Podcast: One Very Wild and Precious, E31

To go with today’s episode: a video so you can see a messy and comfy dog people studio apartment and meet everyone (except for Game who is in the car crate because we wanted to talk rather than teach her not to eat Norbert) and me because I’m holding the camera – but you can hear me talk a little). And good music because dog play requires good music!

These clips are all from the first day the animals met, not from the day we recorded the podcast. By then, everyone had gotten used to each other and calmed down, and Chai knew how to relax around Norbert and where his personal space bubble started. He set an excellent boundary with her on day #1 (early on in this video!)

When Norbert comes back up from the floor in the middle of the video, you’ll see Niffler do some excellent splitting (he is being a moving fence!) between Chai and Norbert.

Chai’s “I’m not quite sure what to make of you”-pacing resolved itself later that same evening when she drifted off to sleep and Norbert showed more interest in the rain outside the window than in her.

I also felt like the podcast (particularly our accidental conversation about dating and the less accidental part about independence) required some more thought-out thoughts from me. I don’t know who listens to my podcast or reads my blog and ended up writing a whole long personal story about many things I hadn’t said on air.

And then I decided against sharing it. I didn’t get it right, and language (thank you, Saint-Exupéry) is the source of misunderstandings. Just know that there’s a lot of personal stuff I’m not talking about in this episode. That I’ll share with friends like Kayla, but not necessarily on air (not yet anyways). Things that matter to me even if I don’t say them publicly. The podcast is just one of many slices of life.

I’ll leave it at that! And I wish everyone who could possibly read this or listen to my podcast well.

One Wild and Precious, E5 Dog geekery: to touch or not to touch, that is the question

Canine nerd level scale: 1.5 (for interested pet owners as well as enthusiastic dog folks who already know quite a bit)

Chrissi, Peter and Amy Miller discuss their perspective on living or working with dogs who don’t appreciate being touched by strangers. This episode consists of three distinct stories: Peter’s experience as a dog walker, boarder, and vacation-experience provider, Amy’s perspective as the owner of the lovely, but opinionated Marley and his protocol for meeting new (and familiar) people, and Chrissi’s experience as a trainer working with people who share their lives with dogs who’d rather not be petted. We don’t only talk about our personal experiences, but also speculate on where the human desire to use our hands to greet dogs may stem from – and why canines might consider this rude. Most importantly, we dispel the myth that the best way of greeting a new dog is by sticking your hand in their face to sniff.
 

You can listen to Our One Wild and Precious Lives (and Our Dogs) on all the major podcast platforms as well as on Youtube or right here on my website. I recommend subscribing to it on one of the pocast platforms – you’ll get each episode a day earlier there than on Youtube and on my website. Also, yes, pelase do subscribe and share with your friends and, if you like what you hear, rate and review! This will help more people discover the podcast. I’m going to pay it forward by reviewing one of my favorite podcasts for every review we get.

LINKS & RESOURCES  

Amy’s Bio

Amy is one of the masterminds that make sure FDSA runs smoothly. Amy, you are doing A LOT of those things that seem entirely mysterious to me. You’re among the ones pulling the strings in the back, making sure the experience for everyone else – instructors as well as students – is smooth and intuitive. You are a helpdesk and tech magician, and I – just as all of our colleagues – deeply love and appreciate the work you do!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM – a great vet, dog trainer, and FDSA guest instructor (as well as Marley’s trainer): https://www.drjensdogblog.com/

Friends of Control Unleashed FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/298300721554

Keep an eye out for Julie Daniels’ upcoming CU classes at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/people/786-people/faculty/3636-julie-daniels

Get in touch with Peter:

peterfrombelfast [at] gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/mcgarrypeterj

Get in touch with Chrissi:

www.chrissisdogtraining.com 

chrissi.schranz [at] gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/chrissi.schranz/

https://www.instagram.com/adogisabondbetweenstrangers/

… one wild and precious, E3 Training geekery: food motivation in dog training

This episode is a 2/3 on the canine nerd level scale (*). Chrissi talks about various ways of increasing food motivation, defines reinforcement, and offers various tips and tricks for special treats.

One more research finding I would like to share, and did not mention in this episode: an experiment showed that small dogs preferred large pieces of kibble to small pieces of kibble – presumably because one larger piece smells more enticing than one smaller piece. If you train with kibble, you may be able to not only up the value of your food by using more than a single treat per rep, but by using a single, but larger piece of kibble. Try buying breed-specific kibble made for Great Danes for your Maltese, and see what happens! (Note: I have not found the scientific paper, if there is one, that goes with the experiment cited above – treat these findings with a grain of salt.)

(1) The canine nerd level scale for special interest episodes (titled “Dog geekery”):

Level 1: of interest for pet or companion dog owners

Level 2: for the engaged dog enthusiast who already knows things, and wants to learn even more

Level 3: for highly educated dog and animal training folks and professionals who love digging into the nerdy details of theory and philosophy


Wanna learn more about dogs and training from Chrissi? Join their August class at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy: Calling All Dogs!