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
Deb Jones, PhD - Food for Thought: Common Pitfalls When Using Food Reinforcers
Date: Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Dog trainers who rely primarily on positive reinforcement methods to build and maintain behaviors tend to lean very heavily on the use of food in training. There are good reasons for this. Food tends to be a fairly universal positive reinforcer. It is easy to obtain, control, and deliver. Many dogs will reliably work for food.
There’s another side to the use of food in training though. There are dogs who really don’t “live to eat” and some who even seem to find food aversive. Many trainers use food in a relatively thoughtless and non-contingent manner, and this can lower its overall usefulness.
Some of the food related issues we will discuss in this webinar include:
- Dog “doesn’t like” food or dog doesn’t consistently work for food
- Physical issues
- Emotional issues
- Dog needs higher and higher value foods (history of increasing value)
- Increasing levels of food acceptance
- Sharkiness & other arousal issues
- Food delivery issues
- “Poison” food (food predicts stressful events)
- Too much of a good thing? WHY are you giving that piece of food right now?
- Valid reasons for using food. Thoughtless reasons for using food.
- What are my alternatives to food in training?
- Getting off to a good start: Puppies & food & other reinforcers
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*This webinar has run previously. Please check your Webinar Library to prevent a duplicate purchase.
* Click here to Register Now *
Hélène Lawler - The #1 Reason Dogs Struggle at Dog Sport Trials—And How to Fix It
Date: Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Time: 6pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Does your dog crush it in training but fall apart at trials? If yes, you’re not alone.
As a high performance coach and fellow dog sport enthusiast, I've worked with hundreds of teams on this exact problem, and have struggled with this myself!
So I am VERY familiar with how frustrating and discouraging it can be to walk to the start line and not know which version of your dog is lining up beside you.
Maybe you’ve tried everything:
- Countless training drills and strategies
- Simulating trial pressure at home
- All the latest arousal-management techniques
But despite all that, your dog still struggles on trial day.
If any of this sounds familiar, I want to invite you to my upcoming webinar: The #1 reason dogs struggle at trials...and how to fix it.
In our time together, I will share:
1) The common strategies most people use to fix this problem, and why these don’t work
2) Why most people misunderstand what's going on, and end up focusing on the wrong solutions as a result
3) The real reason even well-prepared dogs falter under trial pressure — a root cause most people overlook.
4) How to fix this with a powerful, proven approach — no complicated, time-consuming training plans required.
This is the same strategy I’ve used to help hundreds of dog–handler teams across multiple sports get trial-day results that finally match their training.
This Webinar is for you if:
✅ Your dog knows their job in classes and seminars, but the wheels fall off under trial pressure.
✅ You’ve tried “ring prep” sessions in training, but the success still doesn’t carry over to trials.
✅ Your dog did well in novice trials but struggles at more advanced levels.
✅ Trial days leave you feeling anxious, frustrated, disappointed, or defeated.
✅ You know you and your dog are capable of more, but can’t figure out what’s missing.
✅ You haven't started competing yet, and want to master this skill right out of the gate!
Whether you’re a seasoned competitor or just starting out, I will teach you the critical trial-day ability every handler needs to master so that you and your dog can perform when it matters most.
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* Click here to Register Now *
Petra Ford - Designing Effective Training Plans
Date: Thursday, June 19th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Training for dog sports involves many moving parts, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. How should you structure individual sessions? Where do you begin? How do you track progress—and what do you do when things don’t go as planned? In this webinar, we’ll explore how to create a practical training plan that supports both your short-term and long-term goals. You’ll learn how to structure your sessions, monitor your progress, and adjust your approach when challenges arise—whether in training or in life. With a solid, flexible plan, you’ll be better equipped to stay on track and keep moving forward. Without one, it’s easy to lose momentum and get stuck. Let’s build a plan that sets you—and your dog—up for success.
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Coming Soon!
* Click here to Register Now *
Nicole Wiebusch - Broken Connection: Why Your Dog Loses Focus
Date: Thursday, June 19th, 2025
Time: 6pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Does your dog disconnect from you during training? Would you like some ideas on how to fix and prevent disconnection? Having a training plan and systematically working your way through increasing criteria, distractions, and generalization can go a long way toward reducing disconnection.
During this webinar we will define disconnection and discuss common reasons that dogs disconnect from their handlers. We'll talk about how to figure out why dogs disconnect, and we'll cover ways to fix it and prevent further disconnection in the future. You will be shown video examples of several different scenarios in which the dog disconnected and we'll talk through what likely happened. You will come away with a better understanding of why dogs disconnect and what you can do about it.
Note: this webinar will not cover extremely fearful dogs. That in itself is a complicated subject and there are other classes at FDSA that are better equipped for helping your fearful dog.
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Coming Soon!
*This webinar has run previously. Please check your Webinar Library to prevent a duplicate purchase.
* Click here to Register Now *
Sharon Carroll - Stopping Unwanted Sniffing
Date: Thursday, June 26th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
There are times we want our dog to sniff (e.g. scent work, tracking, and whilst relaxing on a sniffy walk), but there are other times we don’t want our dog’s nose on the ground (e.g. during training sessions and when competing in rally, obedience, agility, tricks, musical freestyle, etc.). In some sports we even want our dog to focus on sniffing for specific odours without spending time sniffing “distractions” (e.g. sniffing food, sniffing other dogs’ scent, etc.).
In all instances where we want to eliminate “unwanted sniffing” our first task is to determine the underlying cause. Unwanted sniffing during “work” occurs for a wide range of reasons, including:
- Our dog doesn’t yet have the skills needed to ignore enticing smells (e.g. food, the scent of other dogs, etc.).
- Our dog is stressed / confused about the “work”, and this results in the performance of displacement sniffing.
- Our dog is not stressed / confused about the “work”, but they are lacking sufficient motivation for the “work”, so the pull of the environment is stronger, and this results in our dog sniffing instead of “working”.
- Our dog has developed a habit of sniffing during “work”, or in specific environments / situations / exercises.
Each of the above reasons needs to be addressed in a totally different way, so the first step is to work out WHY our dog is sniffing, then we can move forward with an effective strategy for eliminating the unwanted sniffing.
In this webinar, we will discuss each potential reason in detail, together with practical exercises you can use to accurately identify the specific reason YOUR dog is sniffing. We will then move on to discuss the different strategies for reducing / eliminating unwanted sniffing for each of the underlying drivers.
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Coming Soon!
* Click here to Register Now *
Crystal Wing - FUNctional Obedience: Where the RUBBER Meets the Road
Date: Thursday, June 26th, 2025
Time: 3pm Pacific Time (Click here for time at FDSA (Pacific Time).
Fee: $19.95 USD
Does living with your dog sometimes feel like you’re riding in a Ferrari with a newly licensed teenager, and you’re barely holding on? Or, maybe you feel like you’re tootling along with a senior driver in an older Buick, smoke pouring out of the exhaust, waving people off the sidewalk? Either way, the partnership is not going how you imagined. You’re not alone, and there are many ways to help you and your dog feel more like a team.
We all have different lifestyles our dogs need to learn how to dog in, and this is where the “RUBBER” (Relationship, Utilitarian Behaviors, Boundaries, Expectations and Reinforcement) meets the road in FUNctional Obedience. In this session, we will draw real world analogies to help you think about the relationship you currently have with your dog, and to describe where you hope that relationship goes.
Continuing the car analogy, I have a high mileage stop and go lifestyle with three low mileage, high octane malinois. Have you considered how you would describe your lifestyle-dog relationship using the car analogy? Each dog, even within their breed, is individual in their “gears” and “drivability” much like their automotive (and human!) counterparts. Each dog has unique maintenance needs, both physical and mental! The same is true with us humans - and this is where relationship building truly begins!
This webinar will help you identify your dog’s needs, and more importantly your needs, within your life at this moment. The Relationship, Utilitarian Behaviors, Boundaries, Expectations and Reinforcement that I establish with my dogs, especially in my multi-dog household, keeps our day-to-day running smoothly. Here’s how: --> Relationships allow us to understand one another. --> Utilitarian Behaviors are the key to day-to-day life and reduce conflict. (There are behaviors that can help us enjoy life together better that we may not realize without reflection.) --> Boundaries are key to building strong relationships. Setting boundaries creates a safe environment where everyone’s needs can be met. --> Expectations give us habits and routines through consistency. --> Reinforcement is incredibly FUN and builds and solidifies all of the components… when the RUBBER meets the road.
Let me help you see both yourself and your dog differently, while reflecting on ways to improve your life with your dog through FUNctional obedience, no matter what your competition or non-competition goals are. This webinar is about reflecting, planning and observing your day-to-day life and how to make it better for both you and your dog(s). (Plus, spending time with an ADHD high school art teacher of 20+ years by day, and protection sport decoy/helper with three malinois by night, is guaranteed entertainment and education! Hope to see you soon!)
Watch the Trailer
*This webinar has run previously. Please check your Webinar Library to prevent a duplicate purchase.
* Click here to Register Now *
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