Dogue Academy Professional Dog Trainer School

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

In Horse Training Part 1, we discusses cognitive learning in horses. In Horse Training Part 2, we will discuss how horses learn from one another, and what role can humans play in this process? These…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

We often discuss horse training in terms of conditioning behaviours, but we rarely talk about cognitive learning. Equestrians often ignore the topic of how horse gather, process, and interpret information by asking questions such as how…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

What makes Social Cognitive Animal Training different?

For decades, dog training has brawn from behaviourism, giving trainers powerful tools for understanding reinforcement, consequences, shaping, and behaviour change.

Recently, cognitive science expanded our understanding of perception, memory…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

Science advances by asking new questions. As a naturally curious person, I have always been drawn to exploring those questions and searching for new perspectives. As our understanding of animal cognition continues to evolve, so too…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

For decades, parenting and dog training have followed remarkably similar cultural trends. As society moved away from authoritarian methods, both fields embraced compassion, empathy, and positive relationships. The goal was admirable: replace fear with trust. Yet…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

Animal training has never lacked information; it has theories, methods, techniques, and generations of practical application. What it has lacked is something more fundamental: a way to see how all of these pieces actually fit together…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

Social Cognitive Animal Training (SCAT) sits at the intersection of learning theory and lived experience. While it draws from social learning principles, cognitive processing, and attchament, its deeper structure aligns closely with two frameworks rarely discussed…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

There’s a moment in every animal trainer’s journey when knowledge shifts from acquired to lived experience. It’s quiet, almost imperceptible at first. Professionals pause before a cue, softening their body, and recognizing that learning unfolds between…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

Social cognitive animal training emerged from a growing recognition that dogs learn within a social context, where observation, interpretation, and referencing shape how behaviour forms. This perspective shifts training away from conditioned responses and places it…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

When most people think about puppy socialization, they picture play. Groups of puppies tumbling over one another, burning energy, getting used to the world. It looks productive, and it feels right.

Social Cognitive Animal Training

For…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr

I was halfway through lunch when they came to me. There was a kind of tension in the way they stood there, with urgency and a look that screamed desperation. Peter was back in the field with…

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

There is a question that keeps surfacing in the horse world, often quietly, sometimes defensively. Is it actually possible to train a horse without negative reinforcement or punishment?

A New Way of Training Horses

The short…