Canine Zen’s Understanding Learning Series By: Stephanie Barger, CSAT, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA We’ve talked a lot about why your dog may respond to training differently from one day to the next. Now let's look at the moments when everything goes right. Your dog does exactly what you asked, several times in a row. You’re ready to declare the lesson learned, perhaps with a small parade. But what do those correct responses tell you about what your dog understands? A successful response

By: Stephanie Barger, CSAT, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA Understanding the Student Improves the Teacher Every dog learns differently. Once we truly understand that, our job is no longer to force a dog into a fixed training plan. Our job is to shape the teaching so that each individual dog has a fair opportunity to succeed. In our last article, Every Dog Is an Individual Learner, we explored the many things that affect how a dog learns. A dog's genes, personality, past experiences, mood,

Stop Comparing Dogs — Your Learner Is One of a Kind By: Stephanie Barger, CSAT, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA Every dog learns differently, which sounds obvious until your dog looks at a cue they did perfectly yesterday as though you have suddenly switched languages. Maybe your last dog learned new skills in what felt like five minutes. Maybe the dog beside you in class seems to understand everything on the first try. Or maybe you have watched one too many perfectly edited training videos