In Conversation with a Decoy: Reading the Dog in Front of You
Most readers will never have watched the decoy. What is the job? I am the pressure. I decide when it arrives, how much of it there is, and when it goes away. Everything the dog learns about composure, it learns against me. That means the work is not about being brave. It is about being […]
In Conversation with a Trainer: Confidence Before Drive
You have said the field talks about drive too much. Why? Because drive is visible. A dog that throws itself at something gives you a moment you can film. Confidence does not give you a moment. It gives you a dog that can still hear you when everything is going sideways. If you select purely […]
In Conversation with a K9 Handler: 20 Years on the Job
Twenty years is several careers. What changed first — the dogs, or the job? The job, without question. When I started, the expectations were narrower and nobody was writing any of it down. The dogs have changed too, but mostly because we have bred and selected for a different animal than we did then. What […]