Webinar Presentations
Questions or Problems? Please send email to allthethings@fenziacademy.com
Webinars will run approximately 1-2 hours including presentation and questions.
Click here for a list of frequently asked questions
Tracey McLennan - Arousal and Prey Drive Training
Date: Thursday, September 11th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
When you’re working with a high prey drive dog, arousal is often the hidden obstacle that makes training so frustrating. You give a cue, and your dog seems to forget you exist. The more prey there is around, the worse it gets. Not to mention, prey pops out unexpectedly all the time. But this isn’t your dog being “stubborn” – it’s their arousal system kicking in and taking over. In this webinar, we’ll break down what arousal really is and why it plays such a big role in prey drive behaviour. You’ll learn how arousal affects your dog, why it makes it harder for them to listen, and how you can use this knowledge to set up training for success. Most importantly, we’ll cover practical solutions to this ongoing problem. You’ll discover the habits that help and why they help. We'll look at why appropriate outlets for prey drive are non-negotiable – and how to provide them safely. And we’ll dig into the power of a well-trained release cue, giving your dog clarity and helping you channel their energy productively. If your dog's prey drive has been sabotaging your progress, this session will give you the clarity and tools to finally move forward.
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Erin Lynes - From Chaos to Control: The 3 Key Skills Every Dog-Powered Team Needs
Date: Thursday, September 11th, 2025
Time: 6pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
There are three key skills that will make your dog-powered sports training more effective—whether you are brand new and training for the first time, or looking to gain an edge over the competition at your next big race.
1. Line Out – For training and race start lines, as well as trail stops. This skill eliminates tangles, misdirections, and chaos by teaching your dog to move forward and maintain line tension while you are stopped.
2. Onbye – For passing distractions such as pee spots, rubbish along the trail, barking dogs, pedestrians, or other teams. This cue helps keep your dog on the trail, focused, and moving forward despite any temptations they discover.
3. Turn Cues – Gee and Haw, Right and Left—whatever you choose to call them, being able to steer your dog confidently when there are options on the trail saves valuable time and gives you more route choices, no matter the conditions.
This webinar will demonstrate how to teach, use, and maintain each of these three key skills using a combination of groundwork and on-the-trail training tactics. Together, these methods build a solid understanding and reinforcement history that your dog will carry into every future run. Bonus: These skills are useful beyond pulling sports—for example, hands-free jogging or biking with your dog, or hiking on leash. Turn cues also transfer beautifully to sports like agility or hoopers!
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Karen Deeds - The Pressure is on! Using Learning Theory for the Give and Take of Leash Pressure
Date: Thursday, September 18th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Negative Reinforcement can be a useful tool in dog training if applied carefully by combining it with positive reinforcement to avoid fallout. The goal of negative reinforcement is to increase the likelihood of behavior occurring more frequently by removing or gaining relief from an unpleasant condition.
As humans we are exposed to negative reinforcement frequently: You are speeding and see the highway patrol on the side of the road ahead. The potential for a speeding ticket (aversive) encourages you to drive the appropriate speed limit (desirable behavior increases). I finish my webinar ahead of or on time to avoid the stress of an unfinished task. However, as dog trainers, we don’t want our dogs to perform behaviors just to avoid something unpleasant, we want to develop intrinsic motivation as well.
Leashes are a necessary part of dog ownership. Sometimes, even well-trained dogs will ‘hit’ the end of the leash. So, wouldn’t it be helpful for them to know what TO DO when that happens??? Not only do we want them to know what to do, but we want to ensure they don’t FEEL scared, threatened, or trapped. The number one incident for owner directed aggression I see, other than resource guarding, is when they try to guide or restrain their dog by the collar. Not only do we want to promote positive emotions when there is pressure on their collar/harness or body, but we want them to know how to reduce or eliminate that pressure. Using desirable stimuli, we can possibly even create intrinsic motivation for movement away from the pressure.
Collar/leash work is often the first step in optimizing negative reinforcement for low stress handling that will be covered in the 2nd webinar on this subject by Dr. Sophie Liu! In this webinar we will discuss how to avoid fallout from using negative reinforcement for leash pressure, how to create a positive response to touch/pressure and how to teach your dog to respond appropriately. This can be helpful not only for loose leash walking but can enhance your communication with your dog by providing a tactile cue for other situations such as reactivity and frustration greetings. Learning how to respond to this type of ‘pressure’ in general can influence your dog’s confidence in other areas of pressure/conflict as well.
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Coming soon!
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Sophie Liu, DVM - Hold Me Closer! Optimizing Learning Theory to De-Stress Vet Visits
Date: Thursday, September 18th, 2025
Time: 6pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Note: This webinar builds off concepts introduced in Karen Deed's webinar about optimizing negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement to humanely approach loose-leash walking and collar grabs. We recommend watching Part 1: "The Pressure is On!"
If your dog has any fear of veterinary handling, figuring out their healthcare while protecting their emotional welfare can feel like losing battles. Traditional veterinary handling has historically focused on human safety at the expense of the dog's mental state. Meanwhile, cooperative care allows the dog to be a happy and willing participant, but it takes a lot of practice and a very accommodating veterinary team.
So what do you do when your dog needs veterinary attention but isn't fully trained in cooperative care? Fortunately, low stress restraint sits in between traditional handling and cooperative care! And the best part is that YOU can practice much of this at home. Low stress restraint can be thought of as minimizing distress by familiarizing the patient with common handling procedures. The goal is to use the most effective, least forceful restraint. This often requires a careful and humane application of negative reinforcement (pressure and release) with positive reinforcement. Through this, we can “detoxify” veterinary procedures, which is essential for your dog's long term care.
We'll cover some critical themes including: muzzle conditioning, common restraints, handling cues, and effective Desensitization and Counter Conditioning. The truth is that most veterinary procedures are not pleasant for our pet patients, but a little preparation can help us make negative experiences LEAST distressing so your dog can live a long, healthy, and happy life!
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Coming soon!
* Click here to Register Now *
No Webinars Thursday, September 25th due to FDSA In-person Training Camp
Questions or Problems? Please send email to help@fenziacademy.com
