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What is a threshold? Does it matter? Join Amy and I for a fascinating discussion on how what we know can impact or enable our choices when we're out with our dogs.   Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school ded

Mastering side steps in rally can be a source of immense joy for both the participant and the audience. While teaching a proficient side step may pose some challenges, the effort invested is worthwhile. In the world of Novice AKC rally, the side step leans more towards a diagonal movement while advancing forward. To illustrate this, take a look at

Shade Whitesel joins me to talk about how fluent toy play skills allow for more two-way communication during training, and how toy skills can be used to build a faster, better formal retrieve.   Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports

Rally is a fun and captivating dog sport that requires not only obedience skills but also excellent memory recall abilities. Not only do you as a handler need to remember how to properly execute the signs, but remembering the rally course is essential for seamless performance and achieving top scores. In this blog post, we will explore practical st

In prepping for the Adolescent Dogs One Day Conference, we brought on a number of the presenters and panelists to chat about what changes we see during adolescence and how we can best handle them.    Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sp

Dogs like us, dogs can experience frustration when they are not part of the action. This is commonly referred to as FOMO (fear of missing out). Understanding FOMO in Dogs​ FOMO, or the fear of missing out, can manifest in dogs in various ways. It's that uneasy feeling your dog might experience when they're not included in an exciting activity or se

What can commitment do for your agility team? Laurie and I chat about what it means and the difference it can make when playing the game!    Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high

Come learn all about this new nosework game! Julie and I chat about what's involved, how to get started, and answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the new sport!   Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa bro, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an on

In this episode Irith and I dive deep into what arousal is, what it means, and what we can do about it. Irith breaks down both the science and the practical, applicable skills we can apply.   Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Aca

Teaching your dog advanced commands can be a rewarding experience, and one valuable skill for rally is lateral movement in front of you. This blog post will explore a training approach involving mats or props to guide your dog through this challenging but achievable behavior. Setting the Stage: Start with One Mat To begin, start with one mat or pro

Petra and I talk about what it takes to get really pretty heelwork — namely, position, a good focal point, and strong engagement skills.    Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. An online school dedicated to providing high

Why is it that dogs often disconnect after reinforcement? Have you ever noticed that your dog checks out after he or she has received a reward? This is a pretty common problem, and it can be exhausting to keep your dog in the game. So, why do dogs disconnect after reinforcement? Handler Disconnects After Rewarding the Dog​ How many times do we hand

Microbiome and gut health has become a hot topic in recent years — join Dr. Jen and I to talk about what you need to know about your dog's digestive health.   Transcription Coming soon!  Credits  Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music prov

Looking for another way you can teach your dog to use his nose? In this episode Lucy and I talk about teaching your dog to track! Join us to learn a little about training your dog for competition tracking.   Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenz

 Join me, Megan Foster, Stacy Barnett, Barbara Lloyd, and Hélène Lawler for a conversation about preparing young sports dogs to compete - including the good, the bad, and the ugly! Note: This episode ran long so we've split it into two parts.  Transcription Melissa Breau: Hey guys, just a quick note before we start this episode. This epis

Join me, Megan Foster, Stacy Barnett, Barbara Lloyd, and Hélène Lawler for a continuation of our conversation about preparing young sports dogs to compete - including the good, the bad, and the ugly! Note: This episode ran long so we've split it into two parts.  Transcription Melissa Breau: Hey guys, just a reminder that this is part two of ou

In preparation for the upcoming confident dog conference at FDSA, I invited 4 of the presenters for the conference on the podcast to talk about what confidences looks like in our dogs, how much of it is innate vs. something we can instill, and what the process of building confidence looks like. Join us for this fascinating conversation!   &nbs

Join me for a conversion with Kayla Dever as she shares her story - starting in the service dog world, evolving in flyball, and now hosting and competing in nosework!    Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy an online school

This week Janice Gunn joins me to talk about how she evolved her finger follow method to encourage connection while competing in obedience — from ring entrances to exercise transitions to leaving the ring for your jackpot!   Transciption Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau, and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to

Serious behavior problems are not the norm in the competitive sports world, but they do happen. Training can certainly affect behavior, and behavior can influence training! They are not the same!Most behavior problems have underlying 'emotional' issues and training alone isn't the answer. If your dog is barking at someone, which is commonly a 'dist