Our Podcast Library

Today Margaret will be talking about a fun and useful command, Place.

Everybody has a favorite chair or spot to relax, and teaching Place can create that for your dog!

So we will share out tips on teaching Place, how and when to use Place, troubleshooting, and the difference between Place training and crate training.

Today Margaret is going to talk about Mealtimes, both yours and your dogs and using them to help train.

We are firm believers that every interaction you have with your dog is training.

And one of the most powerful times can be meals.

So today we will share our tips on using these powerful times to build respect, some tips on if you decide to give your dog people food, slowing down fast eaters, and ways to make your meals more pleasant with your dog.

Today Margaret will be talking to a Special Guest Expert, Keith McDonald from Pet Stop Pet Fence Systems.

So today we will be talking to Keith about underground pet fences and how they work, the training process for the fence system, what breeds and types of dogs are good for an underground fence system. The problems with Do-It-Yourself fences and wireless fence systems.

And for more information you can visit for those locally here in Birmingham, Al, www.dogfenceal.com or nationally at www.petstop.com. And as always you are welcome to post questions on our message boards!

Today Margaret will be addressing a short but important topic, the absolute importance of puppy class.

Obviously we feel very strongly about the importance of training your dog. But we feel that getting your puppy started at the right time is vital!

So today we will talk about choosing the right puppy class, involving the entire family, the importance of doing your homework, and the key to a great puppy, socialization.

Today Margaret is talking about a fun subject, Teaching your dog to ring the bell to go outside!

But not only is it fun, its very useful because it gives your dog an easy way to communicate his needs.

So today we will talk about teaching a command to touch the bell, practicing touching the bell, making sure your dog understands why he is ringing the bell to go outside, and our sure for excessive bell ringing.

Today Margaret will be sharing some tips on how to handle your dog's lapses in housetraining.

In every dog's life they may have a temporary lapse in their perfect housetraining. So today we will share some simple steps to take when it happens, including ruling out medical issues with your veterinarian, monitoring feeding schedules, getting back to the three rules of housetraining, and using the 7 day plan to grant freedom.

This cast stray from our usual step by step by talking a little more about what you see rather than what to do, but this is an important step.

Sp we will talk about the levels of aggression and an owners responsibility level in dog bites.

And Margaret wanted to thank Dr. Ian Dunbar who she first learned the levels of aggression from.

Also, if you are having issues with aggresion please contact us or a qualified local trainer for immediate help.

A lot of this topic centers around teaching respect, so you hear that a lot. But we will give tips on using Goalie here, teaching a command to get on stuff can easily help you teach a command get off, revisiting the basics, and using a mirror to help keep an eye on an out of sight dog!

We also revisit the subject of using booby traps, just always remember when using booby traps your dogs safety ALWAYS comes first.

And we know that by following a few easy steps your shy dog can learn to happily great new people. So today we will share tips on using rewards to help shyness, how not to unintentionally train the wrong behaviors, and your #1 command to help a shy dog: Go Visit!

As a note, if would be very helpful if you are considering this to listen to our previous cast on Indoor Housetraining your Dog.

So today, Margaret will share her story of training a 6 month old Golden Retriever to go outdoors, teaching the command "Go Outside" and a multi-day program to teach your dog to tell you he need to go outside!

Please note that we do prefer training your dog to go outside, but we do understand there are reasons that prevent that.

So we will give you tips on how to train your dog to go to his box, teaching a command to eliminate indoors, redirecting accidents, and lots of tips on making housetraining indoors easier!

And the reason we are always happy is that it means people are choosing to adopt pets and helping the animal population that is in need of homes!

Today Margaret wanted to talk about a subject we get asked about quite a bit, Getting a Second Dog.

She will share our advice on figuring out why you want a second dog, introducing a new dog, helpful podcasts to listen to, and what to avoid when you get a second dog.

Today Margaret will be talking about Your Relationship with your Dog.
We firmly believe that a solid relationship is built on 3 things; Love, Trust, and Respect.

Today Margaret will give you tips on building and understanding these three building blocks.
We will talk about our philosophy on dogs, teaching your dog to want to listen, socializing your dog, and allowing your dog to be a dog.

With the holidays coming up, we thought it would be a good idea to discuss Holidays With Your Dog.

So today Margaret will give you some very helpful tips for parties, some ideas about holiday decorations, visiting friends with your dog, and most important, trying to have fun!

With the holidays coming up, Margaret will share some tips on Traveling with Your Dog.

We will talk about whether or not your dog actually wants to go, being prepared with your dogs medical records and identification, what to pack for your dog, and being prepared for the unexpected.

These dogs, affectionately known as "Pet and Wets", can be very frustrating and embarrassing at times.

So Margaret will give you some simple tips to use to improve the situation for you and your Pet and Wet puppy!

We will give you tips to follow to identify areas where your dog marks, how to stop the behavior, and some ideas on how to prevent it from returning.

Today, Margaret and Damian will share some things about visiting the vet with your dog that we have learned from over 40 years experience in the industry.

We will talk about preparing your dog for the vet with gentle restraint, pet health insurance, specialty veterinarians, and how to get your dog to relax and enjoy the vet experience!

So today, Margaret and Damian will give you tips on what to watch for, what dogs to avoid, how to stop a problem before it starts, and how to break up a fight should the worst happen.

This week we will talk about taking your dog to the dog park. This information applies to your first time or your 100th time!

We will give you steps to start your dog our under control, spend a little time training, and finishing the day up under control so you and your dog can have the best dog park experience possible!

Dog parks are one of the best things you can do with your dog to have a great day for both of you!

But to make it safe, and of course, use it as an opportunity to improve your dog, you need to be prepared.

Today Margaret and Damian will give you tips and advice on getting your dog ready for his first trip to the dog park.

We will give you some ideas on what to take with you, and a little bit about what to think about before you head to the park!

To really consider yourself a responsible breeder, your involvement goes well past taking a check and handing over the puppy.

We will give you advice on interviewing new homes, what to provide the new home, contracts and guarantees, and a lifetime of follow up.

DId you know that only 35% of a dogs potential and personality is genetic. The rest depends on how he is raised.

In this cast we will share our tips to make sure all the puppies in your care are ready to take on the world!

We will talk about caring for your mother to be, planning for the big day, supplies to gather, and helping to whelp the puppies.

Today Margaret and Damian will start a 4 part series on Responsible Dog Breeding.

In our first part today we will talk about figuring out why you want to breed your dog, selecting a mate for your dog, and what it takes to be a responsible breeder including genetic screenings for your dog and making sure you dog is ready for it!

Today Margaret and Damian will be discussing a subject we see and encourage regularly in our classes. That is using your kids to help train your dog.

Not only is it fun to involve the kids in training, its great for building your dog's respect for them as well.

We will share a few tips and techniques for overcoming the size difference between your dog and child, using feeding time for training, plus using tricks to make sure everyone is having fun!

Preparing for the toddler phase is crucial with your dog. Today we will talk about the importance of socializing, handling, supervision and even getting your toddler involved in your dogs training!

Please be aware that your childs safety is always most important! So if you encounter any problems or have any questions please consult us or a qualified trainer in your area immediately.

We will give you the steps to safely introduce your dog to your new baby including using Scent Mingling so that your dog knows your baby before they meet, using a helper to introduce your dog to your new baby, and most importantly preparing for the next part, noticing what needs to be done to prepare for a toddler and dog!

Please be aware that your baby's safety is always the number one priority. Consult us or a qualified trainer in your area before using these steps and if you have any questions!

Today they will be talking about Preparing your dog for a new baby and all the upcoming changes.

They will talk about preparing your dog for the noises of a child, preparing your dog for changes in schedule and rules (like getting on furniture with a new baby, and stealing items), and making sure your dogs basic obedience is ready to handle every situation!

Today Margaret and Damian talk about what to look for when talking to a trainer in your area, dog training certifications, guarantees in dog training, and what to look for in support after your training program!

Today Margaret and Damian will be talking about choosing the right training method for you and your dog. Being comfortable with a training method, whether positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or clicker training is important for you to be able to learn.

We will give you details on 7 dog training methods; Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Clicker Training, Lure Training, Lure Training, Place/Show or repetition training, Electronic Training, and Competition Training. Each method will talk about pros and cons as well as how trainers blend the methods!

Today, Margaret and Damian will be talking about the first step in choosing a trainer, and that's to clarify what you want from a trainer.

Every trainer does it differently, so if you are clear on what you want, then finding the right person to give it to you will be easy!

Today Margaret and Damian will be talking about a very fun subject; Good Games to Play with Your Dog!

We understand you are more likely to spend more time playing with your dog than training.
And to be honest, we think that's the best thing you can do.

We believe one of the most successful ways to train your dog is while playing games. As long as you play them correctly!

We will give you tips and rules to play common games like tug of war and wrestling as well as how to teach a solid and happy come when called, plus some fun games for the kids and whole family to join in!

We will let everyone in on a secret that puppies bite! And the only way to stop puppy biting is for your puppy to grow out of it!

So that being said we will give you steps to understand and get control of puppy biting as well as teaching your puppy that it hurts when he does bite!

Today Margaret and Damian will be finishing up our series on Greetings by talking about Safe Dog to Dog Greetings.

They will give you simple tips on what to look for when letting your dog greet another dog as well as helpful commands to use like 'Go Visit' and 'Switch' that you can use to make dog to dog greetings safe and fun for everyone involved!

Today Margaret and Damian will be continuing our series on Greeting Dogs.
The topic today is Preparing Your Dog to Greet New People.

Taking your dog to new places and greeting new people can be stressful for some dog owners. We will outline steps to teach your dog useful commands like 'Go Visit' which give your dog permission to politely greet as well as how to recognize stress signs and tips on how to position your dog to greet people in a friendly, confident way!

Today Margaret and Damian will be talking about Greeting Dogs the Safe Way. This may seem like a simple subject, and it is!

But we have seen over the years that a lot of unfortunate dog bite incidents could have been avoided if people greeted dogs differently.

So today we will give you the steps to safely greet a dog! These steps are also very good for teaching children to safely greet dogs as well.

Today Margaret and Damian will be talking about our last step in our series on Stay with Proofing Stay.

Basically Proofing Stay means teaching your dog to work around distractions like being petted by strangers, treats and toys, and even the neighbors cat.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to and work on the first 2 parts, Teaching Stay and Practicing Stay, we recommend you take a second to listen and practice those steps!

Today Margaret and Damian will be continuing our discussion on teaching Stay the easy way by talking about Practicing stay to be successful!

This cast is short, but gives you detailed tips on the best ways to practice for success as well as how to build a solid foundation so next week we can work on working with stay around distractions!

Today we are starting a 3 part podcast to give you the steps to teach stay the
easy way!

This week M&D will be laying the foundation with the teaching phase.
We will give you simple steps to teach your dog what the command means as well as how to handle it when he gets up, and why that's a good thing!

So work hard this week on teaching and next week we will work on practicing!

Continuing our Series on Respect we are talking today about the Command 'No'.

Margaret and Damian will be talking about our philosophy of why we call the word 'No' a command.

We will also discuss 'No' alternatives for situations like barking, jumping up, stealing objects, etc!

Continuing our Series on Respect we are talking about today about Come when Called.

Margaret and Damian have talked about Come when Called before, but today we will be looking at it from a different angle. Showing you how to build respect and leverage respect to teach and use Come, as well as how to use your dogs natural thoughts and drives (Pack

Drive, Prey Drive, and Defense Drive) to make training and using Come easier with your dog!

And we will finish up with some fun games to teach Come that you can use with the whole family!

Goalie is a fun game we use to teach our dogs respect for us, space, the couch, windows they bark out of, kitchen counters, etc. etc. Basically it is an effective tool for teaching respect for space around anything. We will give you the steps for teaching Goalie, as well as some tips on using it and common issues you may see!

Settle Down is our first command to teach and build respect. And today we show you how to teach 3 Levels of Settle Down as well as Troubleshoot the problems you are having when teaching!

For us, Respect is the key that gets your dog to do something when he has the choice not to! (Think off leash and Come when called)

So we will lay out our ideas of Respect, give you some ways to test for respect from your dog, and talk about a few ways to give back a little respect to your dog!

Just remember, this is a VERY overlooked subject, but one that will not only make your relationship with your dog better, but it could effectively save his life! Teaching your dog to accept Handling and Gentle Restraint

This is Part 2 of a 2 part podcast, so if you haven't listened to Part 1, please do so first!

Margaret and Damian will be talking about a VERY overlooked subject, but one that will not only make your relationship with your dog better, but it could effectively save his life! Teaching your dog to accept Handling and Gentle Restraint.

It is a fact of life for our dogs that we must handle or gently restrain them from time to time. Whether it is a vet visit, to dry their paws off, give a pill, or trim their nails.

This is a 2 part podcast.
Today, we will give you the steps to test and document any issues your dog may have. Next week we will talk about how to teach your dog to accept Handling and Gentle Restraint happily!

Margaret and Damian will be talking about an often overlooked subject, Living with More than One Dog.

The key to living happily with multiple dogs is for you to be the pack leader. Your dogs will decide amongst themselves what their pecking order is. Each dog in you pack however must understand that all family members are above the dogs! This is sometimes easier said than done! This is sure to be the first of many casts on this subject. So today we offer you our tips to living with more than one dog!

We discuss, determining when dogs are getting too rough, dog loyalty test, learning and avoiding "dog fight" hot spots in your house, improving training for your 2 dogs, and how to build a strong relationship with both dogs!

Children and dogs are a wonderful combination, most of the time. But if you don't have the perfect dog around kids, we will give you some tips for helping your dog to enjoy children, as well as teaching children to be safe around dogs.

We discuss, Socializing your dog, recognizing stress in your dog, helping issues your dog has with children, teaching a command to relax, training your dog, and teaching children to greet a dog.

And always remember, when it comes to kids and dogs, the child's safety is the most important!

Margaret and Damian will be talking about a subject few people think about but is very important, teaching your dog to ride in the car safely.

We want you to enjoy car rides with your dog! And we know that if you dread rides in the car with your dog, then you'll take less. So, In this cast we will give you practical tips for, teaching your dog to ride in the car, helping a car sick dog get better, and safely restraining your dog.

Today Margaret and Damian will be helping with a great subject, Crate Training Your Dog!

You have Probably been told by a well intentioned someone that you need to 'crate train' your dog. And that is great advice as long as your dog agrees with it! (because we know that some dogs bark in the crate, and whine in their cage, refuse to stay clean in the crate!)

In this cast we will give you tips to 'crate train' even the most reluctant dog.

We are aware that there are many names for a 'crate'. And you can substitute any you would like, kennel crate, den, confinement area, bathroom, house, whatever. We don't care as long as you choose to use it!

Today, Margaret and Damian will be giving some advice on another very popular subject, Stopping Barking. (and it even includes a tip or 2 you might can use to help with neighbors dog barking!)

But, lets face it, Dogs Bark!

Barking is as natural for them as scratching, sleeping, or eating. And the most important thing to remember is barking is more a problem for you, than it is for your dog!

So that means you will have to do a little work and figure out why your dog is barking. Discovering that will bring peace to your house.

Today, Margaret and Damian will be talking about Making Leash Walking more Fun!
Because people as well as dogs enjoy doing what's fun, and usually avoid what isn't!
So, how are the walks with your dog? Is it more chore than pleasure because your dog is pulling so hard and barks at everything he sees?

In this cast we will teach you steps to make the walk more fun for both you and your dog, as well as gives you some tips on how to handle dogs you might encounter on your walk. Because we strongly believe that if you enjoy walking with your dog then you will do it more often.

Today, Margaret and Damian are tackling a very important topic to us here, Effectively Disciplining your Dog.

When it comes to the subject of discipline for dog, it seems everyone is an expert. Hey, even dog trainers don't agree on "the best" approach!

So, we are going to take a second and explain our approach to discipline because if you ask a dog owner with a well socialized and trained dog how he disciplines, he'll probably have to think about it. Because most of the time he just has to ask his dog not to do it, or if the dog is doing something, he just tells the dog to stop!

In this cast we will debunk some common myths on discipline and give you actionable steps to follow for simple and effective discipline of your dog!

In this 2nd and final part of this cast, Margaret and Damian will be wrapping up the subject of Training a Calm Dog in Every Situation!

In Part 1 of this cast you learned how to teach your dog to Sit and Stay for praise and petting. You also learned how to teach your dog to calm down when he is excited.

If you have not listened to Part 1 we encourage you to do so, it will make it much easier.

In this cast Margaret and Damian explore the reasons why dogs become so excited, they then share some practical steps to help you calm your dog in every situation!

In this cast Margaret and Damian will be talking about a topic they promised a couple weeks ago, Using Sit Stay for Praise and Petting to train your dog to be calm in Every Situation.

Is your dog brilliant and calm when it's just you and him at home? But when you try to show off his tricks to your friends and family he gets so excited he forgets his name? You are not alone.

In this 2 part cast we will give you the tools to teach your dog to be calm in every situation.

This week we will lay the foundation that you teach before 'going public' with your friends. In part 2 we will teach you how to conquer even the most exciting real life situation!

Congratulations on your New Puppy! Now what?

In this cast Margaret and Damian will be talking about getting training off on the right foot!

Perhaps you have a dream that your new dog will unconditionally love you, be friendly with the right people and let you know when the wrong ones come around. And you definitely want to be proud of him when he always comes when called and maybe even does a cute trick or 2.

In this cast we will teach you how to Get Started on your way to achieving your dream!

In this cast Margaret and Damian will be talking about Chewing and Destructive Behavior!

People choose to bring animals into their house, and their shocked when their animal does, well, animal things!

Chewing and Destructive Behavior is one of those things, and the one most people have the least patience for. This cast will help you work on what we like to call "Separation Fun". That means your dog had a party at your house and forgot to invite you. We do talk about the difference between Separation Fun and Separation Anxiety.

In this cast Margaret and Damian will be talking about a very important subject, Getting Your Dog to Come When Called!

If your dog does not come when he is called then sooner or later you may not have a dog. It's easy to teach your dog what come means, the trick is teaching him to come to you when he is going the other way!

To help with this we are going to share with you the formula for teaching him to come no matter what!

In this cast Margaret will be talking about something very important to us, Picking a Dog Daycare!

It may surprise you to know that dog training and dog daycares are not regulated industries. There are no standards, no rules, no licenses and no inspections.

And since your dog can't talk to tell you how he is doing you need to put some thought into choosing the best one!

In this cast Margaret and Damian will be talking about another one of our most asked about topics, Housetraining!

Now, please notice that we say Housetraining, and not Housebreaking.

The difference is Housetraining involves teaching your puppy what you want rather than punishing for what he did wrong.

So please give a listen as we explain our philosophy!

In this cast Margaret and Damian will be talking about a fun subject, Picking a Great Puppy!

We feel very strongly that if you spend a little time preparing to get a new puppy, then you will be much happier down the road.

The steps we give are quick and easy, so if you are thinking about getting a puppy, or know someone who is, then Enjoy!

In this podcast we will be talking about one of our most asked about subjects, Jumping.

Dogs tend to jump on us when they are excited! We are often asked how to stop dogs from jumping on us, our guests, over fences, on furniture, etc. This cast will deal with the first part. Jumping on People.