Katrina Per-Carruthers

The Dog School follows the statement by The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. They believe that it should be the standard of care for puppies to receive socialization before puppies are fully vaccinated so long as the environment is safe and has risk-mitigation strategies in place. Read on to learn about our robust safety strategies.

Recently while training my horse Samwise (who has a serious fear of people), I came to the conclusion that thinking in quadrants and protocols is a fatal flaw in applying first principles. I also have spent the last several weeks doing a lot of behavioural analysis on a really specific use case that I think applies to many dogs and horses. Before I dive into it, let’s go over contingencies and really make sure they make sense. When I first explained this to a friend of mine, she told me I...

By Katrina Per-Carruthers Sarah and I receive many emails from people concerned that if we use food in training that their dogs will become treat-dependent and only perform desired behaviours when treats are available. We also often get people very worried that their dog only listens with treats. While this concern is valid, it stems from a misunderstanding of the mechanics behind really good training. The issue is not the use of food in training, but rather the failure to transition from...