Free Dog Training Based on Science

Everything on this site is free. There are no courses to buy, no email list to join, no premium tier. Just a complete dog training system, explained clearly enough that anyone can use it.

The method is built on markers, conditioning, and engagement — how dogs actually learn, not how we wish they learned. It works for puppies, adult dogs, behavior problems, and everything in between.

Two Ways to Use This Site

The Path — Start Here to Understand Everything

Five chapters, read in order. Each one builds on the last.

1. How Dogs Think — Why your dog does what he does (and doesn't do what you want)
2. How Learning Works — Classical and operant conditioning, in plain language
3. The Tools — Markers, luring, release words, and variable rewards
4. Training in Practice — Threshold, reading your dog, progression, and when to correct
5. Apply It — Where the chapters above meet real-world behaviors

This is the recommended way through the site. A reader who finishes The Path can figure out solutions to problems we never explicitly cover.

Topic Pages — Start Here If You Have a Specific Problem

Each page is self-contained. You can land on any one of them and start working with your dog immediately. When something doesn't make sense or isn't working, the page explains why and links you to the deeper concept.

• Recall — Getting your dog to come when called, every time
• Sit & Down — Reliable basics, from the living room to the park
• Duration — Holding any position until released, no "stay" command needed
• Leave It — Disengaging from whatever has your dog's attention
• Quiet — Stopping barking on command
• House Training — Getting it right without punishment
• Counter Conditioning — Replacing jumping, nervousness, and reactivity with better responses
• Engagement — Building a dog who chooses you over everything else
• Reactivity — When your dog loses it around other dogs, people, or triggers

The Glossary

Every term on this site links to the glossary. Tap any highlighted word on any page and the definition appears without leaving the page. The glossary is always one tap away, on every page, and every definition is written without jargon.

Who Is This Based On?

All training content on this site is adapted from the work of Rob Peladeau, founder of NexGenK9, specifically his Talks at Google presentation on dog training. We did not invent any of this. We organized it, wrote failure-state guidance for every step, and built it into a format that is as easy to use as we could make it.

Rob's methodology uses all four quadrants of operant conditioning — adding and removing outcomes to increase and decrease behaviors — applied with precision, timing, and zero emotion. That includes rewarding what works, withdrawing what does not, and using calm corrections when a dog that understands a command chooses not to follow it. The goal is not a dog that obeys out of fear. The goal is a dog that understands what you want and chooses to do it because you have built genuine engagement.