BLACK FRIDAY SALE for dog professionals! From now until 12/5. Get $75 off the self study or $250 off the private: Reactivity Refined Course and Mentorship. 

Herding breeds are special dogs. Highly intelligent, sensitive, and with a die hard work ethic, they aren't designed for pet dog homes. What one might think of as reactivity in a herding breed, someone else might see natural behaviors we have bred them for. Why is it that herding breeds tend to display reactive behaviors more than other breed groups? And what can you do to support them more?

In this episode I bring in Liz Randall CPDT-KA to discuss:

• Why herding breeds are more prone to reactive behaviors in pet dog homes
• The predatory sequence in dogs and how that applies to herding
• Whether we should we use barking as a metric for thresholds in leash reactivity cases
• How you might be inadvertently reinforcing a herding breed's reactive behaviors
• And so much more

About Liz:

Elizabeth, or Liz, Randall has lived and worked with animals since early childhood. Growing up in a dog- and horse-centric family, she was an avid, competitive equestrienne by age nine. Throughout high school and college years, she continued to dabble in a variety of equine endeavors, including multiple summer stints at a ranch in the Big Horn mountain range in Wyoming. She worked in the sports industry for ten years, following her love for the outdoors. In her mid-thirties, upon finding her hands full with a new rescue dog that operated “outside the box” in the behavior department, she simultaneously discovered clicker-training and the sport of dog agility. These two revelations quickly changed her career trajectory from sports marketing to living wholeheartedly in the animal training world.
Using the most current, positive reinforcement-based training methods, Liz has held her Certified Pet Dog Trainer credential (CPDT-KA) since 2011, and works regularly with both high level behavior modification and canine sport clientele, both locally in Southern California, and across the country.
Liz has competed in a variety of dog sports with all of her dogs, but focuses primarily on dog agility. She and her dogs have won and podiumed at a multitude of major national and regional events over the last decade. Liz works with clients in the San Diego, California area, at private facilities across the US, and online. She loves to teach her students the importance of learning theory, how to better observe their dogs, and technical training mechanics.

She also stays informed and educated on the ever-evolving practices of dog training, behavior modification, and behavior analysis. She has attended dozens of lectures and seminars of many of the pre-eminent leaders of the animal training industry. She is a graduate of Dr. Susan Friedman’s Living and Learning with Animals course, attended Ken Ramirez's week-long Dive Deep; An Advanced Training Course, and traveled to Mexico to study street dogs with Sue Sternberg. Ongoing, continuing education is a critical component of Liz’s work, and she is a lifelong student and learner.

Her true love is being well off the beaten path out in nature with her dogs.

For in person clients: www.resilientdogs.com

Online agility teaching platform with Rachel Downs: www.topodogs.com 

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

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Why is it that some dogs enter a new home and begin to develop reactivity, seemingly out of nowhere? This often comes as a surprise to their new families, who weren't expecting to dive into a life with a reactive dog. In this episode, I bring in Tom Candy to help unpack what is going on in these scenarios. We discuss:

• What the general public doesn't know about the animal sheltering world 
• What contributes to a dog's behavior changing in a new home
• How to actively prevent reactivity from developing in a newly adopted dog
• How to help a newly adopted dog transition to their home and lifestyle more successfully
• What to do if your newly adopted dog begins to show reactive behaviors
• And so much more

About Tom: 

A passion for animal welfare, canine behaviour, and the development of others has been cornerstones of Tom’s (He/Him) career, which spans over 15 years in Shelter and Rescue with 10 focusing on training and behaviour. This experience and a drive to support even more shelter and rescue animals and staff, led to Tom starting Simplifying Shelter Behaviour, an educational organisation and podcast dedicated to bringing up to date, positive based training and behaviour tips and tricks to shelter and rescue staff and volunteers. Having started volunteering in rescue at the age of 15, Tom has been involved in a variety of aspects of rescue, including fundraising, home checking, transporting and general day-today operations, which pushed Tom to undertake a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in bioveterinary science and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Animal Behavior from the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom.
Since graduating, Tom has been working at the UKs largest dog welfare organisation as a Training and Behaviour Advisor, eventually working across seven rehoming centres before being promoted to Senior Training and Behaviour Advisor, where he supported the Training and Behaviour teams across the southwest of the United Kingdom. Tom is currently a senior
Clinical Animal Behaviourist Development Officer, working to upskill staff to reach their potential. Tom is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council in the United Kingdom, and a Certified Canine Behavior Consultant and Certified Shelter Behavior Specialist with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultant and a member of faculty and CBATI-KA with the Grisha Stewart Academy.

For Pet Parents

Need Help With Your Reactive Dog? 1:1 Coaching with Jessica

For Dog Professionals

Elevate Your Work with Reactive Dogs

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

Muzzles are stigmatized, because they are often associated with dogs who are aggressive. But the truth is, dogs wear muzzles for many reasons. Muzzles can give dogs more freedom, humans more peace of mind, and a safer community for all to live in. 

In this episode, I talk with Amy Creaven, owner of Trust Your Dog, a company that makes custom biothane products to expand your dog's world. We dive into all aspects of muzzles and training including:

• How to ensure your muzzle is bite proof
• Muzzle training hacks anyone can do
• How to ensure a proper fit
• Options for brachycephalic dogs
• What to do with dogs who resource guard their muzzles
• And so much more!

About Amy:

Amy is a recovered registered nurse, a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner who worked with reactive dogs prior to the pandemic, and now a custom muzzle maker. She lives at home with her family, 3 chaos floofs, and a harem of chickens.

Website
Email: [email protected]
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For Pet Parents

Need Help With Your Reactive Dog? 1:1 Coaching with Jessica

For Dog Professionals

Elevate Your Work with Reactive Dogs

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

I help both pet parents and dog professionals successfully address leash reactivity by asking the right questions, uncover what’s missing, and build solutions tailored to their unique needs. 

Imagine being a dog walker for reactive dogs in one of the densest cities in the United States - San Francisco. 

And then, imagine walking those dogs on 10-20 foot leashes. How do you balance giving a reactive dog the choice to move away from things that worry them, while also keeping the community safe?

In today's episode I am joined by that person, Alisha Ardiana. Alisha shares so many gems with us including:

• Her formula for getting dogs with stranger directed aggression to feel safe enough to go on outings with her 
• How she helps reactive dogs find safety, joy, and relief among stressors on walks
• Her Gamify Your Walks approach that transforms reactivity in her clients
• Why narrating (explaining to your dog what is happening around them) is so powerful 
• Her personal story and how that influences her work with reactive dogs
• And so much more 

About Alisha:

I have a Biology degree from the University of Notre Dame, and I planned to become a veterinarian.
Once I began working with animals, I preferred the role of a caretaker. I moved to San Francisco & became a California Registered Veterinary Technician. I worked in this field for 20 years.
In 2015 I decided to pursue my passion to support guardians and their dogs and became a positive reinforcement dog trainer.
I typically work with dogs that are labeled as shy, fearful, reactive, dominant or aggressive.
My work is based on everything I’ve learned from Amy Cook, Deb Jones, Susan Friedman, Kim Brophey and Sindhoor Pangal.
My professional letters include CPDT-KA, FDM, CPCN (Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist).
My wife & I are guardians of a 17 year old cat and a 6 year old Papillon. When I’m not doing dog things, I love to cook and attend live theater and concerts.

Website

IG

Gamify Your Walks

How to Talk to Your Dog by Cathy Callahan

Management for Reactive Dogs by Amy Cook

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

Join the leash reactivity mentorship starting this September 7th. Spots are going quickly!

Reactive dogs face a lot of stressors in their daily lives, and for many, their ability to "bounce back" gets worse with time. 

What is resilience? What is going on when a dog's resilience is low? How can you help condition your dog to increase their resilience?

In this episode I talk with Bobbie Bhambree CDBC, CPDT-KA on her and Dr. Kathy Murphy's Reframing Resilience framework. We cover:

• The neurobiology of resilience
• What factors contribute to low resilience in dogs
• Considerations for building resilience for reactive dogs
• The importance of physical and mental health as the pillar of resilience
• And so much more

About Bobbie:

CATCH Canine Trainers Academy Instructor 

Agility University Instructor 

Co-founder of Brain Camp 

Co-creator of the Resilience Framework

Bobbie Bhambree (CDBC, CPDT-KA) is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Certified Professional Dog Trainer. She is a faculty member of CATCH Canine Trainers Academy and Agility University. Additionally, she is one of the founders and regular contributors to a passion project called Brain Camp, where neuroscience, behavior, and dog sports intersect. Bobbie founded her business, Dogology Behavior Consulting in 2024.

To learn more about the Resilience Framework: https://journal.iaabcfoundation.org/the-resilience-rainbow/

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

What is going on when a dog can stay responsive on their walk, UNTIL another dog comes around?

I'm back with another solo episode, where I break down this scenario and help you better understand why your dog cannot respond to you, and what you can do about it. I cover:

• Proofing behaviors and why you probably haven't prepared your dog as much as you think you have
• How to be more effective at teaching your dog to respond to you around distractions
• How to understand the criteria you are setting, and how to be fluid in any given scenario
• The dance between criteria and thresholds
• And so much more

For dog professionals: Join the leash reactivity mentorship starting this September 7th. Spots are going quickly!

Pet parents: Struggling with your reactive dog? Work with me 1:1 and get the help you need to move forward with more success.

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

Sign up for the leash reactivity mentorship for professionals that begins September 7th. 

Imagine a world where the average dog is healthy - both physically and behaviorally, for the majority of their lives. Imagine a world where shelters aren't overflowing with dogs because there are plenty of suitable homes for them. Imagine a world where it is the norm to live with a dog who goes through life without experiencing chronic behavior challenges. Where would these dogs come from? 

We'd have to breed them. In this episode, I bring in Dr. Jessica Perry Hekman, a behavioral geneticist and one of the founders of the Functional Dog Collaborative, to discuss why this is one of the solutions to bettering the lives of dogs, and therefore, ours. 

We discuss:

• What the Functional Dog Collaborative is 
• Behavioral traits and how they get passed down
• Physical traits and how we can breed away from ones that aren't serving dogs
• Are there really more dogs suffering from behavior challenges these days? We both chime in on this one. 
• Environment vs genetics
• What influences a puppy's development
• And so much more!

About Jessica Perry Hekman:

Jessica Perry Hekman, DVM, PhD, is a behavioral geneticist. She is one of the founders of the Functional Dog Collaborative, a non-profit which seeks to change the conversation around dog breeding in the dog loving community. She also teaches behavioral biology at the Virginia Tech online Masters program for Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare, works with Hecht Lab at Harvard, and offers webinars online and consults with breeders about genetic testing and breeding choices. Perry lives in Raymond, NH with her husband and two dogs.

Check out the Functional Dog Collaborative's podcast and Facebook group. 

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

Follow the Rethinking Reactivity Podcast on FB and IG.

Join the waitlist for the leash reactivity mentorship and be the first to know when registration opens AND get $50 off. 

Thresholds are a concept, not something concrete, so it can be difficult to have a consensus as to what they actually are. To make this even more confusing, there are many types of thresholds that a dog can cross. In this episode, Sarah and I do our best to break this topic down. 

We discuss:

• Sarah's framework for helping her clients understand the threshold of perception and the threshold for behavior
• How changes in the environment cause changes to thresholds
• How vocalizations are not always a helpful metric for a dog "going over" threshold
• The correlation between increased stress and lowered thresholds, and what to do with reactive dogs when they in various stages of stress
• How the intensity of a trigger influences a dog's threshold
• And so much more!

About Sarah:

Dr. Sarah Shapiro-Ward CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP has lived and worked as a professional dog trainer in two of Canada’s most densely populated downtown communities: Toronto and Vancouver. Sarah is best known for her viral trick training videos with her Cockapoo Percy, including tricks such as playing Jenga, Connect Four and Painting on Canvas. She also has a standard poodle, Eleanor, and a horse, Niamh.

Before becoming a dog trainer, Sarah completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2015. Though she has long since left the laboratory behind she still enjoys keeping up with the literature and applying her skills of critical analysis to dog training scenarios.

Sarah is a frequent guest on the live call-in radio show CBC BC Today, answering Vancouver’s dog behaviour questions. She has also been featured on Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Mail UK, NHK Japan, Good Morning America, The New York Post & others.

Besides training tricks, Sarah teaches group classes and private lessons for city dog owners across Vancouver. She can be found on Instagram and TikTok @prancingpoodles.

Read her blog post on thresholds here. 

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

Follow the Rethinking Reactivity Podcast on FB and IG

Join the waitlist for the leash reactivity mentorship and be the first to know when registration opens AND get $50 off. 

What happens when you get two behavior consultants and long time friends talking dogs, behavior, and life? In this episode, I talk with Michael Shikashio CDBC on a wide range of topics, while getting a bit philosophical along the way. Hear us discuss:

• How he differentiates reactivity and aggression
• Thresholds in behavior
• Why empathy is so important with clients (and everyone)
• My recent move to Germany
• Living through Hurricane Helene 
• Why Mike can't participate in discussions on sports at the barber shop
• And so much more

About Michael:

Michael Shikashio, CDBC, is the founder of AggressiveDog.com and focuses on
teaching other professionals from around the world on how to successfully work
aggression cases. He is a five-term president of the International Association of Animal
Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and was the Association of Professional Dog Trainers
(APDT) Member of the Year in 2020.
Michael is sought after for his expert opinion by numerous media outlets, including the
New York Times, New York Post, Fox News, USA Today, The List TV, Baltimore Sun,
WebMD, Women’s Health Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, SiriusXM Radio, The
Chronicle of the Dog, and Steve Dale’s Pet World. He also hosts the popular podcast
show “The Bitey End of the Dog” where he chats with the foremost experts on dog
aggression.
He has been a featured keynote speaker at conferences, universities, and seminars in
more than 200 cities and 20 different countries around the world, and offers a variety of
educational opportunities on the topic of canine aggression, including the Aggression in
Dogs Master Course and the annual Aggression in Dogs Conference.

Website
School
Facebook Business
Instagram
YouTube
Podcast

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs

There are very few people who purposefully seek out a reactive dog to bring into their home - for most people, they find themselves in that scenario unexpectedly. And so their journey begins, seeking help for them and their dog, while trying to navigate a wide range of emotions about their situation. 

In today's episode, I bring in a client I worked closely with, to get her perspective on life with her reactive dog and what that journey was like, including the time we spent together. 

For Pet Professionals:

The Reactivity, Refined course and mentorship is designed to transform the way you work with reactive dogs, and help you connect the dots with your reactivity cases to help your clients reach their fullest potential. Registration for the September cohort opens July 15th, sign up to join the waitlist and get $50 off, AND be the first in line to register. With only 15 spots available, they go quickly!

For Pet Parents:

Struggling with your reactive dog? I guide pet parents toward real, lasting solutions by asking the right questions and addressing what’s often overlooked. Ge the help you need today. 

Submit a question for the show here!

For courses on helping reactive dogs for both pet parents and dog professionals go to www.jessicawheatcraft.com

Subscribe to my mailing list to be the first to know about learning opportunities for reactive dogs