Training tools, books, people, and movements
Things I genuinely recommend
This is not a giant shopping list. It is a living collection of training resources I actually use, books I give to people I love, and people and organizations whose work I want more people to know about.
Start here: free training and useful rewards
You do not need a mountain of gear to train a dog. A thoughtful plan, good timing, and rewards your dog genuinely values will take you a long way.
30 Day Perfect Pup
Train with me through 30 structured videos for puppies and adult dogs. The course is free totally free, and hosted by Pupford. See what 30 Day Perfect Pup includes!
Friends and collaborators
Humane animal care does not move forward because of one person. These are friends whose work pushes beyond quick fixes and asks harder questions about welfare, access, power, and responsibility.
Ludar Animal Behavior
Our friends at Ludar Animal Behavior, or LAB, bring animal behavior, accessibility, and social justice into the same room. Their collective offers behavior support and education for multiple species, and their work is explicit about opposing coercion and confronting inequity in animal care.
Course spotlight: Rachel Forday of Dog At Heart collaborated with LAB on Decolonising Trauma-Informed Care. I *highly* recommend this course for anyone interested!
Shelby Dennis and Milestone Equestrian
Shelby is a close friend and someone Bree and I genuinely admire. She is asking the horse world to examine inherited traditions, learn from equine behavior and welfare science, and take the horse’s experience seriously. I especially value that she talks honestly about changing her own methods as she learns more.
If you care about how ideas about control travel across animal industries, Shelby’s work is one of the clearest bridges between the dog and horse worlds.
Illesha Marie
Illesha is my cousin, and she does awesome work related to pop culture, propaganda, colonialism, and Palestine/Lebanon. She joined Bree and me for a conversation on our podcast recently about how American entertainment learned to support Israel. She also made a short feature for her audience about how our work connects dog training, animal rights, and ethical consistency. I really appreciate the way she follows power into places people are encouraged to treat as “just entertainment.”
Watch and listen:
Watch This Famous Dog Trainer Spoke Out for Palestine
Listen to our podcast conversation: How did American pop culture learn to support Israel?
Books and educators
Resources worth keeping close
Lili Chin
I genuinely love Lili’s book Doggie Language. I regularly buy it as a gift for people of all ages. It’s one of the easiest ways I know to begin helping people see what their dog may be communicating.
Lili also created Kitty Language and Dogs of the World, along with lots of awesome free educational illustrations!
Dr. Zazie Todd
Dr. Todd is one of the clearest people writing about dog and cat behavior for a general audience. She has some great books out now – Wag is about helping dogs live happier lives, Bark! focuses on anxious, fearful, and reactive dogs, and Purr is for cat people. Zazie’s website, Companion Animal Psychology, is also one of my favorite places to follow new research.
Explore Zazie Todd’s books
Subscribe to Companion Animal Psychology
Listen to my conversation with Zazie
Dr. Lisa Radosta
Dr. Lisa Radosta is a board-certified veterinary behaviorist and President of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (AVCB). Dr. Radosta is an incredible advocate who makes the medical and emotional sides of behavior understandable without talking down to people. Following her is a great way to learn when a problem may need more than a standard training plan – and to learn more about your pets in general!
Follow Dr. Lisa Radosta on Instagram
Visit Dr. Lisa Radosta’s website
Use Dr. Radosta’s dog behavior resources
Public health and solidarity
Doctors Against Genocide
We are proud to partner with Doctors Against Genocide (DAG). Doctors Against Genocide is a global coalition of healthcare workers organizing against genocide, war crimes, attacks on healthcare, and medical complicity. Their work matters to me because public health cannot be separated from displacement, hunger, environmental destruction, destroyed hospitals, and the political choices that produce those conditions.
Two conversations to start with
- You Can’t Bury the Truth Forever: Zak and Dr. Erika + Doctors Against Genocide
- Why Are US Veterinarians Being Intimidated and Silenced?, with Dr. Erika Lin-Hendel and Dr. Serena Nayee on One Health, the AVMA, and veterinary responsibility.
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