Blog

Common advice is that a green dog just needs more ring experience but... is that really true? What's going on when a dog gets gradually worse the more they compete? Sharon and I talk about breaking that down and more!

Failure is a word that has a bad bad bad rap. I mean the poor word really did get the short end of the stick. People just have it all wrong. They see failure as something bad. Failure means you're not good enough, you didn't try hard enough, people look down at you, you're a loser. 

Failure evokes a host of negative feelings… depression, unworthiness, fear, anxiety, shame, disappointment, being less than, not measuring up, thinking that everyone else has achieved while I have not… I have "failed". We obsess about how it makes us look in other people's eyes. We define our self-worth by external accomplishments and when we don't achieve them, once again we have failed. 

The truth of the matter is everybody's got it all wrong.

Ashley and I talk about what led her to become interested in fitness and she shares why cavalettis are such a powerful tool for canine fitness. 

What skills do you need as you build from the basis to more advanced levels in nosework? Stacy and I talk about breaking that down and more — PLUS we share an exciting new announcement from FDSA! 

Your dog's structure factors largely into how long they can compete in dog sports — this week Dr. Chris Zink and I talk about how to judge structure in a puppy when choosing your next sports partner! 

"But I don't want to compete!!!" 

I hear it all the time. People take their dog to training classes or see a private trainer to fix problems and get the basics. And then they stop. Just like that. The problem is fixed. The dog civilised. Why do more? 

Well, there are some VERY good reasons to continue training after 'the basics' have been installed. Let's look at some...

Walking into the competition ring comes with pressure! Petra and I talk about how to create a positively conditioned emotional response to pressure... and how to prep for Utility with your obedience dog!  

Fronts are one of those behaviors that just need practice. There's no way around it. However, practicing fronts doesn't have to be boring! I play all sorts of front games with my dogs to keep fronts fresh and fun!

You can play these games with or without props, depending on what stage your dog is at. Play with several different props to increase generalization skills. Pick and choose which ones you like, or play them all, just have fun!

This year is the 6th anniversary of the founding of the Fenzi TEAM titles program — and we take a look at how it's grown and reveal a new, up-and-coming addition! 

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 objects strongly to being 'left out' while the new addition receives attention and play/food.

This is both difficult to deal with and causes us to feel guilty. Training is no longer fun and rewarding for us so we stop doing it. Rest assured, the guilt thing is totally normal. If you've not had two dogs before it can be a bit of a shock and the dynamics certainly get turned upside down.

Often referred to as dogs that "chase," predation in dogs can be frustrating — Simone and I talk about what's really going on and what you can do about it. 

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". But often, novice (and sometimes advanced, too!) trainers will mark and move all at the same time. However, it's very important that we isolate that marker cue!

While doing a chicken camp with Terry Ryan, she would always say "click THEN treat." What trainers often are told is "click and treat" or "mark and treat", but if you specify "mark THEN treat", it makes sense to put a pause in there.

So why is this important? Does it really matter?

Well, yes, it does.

Julie Symons joins me to talk about nosework, obedience, and the pros and cons of training for multiple sports!

Host Melissa Breau with panelists Jessica Hekman, PhD, DVM; Kim Brophey; and Sharon Carroll to talked about "It's All In How They're Raised (Or Is It?)" during our lunch break for the Lemonade Conference on February 12th, 2022 — and we've shared it here for those who missed it live!

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. 

Host Melissa Breau with panelists Denise Fenzi; Kamal Fernandez; and Dante Camacho talked about The Future of R+ Training during our lunch break for the Lemonade Conference on February 13th, 2022 — and we've shared it here for those who missed it live!

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!). 

Clarity is critical for any learner. Whether we use an errorless learning approach, or we use a method of training that incorporates highlighting errors to our dog, it is still essential that we maximize the likelihood of success through careful set ups. It is also necessary to always be prepared to rapidly change strategies, as soon as we notice our dog is not becoming more confident, and more successful, throughout our training sessions.

Before we dive into the specific issues that can occur in our attempts to create successful and confident complex behavior chains, let's look at the broader area of managing errors.

Sara Brueske joins me to tell me why she teaches toy play with food — and all the benefits that come with it.  

 On Feb. 11th, 2022, the first day of The Lemonade Conference, our free lunch panel was on Mental Health for the Reactive Dog. Melissa Breau was joined by Amy Cook, PhD; Sarah Stremming; and Sophie Liu, DVM. The recording from the live stream is available below.