Behavior does not occur independently of emotion, but emotion is often treated as secondary, inconvenient, or outside the scope of training. This session reframes emotion as a primary driver of behavior and learning, not an obstacle to be managed or ignored.

In this in-depth presentation, Louise Stapleton-Frappell examines how core canine emotional systems, including fear, frustration, seeking, and safety, shape behavior by altering motivation, perception, and learning capacity. Rather than focusing on surface-level behavior change, the session emphasizes why emotional change must precede reliable, durable behavior change.

Participants will explore how emotional states function as motivating operations, influencing which behaviors are available, which consequences are reinforcing, and why common training and behavior interventions stall or fail when emotion is not addressed.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. 1. Explain the functional relationship between emotion, behavior, and learning in dogs
   2. Identify key canine emotional systems and describe how they influence behavior and learning readiness
   3. Recognize common training and behavior challenges that are rooted in emotional states rather than skill deficits
   4. Describe why behavior modification fails when emotional conditions maintaining behavior are not addressed
   5. Apply force-free strategies that prioritize emotional safety, regulation, and learning capacity
   6. Reframe “problem behaviors” as functional information about underlying emotional and environmental needs

Your Presenters-Louise Stapleton-Frappell

Louise Stapleton-Frappell – B.A. Hons, PCT- A, PCBC-A, CAP3, CTDI, DN-FSG2, DN-CPCT, CWRI

Louise is a Partner and Faculty Member of DogNostics Career Center and Board Member of The Pet Professional Guild. Louise has constantly built on her knowledge and furthered her education in the field of force-free, rewards-based, science-based pet training. The creator of the DogNostics’ Dog Trainer Certification Program, Louise has presented at conferences internationally and has gained a reputation for expertly teaching and training humans and canines at her own establishment, The DogSmith of Estepona, in Southern Spain, where she offers a wide range of both group and private classes and pet dog services.

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