Training Tools

One of the most useful things you can understand as a dog owner is the 4 quadrants of operant conditioning. Don’t let the technical name scare you — it’s actually pretty straightforward once you break it down. Positive means adding something to the equation. Negative means removing something. It has nothing to do with “good” or “bad.” Positive Reinforcement = Adding something to increase a behavior (example: giving a treat or praise after your dog sits so they’re more likely

Leash pulling is one of the most common complaints I hear from dog owners. Walks become miserable, frustrating, and sometimes even dangerous. A lot of people try to fix it by switching to a harness or using a flexi leash. But here’s the real reason most methods fail: those tools don’t actually solve the problem — they just make it easier and safer for the dog to keep pulling. If your dog and you are disconnected, the dog simply won’t care that you’re on the other end of the l

The crate should be your dog’s safe place — the spot they go to eat, sleep, chew on a bone, or just relax. It’s not a punishment. When used correctly, it becomes a positive, secure space. One of the biggest crate training mistakes I see is using the crate only when you leave the house. This creates a negative association. The dog learns that going in the crate means you’re leaving and they might be stuck there for hours. Instead, use the crate throughout the day in varying sh

Prong collars get a bad reputation, but a lot of that comes from misunderstanding how they’re supposed to be used. At Packline Canine, I recommend a prong collar in a few specific situations: When a dog is completely disconnected from the person on the other end of the leash When a dog is pulling so hard they’re choking or gagging themselves (flat collars and martingales aren’t enough in those cases and can actually damage the trachea) When the dog is simply too strong for th

If you’ve been told that e-collars are just “shock collars” that hurt your dog, I get why you might be hesitant. A lot of people are unintentionally misinformed about them. Here’s the truth from my perspective at Packline Canine Training: The e-collar is one of the best communication tools available because it’s the only tool that lets you effectively touch and communicate with your dog at a distance — completely hands-free and off-leash. I only use high-quality e-collars fr