from complaining but also increases your puppy’s wellbeing which often translates to lower vet bills!
• Teaching your pup how to navigate through a human world will eliminate the embarrassment of having your puppy behave in an inappropriate way like get spooked and run or bark at things, 
• Teaching your pup how to greet people and dogs politely will save you from uncomfortable conversations and apologizing for your pup’s behavior,
• You will learn how to teach your puppy to ‘settle ‘ which will allow you to take your pup out and about to a cafe or a pub and enjoy uninterrupted time with your friends.

Some of the lessons in the course:

• Toilet training
• Puppy biting and play with toys
• The importance of sleep and teaching settle 
• Being left alone – first steps to avoid separation anxiety
• Body language essentials
• Socialization with people and dogs
• Puppy play with other puppies and/or dogs
• Exposure to life in a household (inanimate object, sounds, etc)
• Exposure to life in a human world (cars, traffic, etc)
• 4 paws on the floor and how to avoid jumping up on people
• Handling exercises and vet visits
• Enrichment

This course will be the first of the three part heelwork series!

Vol 1. focuses on stationary exercises and prerequiste skills.

What is the first exercise that comes to your mind when you think about competing in obedience?  Let me guess – heelwork? On the other hand, it is also the exercise that most of teams stuggle with and have a hard time breaking it down into teachable units.

If you are just starting, this course will be perfect for you. You will learn foundations for heelwork that will score the maximum number of points.  How to teach a dog the correct head position?  What should the perfect pivot look like?  How to teach it all with errorless progression?  You will get the answers in this course!

The course will also benefit teams who already take part in the competition, but would like to improve their results.  It doesn’t matter if – your dog sits crookedly, pivtos with his butt on the ground or drops his head every 5 seconds – together we will go through this process and build a perfect routine.

Close your eyes and imagine the perfect heelwork you would like to achieve.  Can you see it?  Good, we will build solid fundaments to achieve this picture within six weeks!  There is one condition – you must sign up for this course with me 😄

Week 1:

• defining criteria for a perfect heelwork
• different rules for different venues
• how to break down heelwork into teachable units
• food/toy delivery patterns
• prerequisite skills: hand touch, paw targeting

Week 2:

• prerequisite skills: backing, side movement
• head position and focal point
• pivots

Week 3:

• more pivots,
• backing,
• back to position

Week 4:

• setups
• following backward

Week 5:

• trot practice
• fading out prompts
• cues

Week 6:

• troubleshooting
• putting it all together

There will be limited number of Premium Spots!

To take this course as a Premium Member you need to finish Trainer’s Toolbox first (as Premium or Auditor)

Be ready for anything! The complex, evidence-based and extremely practical course about preparing dogs for almost any activity. Dogs, just as humans, are born for movement! And we want to make sure that they are enjoying it as long as possible in good health. Learn everything about active dog’s care!

What we do before and training may not only increase the results, but also significantly lower the risk of injuries – both acute and chronic ones. Whether we are training canine sport, handling a working dog, or just enjoying active hikes, a proper preparation for the activity is an absolute must.

This course focuses on everything that you should know about preparing the dog for activity, from warmups and cool-downs, through basics of sport dog nutrition, rest periods, useful accessories, safety rules and acute injury protocols!

Basically everything you should know to keep your dog safe and healthy during activities in one place. 

You will learn the basics of canine anatomy, useful warmup exercises and how to design, plan and match them for any activity. Also what should worry you in your dog’s behaviour and when to seek help. Plus a whole bunch of tips and tricks from over 10 years of experience in handling sport and working dogs.

This course will teach you about:

–  Basic canine anatomy
– The mechanics of movement during different activities
– Warmup exercises for every activity
– Neurological warmup exercise
– Active stretching exercises
– Planning the warmup and cool-down routine
– Protocols for sport related acute injuries and when to seek help
– Sport safety measures

– Optimising the active and rest periods during the season
– Basics of sport dog nutrition and supplementation
– Useful accessories for an active dog and owner

Dogs of all ages, breeds and occupations are most welcome*. 

Advanced sport dogs, mountain hikers, working dog, puppies, retired athletes, search dogs, literally, anyone. This course contains evidence-based essentials of and active dog care and it’s one-suits-all.

*This course is designed for active, healthy, non-obese dogs without current musculoskeletal injuries. If you are not sure whether your dog is suitable, contact a veterinarian specialised in orthopaedics or a certified physical therapist!

What does a confident canine look like? Close your eyes and try and imagine a dog that is bold, confident, sure of himself. Secure in his own paws, knowing that the world is a great place to be a dog: friendly people everywhere, lots of places to sniff and dig and roll around and a bunch of good friends to spend his time with. A dog that runs fast, plays with enthusiasm, and lights up when you suggest you´ll go on adventure together.

Then try and imagine the opposite, a dog lacking in confidence. A dog that finds the world a rather scary and unsure place, where dangers lurk behind every corner and smells, sounds, people and dogs are just too much. A dog that might just want to stay in and cuddle instead of exploring new things.

There are dogs of both kinds, and most dogs are somewhere in between – finding lots of things enjoyable and some things scary. Luckily confidence can be increased and in this course we focus on letting the dogs explore their  braveness thru games such as scent work, trick training, problem solving, balance and body awareness and enrichment.

The Canine Confidence course will expand on these subjects and we will dig deeper into all these subjects:

• Building trust and make your shy dog training savvy, by giving him a choice in the matter, and ways to say yes and no to training, being able to ask how to take a break and getting him to love training in the process.
• Exploring different reinforcers – both treats and toys that you can keep in your pocket and those that are already in the environment.
• Using shaping, scent work, problem solving skills, balance games and body awareness to boost confidence.
• Building enrichment into your dogs daily routine, giving him an outlet to be a dog without the influence of the human.

A dog that is lacking confidence can:

– have a hard time in everyday life with fear of noises, new things, people, dogs etcetera
– have a hard time solving problems on his own
– show aggressive tendensies towards people or dogs
– get performance anxiety in sports
– can look like he lacks motivation for training when he is really just worried to make a misstake
– be difficult to leave with a dog sitter and also difficult to bring to new places
– can get stress related health issues

So what are the benefits of training these things? A confident dog will often have an easier time with everyday challenges such as meeting new things, people and be braver when meeting new environments. He might also perform better in competitions and formal training sessions since he is less worried about sounds, movement etcetera and has the confidence to run fast, try new things and thoroughly enjoy himself. How great is that?

The course includes:

• Build interest in the reward
• Are you ready? – Start buttons for training
• What about the monster? – how to act when something scary appears
• Noice games
• Movement is fun!
• Balance
• Body awareness
• Trick training as a confidence booster
• Scent work
• The importance of enrichment

If your dog struggles with reactivity or shyness, or is fearful of people, objects and new environments it can be hard sometimes to get to formal training sessions or even take your dog on a walk among other dogs or people. By boosting the confidence, and not at all focus on the problem itself, you will give your dog a better chance to have a fun and enjoyable time with you and might also decrease the problematic emotions and behavior in all aspects of life.

This course is for shy and fearful dogs, but also for young dogs that need that extra socialization, old dogs that might have changes in their senses such as eyes and ears and therefore need a boost in confidence but can actually be a boost for everyone.

We will focus on fun games that can be played at home or on walks, and you will learn new and creative ways to help your dog in everyday life.

Lesson 1: foundations

Lesson 2: Tricks for confidence, balance and body awareness

Lesson 3: Noice and movement

Lesson 4: Scent work in different ways

Lesson 5: Brain games and problem solving games

Lesson 6: Enrichment – Netflix for dogs

What does a confident canine look like? Close your eyes and try and imagine a dog that is bold, confident, sure of himself. Secure in his own paws, knowing that the world is a great place to be a dog: friendly people everywhere, lots of places to sniff and dig and roll around and a bunch of good friends to spend his time with. A dog that runs fast, plays with enthusiasm, and lights up when you suggest you´ll go on adventure together.

Then try and imagine the opposite, a dog lacking in confidence. A dog that finds the world a rather scary and unsure place, where dangers lurk behind every corner and smells, sounds, people and dogs are just too much. A dog that might just want to stay in and cuddle instead of exploring new things.

There are dogs of both kinds, and most dogs are somewhere in between – finding lots of things enjoyable and some things scary. Luckily confidence can be increased and in this course we focus on letting the dogs explore their  braveness thru games such as scent work, trick training, problem solving, balance and body awareness and enrichment.

The Canine Confidence course will expand on these subjects and we will dig deeper into all these subjects:

• Building trust and make your shy dog training savvy, by giving him a choice in the matter, and ways to say yes and no to training, being able to ask how to take a break and getting him to love training in the process.
• Exploring different reinforcers – both treats and toys that you can keep in your pocket and those that are already in the environment.
• Using shaping, scent work, problem solving skills, balance games and body awareness to boost confidence.
• Building enrichment into your dogs daily routine, giving him an outlet to be a dog without the influence of the human.

A dog that is lacking confidence can:

– have a hard time in everyday life with fear of noises, new things, people, dogs etcetera
– have a hard time solving problems on his own
– show aggressive tendensies towards people or dogs
– get performance anxiety in sports
– can look like he lacks motivation for training when he is really just worried to make a misstake
– be difficult to leave with a dog sitter and also difficult to bring to new places
– can get stress related health issues

So what are the benefits of training these things? A confident dog will often have an easier time with everyday challenges such as meeting new things, people and be braver when meeting new environments. He might also perform better in competitions and formal training sessions since he is less worried about sounds, movement etcetera and has the confidence to run fast, try new things and thoroughly enjoy himself. How great is that?

The course includes:

• Build interest in the reward
• Are you ready? – Start buttons for training
• What about the monster? – how to act when something scary appears
• Noice games
• Movement is fun!
• Balance
• Body awareness
• Trick training as a confidence booster
• Scent work
• The importance of enrichment

If your dog struggles with reactivity or shyness, or is fearful of people, objects and new environments it can be hard sometimes to get to formal training sessions or even take your dog on a walk among other dogs or people. By boosting the confidence, and not at all focus on the problem itself, you will give your dog a better chance to have a fun and enjoyable time with you and might also decrease the problematic emotions and behavior in all aspects of life.

This course is for shy and fearful dogs, but also for young dogs that need that extra socialization, old dogs that might have changes in their senses such as eyes and ears and therefore need a boost in confidence but can actually be a boost for everyone.

We will focus on fun games that can be played at home or on walks, and you will learn new and creative ways to help your dog in everyday life.

Lesson 1: foundations

Lesson 2: Tricks for confidence, balance and body awareness

Lesson 3: Noice and movement

Lesson 4: Scent work in different ways

Lesson 5: Brain games and problem solving games

Lesson 6: Enrichment – Netflix for dogs

What we do before and after training may not only increase the results, but also significantly lower the risk of injuries – both acute and chronic ones. Whether we are training canine sport, handling a working dog, or just enjoying active hikes, proper warm-up and cool-down your dog is an absolute must.

Be ready for anything! The complex, evidence-based and extremely practical course about preparing dogs for almost any activity. Dogs, just as humans, are born for movement! And we want to make sure that they are enjoying it as long as possible in good health.

This course focuses on everything that you should know about preparing the dog for activity, from warmups and cool-downs, through basics of sport dog nutrition, rest periods, useful accessories, safety rules and acute injury protocols!

Basically everything you should know to keep your dog safe and healthy during activities in one place!

You will learn the basics of canine anatomy, useful warmup exercises and how to design, plan and match them for any activity. Also what should worry you in your dog’s behaviour and when to seek help. And the most important – how to warm-up and cool-down your dog! Plus a whole bunch of tips and tricks from over 10 years of experience in handling sport and working dogs.

This course will teach you about:

–  Basic canine anatomy
– The mechanics of movement during different activities
– Warmup exercises for every activity
– Neurological warmup exercise
– Active stretching exercises
– Planning the warmup and cool-down routine
– Protocols for sport related acute injuries and when to seek help
– Sport safety measures

– Optimising the active and rest periods during the season
– Basics of sport dog nutrition and supplementation
– Useful accessories for an active dog and owner

Dogs of all ages, breeds and occupations are most welcome*. 

Advanced sport dogs, mountain hikers, working dog, puppies, retired athletes, search dogs, literally, anyone. This course contains evidence-based essentials of and active dog care and it’s one-suits-all.

*This course is designed for active, healthy, non-obese dogs without current musculoskeletal injuries. If you are not sure whether your dog is suitable, contact a veterinarian specialised in orthopaedics or a certified physical therapist!

What we do before and after training may not only increase the results, but also significantly lower the risk of injuries – both acute and chronic ones. Whether we are training canine sport, handling a working dog, or just enjoying active hikes, proper warm-up and cool-down your dog is an absolute must.

Be ready for anything! The complex, evidence-based and extremely practical course about preparing dogs for almost any activity. Dogs, just as humans, are born for movement! And we want to make sure that they are enjoying it as long as possible in good health.

This course focuses on everything that you should know about preparing the dog for activity, from warmups and cool-downs, through basics of sport dog nutrition, rest periods, useful accessories, safety rules and acute injury protocols!

Basically everything you should know to keep your dog safe and healthy during activities in one place!

You will learn the basics of canine anatomy, useful warmup exercises and how to design, plan and match them for any activity. Also what should worry you in your dog’s behaviour and when to seek help. And the most important – how to warm-up and cool-down your dog! Plus a whole bunch of tips and tricks from over 10 years of experience in handling sport and working dogs.

This course will teach you about:

–  Basic canine anatomy
– The mechanics of movement during different activities
– Warmup exercises for every activity
– Neurological warmup exercise
– Active stretching exercises
– Planning the warmup and cool-down routine
– Protocols for sport related acute injuries and when to seek help
– Sport safety measures

– Optimising the active and rest periods during the season
– Basics of sport dog nutrition and supplementation
– Useful accessories for an active dog and owner

Dogs of all ages, breeds and occupations are most welcome*. 

Advanced sport dogs, mountain hikers, working dog, puppies, retired athletes, search dogs, literally, anyone. This course contains evidence-based essentials of and active dog care and it’s one-suits-all.

*This course is designed for active, healthy, non-obese dogs without current musculoskeletal injuries. If you are not sure whether your dog is suitable, contact a veterinarian specialised in orthopaedics or a certified physical therapist!

This is a course for you, if you want to work with your dog on getting a large behaviors repertoire, and rely on as little helping tools as possible.

In this course we will work with breaking down all the things you would like your learner to able to do, into single behaviors. We focus on developing multiple of the skills you and your learner need, to teach them exactly what you dream off.

We do this by shaping and capturing behaviors, and we work with them off cue, to make sure we get the exact behavior.

The focus of this course is to get the learner started on offering behaviors. We will try to build a big repetoire of behaviors, so that our learners get creative and become an very active part of our training.

If you want to start all the behaviors this course covers, there is going to be quite a lot of work – so be prepared for that.

The behaviors we will cover in this course are:

• Focus
• Targeting
• Sit
• Backing
• Heel position
• Recall
• Heeling
• Down
• Stand
• Stay
• Doggie-zen
• Hold it
• Release
• Bark
• Jump
• Search

Under each behavior box, there are several behaviors. We will go through a few of them, and you are always free to chose which behaviors you would like to focus on.

We will also discuss the topics of:

• Off cue
• Fluency
• Doggie-zen
• Cues

Pocket it! This course focus will be working without treats in hand and helping as little as possible, without leaving your animal frusrated.

We give the learner the highest rage of choice we can, and teach the learner to actively take part in the training.

This will be part 1, where you get introduced to all of the behaviors, and then select 1 to work with from every box.  In vol. 2, we will work more on fluency and adding variations to the behaviors.

This course is suitable for you, if you would like your dog to offer you more behaviors and like to shape them in the direction you want. If you already have all the above behaviors off cue, part 2 would be a suitable option for you.

This is a course for you, if you want to work with your dog on getting a large behaviors repertoire, and rely on as little helping tools as possible.

In this course we will work with breaking down all the things you would like your learner to able to do, into single behaviors. We focus on developing multiple of the skills you and your learner need, to teach them exactly what you dream off.

We do this by shaping and capturing behaviors, and we work with them off cue, to make sure we get the exact behavior.

The focus of this course is to get the learner started on offering behaviors. We will try to build a big repetoire of behaviors, so that our learners get creative and become an very active part of our training.

If you want to start all the behaviors this course covers, there is going to be quite a lot of work – so be prepared for that.

The behaviors we will cover in this course are:

• Focus
• Targeting
• Sit
• Backing
• Heel position
• Recall
• Heeling
• Down
• Stand
• Stay
• Doggie-zen
• Hold it
• Release
• Bark
• Jump
• Search

Under each behavior box, there are several behaviors. We will go through a few of them, and you are always free to chose which behaviors you would like to focus on.

We will also discuss the topics of:

• Off cue
• Fluency
• Doggie-zen
• Cues

Pocket it! This course focus will be working without treats in hand and helping as little as possible, without leaving your animal frusrated.

We give the learner the highest rage of choice we can, and teach the learner to actively take part in the training.

This will be part 1, where you get introduced to all of the behaviors, and then select 1 to work with from every box.  In vol. 2, we will work more on fluency and adding variations to the behaviors.

This course is suitable for you, if you would like your dog to offer you more behaviors and like to shape them in the direction you want. If you already have all the above behaviors off cue, part 2 would be a suitable option for you.

This is a course for you, if you want to work with your dog on getting a large behaviors repertoire, and rely on as little helping tools as possible.

In this course we will work with breaking down all the things you would like your learner to able to do, into single behaviors. We focus on developing multiple of the skills you and your learner need, to teach them exactly what you dream off.

We do this by shaping and capturing behaviors, and we work with them off cue, to make sure we get the exact behavior.

The focus of this course is to get the learner started on offering behaviors. We will try to build a big repetoire of behaviors, so that our learners get creative and become an very active part of our training.

If you want to start all the behaviors this course covers, there is going to be quite a lot of work – so be prepared for that.

The behaviors we will cover in this course are:

• Focus
• Targeting
• Sit
• Backing
• Heel position
• Recall
• Heeling
• Down
• Stand
• Stay
• Doggie-zen
• Hold it
• Release
• Bark
• Jump
• Search

Under each behavior box, there are several behaviors. We will go through a few of them, and you are always free to chose which behaviors you would like to focus on.

We will also discuss the topics of:

• Off cue
• Fluency
• Doggie-zen
• Cues

Pocket it! This course focus will be working without treats in hand and helping as little as possible, without leaving your animal frusrated.

We give the learner the highest rage of choice we can, and teach the learner to actively take part in the training.

This will be part 1, where you get introduced to all of the behaviors, and then select 1 to work with from every box.  In vol. 2, we will work more on fluency and adding variations to the behaviors.

This course is suitable for you, if you would like your dog to offer you more behaviors and like to shape them in the direction you want. If you already have all the above behaviors off cue, part 2 would be a suitable option for you.

Trust is a construct.

However, the way we interpret and experience this construct is fundamental to our lives, our relationships, and our ability to learn. We all know the sting and disorientation when someone betrays our trust, when our expectations or needs are not met, when we feel unsafe or unsure of what is about to happen, when we feel judged, penalized, or a loss of control over outcomes.

Although the laws of learning never change, gone are the days when training an animal is merely about the narrow suppression or construction of behavior. At the core of this exciting teaching and learning revolution, modern trainers are asking questions about trust. “What does trust look like for the animal I am working with?” “What is the measure of that trust?” “Can trust be measured?” “Under what conditions do I see trust occur?” Above all, what every enlightened practitioner wants to know is: “How can I build a strong trust account with the animals in my care?” And, “How can I repair trust when I’m forced to take a withdrawal?”

In this course, we will take a deep dive into what it means to “operationalize” trust in our day to day lives with our dogs (or any species with whom we spend our time). We will be asking lots of questions, putting aside our human assumptions, and doing our best to listen to what the animals tell us trust means to them.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Premiums will be invited to pick topics that resonate most powerfully for them. In the interests of unhurried learning, I will also offer a Trust Code Pt. 2 for further study if there is enough interest.

Areas for Exploration:

• Defining trust: what does it look like?
• Taking a trust baseline
• The ABCs of trust
• Building trust with antecedents
• Filling your dog’s emotional cup
• Reinforcement patterns that invite YES
• Portable safe spaces
• Power of daily rituals
• Happy husbandry stations
• Working with extinction: “not now” and S-delta cues
• From commands to cues to questions
• Ask and answer communication for maximum trust
• Expanding degrees of freedom in training
• Play and possession
• Stimulus control on toy cues for clarity and safety
• Even in Australia: getting through the hard stuff and how to repair trust afterwards

If you’ve come in here, you’ve probably never tried or have some problem with husbandry dog’s training. You should try cooperative husbandry training if you answer “yes” to any of these questions:

➡ You struggle to groom your dog without having him mouth the brush?

➡ You can’t cut his nails?

➡ Your dog is running away as soon as you pronounce “shower”?

➡ Your dog stresses out so much at the clinic or at the groomer that he trembles, shuts down or tries to escape?

➡ You have to care for your dog and it’s complicated to do it alone at home?

➡ Your dog doesn’t like to put the collar, harness, muzzle or cone?

➡You want your dog to be stressfree and cooperate with him in all sorts of care procedures?

➡ Do you want to improve the communication with your dog, develop a trusting relationship and give him more choice opportunities and control on his life?

If you see yourself in one of these situations, this class is made for you!

Cooperative husbandry training aims to teach animals to assist in their own care.

It’s an ethical and pratical choice. It is used in most zoological parks to care for wild animals avoiding restrain, anesthesia and reducing stress. Husbandry training is part of daily enrichment programs. Through this training we give the animal the skills and the opportunities to give his consent. Giving them choice and control over their environment improves their general welfare.

If we can draw blood from a giraffe or an orca without using force…why not do the same with our pets?

Empowering our dogs in their own care not only makes it easier but also enrich our life together.

Some of the topics covered in this course:

• Understanding and using science basics in husbandry training.
• Teaching consent positions.
• Empowerment: Understanding the importance of choice and control.
• Behavior, consequences and functions: how to use them to converse with animals.
• Teaching your dog the consent concept.
• How to train your dog through various daily procedures such as handling, grooming, bathing, nails care, ears and eyes care, teeth brushing, muzzle training…
• What to do when our dog is not ready and you have to do it. Consequences.

A second level course will be focusing on training the dog to third-party care such as the vet, the groomer, the osteopath.

Start cooperative training today! Your dog will thank you for it.

Some exercises /topics may include:

• How to build trust in the reinforcement process
• How to identify and meet your learner’s needs before placing contingencies on behavior
• How to teach helpful defaults for stability around exciting things
• Release Cues
• Back-chained Zen Bowl
• Leave it without the “Leave it.”
• Motivating Operations
• Distractions as non-relevant stimuli, or the “fade in protocol” (Credit: Kay Laurence)
• Stimulus control (waiting for cues, listening for cues) without extinction

This course is our BEST-SELLER! Sarah has helped hundreds of students understand better impulse control. She will be happy to explain it to you too! Join her impulse control class today!

Dogs’ olfactory abilities amaze us and what they manage to do with their noses is truly astounding.
Nosework is a sport that uses most natural, amazing dog’s abilities and develops them into perfection.

Nosework is one of the greatest dog sports, making its way to the top most popular canine activities. Inspired by working detection dogs searching for narcotics, explosives, nosework makes it available for everyone. Dogs are searching for essential oils hidden in vehicles, interiors, water, exteriors, and containers and they love it!

“No limitations”
This sport is for everyone! It is a perfect activity for old, retired, or disabled dogs who want to stay in shape but can’t be physically challenged. Aggressive dogs are welcome too!
Pure breed, crossbreed, old, young, slow, fast – it doesn’t matter what type your dog is!

During the course we focus on:

• what is nosework; rules reading
• classically conditioning odors
• building solid alert behavior using clicker training
• introducing discrimination between hot and cold objects
• introducing various odor holders
• introducing cardboard boxes
• generalization

Course syllabus:

Week 1:
Lesson 1 – Welcome and Introductions
Lesson 2 – What is nosework?
Lesson 3 – Nosework International and methods we use
Lesson 4 – Samples preparation and handling odor
Lesson 5 – Cocktail or not to cocktail?
Lesson 6 – Classical conditioning of odor
Lesson 7 – Hand touch

Week 2:
Lesson 8 – Tic-tac!
Lesson 9 – Precision
Lesson 10 – Duration

Week 3:
Lesson 11 – Cue for alert behavior
Lesson 12 – Handler’s movement

Week 4:
Lesson 13 – Competing stimulus
Lesson 14 – Various holders

Week 5:
Lesson 15 – Location of the holder – variations
Lesson 16 – Discrimination

Week 6:
Lesson 17 – New locations
Lesson 18 – New locations
Lesson 19 – Cue for the search

To take this course as a Premium Member you need to finish Trainer’s Toolbox first (as Premium or Auditor)

There are 3 more nosework course stages.

Building upon skills we covered in stage one, we will continue our preparation for exams. ORTs and first trials. Our primary focus will always be precise and clear training loop and clarity in search criteria.

We will start where we left with stage 1 and focus on:

• start line routine
• introducing search patterns
• duration of search behavior
• handling
• building clarity in cues during search pattern
• generalization of locations
• task analysis of searches
• basics of scent theory
• increasing complexity of puzzles
• planning your own training

Course syllabus:

Week 1
Lesson 1 – Welcome and Introductions
Lesson 2 – Baseline
Lesson 3 – Chains in nosework
Lesson 4 – ABCs of the search
Lesson 5 – Start line routine
Lesson 6 – Our variables
Lesson 7 – Aging
Lesson 8 – Introducing search

Week 2
Lesson 9 – Introduction to scent theory
Lesson 10 – Inaccessible v. accessible
Lesson 11 – Introducing exteriors – boxes on the road 
Lesson 12 – Introducing exteriors – single hides
Lesson 13 – Duration of the search

Week 3
Lesson 14 – Handler’s job
Lesson 15 – Vehicles – introduction
Lesson 16 – Adding complexity to the search
Lesson 17 – Change of behavior
Lesson 18 – No visual cues

Week 4
Lesson 19 – Vehicles – cold vehicle
Lesson 20 – Exterior Progression
Lesson 21 – Vehicles – handling
Lesson 22 – Cues in nosework

Week 5
Lesson 23 – Duration of the search part 2
Lesson 24 – Crazy handler
Lesson 25 – Adding complexity to the search part 2

Week 6
Lesson 26 – Reducing the strength of the odor
Lesson 27 – Panning
Lesson 28 – What if?