top of page
Search


Building a Strong Defense: Training the Black Alder Pups as Livestock Guardian Dogs
The Black Alder trio is hard at work. Let us out! No time to eat in this pen! The litter of six Black Alder pups came to me for training...

Cindy Benson
Feb 10, 20243 min read
109
0


Yukon Meets the Goat Girls! - How To Introduce New Livestock To An LGD
Yukon is an eight-month-old intact Maremma. He has been a full-time working LGD almost all of his life. The goat girls, Party and Pearl,...

Cindy Benson
Aug 10, 20232 min read
130
0


Meet Kyrie - Mouth Everywhere, Feet Everywhere, Never Stops Moving! What Can I Do?
This is going to be a very short post about a very important dog. Kyrie came to me for training at about seven months old with her...

Cindy Benson
Jul 24, 20233 min read
125
0


"String Training" - Building a Connection Between the Trainer and the Learner
#bensonmaremmastraining, String training is a concept presented to me by Steve Martin only six short months ago in a course I attended at...

Cindy Benson
Jun 1, 20237 min read
154
0


Gate Training With Adolescent Dogs
#bensonmaremmastraining, This video shows the very beginning of gate training for Yukon, the orange pup, and Phoebe, the red pup. They...

Cindy Benson
May 28, 20233 min read
71
2


Why Can’t I Just Say “No!”?
These six-month-old pups skid to a stop and mand in front of my husband. They have never heard the word "no." Well, you can, of course...

Cindy Benson
May 12, 20233 min read
165
0


Why Saying “Ah” Didn’t Work
When people come here to work with me to learn my training methods, they will sometimes hear me make a distinct but odd sound (in fact, I...

Cindy Benson
Jan 22, 20234 min read
143
0


Positive Reinforcement Training – What It Is & Why It Matters
This term is not a value judgment. In some social circles, it generates a lot of energy: positive trainers are good, traditional trainers...

Cindy Benson
Jan 22, 20233 min read
73
0


Going From No and Wrong to Change and Create as a Trainer
#bensonmaremmastraining, #shaping, #Maremmasheepdogtraining, #positivereinforcementtrainingforlgds When I was a child, I heard "no" a...

Cindy Benson
Feb 13, 20225 min read
191
0


That's a Redirect?! That's Easy!
#shaping, #Maremmasheepdogtraining, #positivereinforcementtrainingforlgds ****Interrupt - Redirect - Reinforce**** Those three words are...

Cindy Benson
Feb 13, 20224 min read
104
0


New Home, New Cow - Managing the Introduction - Novice Owner
The backstory: The woman in the coveralls is Amber, the proud new owner of a pair of eleven-month-old Sarika pups. Her assistant is Anna,...

Cindy Benson
Dec 31, 202111 min read
96
0


Raising Eevie & Banks - Environmental Confidence - Katie W.
These five-month-old pups belong to Katie W. Katie is a beginner LGD owner, sort of. For several months she lived with Rocco and Isla,...

Cindy Benson
Dec 29, 20215 min read
68
0


Introducing Eight-Month-Old Maremmas to Goats
On this day, we introduced two of the Sarika pups to goats for the first time; it was a first for the goats too! We always do...

Cindy Benson
Sep 9, 20211 min read
170
0


How to Teach a Dog to Touch a Hand Target
#bensonmaremmastraining, Hand targeting is a great skill to teach pups. It has many practical applications. Examples would be moving dogs...

Cindy Benson
Jun 27, 20211 min read
122
0


Vinny Meets the Goats - Safety Line & Shaping
Vinny is a sixteen-month-old Cameo x Milan pup. He had never seen an adult goat until we brought him to this pair of retired dairy goat...

Cindy Benson
Apr 11, 20214 min read
82
0


Meadow Meets the Goats - **Cues**
#MaremmaTraining #KPAFoundations #Cues Pearl and Party are retired dairy goats who arrived at the ranch only a few days ago. Meadow has...

Cindy Benson
Mar 22, 20213 min read
72
0


Introducing Meadow and Benson to Sheep and Baby Lambs Using a Safety Line - **Cues**
#MaremmaTraining #KPAFoundations #Cues Meadow and Benson are sixteen-month-old siblings who share a fence line with this small flock of...

Cindy Benson
Mar 22, 20213 min read
131
0


Treat Selection & Preparation
It does sound pretty simple. Get your clicker, snacks for your canine training partner, and go out to work some training magic. If you...

Cindy Benson
Feb 26, 20215 min read
224
0


Teaching a Maremma To Come When Called - Recall
#bensonmaremmastraining, You know where I am about to go with this, right? If you yell “COME!” you aren’t likely to get the behavior from...

Cindy Benson
Jan 3, 20216 min read
3,008
1


How To Teach Touch & Look
#bensonmaremmastraining, There are many reasons to teach dogs new skills. Training helps to build the trust relationship between the...

Cindy Benson
Mar 27, 20203 min read
431
0
bottom of page