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Pressure in dog training can have a lot of different meanings and factors in a variety of ways — in this episode we talk about both unintentional pressure and the kind you need to train for if you want to compete.  Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast brought to you by the Fenz

My dogs were always fine going to the vet's office, until they weren't. Typically we did 'happy puppy' visits, used lots of food to distract them during exams and shots, and let the very friendly staff make a big fuss over them. That worked fine, until it didn't.At some point in your dog's life he's likely going to need to have stressful and/or pai

Skills are only the most obvious thing you need to train before trialing — in today's episode, Ann and Shade talk about the additional skills you need both inside and outside of the ring to compete successfully.    Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast brought to you by the

This is something that many people new to positive reinforcement (R+) training struggle with: Why can 'fixing' behavior problems (or any training problem) seem so much harder usingpositive techniques than using punishment or force? I mean, you're rewarding the hell out of the behaviors you want so why are things s

​In this episode Deb and I talk about the overlap between zen work and cooperative care, plus Deb shares what, why, and how consent can be important in your training.  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 dedicate

Petra Ford and I talk about how fitness can help optimize your dogs performance in the sport or sports of your choice!   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-quality instruction fo

Interested in learning more about herding - but want to approach it from a positive training perspective? Barb and I talk all about what that means in today's podcast episode!   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

​This is an excerpt from the book ​Positive Herding 101: Dog-friendly training ​by Barbara Buchmayer, shared with permission.As I read the short email in 2011, I had no idea that destiny was knocking at my door. The message was from a woman in South Africa asking if I would help her train a herding dog using positive methods. She had neve

Heather joins me to talk about the AKC Canine Good Citizen program — including what it takes to go from the original CGC test to the newer, more advanced versions.   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 dedic

 Today Jake and I talk about all things Bitey Sports and how being told it wasn't possible to train a dog for Mondio without the 'traditional' tools for the sport led him to do exactly that. 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

Jane Ardern joins me to talk about training high drive dogs, share a bit about her own gun dogs, and give us a sneak peek at her upcoming webinar on release cues!    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 dedic

Amy teaches three different classes, each with a very different approach — in this episode we talk about the what and why of each.    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-quality i

In this episode I catch up with FDSA founder Denise Fenzi and share a bit about what's happening behind the scenes at the school and what folks should keep an eye out for next year.  ​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

Erin and I chat about what it takes to keep our aging dogs living their best lives — and how even small adjustments can make a big difference in their lives.   Transcription Melissa Breau: We all know the saying: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, we'd like to invite you to do exactly that by joining us for the third annua

You may have heard of Look At That (LAT) but have you heard of LATTE? Leslie joins me to talk about her latest game for working with dogs who need a little extra structure to be successful.   Transcription Melissa Breau: We all know the saying: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, we'd like to invite you to do exactly that b

​Today Marjie and Denise join me to talk about what's new at this year's Lemonade Conference and why it'll be the last annual online conference.  Transcription Melissa Breau: We all know the saying: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, we'd like to invite you to do exactly that by joining us for the third annual Lemonade Conferen

Jake Schneider joins me to talk — we discuss how to stop your dog from biting your hand instead of the toy and add value to yourself even when there's something else valuable in the environment (like a decoy!).   Transcription Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast brought to you by the F

There are a ton of different methods out there for working with reactive dogs — how do you decide what to use when and with which dog? Karen and I talk about in this week's podcast.   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 o

Clear communication and clarity are really important in dog training. The more clear we can be with our dogs, the faster they can learn what we want. One area that can sometimes get a little messy is marking behaviors. Most trainers understand that the correct behavior should get some kind of marker, like a click or a verbal marker such as "yes". B

​Do you have a new dog or puppy? Are you struggling to find opportunities to train with them because your older dog kicks up stink? When a second dog is added to a household, things can change in unexpected ways. One of those is that training stops. Why is that? Usually it is because the first dog o