Dogs, horses, and rats. Birds, goldfish, cats. Dolphins, raccoons, and elephants. What animals can’t we train? In this section you’ll find lots of great training stories and tips. You will also get to meet many of the wonderful animals that I get to train. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures (and misadventures) and that these articles and tales can provide you with insight that will help you with your own animals.
As some of you may already know from social media, I lost my Arabian gelding, Apollo, in mid-November. He was 20 years old. Horses are tough, resilient creatures. But, they can be quite fragile, too. Medical issues can escalate rapidly, even with the support of a great team of vets. Apollo’s passing was unexpected. I am […]
I visited one of my clients last Friday to do some lessons at her barn. When I arrived, her three baby goats were enjoying some fresh air outside the barn. However, for their safety, we needed to get the goats back in the barn, before we started our lessons with the horses. But, the goats […]
Darley is an older Arabian. He was skin and bones when my friend first rescued him. But, he’s a happy horse now! I’ve been doing some clicker training with Darley, and he enjoys our training sessions. However, at first, Darley wasn’t really catching on. Sometimes, he would do several behaviors in a row. Then, he […]
Spring has arrived in north Texas and with spring comes spring grass! The arena at our barn has grass all along the edge. Delicious, yummy grass. Tempting grass…. Apollo and I have sometimes struggled with the spring grass in past years. This year, we’ve been working on a new reinforcement system in the arena with […]
I regularly hear trainers say that you should end a training session on a good note. This phrase can mean a few different things. However, I find that people often mean that you keep training until your animal does several good repetitions of the behavior you’re practicing. I’m here to tell you that you don’t have […]
Want to improve your training sessions with your horses, dogs, or other animals? Start by practicing without your animal! What is a dress rehearsal? In my Shaping Skills Workshop courses, I encourage my students to do dress rehearsals without their animals before their training sessions. Here’s how to do a dress rehearsal: Step 1: Get […]
