Beastly Talks

In this week's episode of Beastly Talks, I took inspiration from someone being sassy about how I train on social media, and told me I was using markers wrong. So I decided to put my whole marker system into an episode!

Marker training is using a particular sound or signal to tell the dog when they're right, wrong, encourage them to continue, teach different reinforcers and so on. At the most basic level, most people just need a reward marker ("YES") and a punishment marker ("NO"), but it can get a lot more complicated from there, depending on what you are trying to achieve with your dog.

Hopefully you find this episode educational!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Book your spot for the upcoming reactivity workshop (25-26th July, 2026) with Ben Geurts from Kaizen K9 below!

⁠⁠Reaktivity with Kaizen K9⁠⁠

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

We received a message from an Instagram follower, who is currently dealing with an adolescent dog. So, in this episode of Beastly Talks, that is exactly what we're getting stuck into (as I am currently dealing with the same painful thing).

From selective memory, to lack of engagement and even increased aggression and fear, adolescence affects all dogs differently. In this podcast we go through a young dogs big developmental stages, look at how sexual maturity affects behaviour, the difference in breeds and sizes, and finally how we battle our way through this erratic period in a dogs life.

It's an exhausting time when raising a young dog, but stick with it! I promise, things do get better with consistency!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Book your spot for the upcoming reactivity workshop (25-26th July) with Ben Geurts from Kaizen K9 below!

⁠Reaktivity with Kaizen K9⁠

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we're diving into a somewhat complicated topic to wrap your head around: how punishment can open the door to reinforcement.

For a lot of dogs – especially dogs with a low stress tolerance – panic quickly sets in and shuts off any form of positive reinforcement opportunity. The dog gets stuck in what I call a "Mindset trap", where stress begets more stress, resulting in high levels of anxiety and zero interest in external reinforcement.

Many trainers talk about "keeping the dog under threshold", but very few explain how to bring the dog back down when it's over threshold. Introducing considered pressure and even punishment, can be the prediction error the dog needs, to recommence the training.

Complicated topic, but hopefully I've been able to make it understandable!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Book your spot for the upcoming reactivity workshop (25-26th July) with Ben Geurts from Kaizen K9 below!

Reaktivity with Kaizen K9

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

We have another great episode lined up for you, one that I learned a lot from! NOTE: at one point all our recording shut down and we had to start again to finish the conversation (I mention it in my additional intro that I made for this episode). Sorry about that!

This week we are speaking with Maddie from Companion Dog Training and Von Goron Shepherds. Maddie is a dog trainer who also breeds German Shepherds.

We talk about the difference between therapy and assistance dogs, temperaments in therapy dogs and all the things that happen when great dogs are being created by responsible breeders.

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Check out Maddie and Companion Dog Training & Von Goron on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_companiondogtraining/

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/dogtraining.companion

https://vongorongsdandtraining.com/

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we're doing another "Reddit is Retarded" (I'm probably going to get cancelled for writing that).

I came across a post that said "I think my dog is being dominant towards me." The person then proceeded to list a whole lot of extremely common behavioural problems, not at all linked to dominance. Most of the replies were surprisingly good though, despite being on Reddit, but I thought it was still worth digging into this.

"Dominance" is like a pointy rock in your shoe, that is held in there by divine power. It makes no sense, but it is frustrating as hell. I don't dive too deep into dominance here, but I give a brief overview of it, before dismantling a whole lot of myths surrounding dominance.

The key take away from this podcast? Don't think 'dominance', think 'leadership.'

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

We are incredibly excited about this episode, where we had the opportunity to sit down and speak with one of the biggest names in the Australian dog training industry: Ben Geurts from Kaizen K9.

Ben has more than 20 years experience training dogs. He started his career as a K9 trainer with the Special Operations Command and has been working with pet dogs for over a decade. Ben is both NePoPo® and TWC certified and brings a unique approach to both working dogs, pet dogs and bite sports.

We delve deep into the topic of aggression and how bite sport can play a big role in the rehabilitation process. We discuss tool bans, new trainers in the industry, the force free vs balanced social media war and more.

Strap yourself in for a great conversation!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Check out Ben and Kaizen K9 on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/kaizen_k9/

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/KaizenK9Ptyltd

https://kaizenk9.com/

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we tackle a difficult and nuanced topic in the aggression space: resource guarding (also known as possession aggression).

Resource guarding is what I categorise as 'true aggression' meaning it is not reactive in nature, but has clear purpose (to protect resource) and intent to harm.

I have seen many photos of people getting badly injured when dealing with resource guarding, so this podcast ended up being fairly long. It is important to really dive into these topics, clearly understand them and have strong knowledge about how to approach them.

I will add a link to the Reddit video I talk through here, when it has been posted up on my socials.

I very much enjoyed recording this and I hope you enjoy listening to it!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Follow Stian Helling and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we have a good laugh and great conversation with the perpetual motion engine Carolina from DynamoDogs!

Stian and Carolina go way back and have been partners in crime in both dog training and fostering for nearly a decade. They met when Stian helped Carolina out with her personal dynamo, Cricket, a kelpie who was far more than a handful. After that, Carolina decided to pursue a career in dog training and that is when Dynamo Dogs was born.

Carolina specialises in working with reactivity work (or big feelings as she calls it) and has a particular love for herding breeds. We dive into anything from "fake" herding games to the use of electronic collars, the need for exercise, off leash freedom and adventures in the pursuit of combating frustration, fear and reactivity in our wonderful "house predators."

We really hope you enjoy this conversation!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Check out Carolina and Dynamodogs on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/dynamodogsau/

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DynamoDogsAU/

https://www.dynamodogs.com.au/

Follow Stian and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we do a quick dive into the difference between reactivity and aggression.

Many trainers don't like the term reactivity, but we don't mind it. It is greatly misunderstood by many, however!

I am very tired of all the polarising opinions and nonsense in the dog training industry. But I'm trying my best to keep the conversation light, entertaining and understandable. I did get a little grumpy in this one though, so please bear with me as I go into an occasional rant.

The audio quality isn't the best unfortunately, as I am stuck working on a laptop from roughly 600BC (I've explained what's going on in the podcast).

We really hope you enjoy this conversation!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Follow Stian and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we chat to our good friend Paula from Crazy Mutz.

Paula is a former student of Stian, who bailed him up in his driveway one day, insisting he teach her about dog training.

Since then Paula has come to the realisation that as a dog trainer, you are never "finished" with your education, because there is always something new to learn. There is always a new approach to teaching something, or new ways to approach problem behaviours, which is why it is important that we keep an open mind, learn from many different people, and remain a forever student, so we can best serve our canine companions!

We really hope you enjoy this conversation!

Make sure to give us a 5 🌟 review, follow the podcast for all the latest updates, share it with your friends and other dog lovers, and drop us a comment if you like what you hear or have questions for us!

Check out Paula and Crazy Mutz on Facebook!

Facebook

Follow Stian and Beautiful Beasts on social media:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/vikingdogtrainer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For personalised, expert help with your dog, contact us today:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.beautifulbeasts.com.au