Tierisch Menschlich

I have a highly confident, smart cattle dog. Which is perfect, except I left something out: he’s insecure if he feels “wrong”. It’s hard to balance those two traits (confidence and insecurity), but it’s taught me a lot. I have to be very clear where he stands every minute (doing the right thing, not doing the right thing, etc) and …

Hello everyone! I will be traveling around Europe for the next few weeks, so don’t worry if you don’t see much action here! But my dogs will be with me and hopefully I will film and write things to share with all of you. Thanks and I’ll be back with you soon!

Both horse “whisperers” and dog “whisperers” have always been a topic of heated discussion in the animal world. There are people who say that dog whisperers (like Cesar Millan and Maja Nowak [a dog whisperer from Germany]) are being aggressive and abusive with the dogs on their shows. These are the same people that make a quick, uninformed, assessment like …

“The horse isn’t trying to do the wrong thing, He is trying to do what he thinks he is supposed to do. He is doing it, because it is what they, both horse and rider, have been living.” – Tom Dorrance This is a great thing to remember, especially if you work with people and their animals as a trainer. …

I want to remind all of you to take a moment to process and breathe! In the “animal training world”, we can get these goals in our head, or start comparing ourselves to others, and we just want to train as much as possible. It’s my job to work with animals, so I do it everyday. But, especially with my …

Nose, eyes, ears… Those things, in that order, are how dogs first perceive the world when they’re born. First they can smell. The slowly start to see shapes. Finally, noise! So a great way to bring a dog back into a balanced state (a state of calmness and clear-headedness) is to use scent as your helper! Dogs who are reactive …

I train guide dogs. This requires me to be very specific with what they can and can’t do when “on the job”. Actually, I generally expect a lot from the animals I work with (while still being fair), because I know they are smart. But at least every other day, someone tells me: “Oh, they’re dogs! They can’t help smelling …

Today there was so much rain coming down outside, that I stayed home and dusted off some of Mowgli’s (my dog) old tricks. Enjoy! 

There are two things every animal-lover becomes aware of… We get the animal we need (one that teaches us patience, leadership, sensitivity – whatever it is we need to learn) We are very similar to our animals! Lately I have been noticing more and more the similarities between me and my dog. Sometimes I wonder if those characteristics were mine …

The rider can be trying to help the horse too much. It can get to the point where the horse isn’t being asked to use their own mind and expression. Everything is coming from you: The energy, the work, the timing, the feel, the lightness… It’s like a teacher who asks a child to solve 4+4 and before the child …