Sarah Shapiro-Ward

A Better Way to Track Progress What shows that a dog has been trained? Take a moment to think about it. You’re probably thinking about real world applications; the dog is able to pass distractions on leash, or stay in the elevator. You might consider fancy party tricks or a dog who is participating in dog sports. You probably aren’t thinking about the graduation certificate your dog received at 15 weeks old and immediately chewed up. Or the certificate they got at 6 months old for passing a...

The First Principles of Dog Training At The Dog School, Katrina and I look to train people in the first principles of dog training, rather than simply guiding students through a series of rote protocols. It’s a bit of a “teach a man to fish” situation, except it’s more like “teach a dog to sit, and he’ll sit. Teach their owner how to train the dog to sit using first principles of dog training, and they’ll teach the dog to do lots of cool behaviours given enough time to practice”. That’s a bit...

Dr. Sarah Shapiro-Ward | 22-Dec-2025 (original version published 10-Nov-2023) Eleanor settling while tethered at The Dog School Introducing Settle Settle is the most misunderstood dog training exercise regularly taught at The Dog School. The idea is that when asked to settle, dogs will relax and remain quiet and calm for long periods of time, for example when at the office, or when getting brunch at a dog friendly patio. Many dog training schools don’t teach a “settle” at all, and the ones...