E458: Aleks Woodroffe - "Supporting Senior Sniffers"

Ever wondered how scentwork dogs' abilities change as they age? Many dogs who got started in scent sports right as the sport took off are now hitting their senior years. In this episode, Aleks Woodroffe joins Melissa Breau to talk about how age impacts the nosework dog, what aging gracefully looks like for the scent work team, and how to keep senior sniffers in the game. 

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  14 Hits
14 Hits

E457: Christina Young - "Teaching Your Dog to Move Away from Conflict"

Living with multiple dogs means managing multiple personalities, and like any home with multiple personalities, there will be times when there are disagreements. In this episode, Christina Young and Melissa Breau talk about how to prevent conflict between dogs in your home, the early signs of tension people tend to miss, the difference between management and structure, and how to teach your dogs to actively move away from situations that might escalate.

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  249 Hits
249 Hits

E456: Denise Fenzi - "From Training Philosophy to Training the Dog in Front of You"

For our first ever dually published podcast episode (both as an audio podcast and on youtube as a video podcast!) we brought back our first ever guest — Denise! — and revisited the things we talked about 10 years ago in our first ever podcast episode. Together they talk about how Denise's training philosophy has evolved, what it means to "Train the...
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  548 Hits
548 Hits

E455: Jennifer Henion - "Teaching Impulse Override & Take Turns"

Jennifer joins me to talk about the idea of impulse override and how it can help teach dogs to wait for their turn — an important skill in the field trials and hunt tests where she competes! 

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  426 Hits
426 Hits

E454: Shade Whitesel - "What's that Smell?"

Ever wondered how you approach teaching a dog to focus around distracting scents - things like bitch in season scent or trash on the side of the road? In this episode Shade and I discuss the way she handles scent distractions as a real life skill. 

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  713 Hits
713 Hits

E453: Kim Palermo - "Resilience and Arousal"

Kim joins me this week to talk about the relationship between resilience and arousal. We talk about how control unleashed and freework can both help improve resilience and arousal management for dogs with big feelings. 

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  474 Hits
474 Hits

E452: Kelly Daniel - "Adapting Fitness for Puppies and Seniors"

Fitness training can benefit dogs of all ages — but it should be adapted to meet the specific needs of the dog in front of us based on their health and their age. In this episode Kelly and I talk about how to adapt fitness training for puppies and seniors.

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  677 Hits
677 Hits

E451: Sue Yanoff, DVM - Getting an Accurate Sports Medicine Diagnosis

Dr. Sue Yanoff specializes in canine sports medicine. In this episode we discuss the importance of getting an accurate diagnosis for canine sports injuries and how to advocate for your dog if the right diagnosis isn't immediately clear.

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  553 Hits
553 Hits

E450: Building the Bond - And the Factors that Impact it.

Erin Lynes, Kim Palermo, Crystal Wing, and Denise Fenzi, all presenters from the upcoming one day conference on Building the Bond join me to talk about what goes into building a bond with a dog. 

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  834 Hits
834 Hits

E449: Julie Flanery - "Teaching an Emergency Stop"

Teaching your dog a recall just makes sense — but what about those situations when running to you might be more dangerous than staying put? In this episode, Julie makes the case for why an emergency stop is just as important... and the added benefits it can offer for sports dogs. 

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  1002 Hits
1002 Hits

E448: Erin Lynes - "Teaching Your Dog Thoughtful Movement"

In this episode Erin and I dive deep into the benefits of thoughtful movement through puzzle games and movement puzzles. Whether you have a dog who moves without thinking (adolescent labrador?) or a dog who needs to build confidence in movement, Erin argues this type of training offers significant benefits for sports and life. 

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  780 Hits
780 Hits

E447: Ashley Escobar - "Another Look at Conformation"

What's really going on when a dog competes in the breed ring? Ashley breaks down what judges look for, what we can do to help present our dogs in the best light, how training helps, and what the handler's job is, when competing in conformation.

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  928 Hits
928 Hits

E446: Amy Cook, PhD and Josefin Linderström - "The Social Approach"

Amy and Josefin have been working together on a new program designed to help us rethink every interaction we have with our dogs... and they're calling it "The Social Approach." 

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  1164 Hits
1164 Hits

E445: Shade Whitesel - Reducing Reinforcement for Sport Performance

If your sport doesn't allow you to bring primary reinforcers onto the competition field with you, then at some point you need to work through removing those reinforcers from your training. This week Shade and I talk about the process of reducing reinforcement while minimizing frustration on the part of both dog and handler.

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  1659 Hits
1659 Hits

E444: Sharon Carroll - "Talking About Differently Motivated Dogs"

Have a differently motivated dog? This episode is for you! Sharon and I do a deep dive into what it means to train and compete with these dogs.  

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  1897 Hits
1897 Hits

E443: Kim Palermo - What is ACE Free Work, Anyway?

Kim shares what free work is and how she's incorporated it into all aspects of her training — resulting in wide ranging benefits, from better arousal levels to better conformation. She says it's essentially meditation for dogs... join us to hear how you and your dog might benefit!  

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  1037 Hits
1037 Hits

E442: Petra Ford - Talking Arousal & Using Jackpots

Ever wondered how arousal impacts performance? Debated whether jackpots are worth using? In this episode I ask Petra Ford about both topics — and we do a deep dive on how to keep your dog at an optimal arousal level then chat about the trade offs that come with choosing to use jackpots in training. 

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  1589 Hits
1589 Hits

E441: Fitness and Injury Prevention for Active Dogs

With the Active Dogs: Fitness and Injury Prevention one day conference happening on Jan 10th, we took the time to sit down with 2 of the presenters to talk about what it means to keep our sports dogs in good health so they can play our games as long as possible.

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  1647 Hits
1647 Hits

E440: Denise Fenzi - "Pre-engagement to Acclimation and Engagement 2.0"

Join me for a fascinating conversation with Denise on the ins and outs of engagement — from pre-engagement strategies to help young dogs to prepping for competition. We talk about the importance of acclimation, how the process differs for low drive vs. high drive dogs, and more! 

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  2601 Hits
2601 Hits

E439: Sara Brueske - "Arousal Regulation"

Does your dog struggle to regulate their own arousal? Join me and Sara for a conversation on how to help them manage things, and then (ultimately) teach them to manage it themselves!  

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  1249 Hits
1249 Hits