E305: Shade Whitesel - Raising A Pushy Puppy

There's raising a puppy... and then there is raising a pushy, drivey sports dog puppy. In this episode Shade and I talk about her experience raising bitey breeds and what she recommends for raising these puppies in a way that brings out their best selves for life and sports. 

Continue reading
  1833 Hits
1833 Hits

E304: Petra Ford - Confidence for the Obedience Dog

Being able to successfully compete in obedience requires a dog who has a confident understanding of each skill and exercise. In this episode Petra and I do a deep dive, talking through what, why and how to build confidence for training and the ring! 

Continue reading
  2512 Hits
2512 Hits

E303: Deb Jones, PhD - Grief, Focus, and Negative Reinforcement

Deb and I chat about her latest book, currently running workshop, and upcoming webinar... and yes, it really is possible to build better focus in just 7 days.

Continue reading
  2233 Hits
2233 Hits

E302: Diamond in the Ruff: Loving and Living with Sensitive Dogs

Living with and loving a sensitive dog comes with pros and cons, lessons and blessings. This week Hélène Lawler, Barbara Lloyd, Amy Cook, PhD, and Dresden Graff joined me to talk all about sensitive dogs.  

Continue reading
  2511 Hits
2511 Hits

E301: Chris Zink, DVM - "What Your Dog's Gait Can Tell You"

Why is trotting the most important gait to teach your dog? Dr. Chris Zink and I talk about why understanding gaiting is critical for the dog sports handler. 

Continue reading
  4085 Hits
4085 Hits

E300: Mari Valgma - Teaching Your Dog to Move"

Sometimes dogs totally grasp our criteria - they just can't do the thing we're asking at speed. Mari and I talk about how she works with dogs to teach them to use their bodies more skillfully... and therefore more quickly in sports like agility! 

Continue reading
  6414 Hits
6414 Hits

E299: Julie Daniels - Every Baby's a Genius

 Can you create an optimistic dog? How DO you get to know a new puppy? What are the first steps to teaching quiet crating? Julie Daniels and I discuss all that and more in this episode.

Continue reading
  2179 Hits
2179 Hits

E298: Nicole Wiebusch and Petra Ford - "Proofing for Performance"

Nicole Wiebusch and Petra Ford joined me to talk about what goes into training fluency that will hold up under the pressures of competition. 

Continue reading
  1825 Hits
1825 Hits

E297: Julie Flanery - "Shape Up Your Shaping"

Julie Flanery and I talk about what shaping is, and how to use it effectively and efficiently... including putting behaviors under stimulus control!

Continue reading
  1837 Hits
1837 Hits

E296: Working with a Dog Sports Coach

Denise Fenzi, Nancy Gagliardi Little and Megan Foster join me to talk about working with a dog sports coach — the differences between a coach and a trainer, the advantages to having a coach, and how to get some of the benefits even if you can't find one. 

Continue reading
  2435 Hits
2435 Hits

E295: Laura Donaldson - "Stop and Smell the Pee Mail"

Laura and I talk about how sniffing can help dogs heal from trauma and how it's critical for all of our dogs — because it's one of their key senses!

Continue reading
  2363 Hits
2363 Hits

E294: Dealing with Cabin Fever

Heather Lawson, Julie Symons, and Ashley Escobar join me to talk about how they handle it when their dogs are stuck indoors for an extended time... and what they train when limited to a small(er) training space. 

Continue reading
  2049 Hits
2049 Hits

E293: Hélène Lawler - Big Feelings at Both Ends of the Leash

When your dog has big feelings it can often inspire big feelings in you, too. In this episode, Hélène Lawler and I talk about how handlers can bring their best selves to the training picture by diving into their own big feelings. 

Continue reading
  2421 Hits
2421 Hits

E292: Denise Fenzi - "Integrating Online and In Person Classes"

Many students take classes both online and in person — so how do you make the most of both options and integrate both into your training?

Continue reading
  1914 Hits
1914 Hits

E291: Lucy Newton - "Foundations of Tracking"

Lucy and I chat about the skills your dog needs to hone to learn to track, and she answers that frequently asked question: Can you dog do both nosework and tracking?

Continue reading
  2411 Hits
2411 Hits

E290: Erin Lynes - "Keeping Senior Dogs Fit"

As our dogs age their needs and preferences change; Erin and I talk about what it takes to keep senior dogs fit in mind and body, and how to decide when it may be time to retire them from the sports you both love.  

Continue reading
  1773 Hits
1773 Hits

E289: Kellie Snider - "Constructional Aggression Treatment"

Kellie Snider helped develop the Constructional Aggression Treatment as part of her thesis in grad school — today, she joins me on the podcast to talk about what it is, how it works, and why negative reinforcement, in this case, gets an undeservedly bad rap. 

Continue reading
  4085 Hits
4085 Hits

E288: Sara Brueske - "Teaching Toy Play with Food"

Can you, should you, teach toy play with food? Sara's answer is a resounding yes — in this episode we talk about why and how. 

Continue reading
  1940 Hits
1940 Hits

E287 - Jennifer Summerfield, DVM - “Canine Pancreatitis & Behavior Disorders”

Dr. Jen joins me this week to talk about the growing awareness of chronic canine pancreatitis and for a discussion on behavior disorders in our dogs. 

Continue reading
  3187 Hits
3187 Hits

E286: Nicole Levesque - "When Handler Health Impacts Dog Training"

Nicole joins me to share her inspiring story and how she's handled health setbacks in her multi-dog, competitive agility household... including how she's preparing for additional months of restricted (human) activity. 

Continue reading
  1709 Hits
1709 Hits