The Dog's Way Podcast: Dog Training for Real Life – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode I talk about training collars. Are they right for you? And if so, what kind of training collar do you choose for your dog, and just as important... what kind to choose for your dog/owner combination? For those who may be opposed to the idea of a training collar, I still urge you to listen. After training hundreds of dogs I have some ideas to share that might help with your decision on the matter.

Today's episode is sponsored by The Swiftest. Instead of doing all of the research yourself on what type of pet insurance to buy, consider clicking this link to rely on their extensive research. It's also a great way to support the show!

Martingale Collar: basic low level training collar. At a minimum I use a martingale collar like the one at this Amazon link (no plastic clasps, no chain loops) 
Here’s a link to find out more about this type of collar on Amazon.  They also have them in most Pet stores.   FYI – if you read the reviews of these collars, you’ll read some from people who left them on their dogs, while they were home alone all day, and they got the collar caught on things and choked themselves.  So … don’t do that – problem solved. Note: make the size selection that is appropriate to your dog. 

Herm Sprenger Chain Collar: Medium level upgrade for more rambunctious dogs (again, more info on this at this link)

Starmark Plastic Training Collar: Medium plus level of collar. (Note – these come with a redundant line slip collar that you use with this collar to guard against the possibility of an improperly fitted link coming apart and separating while you’re training – be sure to use this redundant safety collar when you’re using 
the Starmark collar.)  Click here to view on Amazon.com.
 

Herm Sprenger Prong Collar: The highest level of leverage and the collar makes it easiest for you to manage your dog in training and on walks.  We generally work our way out of this collar as a dog’s proficiency indicates that it’s not necessary anymore.

Here is the metal collar link http://amzn.to/29842kW

And an alternative http://amzn.to/29bLHVb

Note: I often use a redundant slip collar (like the one indicated above as an alternative) when I use a prong collar.  Because this training collar has separate movable pieces to it, there’s a possibility (usually human error) that sometimes results in the collar coming apart while training.

The redundant slip collar assures you that you don’t lose your dog if this happens. Also, it’s worth stating that they have decided to name this slip collar a “dominant dog collar”? I’m not really sure why.  It functions just as well for nondominant dogs that happen to have a training collar break and want to run across a busy road to play with another dog … guess they figured the name sounded cool? 
      
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Additionally... we offer our online video course at TheDogsWay.com. If you'd like to refer others to it and make a few dollars at the same time, try our affiliate program!

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In this episode I talk about natural transitional rewards. Many may not have heard the term, but a lot of you may have used them in the training of your dog whether you realize it or not. If you want to do a real dive into the behavioral part of training, I encourage you to listen to my two episodes on conditioning - Session 73: Skinner's Four Quadrants Part One, and Session 74: Skinner's Four Quadrants Part Two.

I'll talk about the conditioning baked into every day interactions with your dog (like the feeding ritual). The same thing goes for when we are preparing for a walk. Those rituals can be a good thing. But it's it's more than simply the obedience skill you're teaching - it's the nervous system state that is occurring during that sit/stay and from the moment that you give the command to "break free" or say "all done". I'll describe how those commands and practices get embedded in their head, and how that fixation needs to be inhibited in certain instances.

Here are a couple of other instances where you might practically use this training;

• Preparing for a walk
• Preparing for feeding time
• The "Getting out of a car" ritual
• Going through the front door ritual
• Going through the gate at the dog park ritual

I'll talk about how sometimes we unintentionally signal to our dog when we reward certain types of gregarious responses is "I love it when you freak out and run around when I do this action!" Identifying those habits is a real eye-opener to what you might want to consider adjusting during these routines.

By the way, a couple of things that I wanted to mention to you. First, we have a new sponsor of the podcast! It can be so frustrating trying to find the right insurance for your dog! My new sponsor, The Swiftest, can help you compare different types of policies and quotes for your pet to make sure you get the best value for your pet! Click here for the 6 Best Pet Insurance Plans Compared for 2023. (full disclosure – this is an affiliate link, and we’ll make a few bucks if you decide that the pet insurance that the folks at The Swiftest have recommended is right for you.)

Also, I sincerely appreciate all of those who have referred my video series to friends! 

Here’s how you can make some money by referring the Online Video course to folks:

Affiliates Resources - The Dog's Way (thedogsway.com)

This process will be very straightforward if you are familiar with the Click Bank Affiliate platform.  If you need help signing up with Click Bank and finding the course, there are a lot of videos on YouTube that will walk you through how to do that.  If you need some assistance with the process, feel free to email me directly via the link below:

Contact Page - The Dog's Way (thedogsway.com)

On this episode I talk with Elaine Rosen, President and CEO of Dog Lodge, based in Texas. She also is the host of the podcast, Dog Lodge Radio. 

Dog Lodge is a great non-profit that deals with elderly and special needs dogs. It is essentially a senior dog retirement home and hospice care facility. They focus on providing a permanent home to dogs whose futures are particularly bleak. They concentrate primarily on dogs that may have come from shelters, rescues, and some private homes. Elaine and her business partner started the concept together after considering where the deficits existed in care for dogs and found that there were many rescues available but not a lot of help for senior animals. They found some land in Hempstead, Texas, and with a lot of support and dedication they have created quite an incredible organization.

Elaine talks about the initial fear prior to getting started - would anyone besides them would care this much about senior dogs? She and her business partner quickly found out that there was a lot of support for the effort.

The expense and work involved is intense; determining intake criteria, medical care needs and costs, and more. Sean and Elaine also talk about the owners of pets who are near the end of their frustration with their pets and are considering re-homing. 

One of the cornerstones for taking in animals is a determination of the quality of life that they can provide based on it's medical needs. If they cannot provide a high standard of care for the animal, they have no business taking it in.

They help arrange foster homes as well. It really is an incredible non-profit organization.

They started a podcast called Dog Lodge Radio: Animal Issues That Matter. It focuses on their organization, but also animals other than dogs - they find and share fascinating stories about various sanctuaries for different animals, including horses and elephants!

To learn more, to reach out for help, or contribute to the organization, you can visit their website DogLodge.org. They are perpetually in need of contributions. You can visit their website and donate by clicking here, or visit their Facebook page here. They also accept in-kind donations. For information about that, contact them here.

I interview Mandy Pleshaw from Pet Partners. Pet partners is the largest therapy dog organization in the country. We discuss the steps you can take to begin volunteering and doing therapy work with your dog. In this session: In this episode: Have you ever wanted to do therapy work with [...]

The post Session 19: How to become a registered therapy dog team appeared first on The Dog's Way.

In this episode, in the puppy section, I take answer a listeners question about what to teach a puppy and when – sort of a puppy curriculum. In the training section, I give you a step by step plan to teach two dogs to not go after each other’s fetch toy. This solution also applies [...]

The post Session 18: The overview of what to teach a puppy and when, and teaching two dogs to not go after each other’s fetch toys appeared first on The Dog's Way.

In this episode, in the puppy section, I give you a step by step protocol to teach your older puppy to meet and greet people without jumping, mouthing and going crazy. In the adult dog training section, I give you a step by step plan to teach your dog to be brave around objects that [...]

The post Session 17: Teaching your puppy to greet people, and teaching your adult dog to learn to be brave around things like vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers appeared first on The Dog's Way.

In this episode, I give you a step by step plan to teach your older puppy nose work games to help burn up some of that bouncy energy. In the training section, I give you some reasons why you may want to do some muzzle conditioning with your dog and a step by step protocol [...]

The post SESSION 16: Nose work games and how to condition your dog to using a muzzle. appeared first on The Dog's Way.

In this episode, I give you a step by step plan to help with grooming procedures. In this example of the 3 phase protocol we go through, I look at how to make nail clipping easier for you and your dog. In the puppy section, I give you some tips on teaching your puppy to [...]

The post Session 15: Step by step plan to help with grooming procedures. appeared first on The Dog's Way.

In this episode, I catch up on answering questions from the email bag as well as go over the protocol for solving problems when your dog is at the office. In the puppy training section, I teach how to progress through Phase 3 and Phase 4 of teaching your puppy to sit. [...]

The post SESSION 14: Protocol for solving problems when your dog is at the office. appeared first on The Dog's Way.

In this episode, I catch up on answering questions from the email bag as well as answering a caller’s question about letting her dog jumping up on her couch. In the puppy training section, I teach you how to start your younger puppy in intermediate training for sit. In this session: [...]

The post SESSION 13: Questions from the email bag appeared first on The Dog's Way.