Our Story
Five Minutes That Launched a Whole Community
Tails of Connection (TOC) started with a scared dog, a living room rug, and a promise to train together for five minutes a day.
Where It Started
I remember the day I walked my dog Otis out of our one-bedroom condo in Washington, D.C., and he refused to walk forward because there was a feather on the grass patch to our right. He was barking and backing up. The feather was new. His fear wasn't.
I had already spent thousands of dollars on training that did more harm than good. I was working crazy hours as a consultant at EY and felt like I was failing this dog I loved so much. So I made him a promise that would end up changing my life: five minutes of fun training together, every day.
The Exhale
Each night when I got home from work, I would move the coffee table off the living room rug and fumble my way through teaching Otis something. What I thought would be hard to fit into my absurd work schedule became something I looked forward to every day. I carried so much tension and moved through my days so quickly, but in those five minutes training with my dog, I exhaled. I felt my whole body soften and my mind slow. It felt like magic.
I taught him things like passing a soccer ball back and forth with me, closing cabinet doors, and knocking over noisy objects (for a dog who was afraid of a feather, getting to be the one who made the noise was a big deal). Within a few months of daily five-minute sessions, Otis's behavior out in the world started changing. At the time, I didn't really understand why. I just watched his confidence grow. I now understand the science behind it, and I still look back on it with the same dazzled look in my eyes that I had back then.
The Dream
I was hooked. I wanted to understand why those five minutes had worked, and the more I learned, the more curious I got.
I was in the process of updating my resume to start looking for a new job. Instead, I kept spending my time writing about this dream I had. I remembered how lost I'd felt trying to help Otis, not knowing whose advice to trust, and how much that confusion had cost us both. I wanted to create a place with reliable information people could actually use in their lives, one that could point them to great resources.
And I wanted to create a space where people could connect with their dogs, themselves, and the world around them. I wanted to spread a little of the magic I'd experienced.
That dream became Tails of Connection.
Is this for you?
No judgment. No perfect. Just you and your dog building a life together.
You love your dog. Maybe you’re quietly worrying that you're getting it wrong, or maybe the (often contradictory) advice out there feels overwhelming. Maybe you’re stressed out by the hard parts of life with your dog or are simply looking to build more connection. This is for you.
Here, you’ll learn how to be in conversation with your dog – using the language that they are already so skilled at using: behavior. You’ll learn more about how behavior works on this planet, so you can create environments where you both thrive. You’ll learn skills for the real world like navigating distractions on walks and building reliable recalls.
I know, because I was you: on a rug in a tiny condo, with a dog who was scared of the world and no idea what I was doing. The learning we did together in those five-minute sessions changed our lives. I want some of that magic for you too (promise you don't have to become a dog trainer like I did in the process).
What I Believe
I believe that our relationships with our dogs are deeply meaningful and that how we show up with them can ripple out into how we show up in the broader world.
Joy and connection matter, period. In a world with no shortage of really terrible stuff, they're medicine. They help us show up better for each other.
Learning about behavior is an act of kindness. Dogs speak through behavior, and learning even a little about how it works is one of the most respectful, empowering things we can do for them. It's also why I teach in ways that give dogs as much choice and control as possible, and use as little force, fear, or discomfort as possible. (That goes for the humans, too.)
Dog training can change how we show up in the world. It’s dog training, but it’s not just dog training. It’s about how we see and relate to each other. I’ve talked to so many people who started to see the flaws in our human punishment culture or changed how they respond to their own fears after learning how to support their dogs.
Living with dogs gets to be beautiful and hard. Being in relationship with another living being (of any species) has challenges. I don’t ever want to gloss over the hard parts. They get to be a part of the magic too.
Hi, I’m Christie
I’m a Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and have been training dogs professionally for nearly 9 years. Curiosity tends to get the best of me in almost anything I do, so I have become a bit of a behavior science nerd. I have the great pleasure of TA-ing Dr. Susan Friedman’s Living & Learning with Animals (LLA) course where we teach foundations of behavior analysis to animal professionals.
In all of my training, I follow LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) principles and Dr. Friedman’s Humane Hierarchy, reducing force and coercion and maximizing the learner's choice and control. I love to help people build big behavior repertoires for their dogs that allow them more freedom to operate on their environments. However, some of my favorite training will always be the training that doesn’t look that flashy – starting where behavior already exists and arranging conditions to help dogs succeed.
I care deeply about the learning experience of both the person and the dog and don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. I am also a mom to a toddler who shares his home with two dogs, so I know firsthand what it takes to help kids and dogs live safely and happily together.
I genuinely light up getting to be even a small part of someone’s journey with their dog.
Start Here
Learn on Your Time, With Your Dog, Wherever You Are
I’ve created four easy-to-follow, on-demand e-courses designed to support you through real-life challenges (and fun stuff too). The videos are short, clear, and filmed in real homes—because that’s where training happens.
Your 5-Minute-a-Day Starter Course
Tails of Connection Challenge
New to training? This is the course that launched the TOC community! Thousands of dog guardians have taken this 14-day challenge, training for just five minutes a day.
Attention Unlocked
This course gives your dog tools to navigate their world with more ease.
Challenge 2.0: Cooperative Care & More
A course all about building a dialogue with your dog and practicing cooperative care.
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