Stay ConnectedCatch me here telling stories, conversing with curious and warm-hearted friends, breaking down barriers in the training world, and of course, sharing my love for these amazing beings we share our lives with: the dogs!
I’d love to hear from you!
Instagram:
@denisefenzi
Dog training:
@fenzidogsportsacademy
@thehighdrivedog
So many thoughts. How can we learn to be more critical learners, observers, and communicators? How can we face our own bias and become stronger as a result? Who can we talk to when we have questions? Covered a lot of territory in this one.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Maybe allow people who are different into your world, and then you can learn about them. Learn about people, and you can have an impact. Don’t allow people into your world and don’t learn about them? Then you can’t do much beyond ignoring (best case scenario) or antagonizing (worst case) others who feel differently than you.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Do aversives cause aggression? If so, why are famous trainers using them and showing well-balanced dogs? What does the research say? I’m not a scientist, so mostly I can tell you what I see around me, and my thoughts on the matter. If you’re interested, check it out.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Should dogs roam the neighborhood? How about near busy roads? How about a quiet rural area? How about chickens - can they roam? Why or why not? If someone else has a different opinion about this than you for each type of animal, how might you change their perspective via education and perspective taking? Or do you opt for embarrassment and shaming? How’s that working?
Follow my training!
More online training!
I hope those of us in the Dog industry stop talking about “them”. “They” can speak for themselves. If you have a question, ask “them.” When you make assumptions about why people do what they do, or say nasty things about their character because they don’t share your opinions? That reflects on you and it makes it very difficult to have honest conversations when you’re present because you ruin goodwill, listening and striving for understanding.
Follow my training!
More online training!
What relationship-based training means to me. I give the example of an informal recall with my dog.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Super informal chat with Bryndon Golya, CDBC of OC Canine Coaching about management, training, medication, giving “enough” to our dogs and…plenty in between!
Follow my training!
More online training!
This live covers follower questions sparked by a panel hosted by Jo-Rosie Haffenden.
Follow my training!
More online training!
The solution to the Dog Trainer people is to be like the chicken people. In this live I talk about roosters. If the dog people were like the chicken people, we could make radical advances in our field. Take a listen. Tell me what you think.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Train your dog! Even if you don’t reach 100%, who cares? You’re still ahead of where you were if you hadn’t trained at all.
Follow my training!
More online training!
In this live I talk about why I do bite sports.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Train the dog in front of you. What does that mean? Seeing as I wrote a book with this title, I have opinions about it! Two dogs can have the same issue, and the solutions can be radically different. At the end of the day, you have to know your dog… I give examples in this live to help you understand the concept.
Follow my training!
More online training!
If you like the minutiae of dog training, you might like this live. Here I talk about the challenge I have with my dog in the Mondio ring search exercise… He prefers to bite than to bark! I talk about a “good training” solution which involves breaking it down into small pieces…small splits are good dog training. I talk about the fact that it didn’t work. I talk about brainstorming to come up with an answer. And what all of this makes me think about? One challenge of training dog sports with positive reinforcement is lack of tradition around solutions to problems. Of course this is not a problem in Dog sports that are traditionally positive reinforcement based, but it absolutely is in sports with little to no tradition of +r problem-solving, because these sport have rather few +r folks playing the game.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Does positive reinforcement training mean withholding half of the information the dog needs to to be successful? Would the dog find more clarity if you included aversives? Would that actually be a relief to the dog? I give my thoughts on that here.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Life is complex. Dogs are one piece of the puzzle of complexity. Be open to the challenge of varied perspectives. Be respectful! And try to make things better. Dog trainers can do that. You’re more than a dog trainer. You can change lives, and I’m not just making that up.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Your words are your power. Do not take someone else’s words to placate them. Choose your words carefully. Explain what you need to explain. And reserve the right to say… It depends. I need more information. Getting a group of people together is easy when you simplify complex topics. Who doesn’t appreciate simplicity? Well. Me. As long as life remains complex, I will explain in as many words as I need to say what I want to say. Don’t give your power away. Choose your words thoughtfully, and insist that others respect what you said as opposed to what they think they heard. or maybe what they wanted to hear. what words did you say? Pain, uncomfortable? Aversive? Management? A training tool? Be specific, and insist that others respect your words, or end the conversation.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Continuing on with basic principles around force free training. Here I introduce counter conditioning, desensitization and habituation. Xen was along for the ride, so he illustrates some of the principles - what do you do when it gets too intense?
Follow my training!
More online training!
Does reinforcement history or emotion/instinct drive behavior? Both. Emotion drives “behavior” - the general category of things we do. And reinforcement history drives the specific behavior which the learner chooses, from amongst all of the available options. The challenge here is that the word “behavior” means both the general category and a specific choice of a specific behavior. Both are happening. I spend a few extra minutes talking about this during this live. Plus - note how adorable my dog is. I mean…I can barely stand his cuteness!
Today, I explored where most force free behaviorists would start looking at a problem behavior… At the root! What matters less than the behavior in front of you is where it’s coming from. What instincts or emotion are fueling it? If you can identify that, and do some thing about it, your behavior problem might simply disappear. Obviously that’s your best case scenario but… It’s still where you want to start. Because more often then you might think that is the solution.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Today I talk about the difference between training and management, and I give several examples to help you on your way.
Follow my training!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
Disagree all you want, but don’t listen to misunderstand. That’s when I disengage.
Follow my training!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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 my training!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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.
Follow my training!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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 training!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
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 they really mean control? Go ahead and do what you want with that. But be honest about it. If your dog is not part of the conversation, then calling “getting your way” communication is a marketing tool, and it’s dishonest. Which brings up the next question. Have you fooled yourself? Can you differentiate communication from control? How did that happen?!
Follow my training!
More online training!
Here’s a quick and dirty set of tips for how to get a reliable recall on your dog without corrections.
Follow my training!
More online training!
From the Facebook live vaults! We chat about reinforcement strategies for high arousal dogs.
Follow my training!
More online training!
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 if it’s even possible in some dogs under specific scenarios.
Follow my training!
More online training!
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!
More online training!
This one's from the Facebook Live vaults where I discuss classical and operant conditioning as it pertains to teaching behaviors. Enjoy!
Follow my training!
More online training!
This one's from the vaults! I talk about crating with Xen when he was young and prone to getting into mischief!
Follow my training!
More online training!
It's true; dogs are not children! And if you choose not to use models of thinking that compare children to dogs, you will have walked away from the most valuable tool available, in terms of understanding and training or living with dogs. The truth is… Children and dogs have a whole lot in common in terms of how they behave in a wide variety of circumstances, especially around learning. Don’t give up that free resource lightly. Embrace it, and your training skills will skyrocket overnight. You will have the tools to motivate and understand, and you will find the solutions when challenges occur. Really. Simply by putting yourself into the position of your learner, (even as an adult!) and considering what would be happening inside of you, if you were the learner.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Nope. You cannot. So be nice to your angry, fearful, sad, or frustrated dog. You won’t make them more angry, fearful, etc. And I’ll do the same for you! If you are sitting next to me and you’re feeling afraid? I’ll hold your hand and talk nicely to you, and I’ll try to make you feel better. And no, you won’t get more fearful.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Decision making about when to apply pain to others, how and when we use force or restraint, and our thoughts about balancing autonomy and control are heavily influenced by culture - and are very much shades of grey. We work to balance the needs of all the parties - physical, emotional and financial - to come to our best possible decisions.
Yet, there is never a right decision. Only possibilities.
Make your choices with compassion, kindness and knowledge and you’ll get where you need to be.
Follow my training!
More online training!
If learning cues is not what people need to live in harmony with their dog; if the goal is habits… What exactly does that mean? How do we get there? What role does a dog trainer play? Where does communication fit - and is the dog talking back? What is failure about, what makes failure more or less likely, and…do we even care if the dog is on board with our plans? Wow. Covered a lot of territory today!
Follow my training!
More online training!
About that trained dog….does it even exist? Training is a process, not an end (trained) state of being. Only behavior that makes it’s way to “habit” can truly be called “trained”. Which is fine. How about we “raise” our dogs and try to live in harmony, while working hard to get everyone’s needs met.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Words matter. Don’t water down powerful words simply because you don’t agree with another’s choice or situation.
Follow my training!
More online training!
From the Facebook vaults: remarckably, and sometimes despite us, our dogs get trained!
Follow my training!
More online training!
From the Facebook vaults! My thoughts on eye contact with your dog.
Follow my training!
More online training!
What does it mean to treat a dog like a dog? Start by recognizing that in modern society, dogs are captives. If they are going to have any sort of interesting life at all, you are obligated to provide it. Beyond that, dogs are individuals. What one dog likes or needs is going to be different than what another dog likes or needs. Same as people! And this affection thing… Being affectionate with your dog does not cause behavior problems, same as with small children; if they enjoy the attention, then you’re good to go. If they don’t, then don’t do it so much. You’re being annoying.
Do you know what I think our society needs around dogs? Many fewer rules. Don’t worry so much about what people say your dog must or should do. Watch your dog. Are you happy? Is your dog happy? Is society happy? Then you’re good to go!
Follow my training!
More online training!
Do we need to add stress to our formal training or behavior work in order to progress? Nope. This live explores why it’s not logical to add stress when the root problems are emotional and not rational.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Training for competition doesn’t mean your training should look like competition. Training for competition means that you are aware of the criteria required to successfully compete, and you have broken the exercises down into small pieces that you then teach individually in training. When you have those pieces, you start to combine them and slowly…you end up with a routine that will hold up under the pressure and complexity of the competition ring. Hopefully! Since sometimes you’ll miss things, and that’s okay too. Live and learn.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Absolutely! I can’t even believe that’s a question. Does positive reinforcement work? Absolutely! That also should not be a question. From there, this live goes a little deeper into the similarities and differences of choosing reinforcers or punishers in training.
Follow my training!
More online training!
What is high drive? Arousal? How are they to live with anyway? Listen to this chat between Crystal Wing and Denise Fenzi.
Follow my training!
More online training!
When deciding how to train a young dog, I consider the dog’s natural tendencies around arousal, the sports I am targeting, and the expectations of those sports. If you set a thinking foundation on a dog who’s already calm and your goal is a higher arousal sport, you are going to struggle. If you set a high arousal foundation on a high arousal dog destined for a thinking sport, you are also going to struggle. Take a moment to think about where you are trying to take your dog, and what you need to be most successful. You will always be balancing precision, arousal, speed, etc., but since dogs tend to revert to their foundation emotions under stress, you’ll want to think about these choices sooner rather than later.
Follow my training!
More online training!
How do you build toy play in a dog with limited drive? You can use arousal. But there are caveats! This live explores the difference between building toy interest using drive versus arousal.
Follow my training!
More online training!
“But does your training work on a ___?” Fill in your breed of choice. This short live looks at exactly that. What determines whether training will work with a given dog in a given situation?
*Note: The Auto Leave It webinar through Fenzi Dog Spots Academy mentioned in this live has now passed, but look for other offerings coming up on the schedule at the time of this release.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Conversation is an exchange of ideas between people who behave respectfully. Listening is the name of the game! Educating is something else. Educating assumes that one knows more than the other, and is not likely to be appreciated by another with a different world view. We need more focus on conversations and less on educating.
Follow my training!
More online training!
It makes me sad when people say medication is a last resort. It creates needless suffering in your dependents.
If you would cheerfully give your dog pain medication for a broken leg, please recognize that mental pain is also suffering. This is true for people and dogs, and leads to tragic results in people who remain unmedicated and who can’t find their way. Dogs just suffer - they can’t advocate for themselves. We can do better by our pets! If your dog’s quality of life is impacted by fear, anxiety, or extreme emotions of any negative type, consider medication along with training. Not as a last resort but as a kind addition to the dog’s well being. There’s nothing to be ashamed of when you help your dog live well.
Follow my training!
More online training!
So much of the distress in the dog industry is misunderstanding. We’re talking about different things - and suffering so much as a result.
Follow my training!
More online training!
If your dog finds it aversive when you withhold reinforcement in training as a natural part of the learning process, re-evaluate your training. The game of training itself, the puzzle, should keep the dog well vested, regardless of whether or not each moment in time is successful. It should not feel aversive to the dog whether a reward comes or otherwise.
Follow my training!
More online training!
The focus of this live was acquiring a dog! Maybe from a rescue, maybe from a breeder. Then we spent some time talking about purebred dogs. Honesty is everything.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Do mother dogs use food to “train” behavior in other dogs? Are dogs wolves? What can we learn from dogs and wolves in our interactions with our own dogs?
Follow my training!
More online training!
Relationship or training? This live talked about exactly that!
Follow my training!
More online training!
In this live, I talked about using props within training. Why we use them, advantages and disadvantages, and how to get rid of them!
Follow my training!
More online training!
We train behaviors and condition emotions. In this live, I explained that in more detail.
Follow my training!
More online training!
In this live, I talked about reinforcement. It’s a lot more complicated than just toys or food! If you understand your dog’s hierarchy of reinforcement, you can make strategic decisions that significantly increase your training success.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Whether or not you think there is a place for suppression in dog training, we need to be logical in our explanations and thinking. Not moving does not mean an animal is in a “calm state of mind” if you have punished the movement out of the dog. It simply means the dog is not moving.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Structure is good. Choice is good. It’s a matter of the right one at the right time. Plus a bunch of behavior conversation.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Adolescent a$$hole?! The truth is, some dogs aren’t so great during adolescence. Your compliant puppy is not so compliant anymore! This will give you some ideas for navigating this period of time. In short, you will be reducing your dog’s choices and increasing structure. Identify issues before hand, and cut them off before they have a chance to develop.
Follow my training!
More online training!
This time I focus on the perspective of reactive dog handlers. If you are a professional trainer you might find this one interesting.
Note: the Live mentioned from the day before didn't end up saved on IG, apologies for the confusion!
Follow my training!
More online training!
Here, CC stands for classical conditioning. I gave a variety of examples, both behavior and training-oriented, where classical conditioning gets behaviors much faster than operant conditioning, and with a more reflexive/fast response as your end result. I’m loving classical conditioning to train and maintain behaviors! I also answered random questions on various topics.
Follow my training!
More online training!
As a seasoned trainer and competitor, Laurie Williams has seen and experienced a lot, and tonight she shared her story as she transitioned from traditional to positive reinforcement based training. I enjoyed this interview and I hope you do as well!
Follow my training!
More online training!
I had the opportunity to do an in person training lesson; something thing I have not done in years. In this IG live, I talked about the dogs, and how I made the choices I made to address their behavior and training needs. I focus on a discussion of evaluating a dog’s need for movement or stillness, structure or choice.
Follow my training!
More online training!
What is the cause of the misfortune? Genetics? Environment? Something else altogether? Frankly, it doesn’t matter. The blame game leads to suppression of behavior via punishment and that leads to a loss of honesty. This IG live was all about the cyclical relationship between the blame game and the problems that result. We can be be better!
Structure is not a bad word. Choice is not a bad word. You need both! Which one depends on the circumstances.
Follow my training!
More online training!
This is the number one thing I want dog trainers to understand. You cannot control a dog's “state of mind” by managing it through training their behavior. Emotions don’t work that way.
Follow my training!
More online training!
We know quite a lot about keeping our dogs safe, but we don’t often consider how that creates trade-offs….Quality and quantity of life have a tendency to be at odds, when push comes to shove. We each make decisions based on our risk assessment. The world could be a much kinder place if we allowed others the same freedom without judgment.
Follow my training!
More online training!
If you find consistent struggle to get along with your challenging dog in society, listen to this Instagram live I did. You might find it helpful in your efforts to get your needs met.
Follow my training!
More online training!
This was such a fun time! Dr. Amy Cook joined me to talk about fear, anger, food, conditioning, what happens if you get your timing wrong, and a whole lot more! And if you worry about your timing or choices? You definitely want to listen to this one.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Michael about all things aggression! We covered quite a bit of territory, from whether or not to use a muzzle to matters of medication to dogs in shelter.
Follow Michael's training!
Follow my training!
More online training!
Our society is based on punishment, and we have internalized that. We accept fear and sadness as acceptable emotions, and we want to comfort those who feel them. But we do not accept anger and frustration, and their emergence makes us want to punish those emotions when we see them. I talk about why you might struggle to apply the principles of classical conditioning to behaviors that society does not find acceptable.
Follow my training!
More online training!
In this live I was joined by Michael and Jamie Badial to talk about how to become a dog trainer, starting your business, and getting your first clients! This was a fun chat with lots of practical advice that you can apply right away to get your business up and running. Take a listen!
Follow my training!
More online training!
Errors are nothing to be ashamed of! Let’s talk about it. Be public about your errors! It will reassure your colleagues that they are not inferior beings because they have errors, and it will attract the general pet population who struggles to identify with trainers who show only perfection.
Follow my training!
More online training!
What an excellent conversation! If you are struggling with separation anxiety with your dog, or if you know someone else who is, you will definitely want to listen to this interview.
Follow Malena's training!
Follow my training!
More online training!
This is the secret to getting your puppy or dog to opt into training with full attention, and to stay connected for long stretches of time. It works. Really. Take a listen.
Follow my training!
More online training!
As with most things, it’s not black-and-white. Some dogs benefit from more splitting, patterns, higher rate of reinforcement, and easier training sessions with less puzzling than other dogs. Those dogs might benefit from more lumping, more behavior chains, and more unpredictable/challenging training sessions with plenty of puzzling. In all cases, you need to watch your learner to determine how your interventions are being received. As a general rule, force free trainers err on the side of patterns and high rates of reinforcement for too long, making behavior chain goals hard to reach, and balanced trainers err on the side of the unpredictable and challenging training with too much frustration and lack of clarity in the work. You could pick your poison, or better still, watch your learner carefully and pick that just right path!
Follow my training!
More online training!
We had a great talk! We talked about relationship, playing with dogs, what Dante has learned working with other species, preparing for dog sports competition, and more! I hope you enjoy this.
Follow Dante on Tik Tok @dantedogworks
Follow my training!
More online training!
Do you have a relationship with your dog or a dependency? Does your dog want to spend time with you, or are they trying to avoid the alternatives? We explored questions like that in this Instagram live.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Are you against medication for your dog? Take a listen to this Instagram live recording where we talk about just that!
Follow my training!
More online training!
Here we have a short discussion of personal play, food play, and toy play, specifically in relation to changing the dogs emotional state.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Dice gave a perfect example of controlling his behavior without impacting the underlying emotion. This goes along with the fact that we can control external behavior but we need the learner’s cooperation to change emotions. Take a listen; this one is short.
Follow my training!
More online training!
It is critically important to know the difference between an emotion and a behavior. Changing a behavior to look the way you want does not mean the dog’s emotion has changed. It means you changed the behavior! Are you sure that’s what you want? Are you sure you understand what you’ve done?
Follow my training!
More online training!
Handling errors of impulse, quality and understanding! There are many reasons why dog make errors. In this live, I covered the three that showed up in my training session that morning: errors of impulse, errors quality of work, and errors of understanding. They are different, and require different approaches.
Follow my training!
More online training!
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
