Visit us at shapedbydog.com I've met a lot of people at the crossroads of their dog training and looking to go in a more reinforcement-based direction, but they're worried it won't work due to old beliefs and habits. Unless you were one of the lucky few to learn nothing but reinforcement-based dog training, leaving behind the familiar for something new naturally creates fear and vulnerability, especially when surrounded by so-called 'experts' and naysayers when you encounter challenges. We're co...
Nov 30, 2022•17 min•Ep. 187
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Over the years I've asked my students to describe the connection with their dog in different environments. How is it different inside your house versus your front yard? What about the park? Or, around other dogs or children? Often the response describes the emotional connection "to" their dog; not the two-way connection "with" their dog. We're covering what that difference is between the connection to versus connection with our dogs, why it's super important to unders...
Nov 23, 2022•15 min•Ep. 186
Visit us at shapedbydog.com As a professional dog trainer, I can assure you there are six words that your dog training coach never wants to hear. You might think those words are "but he does it at home," and that's close, but they are actually "tried that and it didn't work". We're covering what's going on with those words for you, your dog, and your coach and how to turn it around. Considering alternative dialogues promotes critical thinking and keeps communications open. In the episode you'll ...
Nov 18, 2022•14 min•Ep. 185
Visit us at shapedbydog.com When I first started dog training 30 or so years ago, I was studying the sport of dog obedience because I wanted to compete. We were taught to lure our dog to do what we wanted and then move to the proofing stage. When proofing, we were looking for errors to test how well the dog understood what we'd taught them. And if our dog failed, we were instructed to give them a correction. What if we changed our mindset from proofing to building confidence? We're covering how ...
Nov 11, 2022•17 min•Ep. 184
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Have you ever been in a dog training situation and felt you are in the wrong place as your dog is not responding like other dogs? Or have you ever thought that your dog is not like other dogs? It could be in a dog training class, a workshop or an online course, and you see other people training and think your dog doesn't compare. You are not alone, and it's why I often say to my students, "train the dog in front of you" and "meet your dog where they're at" so that you...
Nov 09, 2022•14 min•Ep. 183
Visit us at shapedbydog.com To the uninitiated, reinforcement based dog training looks as if you have to walk around with a boatload of cookies or else you are not going to get your dog to do what you want. That's just not true. But if you are carrying cookies everywhere, I'm covering how we go about reinforcement based training differently so that you can transfer the value of those cookies to you with games within games. In the episode you'll hear: • What I learned about games in a summer job ...
Oct 12, 2022•17 min•Ep. 182
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Trying to work with multiple dogs at once can be a struggle, especially when one dog consistently interferes. Even if you only have one dog, the information offered in this episode is important as you want your dog to be able to relax when there are other dogs or distractions around. I'm covering the criteria and strategy for training in a multi-dog household or when things in the environment are exciting for dogs. In the episode you'll hear: • That learning to ignore...
Oct 05, 2022•19 min•Ep. 181
Visit us at shapedbydog.com When you have a new puppy, safe socializing is important. Something to consider is taking a pup to outdoor cafes or restaurants. When you do it right, there are many benefits. But if done badly, your puppy could end up overwhelmed or having a bad experience and becoming fearful. I'm covering all the steps to grow your puppy's confidence when dining out at a pet-friendly venue so you can enjoy a coffee or meal with family and friends. In the episode you'll hear: • All ...
Sep 23, 2022•19 min•Ep. 180
Visit us at shapedbydog.com My dog won't take treats outside! Is that something you've ever said or heard? We're looking at the challenge of a dog refusing treats as a case study, as training will be so much easier if your dog loves food, especially if you are working on things like loose leash walking or helping your dog with reactivity. I've got an outside the box training plan for you to get your dog loving treats no matter where you are. In the episode you'll hear: • The physical reasons a d...
Sep 21, 2022•18 min•Ep. 179
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Why is it important to walk your dog daily? Besides the obvious health benefits of exercise, we're looking at the advantages of daily dog walking that many people don't realize. Sometimes people can give a list of reasons not to walk their dog, so we're covering why to start and what defines appropriate exercise for dogs. In the episode you'll hear: • That our dog Tater Salad does not particularly like walking at certain times. • About the health benefits of walking f...
Sep 14, 2022•15 min•Ep. 178
Visit us at shapedbydog.com When we train dogs with layered shaping, we train with out of the box thinking. In this episode, I'm giving a glimpse of what that looks like and how it relates to the transfer of value. It starts with knowing what a dog loves most of all. I'm also covering a case study on how we used the transfer of reinforcement value for a German Shepherd so that they could learn to retrieve without a force fetch. In the episode you'll hear: • What we need our dog to understand abo...
Sep 09, 2022•19 min•Ep. 177
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Having coached thousands of people in dog training, I've observed that their dogs seem to fall into three categories. The dogs who seem to hate training sessions, the dogs who are so over the top about the training they are frantic, and the dogs who are driven and focused and absolutely love it. It's not the breed of dog or their personality that determines the category, and it's not the trainer or trainer's experience; it's about understanding you're not only trainin...
Sep 07, 2022•22 min•Ep. 176
Visit us at shapedbydog.com I use shaping rather than luring with food or toys in my dog training. In the 80s, I was taught to food lure and correct, learned to do it well, and luring brought me a lot of success in obedience and agility. Luring can have benefits, but I decided to change. When I say I don't lure, it always gets a lot of comments and questions on social media, so in this episode, I'm covering the top ten reasons I prefer shaping. In the episode you'll hear: • The advantages of lur...
Sep 02, 2022•26 min•Ep. 175
Visit us at shapedbydog.com We're geeking out the topic of dopamine in dog training and how it impacts a dog's motivation. Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, and there's a lot of research on its relation to the drive to seek out happiness. Now, you might be wondering what it has to do with dog training but to make sure our dogs want to work with us, it's something we need to know, and it relates directly to my training protocols and transfer of value. In the episode you'll hear: • How and w...
Aug 31, 2022•14 min•Ep. 174
Visit us at shapedbydog.com We use targets in our dog training, which has prompted popular questions on the best way to fade a target and when to start fading. So that's the topic of this episode, along with what targets are and why they work so well. Before you attempt to remove a target, there are three questions to ask and a clear process for fading so that your dog has a strong finished behavior. In the episode you'll hear: • The difference between a food lure and a target. • Why targets wor...
Aug 26, 2022•20 min•Ep. 173
Visit us at shapedbydog.com A good dog training plan will set you and your dog up for success and protect your confidence. The planning I do for myself and my students includes 10 key elements. We're covering what the 10 elements are, along with how to grow the layers to take training from your living room to the bunny farm. In the episode you'll hear: • Why the detailed planning I do for myself and my students starts with criteria. • Tips to prevent cheap or toxic behaviors when you are trainin...
Aug 24, 2022•18 min•Ep. 172
Visit us at shapedbydog.com The way we dog train is different, and there are four elements that are vital to everything we do. It starts with confidence for people and their dogs and layers to grow a relationship of trust. There are many ways to use reinforcement in dog training, and our focus is on layered shaping, which might be a new concept for many people. In the episode you'll hear: • That the vast majority of people start wanting to know how to stop their dogs from doing things. • Why our...
Aug 19, 2022•18 min•Ep. 171
Visit us at shapedbydog.com If someone says to you that they are a reinforcement-based dog trainer, what does that really mean? There are a lot of ways of training dogs with food or toys. Even though they fall under the reinforcement grouping, the different types of training are all dramatically different. We're covering what I tried in the past, what I suggest you avoid, and the most effective way to shape your dog. In the episode you'll hear: • About training dogs by luring and using food or t...
Aug 12, 2022•18 min•Ep. 170
Visit us at shapedbydog.com If you were to google for help for an anxious, stressed, or reactive dog, you'd get many suggestions, many of which are good! But there are critical elements that are essential for you to know. We're covering the 10 things that are vital for you to help your dog get into the confidence zone. In the episode you'll hear: • Why training should be about reinforcement rather than isolating what you don't like. • The reason not to put your dog or yourself in a position wher...
Aug 10, 2022•20 min•Ep. 169
Visit us at shapedbydog.com If your dog is stressed, anxious or reactive, there's so much you can do to replace that stress, anxiety and reactivity with confidence. Two things are super important to help our dogs become confident, and those are our mindset and training clarity. Believing in your dog will help you bring out their best in any situation. In the episode you'll hear: • About thinking the best about our dogs and the best about ourselves. • How to throw away any negative feelings you m...
Aug 05, 2022•15 min•Ep. 168
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Inadvertent stress is something we want to minimize when training our dogs, as excessive stress has the same impact on dogs as it does on us. Now, stress is everywhere, but we don't want to create it unintentionally and don't want our dogs to endure anxiety if we can avoid it. We're looking at how we can set up our training to prevent our dogs from stressing out. In the episode you'll hear: • How dogs can stress low or high and what that stress looks like. • That our ...
Aug 03, 2022•15 min•Ep. 167
Visit us at shapedbydog.com If you were to get 100 of the world's best dog trainers in a room, there would be a lot of disagreements. However, if you asked, "what's the number one training mistake people make with their new puppy?" 99 of those dog trainers would give you the same answer. If you were to google, how do I get my puppy to stop, search results like stop peeing in the house, stop barking, and stop putting everything in their mouth, will be returned. These puppy behavior problems are r...
Jul 27, 2022•18 min•Ep. 166
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Help, how can I stop my dog barking in the car while I'm driving!? That's one of the most common questions we receive, and it's a dilemma as you can't drive and train your dog at the same time. But you can fix it! It starts with knowing why a dog is barking in the first place. It could be fear, excitement, anticipation, or maybe the dog is triggered by what they see out the car window. In the episode you'll hear: • All the reasons a dog might be barking while you are ...
Jul 13, 2022•14 min•Ep. 165
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Do you consider yourself a risk taker? Or maybe you play it safe? What about when it comes to your dog? We all want our dogs to be safe, but there's one area in a dog's life where people take highly dangerous risks, and that is when travelling in the car. In the episode you'll hear: • That I'm not risk aversive, except when it comes to my dogs. • Why I decided to never take part in "go to ground" with my Terriers. • The chances I won't take with my dogs even though th...
Jul 08, 2022•15 min•Ep. 164
Visit us at shapedbydog.com If you've ever trained your dog in public or put a video on social media, chances are somebody has offered you unsolicited training advice. Likely it's advice you don't need, don't want, and most certainly didn't request. How to deal with it is a question we see frequently, so if you have ever received unsolicited dog training advice, this episode is for you! In the episode you'll hear: • That our job is always to protect and grow confidence for our dog and ourselves....
Jul 06, 2022•20 min•Ep. 163
Visit us at shapedbydog.com There are two types of dogs when it comes to water and going for a swim. Some dogs LOVE water and swimming, and others don't want anything to do with it. How we teach swimming applies to both kinds of dogs and is different from what you might see others do. Dogs who naturally love to swim can be a challenge, as can dogs who hate water. Help is at hand with my 5 steps for water success for both types of dogs. In the episode you'll hear: • Why a dog loving water and swi...
Jul 01, 2022•19 min•Ep. 162
Visit us at shapedbydog.com Understanding the science of dog training is going to help you help your dog with clarity. In Episode 158 of Shaped by Dog, we covered training and using positive interrupters, and a few questions came in asking how that's different from a recall cue. The difference starts with the words "unconditioned stimulus" and knowing how conditioning works. In the episode you'll hear: • The news that we have a new puppy, and her name is Belief. • More on what positive interrupt...
Jun 29, 2022•15 min•Ep. 161
Visit us at shapedbydog.com I have owned nine puppies and had many rescue dogs new to my home, and all have become amazing adult dogs. It might seem I was lucky, but the truth is that I followed a process! And there are things that I don't do with my puppies or dogs when they come to live with me. I'm covering the 10 common mistakes that people make with a new puppy. Avoiding these 10 things that people do intentionally or inadvertently when they get a new puppy will set puppies up for success. ...
Jun 22, 2022•16 min•Ep. 160
Visit us at shapedbydog.com It's important to realize when a puppy might not be interacting appropriately with another puppy or dog. Some puppies can be bullies, play far too roughly, or be overly exuberant and unable to read the room. We're covering the steps you can take to help a puppy with appropriate interactions and what to know about puppy play. In the episode you'll hear: • What I learned from a Jack Russel Terrier puppy and Border Collie puppy in the 90s. • How puppies learn when they a...
Jun 17, 2022•21 min•Ep. 159
Visit us at shapedbydog.com If you took an obedience class back in the 80s, you could have learned to say things like AH-AH, NO, and HEY to stop your dog from doing something. And if you learned that that recently or find those old habits still with you, I've got something to help! Those short sharp words spoken harshly will startle dogs and stop a behavior, but they will also create stress and anxiety for a dog. Instead, we can teach words or sounds that will interrupt our dogs and let them kno...
Jun 15, 2022•17 min•Ep. 158
