Kynology Symposium With Dr. Stewart Hilliard, Forrest Micke, & Daisy Peel – The Essentials Of Modern Dog Training
December 11 @ 8:00 am – December 14 @ 5:00 pm
Seminar: Pavlov and Pause Tables
Instructors: Forrest Micke and Dr. Stewart Hilliard, with Daisy Peel
Essentials of Modern Dog Training — General Training with Special Emphasis on Agility
Join us for four days of in-depth discussion, scientific analysis, and hands-on training with Forrest Micke and Stewart Hilliard. This event will focus on the essentials of modern dog training, including the application of functionally-defined aversive control, and is appropriate for trainers working in a broad variety of disciplines, including companion dogs, working dogs, and obedience training. Forrest and Stewart will be joined by internationally-famed agility competitor Daisy Peel to bring new innovations to the special technical challenges of training for high-level agility competition. Working, audit, and livestream options are available.
Why This Seminar Matters for Your Agility (Or ANY) Training
Should you attend?
“I just want to have fun with my dog” – If that were really true, you’d train at home in your backyard. The fact that you enter trials, want clean runs, and hope for Q’s means you care about results. This seminar will give you the tools to get those results while building a confident, resilient partner – whether it’s dog agility, obedience, rally obedience, herding, or ANY competitive endeavor.
The Real-World Agility Applications
Pavlovian Conditioning – Why Your Dog “Suddenly” Can’t Perform Ever notice how your dog can nail a sequence at home but falls apart at trials? That’s Pavlov at work. Everything about the trial environment – the smells, sounds, your nervous energy – creates associations that either help or hurt performance. Understanding how classical conditioning is ALWAYS operating helps you intentionally build positive associations with trial environments instead of accidentally creating negative ones.
The Contingency Square – Understanding What Your Dog Actually Experiences You think you’re rewarding your dog with that tug toy after a contact, but what if that toy is SO exciting it’s actually making your dog too aroused to think clearly? The Contingency Square helps you understand the difference between what you INTEND a reward or correction to do and what your dog ACTUALLY experiences. This is game-changing for understanding handling mistakes, refusals, and “unpredictable” behavior.
Pavlovian-Instrumental Interactions – Why Your Dog Gets “Sticky” Sit Stays Ever have a dog who drops the final jump because they KNOW the toy is coming? Or a dog who breaks their start line stay because they can’t contain their excitement? Or a dog who sits so painfully slow that you can feel the grey hairs growing on your head while you wait for that butt to touch ground? That’s Pavlovian responses interfering with the instrumental behavior you trained. Learn how to “insulate” your trained behaviors from this interference.
Building Reliability Under Pressure Let’s be honest – agility requires reliability under pressure. Your dog WILL experience stress at trials. The question isn’t whether to use any form of aversive control, it’s whether you understand how to do it in a way that builds confidence rather than breaking it down. Learn the critical difference between escape and avoidance, and why teaching your dog to predict and prevent pressure creates the most confident, willing performance.
Negative Reinforcement & Safety Signals – The Secret to Speed That moment of relief when your dog successfully completes a challenging sequence? That’s a safety signal, and it’s incredibly reinforcing. Understanding how to structure training so your dog is working FOR relief and safety – not just away from pressure – creates dogs that drive TOWARD challenges rather than avoiding them.
Dog Welfare Redefined – Why “Stress-Free” Isn’t the Goal A dog who never experiences challenge or pressure in training won’t hold up under competition stress. Real welfare isn’t about eliminating all stress – it’s about giving your dog the tools to predict and control outcomes. This reframe changes everything about how you prepare for trials.
What Makes This Seminar Different
Unlike typical agility seminars that focus solely on handling moves and sequences, this seminar addresses the fundamental learning principles that determine whether your dog can actually EXECUTE those moves under pressure.
You’ll learn:
- Why your dog’s brilliant training performances don’t translate to trials
- How to build genuine reliability without “drilling” behaviors to death
- Why errorless learning might be preventing your dog from developing real understanding
- How to structure challenge so your dog builds resilience instead of anxiety
- The difference between productive pressure and harmful confusion
- Why teaching your dog to “fail forward” creates better problem-solvers
The Agility-Specific Components
Two Evening Run-Throughs at Agility Challenge Acres
- Stewart and Forrest will analyze real agility challenges in real-time
- See how they apply learning theory to solve actual course problems
- Get your own dogs on course with expert eyes watching, including 9x Agility World Team Member Daisy Peel
- Participate in brainstorming sessions about technical solutions specific to agility
Direct Application to Competition Performance This isn’t abstract theory – it’s practical application. You’ll leave with:
- Strategies for pre-trial preparation that actually work
- Tools for managing ringside behavior and start-line arousal
- Understanding of why your dog makes certain “mistakes” and how to address them
- Methods for building confidence in challenging sequences
- Ways to proof behaviors that hold up under genuine competition pressure
Who Should Attend
✅
You should attend if:
- You’re tired of inconsistent trial performance despite solid training
- Your dog “knows” the skills but can’t execute them under pressure
- You want to understand WHY things work, not just follow a recipe
- You’re ready to challenge some assumptions about “positive-only” training
- You want your dog to be a genuine problem-solver, not just a pattern-runner
- You’re competing at any level and want to level up your mental game AND your dog’s
❌
You might want to skip this if:
- You’re looking for new handling moves or sequence strategies (this isn’t that)
- You’re not ready to examine how learning theory applies to your training
- You want validation that your current approach is perfect as-is
- You’re uncomfortable with nuanced discussions about aversive control
Registration Options for Agility Handlers
Working Spot – Bring your dog, work directly with the instructors, get personalized feedback on your specific challenges. Limited to 8 spots. See details for how to apply for a working spot.
Auditor – Immerse yourself in the lectures and watch multiple dog/handler teams work through challenges. Often the BEST learning happens from watching others work.
Livestream – Can’t make it to Ohio? Join remotely and submit questions that may be addressed during the seminar.
(this button will take you to the Kynology webpage to register)
The Bottom Line
This seminar won’t teach you a new agility handling system. It will teach you SO MUCH MORE…it will teach you how to level up your entire COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, which applies to ALL your dog training! It’ll teach you how to build a dog who can EXECUTE any handling system under pressure. It’s the missing piece that separates the dogs who “know it at home” from the dogs who can “do it when it counts.”
If you’re serious about competing – at ANY level – and you want to understand what actually drives performance, this is your opportunity.
If you’re serious about prioritizing clear communication with your canine teammate – and you have that nagging feeling there’s something fundamental you’re not seeing – this is your opportunity!
(this button will take you to the Kynology webpage to register)
