february 2024 KPA CTP of the Month
Pattie Fischer is the founder of Bella Fiore Lagottos Romagnolos in Sequim, Washington, where she breeds and trains Lagotto Romagnolos. When she sends puppies to their new homes, Pattie’s primary goal is to ensure that her puppies and their new families get the best start together—and training is a core part of achieving that goal.
Pattie graduated from the Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) Dog Trainer Professional (DTP) program in October 2022 under the guidance of faculty member Terry Ryan. In addition to breeding and training dogs, Pattie enjoys nose work and scent detection, including training dogs to detect gluten.
In this interview, Pattie shares how understanding her dogs better through body language and activities like nose work has helped shape her approach to training.
When did you start training, and how has the industry changed since you began?
I started training my dog, Snowball, an American Eskimo, in 1986. The first training method I used was a corrective method using a choke chain. I’m so thankful and blessed to be part of positive reinforcement training and to share how much better it is for our relationships with our canine families.
Was there a particular dog/animal in your life that was your most important teacher?
Two dogs were important teachers for me. The first, a 3.5-pound poodle named Sarah, would yawn when I hugged her, and I did not understand why. She put me on the path to understanding canine body language.
The second was my Lagotto Romagnolo, Bella. She was my first Lagotto. It truly felt like she was speaking Italian and I was speaking English; there was no communication happening between us. I started to do nose work with her. Body language is a very important part of being an effective nose work team. Once I started “listening” to Bella’s body language, our relationship changed dramatically. The change I saw in our relationship when I began to understand and respond to Bella’s body language was nothing short of amazing, and it was nothing I had ever experienced before. The trust, bond, and love that developed were incredible.
The trust, bond, and love that developed were incredible.
What is your favorite activity or sport that you do with your own dog(s)?
I love to do nose work or scent detection with my dogs. So much of how dogs see the world is through their noses, so giving them lots of opportunities to use their noses increases their confidence, allows them to experience the world in many ways, and helps to strengthen bonds and communication.
I am particularly passionate about medical and allergen detection. Several of my dogs have been trained to detect Parkinson’s disease as well as to assist people with the disease. I also train dogs to detect gluten. Because gluten is so prevalent in food, hygiene products, household items, and more, for someone with gluten sensitivities, a gluten-detection dog can make a huge difference, preventing or limiting exposure and allowing that person to live a healthier life.
What is your proudest training moment?
My proudest training moment was when Bella passed her first odor-recognition test. I was so nervous, and she was so calm. After she alerted me to the correct odor box, she pranced beside me as we left the room. She looked up at me as if to say, “We did it! That was AWESOME.” I will never forget the look on Bella’s face or the bounce in her step. She was truly happy, seemingly knowing we had done something amazing together.
Who has been your inspiration in the animal training community?
I have had many people in the training community inspire me, but no one more than Terry Ryan. She has become a friend and a mentor since I graduated from KPA. I am so fortunate to call her a friend and to continue to work with her. Every time I am with her, I learn something new about training, encouragement, and observation.
What do you do to continue your training education?
I am constantly looking for opportunities to learn more about dogs, how to make their lives better, and how to help educate humans on ways to improve their lives with dogs. For example, before the pandemic, a big part of my focus when I sent puppies to their new homes was to make sure that the families continued with enrichment and exposure for their puppies. Once the pandemic hit, I knew we would come out the other side with an epidemic of dogs with behavioral issues, especially separation anxiety. So, I began to look for educational opportunities to learn more about, and how to help dogs overcome, separation anxiety. I was fortunate to find a great program and became a certified separation-anxiety trainer.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to a new trainer?
Train the dog in front of you. Don’t compare that dog to other dogs. Trainers need to modify their methods to suit the students, not the other way around.
If you were a dog, what breed would you be?
I would want to be a Lagotto Romagnolo. They are very intelligent, part human, part goat, part cat, and all love!
Learn more about Pattie through her website and YouTube channel.