What that word means

Marker or clicker: A sound (a click, or the word 'yes') that means 'that exact thing earned a treat.' It marks the moment precisely, which is what makes learning fast. The clicker is just a consistent sound - the word works too.

Capturing: Rewarding a behavior the dog offers on their own (lying down calmly, settling) instead of asking for it. The easiest way to grow the behaviors you actually want.

Luring and fading: Using food to guide a movement, then removing the food from the picture quickly. Lures that never fade become bribes.

Impulse control: The skill of waiting - not lunging at the door, the food bowl, the squirrel. It's trained with 'leave it,' 'wait,' and settle work, and it generalizes across a dog's whole life.

Threshold: The distance or intensity at which your dog can still think. Under threshold = learning; over threshold = surviving. Almost all reactivity work is about staying under it.

Counter conditioning and desensitization: Changing a dog's emotional response by pairing the scary thing (at a distance they can handle) with something wonderful, then slowly closing the distance. This is the evidence-based approach to fear - not 'flooding' them by forcing exposure, which usually makes fear worse.

Prey drive: The instinct to notice, chase, and catch movement - bred deliberately into hounds, terriers, and herders. It isn't naughtiness and it can't be trained out; it gets an outlet (flirt pole, lure course, fetch, sport) and management (long line, fences).

Fear periods: Normal developmental windows (commonly around 8-11 weeks and again somewhere in 6-14 months) when a puppy suddenly finds familiar things scary. Don't force them through it; make the scary thing pay well and move on. What you flood during a fear period can stick.

Socialization window: Roughly 3-16 weeks, when puppies form lasting opinions about the world. Quality over quantity: calm, positive, dog's-choice exposure beats overwhelming them. It never truly closes, but it never gets easier than this.

Adolescence: Roughly 6-18 months (later in giant breeds): trained behaviors fall apart, recall gets selective, confidence wobbles. It is a phase and it is normal - go back to easier versions, raise the pay, and keep the long line on.

Generalization: Dogs don't assume 'sit' in the kitchen means 'sit' at the park. Practice everywhere before assuming they know it.

Front clip harness: A harness with a leash ring on the chest - a pulling dog's own momentum turns them back toward you. Management that makes loose-leash training possible; not a substitute for it.

Head halter: A gentle-leader style halter around the muzzle for strong dogs. Requires careful conditioning; never jerk it.

Martingale: A limited-slip collar that tightens only to a stop - designed for narrow-headed sighthounds who back out of flat collars.

Why we don’t carry aversives: Shock/e-collars, prong, and choke collars work by pain or fear. We don't carry or recommend them anywhere in Rosette - not because rewards-based training is gentler-sounding, but because the fallout (suppressed warning signals, fear associations with whatever was nearby) is real and often shows up later as aggression or shutdown. Rewards-based trainers title dogs in every sport we list, including field work.

Aggression, guarding, panic, and self-injury are professional territory - look for CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP, IAABC, or a veterinary behaviorist (ACVB). That's strength, not failure.