Positively Dog Training - The Official Victoria Stilwell Podcast

The art of raising well-adjusted assistance dogs - specifically Golden Retrievers - is a passion of this week’s guest, VSPDT trainer and #DogBehaviorConference presenter Abigail Witthauer. Victoria and Abigail share thoughts on what goes into her unique approach at her Alabama-based Roverchase Foundation as well as what she’ll be discussing during her DBC talk, “Service Dogs: Lessons learned while raising heroes.”

• Get dog training solutions at Victoria’s official Positively website.
• Become a dog trainer with the Victoria Stilwell Academy.

Victoria geeks out chatting to one of the most formative influences on her life and career as a dog trainer: Suzanne Clothier. Suzanne shares her fascinating background as a groundbreaking thinker in the world of animal training and behavior, especially surrounding the concept of what she coined Relationship-Centered Training and the unique journey her approach has undergone over the past several decades. Victoria digs into the importance of Suzanne’s Dog Behavior Conference presentation, ‘See the Dog: Temperament, Training, Choices & Relationships.’

• Get dog training solutions at Victoria’s official Positively website.
• Become a dog trainer with the Victoria Stilwell Academy.

Good Morning Britain's Pip Tomson joins Victoria to talk about her work fighting the dog meat trade in South Korea. Victoria compares her experience shutting down a dog meat farm with Pip’s, and the two celebrat e dogs’ adaptability and resilience in the face of the worst that mankind can sometimes impart. Victoria offers advice regarding how to help support dogs who have suffered trauma and negative experiences. Follow Pip’s dogs  on Instagram as they work to combat the dog meat trade: @Binditomson and @Robinakathugface.

How can we make training our dogs easier? Most dog trainers know about functional assessments and the ABC’s of dog training, but DBC speaker, VSA Faculty Advisor and PhD in Philosophy Maia Huff-Owen shares a new way of considering the ‘C’ in ABC’s (consequences). Maia and Victoria discuss Maia’s upcoming Dog Behavior Conference topic, “After the Click: Completing the training picture,” as well as why using food in training is not tantamount to bribery, how training dogs is like a dance, and how even the most subtle actions can make a huge impact on our dogs’ behavior.

• Get dog training solutions at Victoria’s official Positively website.
• Become a dog trainer with the Victoria Stilwell Academy.

Acclaimed author, speaker, researcher and professor Dr. Alexandra Horowitz of Barnard College, Columbia University’s Dog Cognition Lab joins Victoria to dig deep into the fascinating world of the anatomy, physiology and behavior-related wonder of the canine nose. What makes dogs’ noses so powerful and different from ours? Can they smell fear? Why do they use one nostril at a time? How do pheromones and sniffing play into dog/dog and dog/human greetings? Can dogs tell time through smell? Dr. Horowitz shares insights from her amazing work with the canine nose and beyond.

• Get dog training solutions at Victoria’s official Positively website.
• Become a dog trainer with the Victoria Stilwell Academy.

Victoria shares plans for the upcoming season of the Positively Podcast, including celebrity guests, expert advice and more! Plus details about the upcoming online 2023 Dog Behavior Conference.

• Get dog training solutions at Victoria’s official Positively website.
• Become a dog trainer with the Victoria Stilwell Academy.

What do the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Long Lost Family have to do with dogs? BAFTA winning radio and TV presenter, Nicky Campbell joins Victoria to talk  music, TV, animal welfare, and how our friendship with dogs enriches our lives.

Obedience training has long been the accepted path to teaching dogs’ manners, but the concept of obedience might be doing dogs a disservice. Andrew Hale joins Victoria to go beyond the operant.

What is ACE Free Work and how do dogs benefit? Dog behavior expert Sarah Fisher joins Holly and Victoria to discuss hidden pain in a dog's spine, neck, joints, and legs and how Free Work is helping adolescent and senior dogs all over the world.

After a second ‘nipping’ incident in the White House, Victoria is joined by Veterinary Behaviorist Sarah Heath to discuss why some dogs like Major Biden show conflict behavior, and why understanding dogs’ emotional experience is the first step to helping them acclimate to new environments.