Blog

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! 

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.

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.  

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. 

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! 

 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.

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

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

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. 

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!

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. 

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. 

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?

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?

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.  

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Training and trialing with our dogs isn't always easy — Petra and I talk about how to handle it when errors happen, and what it's like to stick with one goal for 6.5 years.