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

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 help from trauma and how it's critical for all of our dogs — because it's one of their key senses!

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.