Fenzi Food For Thought

So appreciate those of you who gave your thoughts about the difference between discomfort and pain in my Instagram stories! In this live, I also explained why I like the word adversive. I like that it centers the experience of the learner and that it recognizes how individual that experience might be.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

How do you show up on social media? How do you balance your authentic self with the demands of the communities where you participate? Do you have an internal compass to guide you? And…how did FDSA start anyway?  If you struggle to find peace of social media, this live might help.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

I decided to show you what a training session looks like today. Just the flow of it in real time. I hadn't planned to save it, but then I came in the house and we just talked. We talked about all kinds of things. So if you want a random grab bag of conversation, this is your live.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

No simple answer to this one. Depends on the goal, type of training. specificity of what you want, and what you mean by trained.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

How do you teach a highly generalized concept like retrieve - where you might want the dog to retrieve a wide variety of items? In this live, I touch on the difference between how I train behaviors for precision as opposed to more generalized concepts that I might want for life or dog sport.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog

Disagree all you want, but don't listen to misunderstand. That's when I disengage.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

I desperately wish that training dogs was easy. I wish there was a one-size-fits-all solution. I wish all of training could be cookies and toys and general happiness. But life is complicated and it's not like that. And if I come to a different place someday? If I'm able to find answers to my concerns? I will change my mind, and I will say so publicly.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive...

Do you prioritize dogs above people? How about other animals? I wonder if that has ever happened at any other time in the history of our species…. Anyway, in this live I ramble along a bit on this topic.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Do biting sports make dogs more likely to misunderstand in real life, and bite at the wrong time? Maybe. As with many things, it's not a simple answer.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Words are so complicated. If we remember that the purpose of words is to communicate rather than to create division, we'll get along a lot better. Does dominance exist? Can we talk about dogs in packs? How about hierarchy? Let's look at it.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Try to be kind. The dog world seems to discourage that, but you don't need to follow a negative trend. Be nice to people whenever possible.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Why do I use leashes in public, if not to direct my dog? To allow society to feel comfortable in my presence. It has nothing to do with my dog's behavior at all. Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

If you want to be involved in conversations on social media about ethics, tools, how training works, etc., you really need to know the basics. Dogs do more of things they like and that work for them. Dogs do less of things they don't like or that don't work for them. Leverage is a thing. Some tools work by leverage, and others work by aversive properties...and various other stuff as well.   Follow...

Here I talked about shades of gray in dog training, the problem of the lowest common denominator, and the difference between emotional and overly emotional behavior in relation to punishment.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

What is your focus on the dog world? Take my word for it; it's got problems. Focus there! We worry too much about other people's problems and not our own area of interest. Did you watch Crufts? Yeah, there's a problem. and unfortunately, problems in one sphere of the dog world begin to impact all spheres. That's when we see regulation. if you don't like it, start by cleaning up your own puddle.  ...

Do biting sports cause aggression?  Can a dog show aggression that has never done biting sports? Is that normal or atypical behavior? And what do you do with all of that information? That was the topic of this live.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

From the Facebook vaults! Off-leash dog enounters are a fact of life. I share how I handle it when Xen was a young dog. Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Which ones are the best? Should you compete if your dog doesn't enjoy it? Should you find the sport that your dog loves, even if it's not your favorite. You decide. Take a listen.   Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Is eye contact Good? Bad? Should you create continuous eye contact throughout a working session? I don't think so. Eye contact starts a conversation… I look at my dog when I want them to do something for me, and they look at me when they want me to do something for them. Anyway, there's more to it than that. Go ahead and listen to this live if you'd like to learn more about the topic!   Follow my...

Reactivity training in the wild is hard. If you're working on reactivity with your dog, I hope this old live from my Facebook vaults is helpful! Follow my training! Instagram The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

Communication or control? When trainers talk about communication on social media, they generally mean control. They do the talking. They tell the dog what to do. The dog responds to that…or else. That's not communication. Communication is a two-way street. Control? That's another matter all together! The next time you read about a trainer helping to improve your communication, ask yourself… Do the...

Here's a quick and dirty set of tips for how to get a reliable recall on your dog without corrections. Follow my training! The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

From the Facebook live vaults! We chat about reinforcement strategies for high arousal dogs. Follow my training! The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy

When addressing undesirable behavior, it's helpful to consider if the behavior is rooted at the instinctual, emotional or operant level. In this live, I consider instinctual and emotional roots, and the challenge of genuinely impacting desires that are rooted in instinct. Alternatives to removing the interest might include redirection or work, but truly changing instinctual behaviors? I question i...

From the Facebook live vaults! I got a chance to sit down after a training session with a young Xen to answer some questions. Here's a little window into my thinking and analysis following a session to inform my training choices going forwards!   Follow my training! The High Drive Dog More online training! Fenzi Dog Sports Academy