Thank you for attending my workshop at the 2025 IACP Conference! It was such a pleasure to be with all of you!

I am using this space to share a few things that I presented at conference, and add for you, many additional topics that I hope you will find thought-provoking and helpful in your journey - learning and discerning more about yourself, others, and our beloved dogs.

FREQUENCY CHART

This chart is helpful in so many ways. Not only does it help you self-track where you are on the scale as you move through your day, it helps you identify energy patterns with your clients and the dogs you work with.

 YIELDING EXERCISE

While we use the principles of Yielding when we teach Border Collies how we want them to work livestock, I am sharing for you, a page from Dick Russell’s original pet training manual that describes the procedure he developed for Yielding pet dogs because it explains why Dick Russell felt the exercise essential in a pet training program. I have included this exercise in my Basic Training Workbook and instruct it to all of my students.

In sheep herding, we teach the dog to BOTH come to us on cue AND back away (or move away) from us on cue when they are facing us or approaching us. Think of it as shoo-ing the dog away or pushing the dog away. If the dog knows this before we take him to stock, he will understand when we transfer the concept to the stock when we want to push him back off of the stock, push him to go around the stock, or create enough distance between the dog and the stock to allow them to move without panicking.

I have never seen another type of dog training that uses Yielding to control and cue the behavior of an aroused dog. We generally influence aroused states when the trainer is positioned behind the dog- not in front of the dog. I propose that by using this form of Yielding training, that we could effect great results with dogs who tend to target their energy toward people, animals, and objects that excite them. I would LOVE to receive feedback from trainers who try this.

Yielding Exercise by Dick Russell

Your dog is a social, pack dwelling animal. Your household is his pack. All pack or herd dwelling animals thrive best within a relatively stable hierarchy of status with some members being more dominant and others assuming a submissive role. Your dog wants to gain as much status within the pack as he possibly can for the very simple reason that status bestows prerequisites.

Status is not achieved within the pack by aggression, but by submission, with the lower ranking animal yielding to the higher ranking animal’s ritualistic display of authority. Your dog will be a much better pet, as well as a safer pet, if you will do a number of things to keep him from assuming increasingly higher rungs on the dominance ladder.

Pack and herd dwelling animals maintain status in a number of ways. One is to control the use of space by other animals. We are going to start controlling space by teaching your dog to yield to you on command and by your body position. Teaching this also has the added value of allowing you to walk into your home with both hands loaded with packages. We will not use food treats in the teaching of this exercise.

Have your dog standing in front of you on a loose leash. This is for control only. You will not use the leash to move your dog’s body. Lean into your dog. Leaning your torso toward the dog seems to be recognized by them as a status related gesture. Say the word “move”, and move toward him with tiny shuffling steps. Keep moving in your intended direction. Do not step around him as this will bestow status on him. As soon as he moves , tell him “Good”. Keep moving until he moves out of your way.

Do this several times every day. In your house, you can practice this with the leash off. Whenever your dog gets in your way, tell him to move and shuffle through him. Plan your routes around your house through your dog. If he is lying in your path, do not walk around him. Instead, make him move out of your way. The key to having your dog yield to you is your tiny, shuffling steps. Do not kick your dog, or bump him with your knees.

A word of WARNING. Do not attempt to have your dog yield to you if he has bitten or seriously threatened you. Dogs only bite members of their family to whom they feel dominant or when there are serious dominance related, but unresolved questions.