UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
Living with Fearful Dogs the Nose-Centric Way
“I am so grateful I decided to join you, it was truly a life changing event for me and for us as a team.”
Julie’s Nose-Centric® methods bring the dog’s overlooked sense of smell to the forefront of training to improve confidence, build trust, engage with the handler, and reduce reactivity with dogs that are often thought of as “un-reachable.” Julie Hart has 15 years of experience as a fearful and feral dog rehabilitator for shelters, rescues, and clients. This workshop will contain classroom and demonstrations, with some hands-on opportunities.
By combining trust building, human/dog body language, leash handling, attunement, predictability and understanding with fearful and feral dogs, we can connect with dogs on a deep level. The workshop will explain how dogs see the world in a different way. With improved and different understanding of fearful and feral dogs, an imporved outcome will follow. The workshop covers how the lessons feral and fearful dogs teach can be applied to help improve clients’ and clients’ dogs’ success.
October 25-26, 2025
Boone, North Carolina USA
The Original Fearful Feral Dog Workshop (FFDW)
“I have spent thousands and been to many workshops, but I learned more at this one (Fearful Feral Dog Course) than all others combined.”
“Dog trainers! … Go to the Fearful Feral workshop with Julie Hart. These techniques and philosophies are so powerful and will change the way you interact with dogs for the better”
Feral Dogs as Teachers: A Two-Day Rehabilitation Workshop for Trainers & Shelter Professionals
May 11-12 | Las, Vegas NEW MEXICO
This two-day feral dog rehabilitation workshop offers a rare, hands-on learning experience for dog trainers, rescue workers, and shelter professionals who work with fearful, shut-down, or behaviorally complex dogs. Feral dogs—having survived without human support—serve as powerful teachers, acting as magnifying glasses for our skills, awareness, and emotional regulation. Their responses reveal, with clarity and honesty, what truly builds trust, safety, and connection.
Working with feral dogs takes us to the core of the human–dog relationship. These dogs have developed their own survival strategies, free from human influence, making them ideal guides for understanding canine communication, stress responses, and confidence building. The insights gained in this workshop extend far beyond extreme cases and can be directly applied to shelter dogs, rescue dogs, and companion dogs.
What You’ll Learn
Led by Julie Hart, an experienced feral dog rehabilitator, in collaboration with Nelson Hodges, founder of the Canine Human Relationship Institute, this workshop blends classroom instruction, live demonstrations, and hands-on practice.
Key focus areas include:
Building trust with fearful and feral dogs
Reading and responding to canine and human body language
Effective leash handling with high-stress dogs
Creating predictability and emotional safety
Facilitating confident, brave behavior fast instead of enabling fear
Understanding how human mindset, energy, and expectations affect outcomes
How to apply Nose- Centric techniques to all dog training scenarios to improve training results.
Participants will learn how to connect with dogs on a deeper level by becoming what dogs need to feel safe, not by “fixing” behavior. A powerful side effect of this work is increased self-awareness—learning to manage your own emotions, presence, and reactions in challenging situations.
Using feral dogs as our teachers to improve our knowledge of dogs and ourselves, this two-day feral dog rehabilitation workshop in New Mexico is like no other dog training experience out there. Feral dogs are like magnifying glasses on our dog training skills, behaviors, and mindset. Feral dog rehab gets to the essence and depth of the human-dog relationship with an animal that has developed street smarts and survival techniques without human influence. The lessons feral and fearful dogs teach can be applied to help ALL dogs.
You will be guided by Julie Hart, an experienced and effective feral dog rehabilitator, in collaboration with Nelson Hodges, founder of Canine Human Relationship Institute.
May 11-12, 2026
Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO
May 11-16, 2026
Feral Dog Immersion Experience
“I attended the first fearful & feral dog immersive program hosted by Kelly & Julie. I learned how dogs who have lived without humans deem one safe, trustworthy, & valuable to their survival. I got to experience this first hand with Reba who is a sweet feral dog that I became a team with. I left being able to understand dogs on a deeper level which has helped me become a better dog trainer. Thank you to Kelly & Julie for your valuable knowledge & for making this opportunity possible. You both cultivated a safe space not only for me & the other attendees to learn about the dogs but also for Reba & the other feral dogs to learn to trust. It was such a powerful experience that left me feeling inspired!”
Feral Dogs as Teachers: A Transformational Workshop for Trainers, Enthusiasts, Rescue and Shelter Professionals
May 11–16, 2026 | Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO
This five-day, sun-filled, adventure-based feral dog workshop is unlike any other professional dog training experience. Designed for dog trainers, shelter professionals, and behavior specialists, this immersive program uses feral and extremely fearful dogs as our greatest teachers—revealing truths about canine behavior, human presence, and the foundations of trust that cannot be learned in a classroom alone.
Feral dogs act as magnifying glasses for our skills, mindset, and emotional regulation. Having survived without human support, they show us—without filters—what truly builds safety, confidence, and connection. The insights gained through feral dog rehabilitation extend far beyond extreme cases and can be applied to every dog, from shelter populations to beloved family companions.
What You’ll Learn
Participants will develop practical, immediately applicable skills in:
Building trust with fearful, feral, and shutdown dogs
Reading and responding to canine and human body language
Creating predictability and emotional safety
Leash handling and spatial awareness with high-stress dogs
Facilitating brave behavior using nose-centric rehabilitation techniques
Regulating your own mindset, energy, emotions, and expectations to better support dogs
How to apply Nose-Centric techniques to help all dogs and improve training results.
This work goes to the core of the human–dog relationship, offering not only professional growth, but deep personal insight.
Your Instructors
You will be guided by Kelly Engel and Julie Hart, highly experienced feral dog rehabilitators with decades of combined hands-on work. The May 11–12 shelter portion also includes collaboration with Nelson Hodges, founder of the Canine Human Relationship Institute, who brings additional perspective on human–canine connection and communication.
Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO
Since 2015, I have taught workshops for canine professionals including dog parents, dog trainers, dog rescuers, animal shelters, veterinarian staff, and other canine professionals. I have experience teaching dog training workshops in New Mexico and nationwide, and presenting at dog training conferences. I treat my students with empathy and respect. The dogs that attend are also treated with understanding and empathy.
I teach how to intertwine my Nose-Centric Dog Training and Rehabilitation with the dog’s environment and particular needs to optimize a dog’s natural behaviors for better well-being. I also focus on how to build trust with dogs on a deeper level than other training methods, while using fearful and feral dogs as our guides to understanding dogs as a whole. Having continued access and success with feral dogs has allowed me to understand dogs at their most primal levels and what helps them bond with humans. I teach how this knowledge can help us have a deeper bond with dogs that leads to faster improvement of fear-based behaviors. I can guarantee that what I teach is unique and not commonly practiced in the dog training community.
I welcome dogs that have severe fear or feral behavior to attend my workshops as demonstration dogs. Workshop topics include, but are not limited to, Nose-Centric Dog Training and Rehabilitation for Fearful & Feral Dogs, Rescuing Dogs Responsibly, and other topics upon request. I can alter my lessons based on your particular audience.
If you would like to host a workshop at your location or for your organization, please email julie@hart2heartcanine.com
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Feedback from Previous workshops
"I felt like I learned perspectives I hadn’t known before and validated some of the things I knew. It also taught me a gentler approach to training."
"I have been to a lot of seminars and I felt this to be one of the best as far as helpful hands on information. Julie's knowledge will help many trainers."
"No judgement. Very welcoming to everyone."
“I am so glad I took the seminar, met you and the rest of the group. M is responding beautifully to more structure, I believe it is even affecting for level of anxiety and appetite. She’s eating more than ever ( I have been battling keeping weight on her since I got her). On our daily walks the change is so dramatic my husband says “It’s like a switch flipped” for her… I am so grateful I decided to join you, it was truly a life-changing event for me and for us as a team.” Kim - Dog Parent
“I have spent thousands and been to many workshops, but I learned more at this one (Fearful Feral Dog Course) than all others combined.” CJ Pet Sitter
“Dog trainers! … Go to the Fearful Feral workshop with Julie Hart. These techniques and philosophies are so powerful and will change the way you interact with dogs for the better”.
”You have opened my eyes on a lot of things regarding my dog. She has opened my eyes too like no other dog I ever had. U have taught me to meet her where she is at. " it's not about what you want but about what she needs" is key. I had lots of expectations without even realizing it just going off of how other dogs had come out of their shell. I love her, and her soft eyes and tail wag show me that I'm less and less scary”
