Dog Works Radio® | Dog Training, Puppy Training, Dog Behavior & Service Dogs

What do you do with a dog that seems completely untrainable? You give a command and get nothing. You offer treats, and the dog does not care. Toys do not work. Praise does not work. Eventually, you start wondering whether the dog simply cannot be trained.

In this episode of Dog Works Radio, Nicole Forto challenges that assumption. Some dogs are confused or distracted. Others have learned that if they ignore their owner long enough, the owner eventually gives up. And then there are genuinely difficult dogs that are highly independent, defensive, reactive, or willing to make their own decisions.

The conversation becomes even more important when those decisions create a safety problem. If a dog has a history of biting people or other dogs, owners cannot simply continue allowing unrestricted interactions and hope the next encounter goes better. Management, boundaries, and controlled access become part of responsible training.

Nicole also explores what happens when food is not motivating. Treats, toys, and praise can all be useful training tools, but they are not the only things a dog values. Movement, sniffing, freedom, exploring, interaction, and access to the environment can become meaningful parts of training.

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

If the person whose name is on the van disappeared for thirty days, what would actually break at your shop?

Not the website. The eval. The hard dog. The refund. Saturday.

Michele Forto is solo on this episode of Dog Works Radio. She talks to owners of family-run dog training businesses in rural and mid-size markets, private lessons, group class, board-and-train, service and therapy work, where family is on the books and the founder is still the bottleneck.

Get the handout at https://dogworksradio.com/handoff

In this episode

• Why a thin local list is not the real ceiling
• Drive time, seasons, and word of mouth as operating rules
• The four stalls: eval, hard case, refund, Saturday exception
• Family system vs. training floor in the same building
• Criteria, consequences, consistency—for the dog and the next trainer
• The one page to write if someone left for four days

Free worksheet The 30-Day Handoff (two pages): dogworksradio.com/handoff

Connect Podcast: https://dogworksradio.com Training: https://alaskadogworks.com Worksheet: https://dogworksradio.com/handoff

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

What happens when decades of law enforcement experience, a career working with police K9s, and an interest in officer wellness come together?

On this episode of Dog Works Radio, Robert Forto talks with Dr. Coby Webb, a retired captain with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department who spent much of her 28-and-a-half-year law enforcement career working with dogs. Her experience included patrol dogs, bloodhounds, detection dogs, and supervising a canine unit that included 26 dogs.

Coby shares what life is really like as a police K9 handler, how different breeds are selected for different jobs, and why the relationship between a handler and working dog extends far beyond a normal shift. She also tells the story of launching a bloodhound program and explains why training dogs in the environments where they will actually work matters.

The conversation then turns to her work with Guide Dogs of the Desert and an unexpected idea that began when a dog trained for guide work simply did not enjoy being a guide dog. Coby brought the dog into her workplace as a pilot program and discovered how much of an effect he had on employees dealing with demanding, stressful work. That idea grew, and Coby says she has now placed more than 70 dogs across the United States.

Robert and Coby also discuss her work imprinting dogs on the odor associated with cortisol so they can gravitate toward people experiencing stress without performing a conspicuous formal alert. The goal is to give the handler a chance to start a conversation while keeping the dog engaged with the person.

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

Your dog sits perfectly in class, walks nicely when the trainer is nearby, and seems to know exactly what you want. Then you get home and everything falls apart. That does not necessarily mean your dog forgot the training. It may mean the training was never built to survive real life.

In this episode of Dog Works Radio, Michele Forto from Alaska Dog Works explains why dogs often learn the environment surrounding a behavior instead of developing a skill they can perform anywhere. Sitting quietly inside a training facility is very different from responding when a runner appears on a trail, a visitor knocks at the door, or a moose catches your dog's attention.

Michele also explains why training the owner matters just as much as training the dog. At Alaska Dog Works, the goal is not a dog that performs beautifully for an hour in class. It is a dog and owner who can take those skills into walks, doorways, trails, public spaces, winter conditions, and everyday Alaska life.

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

This episode covers dog training fundamentals and how to train a dog so you end up with a reliable dog, not just a dog that sits in the kitchen. Michele Forto shares the dog training philosophy Alaska Dog Works uses after 30+ years: clear communication, structure, and follow-through.

If your dog listens at home and falls apart in real life, start here.

Listen for: why repeating cues teaches the wrong lesson, why you cannot out-train a bad rehearsal schedule, and the one key to install this week.

Companion article: alaskadogworks.com/the-3-keys-to-a-well-trained-dog/

This week's action: pick one key: communication, structure, or follow-through — and keep it consistent for seven days.

Questions or ready for a plan? Book a strategy call at alaskadogworks.com.

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

Join host Nicole Forto as she discusses a common question: Is my dog reactive or aggressive? on this episode of One Minute Dog Training Tips on Dog Works Radio

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

Dr. Robert Forto just left the stage at Podcast Movement in New York. The session: Don't Sell Your Soul to Social Media. Michele Forto brings the talk home.

Podcasters were told to post more, clip more, and feed the algorithm. That builds a business on rented land. When an account is restricted, reach collapses, or a host deletes a library by mistake, you find out what you actually own.

Michele covers borrowed vs owned audiences, the path from show to site to offer to list to home, and three moves before your next episode: turn it into a ten-minute magnet, say one URL twice, deliver it by email.

If you cannot reach them without the app, they are not your audience.

Get the one-pager: DogWorksRadio.com/soul

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

What really happens behind the scenes of some of television's most popular animal shows?

On this episode of Dog Works Radio, Robert Forto sits down with television producer and showrunner Rick Dowlearn, whose career has taken him into veterinary clinics, wildlife facilities, remote communities, and animal stories across North America and beyond. Rick has worked on animal-focused productions for Nat Geo Wild, Disney+, Discovery, and Animal Planet, including several seasons connected to Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet.

Rick shares what a showrunner actually does, how production crews capture real veterinary and animal stories without interfering with the professionals doing the work, and why dogs often create some of the most memorable moments on screen. The conversation also explores wildlife rehabilitation, his experiences filming in Alaska, the Yukon, and Belize, and why storytelling can make information about animals far more memorable.

Robert and Rick also discuss the changing media landscape, from traditional television to YouTube and podcasts, and whether a video podcast is really a podcast at all. Rick introduces his latest project, The Animal Show with Gozer and Rick, inspired in part by his relationship with his French Bulldog, Gozer, and his desire to continue telling the stories of people whose lives revolve around animals.

If you love dogs, veterinary television, wildlife stories, podcasting, or simply want to know what happens when the cameras start rolling on an animal TV production, this episode offers a fascinating look behind the curtain.

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

On this episode we open with a Foundation announcement that belongs on Dog Works Radio: partnership, training, and helping people live more independently with their dogs.

The Team and Trail Foundation is now accepting applications for the Lead Dog Access Program. This is a Foundation program, not a commercial Alaska Dog Works enrollment. Selected teams receive the complete Lead Dog service dog curriculum at a discounted Foundation rate of $9,600. Up to six placements are available each year.

Priority is given to veterans and people living with PTSD, people with mobility, psychiatric, or autism-related disabilities, and applicants from rural Alaska and other underserved communities.

Applying does not guarantee selection. Use the official application only.

Apply: https://teamandtrail.com/lead-dog-access-program/ Questions: [email protected] Support the program: https://donorbox.org/team-and-trail-foundation-ldap

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.

On September 11, 2001, hundreds of working dogs and their handlers answered the call. They searched through twisted steel and concrete, guided people out of the World Trade Center, recovered those who were lost, and offered comfort to firefighters and recovery workers during one of the darkest moments in American history.

In this special episode of Dog Works Radio, Michele Forto remembers the dogs of 9/11 and the handlers who trusted them to do extraordinary work under extraordinary conditions. The episode shares stories of dogs including Sirius, Roselle, Salty, Apollo, Trakr, and Bretagne, while also exploring the lasting effect September 11 had on search-and-rescue training, veterinary research, and how we understand working dogs.

The episode also closes with a personal connection. Robert and Michele later named a litter of their own sled dogs after 9/11 rescue dogs, including Tikva and Bretagne, giving this remembrance a connection that extends well beyond the history books.

Other Episodes You Will Love

· How to Get the Best Results out of Dog Training

Support the Show

This episode was recorded on the Shure SM7B and a Rodecaster Pro II

Like this episode? Share it with your dog training friends!

Love this episode? Say thanks in true dog training podcasting style by leaving a review.

FREE! Grab our 7-Day Real-World Dog Training Plan

Take our Understanding Drive Behaviors quiz to see exactly what drive your dog is in and how to begin to train for it.

Join the On-Air Dog Training Coaching waitlist for a chance to be coached on the air by Dr. Robert or Michele Forto and get your dog training questions answered in real time.

Sign up now for 20% off our Group Coaching Program and learn how to build the best relationship possible for your dog.

Take your dog training to the next level by enrolling in our Peak Performance membership.

Follow Dog Works Radio for more dog training tips: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

©2009-2026 by Dog Works Training Company® All Rights Reserved.