Blog

​This post originally appeared on The Dog Trainer's Umbrella.

Your website can be a highly effective and engaging tool in your sales process.

But all too often, it's… well, not.

When a website fails to lead to clients, many business owners decide it's the website's fault — they need a new one. The design is too busy; the content is too riddled with mistakes; they need better pictures; they need to give potential clients more information; they need to quit overwhelming clients with too much information… the list goes on (and on).

However, I'm here to let you in on a secret — for many of those businesses, it's not the website that's the problem.

It's a lack of traffic.

Today we chat about the little vs big debate when it comes to sports dogs with 3 trainers who have trained and worked with both and who offer their insights into the differences, pros and cons.

Dealing with a behavior you'd really like to change? From leash reactivity to noise sensitivity, Sharon and I talk about it in this week's episode of the podcast.

Struggling to train agility because of a lack of space or equipment? Loretta and I talk about options for training agility when your access to space or equipment is limited.

Pandemic puppies abound! Join Julie and I for a conversation about creating optimistic puppies, ready for anything the world is gonna bring.

Clean, confident positions look deceptively simple — but a lot goes into teaching them in a way that will hold up in the ring! Shade and I chat about that and more in today's podcast episode.

Arousal matters... in today's episode I talk to Petra Ford about how to find that perfect balance, where your dog is in the right state to train or compete at their best.

It can be frustrating when we've worked hard on a behavior, just to have it fall apart in a new location or in the face of distractions — so this week Nicole and I talk about what it takes to teach those skills too!

Swedish duo Eva and Emelie join me to share their story, talk about TAGteach and discuss transitions in training.

International trainer, competitor, and presenter Dante Camacho joined me to talk about introducing clicker training to Brazil, adjusting your training to the dog you have, and to share his story. 

The last year has been... eventful. Denise and Teri join me to chat about some of the changes at FDSA and some of the exciting things yet to come.  

Petra joins me to chat about her recent first place at the National Obedience Championship and what it takes to get to the top.

Dr. Jen and I talk about how to tell whether a behavior is problematic or outright abnormal, plus what some of the options are for working on problem behaviors, including medication, management, and more.

On Dec. 8th FDSA will launch a brand new Nosework titling program as part of the TEAM titling options! Today we have Melissa, Julie, and Stacy on to talk about the program and what you can expect!

Sharon Carroll comes back on the podcast to talk about what we know about the psychological issues possible in dogs — and some of what we can do about them.

Do you struggle with getting ready for competition or with reducing reinforcement in training? You're in luck! That's what Laura and I chat about in today's episode.

You may have heard of Loopy Training, but have you heard of loopy listening? Helene and I talk about why loopy training is making waves and what she means by loopy listening!

I love shaping as much as the next trainer — but I occasionally come across a dog who does better with luring and prompting (including my own young dog, Levi). So I combined a few concepts I've seen elsewhere and used what I'm calling "Restrained Release" to teach him a targeting behavior.

What concepts? 

Well, I'm making use of opposition reflex here in much the same way we often do when teaching a restrained recall — holding the dog back and encouraging them to pull forward leads to a naturally dynamic and enthusiastic behavior. I'm also using a location specific marker ("Get it" means food out on the floor) and combining those things with the visual prompt of the food being consistently delivered on the target. 

This is the method I typically use when starting a new dog in Treibball, since it's quick and it builds an interest in searching out the target that can then carry over nicely to going out and around a ball to find their target even when they can't see it.

How do YOU choose which technique(s) you'll use for a particular behavior? We do a deep dive into that question with Julie Flanery in this week's podcast.

Kamal and I talk about proactive socialization for lockdown, life, and longevity — including how to tailor socialization to the dog in front of you, and why socialization isn't a one-size-fits-all process.