FernDog Podcast: Dog Training & Behavior Tips and Advice

Lack of socialization is an epidemic and one of biggest causes of behavioral issues in adult dogs, and most people have no idea how to properly socialize their new puppies. Combine that with the multitude of misinformation online and from some trusted professionals it’s no surprise that there is so much confusion as to what is the best and safest way to socialize.

Socialization should start early and is very time sensitive. In this episode you’ll find out exactly where those pups should be socialized and how every dog’s plan for socialization differs.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• When is the right time to begin socialization
• What exactly do we need to be exposing puppies to
• How long should socialization continue
• The myths of puppy socialization

Links:

Operation Socialization

Socialization Myths

Behavioral Vaccinations for Your Puppy

Expert interviews on Socialization

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Winter can be a long and cold season. With temperatures dipping there are lots of concerns and considerations you need to be aware of with your dog. Although some breeds are able to tolerate the extreme cold because they’re really bred for that, not all breeds can endure it.

To keep your pets happy during this season, they will need a little more special attention. What you need to think about and what you do will depend upon the type of dog you have. With a little thought and preparation both you and your dog can get through the Winter season in style. In this podcast I talk about the things you can do to keep your dog healthy and happy during the winter.

In this episode

1:40  FernDog Rescue Foundation milestone

2:09  Free webinar

3:12  Winter concerns for dogs

3:40  Understand how the cold affects your individual dog

6:12  Bundle up

8:04  Snow every step

9:50  Salt

12:07  Dogs love heat

13:02  The activity level

13:45  Interactive toys

16:13  Group class

16:40  Dry skin

20:16  Listener Question: Resource control between two dogs

22:43  Listener Question: Extreme anxiety in the car

Links

Free Puppy Webinar

Pet Safe Ice Melt

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Happy new year everyone! This is the time of year where we all reflect on what we’ve done and plan for the year ahead. We vow to stop some things, while make resolutions to start up some new habits.

Just about everyone does this with our personal and professional lives, however we seldom include our dogs in our new goal setting. Well, I think it’s time we started making some promises to our furry best friends and make 2015 your best year with your dog.

So for the first podcast for the year I’ll talk about the 10 New Years resolutions you can make with your dog.

In this episode

1:29  My personal resolutions

3:20  Your resolutions with your dog

4:25  Go to new places

6:16  Exercise more

9:14  Stop taking your dog’s diet for granted

11:20  Tell your dog when he’s good more often

14:13  Always keep in mind that your dog is a dog

17:42  Learn 1 new thing

18:52  Practice more

20:40  Give more stimulation

22:58  Take time to assess how your dog is doing (and make changes accordingly)

24:32  Share info with others

Links

The Great Dog Adventure Club

My first ever dog training online course

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Socialization with your dog is something you should be continually doing throughout your dog’s life. However, there can be limitations or restrictions in socializing your dogs and one of those is the dog’s interaction in group settings. Understanding what the dogs are doing and how they feel about the activity is important for both safety and enjoyment.

Listen to this interview with the well respected dog trainer, Sue Sternberg and find out the do’s, dont’s, and guidelines in dog group interactions.

In this episode

2:35  Thanks for the iTunes reviews! Please leave a review if you still haven’t

4:35  Interview with Sue Sternberg

5:42  The group dog dynamics

6:14  The good, the bad, the ugly of getting dogs together

6:23  The climate in the dog world

14:36  An ideal playgroup

20:25  Red alert behaviors

28:23  How to get the red alert behavior resources

30:04  Dogs or dog breeds that shouldn’t be in dog parks

34:15  The best way to break up a dog fight in a dog park

38:20  What to do if your dog has been attacked and there’s been an altercation, is there a way to re-introduce him to a multi-group setting?

42:25  What’s the best way to start a dog-dog play program at a shelter that doesn’t have one in the past?

44:54  Dog park assistant

50:04  Where to find Sue Sternberg

Links

Review us on iTunes

Sue on Facebook

Great Dog Productions

Out and About with Your Dog (kindle)

Dog Park Assistant iPhone app

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The first thing that you need to determine when you have a problem behavior with your dog is whether the situation calls for treatment or management. It’s a very important distinction that many people get wrong and one that causes much frustration.

In this episode I teach you the difference between treatment and management and show you when you should use each depending upon your situation.

In this episode

1:02  My first ever online basic obedience and manners class

2:17  Treatment vs. Management

2:39  What is treatment?

2:44  What is management?

7:43  Can you do the amount of repetitions needed?

8:59  Can you control the environment?

10:12  Do you have consistency with everybody involved?

11:15  Do you have the desire to do the work?

13:02  Treat one thing but manage the rest

14:46  Understand when a situation is for treatment or management

15:18  Client success story

Links

My first ever dog training online course

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And get the Great Dog Gear Guide free. 

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In life, we learn a lot of things from different places, different people we meet, different circumstances and different experiences we go through. Having Hayley in my life has taught me many things. She’s now 14 years old and I really treasure all the time that I have her.

We train our dogs in order to have better lives with them but did you know that our dogs can teach us as well. In this podcast, I want to share with you some of the life lessons I learned from my dog, Hayley.

In this episode

1:46  How you can learn from your dog

2:00  Turning 45

3:35  My first ever online basic obedience and manners class

6:30  Every moment is worth celebrating

8:57  Love equals time

10:22  Don’t over think

11:38  Don’t judge

13:23  Be friendly

14:40  The simple things

17:24  Embrace change

20:09  Repetition will shape behavior

21:36  Grow old gracefully

23:04  You are never too old to be playful

Hayely “rolling with it” as her bed covers get washed.

Links

My first ever dog training online course

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And get the Great Dog Gear Guide free. 

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Download Written Transcript

Do you think it’s possible to read your dog’s mind? Now some may that it’s not really necessary. I’ve seen people who look like they can read their dog’s mind or at least read the dog’s behavior, especially when the dog has been with them for a while. I believe understanding your dog is essential in order to have a great relationship with your dog .

As I often say, in getting a dog, training him will be lifelong. If you are able to understand your dog better, you’ll also be able to train him better. The key to understanding your dog is to try to think like how he thinks and see things from his point of view. I want everyone to really “get” their furry best friends, so in this episode I talk about how you can better understand your dog by trying to see things from his perspective. Hope you find this helpful.

In this episode

0:27  Your dog’s view point of the world  

1:47  Walking

5:20  Your dog’s sense of smell

8:43  Greeting people

13:42  Basic obedience

14:51  Your dog’s lifestyle

16:53  The concept of leadership

21:28  Voice message from podcast listener Sharon

22:26  What to do with a resource guarding dog?

Links

Dealing with Resource Guarding Dogs

Get my gear guide

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One of the things I have observed in working with dogs as a trainer is that small dogs are treated more like babies compare to big dogs. Most people think that dogs are so cute and cuddly that many deal with small dogs like toys or stuff toys. This is very true especially with their owners. Yes, dogs are really like children in the home and may look like cuddly stuff toys but they shouldn’t be babied too much because that can result to multiple behavior problems.

Due to the size of small dogs and to their pleasing appearance, people have the tendency to overlook bad behaviors. As I always say, in getting a dog, training is lifelong and small dogs are no exceptions. Training is a must whether you have a big or small dog. To help you train your small dogs better, you need to understand more about the issues in having one and in training it and that is what I discussed in this podcast.

In this episode

1:10  The Dog Rescue Handbook

3:09  Seminar for rescue people

4:05  Small dogs

5:13  Does size matter?

9:34  The dog’s needs

10:32  Four on the floor

11:16  Inadvertently rewarding behaviors

12:45  Posture and body language

13:49  Size does matter

15:26  Crowds

15:56  Walking

19:03  Feeding

20:03  Appropriate treats

22:04  Dog staring at you when she wants something

23:33 Rewarding a calm state of mind for a dog that’s very excited

25:02  Yawning

Links

Buy The Dog Rescue Hand book

Donate to the Ferndog Rescue Foundation and get The Dog Rescue Handbook for a penny

Seminar for rescue people

Download Written Transcript

In getting a dog, people are excited to socialize their dogs with other dogs and some would want to get another dog too. However, when their dog is introduced to another dog and to more dogs, that’s when they see some behavior issues. Let’s try to compare this with humans. As humans, we don’t really like everyone we see, especially when someone bothers us or maybe rub us in the wrong way. What we do is avoid. There are some people that’s hard to avoid because they always shove you and think that it’s okay and that’s just really annoying. Now imagine how dogs feel when such things happen to them.

This week’s episode is a milestone for me. I’ve been doing this podcast for about a year now and I really look forward to doing episode 50 and also doing the next 50 more. Every episode is special to me, but since this is episode 50, I made it extra special by discussing about dogs, their relationships with other dogs and what you can do to help yours be a better dog.

In this episode

2:54  Not every dog will like every other dog

4:04  Energy abundance

7:31  Forward dogs

7:54  How bad associations develop

10:12  How can your dog get along with everyone?

10:23  The magic of socialization

12:35  Monitor interactions

14:02  Selective interactions

15:17  Dog reactivity

16:17  Walk

16:46  Management of multiple dogs

18:23  Break up play often

20:08  Hierarchy

20:36  Structure and guidance

In getting a dog, people are excited to socialize their dogs with other dogs and some would want to get another dog too. However, when their dog is introduced to another dog and to more dogs, that’s when they see some behavior issues. Let’s try to compare this with humans. As humans, we don’t really like everyone we see, especially when someone bothers us or maybe rub us in the wrong way. What we do is avoid. There are some people that’s hard to avoid because they always shove you and think that it’s okay and that’s just really annoying. Now imagine how dogs feel when such things happen to them.

This week’s episode is a milestone for me. I’ve been doing this podcast for about a year now and I really look forward to doing episode 50 and also doing the next 50 more. Every episode is special to me, but since this is episode 50, I made it extra special by discussing about dogs, their relationships with other dogs and what you can do to help yours be a better dog.

In this episode

2:54  Not every dog will like every other dog

4:04  Energy abundance

7:31  Forward dogs

7:54  How bad associations develop

10:12  How can your dog get along with everyone?

10:23  The magic of socialization

12:35  Monitor interactions

14:02  Selective interactions

15:17  Dog reactivity

16:17  Walk

16:46  Management of multiple dogs

18:23  Break up play often

20:08  Hierarchy

20:36  Structure and guidance