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How To Train Your Dog With Love And Science - Dog Training with Annie Grossman, School For The Dogs

How To Train Your Dog With Love And Science - Dog Training with Annie Grossman, School For The Dogs

By Annie Grossman

Journalist-turned-dog trainer Annie Grossman, owner of NYC-based dog training center School For The Dogs and author of How To Train Your Dog With Love & Science (Sourcebooks, 6/2024), is obsessed with positive reinforcement dog training and thinks you should be, too. This podcast will help dog owners become literate in the basics of behavioral science in order to help their dogs and themselves . Tune in to learn how to use science-based methods to train dogs (and people) without pain, force, or coercion! Show notes at http://s4td.com/pcast (Formerly known as School For The Dogs Podcast)
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Join the Dog Training in 21 Days Challenge! Meet student leader Leeyah Wiseman

How To Train Your Dog With Love And Science - Dog Training with Annie Grossman, School For The DogsMar 26, 2021

00:00
36:14
Gray Areas: Thoughtful conversations about "balance" at a time when punishment has become a spectacle. Plus: the"mice" of at an R+ Floridian utopia

Gray Areas: Thoughtful conversations about "balance" at a time when punishment has become a spectacle. Plus: the"mice" of at an R+ Floridian utopia

Annie reads a post from Denise Fenzi's page that sparked some interesting comments on labels in the world of dog training. Some dog trainers are considerate about the use of some punishment in training and others work to avoid it at all costs. And then there are trainers who simply don't know what they're doing at all. Like... Dog Daddy. He calls himself "balanced" but no educated pro trainer would give him that label. Maybe the real problem is that to non-professionals, what this Insta-celeb doing is all they know about dog training.

TOPICS DISCUSSED: - Frustrations with the dog training industry - Divide between different training methods - The problem of most people's lack of understanding of dog body language - The weirdness of a spectacle-like approach to dog training - Importance of focusing on the dog's well-being - Potential for more animal training entertainment that actually shows off the magic of positive reinforcements KEY TAKEAWAYS: - Dog training should focus on the well-being and training effectiveness of dogs rather than creating a spectacle. - Understanding dog body language is crucial for preventing dog bites and improving communication with dogs. - The divide between different training methods should be approached with open dialogue and growth in mind. - Strength-based training can be effective in both academic and dog training settings. - The well-being and safety of dogs and the public should be the priority in dog training. REFERENCES: - Denise Fenzi's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/denise.fenzi

GIVEAWAY:

This month's giveaway: Dog Listener hat. Enter to win at http://schoolforthedogs.com/pod

Get your own hat https://storeforthedogs.com/products/dog-listner-hat



Dog Daddy, Part 1: The face of modern "bad" dog training

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/IZ8rDgtkWEb

Dog Daddy, Part 2: Zak George calls out animal abuse masquerading as dog training

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/pqBs1htkWEb

Annie sees Dog Daddy live. Also: Get to know Erin Whelan (2020 episode rebroadcast)

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/0jWG1ftkWEb


Dec 13, 202330:17
Petitions, boycotts, and dog-abuse defenders: An Instagram Live with Zak George
Nov 22, 202327:19
Annie sees Dog Daddy live. Also: Get to know Erin Whelan (2020 episode rebroadcast)
Nov 16, 202301:15:36
Dog Daddy, Part 2: Zak George calls out animal abuse masquerading as dog training
Nov 08, 202333:21
The SFTD origin story in "How We Got By" (Plus: Enter to win a "Hot Dog Trainer" Mug)
Nov 02, 202309:42
Why you (maybe) shouldn’t dress up your dog for Halloween (Replay 2021 episode)

Why you (maybe) shouldn’t dress up your dog for Halloween (Replay 2021 episode)

Annie talks about why she is generally against costumes for dogs and suggests some alternatives to dressing up your dog on Halloween. She also discusses some feedback she got about last week’s episode, which featured an interview with the lawyer representing the woman who was mauled by Cesar Millan’s dog. Lastly, she shares two anecdotes: one about how she is using a Buy Nothing group on Facebook to get neighbors to help her train her dog (unbeknownst to them) and the other about how her attempt to use negative reinforcement to get her daughter to brush her teeth ultimately back fired (in a sort of hilarious way).

Like this episode? Leave a review on iTunes!

Follow us on Instagram: @schoolforthedogs @annie.grossman 

Episode with the lawyer suing Cesar Milan: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dogs/episodes/Suing-Cesar-Meet-the-lawyer-of-teen-mauled-by-Dog-Whisperers-dog--And-How-to-train-2-dogs-at-once-e18r9eb

Oct 24, 202333:24
Dog Daddy, Part 1: The face of modern "bad" dog training

Dog Daddy, Part 1: The face of modern "bad" dog training

A trainer who goes by the name "Dog Daddy" has millions followers and has recently incited arguments on social media: His critics accuse him of harming dogs and calling it training; his fans accuse his detractors of being sissies who can’t face reality. These two vociferous groups are facing off online and at his in-person events around the world.

Annie puts the saga into the context of a larger (and longer) story about the use of force and coercion in dog training, and gives a nuanced explanation of what defines "balanced" training and what defines trainers that takes a "LIMA" approach. She also investigates Dog Daddy’s background and unconvers some surprising information about how he initially positioned himself to potential clients.

PLUS: The podcast has a new jingle, to go with its... new name! 


School For The Dogs Professional Course is taking applications! Apply at http://schoolforthedogs.com/pro

LIMA guidelines and the Hierarchy of Procedures for Humane and Effective Practice:

https://www.ccpdt.org/about-us/least-intrusive-minimally-aversive-lima-effective-behavior-intervention-policy/

Judge Rottenberg center: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/us/electric-shock-school.html

Dog Daddy Archive.org page: https://web.archive.org/web/20141108115514/http://gskennels.com/about-us/

Brandon McMillan’s training maraca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kiFZ6Mikpo

Zak George on Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp6GpMnZHxg&t=45s

Cesar Millan’s “Shh”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp6GpMnZHxg&t=45s

Jeff Gelman on how Positive Reinforcement ruined his life: 

https://www.solidk9training.com/sk9-blog/2016/02/16/positive-reinforcement-training-resulted-in-my-becoming-divorced-drunk-and-suicidal

Facebook Page: The Truth About Griffin Shepherds

https://www.facebook.com/TheTruthAboutGrffinShepherds

Oct 18, 202301:06:56
Join us in our Online Campus (plus: The story of the Hag Capisco)

Join us in our Online Campus (plus: The story of the Hag Capisco)

Sometimes you stumble on something amazing and free.

Maybe that's how you feel about this podcast?

That's how Annie felt this week when her dream office chair appeared outside her door...

You can buy good dog training (or great chairs). That's what School For The Dogs sells. But you can also get a lot of valuable dog training advice for nothing, if you're lucky. You, dear listener, just got lucky.

Visit our new Online Campus to take advantage of a huge amount of free and low cost resource for dog owners. Join us for free Office Hours with a trainer every Thursday at 6PM ET.

http://sftd.online/events

Podcast exclusive: Get one month of full access to all our on-demand offerings, plus 12 Office Hours with a trainer per month. Listen to the episode for the link!

http://online.schoolforthedogs.com

http://schoolforthedogs.com/

http://storeforthedogs.com



Jul 13, 202315:53
Dom Hodgson is coming to NYC to talk to pet biz pros! Plus: What do you think a good dog training "pledge" should include?
Apr 10, 202341:28
Bonus Ep. A 3.5-year-old, falls on her scooter and gets yogurt: A tale of classical conditioning? Plus: Online Campus' support groups and more
Aug 24, 202208:45
Dealing With A Reactive Dog In Your Home: A Q+A. Plus 3 Special Announcements

Dealing With A Reactive Dog In Your Home: A Q+A. Plus 3 Special Announcements

Annie was recently browsing her local dog Facebook group, when she came across a post by a woman named Michaelle who was reaching out for training help with her reactive foster dog. Several of the replies recommended a trainer in the area who was not professionally certified, and Michaelle posted that she had decided to work with. When Annie, perhaps a little too aggressively, responded with critical questions about this trainer, Michaelle called her out on it. By way of apology, Annie offered to coach her through some of the issues she was dealing with, gratis.

They discuss her foster dog Baozi's reactivity in the home, including his, growling, barking, sometimes sudden biting and lunging, his many triggers, and health issues that may be affecting his behavior. Rather than focusing on quick fixes for these unwanted behaviors, Annie approaches the issue by suggesting ways to get to the root cause for lasting and mutually beneficial behavior change.

Note: School For The Dogs Podcast is going on hiatus for a few months! But you can join Annie inside the new School For The Dogs Online Campus.

Join at http://schoolforthedogs.com/podcastfan and get one month free. Post in the Online Campus that you're a Podcast Fan and get free access to School For The Dogs' Body Language Basics on-demand course, a $47 value. 

Related:

How to train "Touch": https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/How-to-train-your-dog-to-touch-your-hand-and-why-it-is-such-an-important-thing-to-master-e1e9i86/a-a2gg9qd

How to train "Look": https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/e1jelng

Body Language Basics: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/online-courses/products/750634

Jul 22, 202255:29
We're just "snowflakes" who don't use "bonkers": A frank conversation with dog trainer Beth Berkobien of Rehab Your Rescue of Dallas, TX

We're just "snowflakes" who don't use "bonkers": A frank conversation with dog trainer Beth Berkobien of Rehab Your Rescue of Dallas, TX

Texas-based trainer Beth Berkobien has a master's degree in animal behavior, specializes in dog aggression, and offers virtual training sessions internationally. She was raised on a farm with field-trial Labradors and grew up around punishment-based dog training using aversives. After being encouraged by a trainer to use an e-collar on her dog that caused him to completely shut down, she moved away from aversives. Many years later, she works primarily with rehabilitating rescue dogs.

She joins Annie on this episode to discuss her journey as a dog trainer. Together they also listen to “bonker”-based dog trainer Jeff Gellman’s rant on dog trainers who prefer to use methods that don’t cause their dogs (and potentially others) additional harm. They also discuss an apparent societal tendency to blame people for their failures, and of balanced trainers to blame clients when their training protocols are ineffective.

Annie finishes by reading some extreme training methods from a dog training book from the 1970's: The Koehler Method of Dog Training by William Koehler.

Links:

Learn more about Beth Berkobien at RehabYourRescue.com and on Instagram @rehabyourrescue

Just When You Thought the Barbara Woodhouse Days Were Over | Animal Rights & Wrongs (animalrightsandwrongs.uk)

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor

The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness by Donna Haraway

Walden Two by BF Skinner

Related episode:

Episode 44 | Are you talking to your socks? Marie Kondo, Cesar Millan & training humans with snake oil

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hello, Beth. Thank you for being here. Maybe you can just go ahead and introduce yourself ‘cause I'm worried I'm gonna say your last name wrong. And tell me the name of your business and where you're located.

Beth Berkobien:

Absolutely. Yeah, everybody worries about saying my last name. I am Beth Berkobien of Rehab Your Rescue. We're located in Dallas, Texas, but I do sessions virtually all over the world. I have some clients in South Africa, in London, in Seattle, so we are very accessible...

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jul 15, 202201:08:43
The words dog trainers use to describe their methods online: Anamarie Johnson, MA, CBCC-KA, on her survey of top US trainer's websites
Jul 08, 202201:09:36
The woman behind Woof Cultr: Meet Mandy Boutelle
Jul 01, 202243:46
"It's not personal. It's just a dog thing." Sara Caron, SFTD CPT, on how training shifted her POV

"It's not personal. It's just a dog thing." Sara Caron, SFTD CPT, on how training shifted her POV

Sara Caron had a leash-reactive dog, and as she started to research a quick fix for the problem, she threw out a wide net and tried lots of things. With guidance from this podcast, she began to see a way of dog training that made sense to her. When felt she had reached a plateau in her own solo study of animal behavior, she enrolled in the School For The Dogs Professional Course last year. She got another puppy shortly before starting the course which allowed her to see some remarkable differences in a dog raised with science-based/reward-based training methods versus one who was not. In this episode, Sara and Annie discuss some of the parts that have made the School For The Dogs Professional Course a life-changing experience for its graduates: The individualized attention, access to the SFTD community of trainers, classes, in-depth material, and the guest speakers. They also discuss the process of finding one’s place in the professional world of dog training.

Apply to the Professional Course at: https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/professional-dog-training-course/ Applications for the next cohort are due June 30. Cohort begins Aug. 30.  Want to learn more? Book a free consult at: http://schoolforthedogs.com/freeconsult

---
Partial Transcript:

Sara Caron:
I developed this deeper relationship with dogs where, prior, dogs might have to me been one thing and dog training might have been one thing, but now it kind of has its – I can see its links to my own life and all these cultural things that we deal with. Yeah. So it just kind of kept getting more and more interesting to me.

Annie:
Sara Caron. I am so happy to have you here. Why don't you introduce yourself and we can just go from there.

Sara:
Sure. I'm Sara Caron. I'm a recent graduate of the School For The Dogs professional Cho. And I'm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Annie:
You know, I think I told you this, but my dad's family's from Milwaukee.

Sara:
Oh cute. You did tell me that.

Annie:
Although I've never been there, but the main association I have with all things Wisconsin is that my grandmother when she would yell at my dad would be, I remember her always saying “Baaaab.”

Sara:
Yeah. That sounds about right. Yeah.

Annie:
His name was Bob and I remember drawing a cartoon of her when I was like seven and I spelled it out like B-A-A-A-A-B.

Sara:
That's adorable. So yeah, I'm from Chicago. I grew up in the city, but I've been living here long enough that that sounds very, very familiar.

Annie:
So I guess let's maybe just talk chronologically about how you got to the professional course. And then I guess we can talk a little bit about what that experience is like, because we are welcoming in our next cohort at the end of August, and I would love for anyone else who's interested in becoming a professional to sort of hear about what the experience was like for you.


Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jun 24, 202243:04
Meet Leeyah Wiseman SFTD-CPT, School For The Dogs' "Reels" maven and recent Professional Course graduate

Meet Leeyah Wiseman SFTD-CPT, School For The Dogs' "Reels" maven and recent Professional Course graduate

Leeyah Wiseman is a recent graduate of School For The Dogs Professional Course. If you follow us on TikTok or Instagram, you probably know her from the videos she does for SFTD. While she never thought of herself as a "dog person," she ended up adopting a puppy, George, and falling in love with him. But then she realized she had an issue on her hands: Separation anxiety. Her work figuring out how to deal with this issue in a way that felt right led her to decide to become a dog trainer. Annie and Leeyah discuss how she worked with her dog to improve his anxiety, what she got out of the Professional Course, and popular notions of what it means to "be" positive.

Find Leeyah on Instagram @galdogtraining and @schoolforthedogs!

Like this podcast? Please rate and review on iTunes! 

Learn more about the Professional Course at http://schoolforthedogs.com/professionalcourse22

Next cohort starts in late August! 

----

Spoil your smart pooch with a Brainy Box! Listen to the episode for a special discount code to our new monthly subscription box. 

http://schoolforthedogs.com/brainybox

---
Leeyah:

I feel like just being – it felt like we were just there, and we were able to see how things played out in real life when tough training questions come up. When random training questions come up. When things happen like a dog peeing on the floor in the middle of a session. Or a dog needs a different type of assignment because they're struggling with something. And, you know, how to kind of answer questions that are tough, how to move training sessions along in a real way. ‘Cause in the course we kind of had a module on that as well. And then seeing it actually, especially seeing the trainers that do it the same way in the course, because it's like the School For The Dogs' method. It was kind of like a whole big picture of everything.

[music]

Annie:
If you follow us on Instagram, TikTok, then you have seen Leeyah Wiseman who is a recent graduate of of School For The Dogs’ Professional Course. You are about to get to know her a little bit more. You can learn more about the Professional Course at schoolforthedogs.com/professionalcourse22.

I am thrilled to have you on the podcast yet again. Maybe you can just introduce yourself.

Leeyah:
My name is Leeyah Wiseman and I took the 2021 professional course, and I also do social media for School For The Dogs. So I do a lot of the coordination for the Instagram page and some talks and things like that.

Annie:
Which are really awesome and fun. And I love how you just go for it.

Leeyah:
Yeah. You gotta, you really have to. I mean, it's kind of like, if you don't then you're not gonna really make good content. Nobody's gonna watch something that you're not like being authentic in.

Annie:
Yeah. And you just gotta put yourself out there. I think it's a lesson about so many things. And some people really can't do it and when you do do it, you're accepting risk, right?

Leeyah:
Yeah.

Annie:
And you're accepting, you're opening yourself up to the possibility of failure and criticism, which can be no small thing. Right?

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast 

Jun 17, 202257:34
Private socialization lessons for "Misfit" dogs of NYC: A conversation with two SFTD (human) clients

Private socialization lessons for "Misfit" dogs of NYC: A conversation with two SFTD (human) clients

The term "misfit" originally referred to people who were considered to be not great fit for their surroundings -- an ill fit. I miss fit. At School For The Dogs, we see it as our goal to help dogs -- whenever possible -- exist comfortably in an environment that may not be the best fit for them. New York City certainly isn't the best fit for many  individuals of any species, which is perhaps one reason why we have several programs specifically for Misfit dogs. In this episode, Annie talks to two School For The Dogs clients who have been attending a couple of unique types of private sessions: Dog Socialization and Misfits Day School. New York-based dog owners Alyssa and Jen talk about how these sessions have helped them help their "Misfit" dogs. Learn more at http://schoolforthedogs.com/services ***** NEW: Subscribe to Brainy Box, and you'll get a new enrichment toy and new treats every month. Get 15% off for a limited time. Code in episode! Learn more and sign up at http://schoolforthedogs.com/brainybox Like this podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes! http://schoolforthedogs.com/listen Follow us on Instagram @annie.grossman http://instagram.com/annie.grossman @schoolforthedogs http://instagram.com/schoolforthedogs

---
Partial Transcript:

Alyssa:

You know, I hear people say all the time that their dog is so socialized because when they got them as a puppy, they let them say hi to everyone and they let them say hi to every puppy. And so that's why they credit their dog to being so well behaved. And it just really gets under my skin because, you know, I did that too with him because I honestly didn't know better. And it really, I think, backfired. Because now when we walk down the street, he searches for humans or dogs to say hi to him. And it just doesn't always work out for every dog. And so I think having a well socialized dog takes a lot more work than exposing him to every human and creature that you encounter when they're young.

[music]

Annie:

Do you have a dog who doesn’t necessarily get along with every other dog? One way to deal with those issues: send your dog to a good school. At School For The Dogs, we have several programs designed to help dogs exist more comfortably around other dogs and to help their owners set them up for success. I’m Annie Grossman, owner of School For The Dogs in New York City, and today I’m speaking with two clients who have been making use of two of our very special programs that we run out of our East village studio. One is called Dog Socialization, and the other is called Misfits Day School. If you’re wondering if one of these programs might be right for you and your dog, you can learn more at SchoolForTheDogs.com.

Alyssa:

My name's Alyssa Perry. I am dog owner to Michael, who is a two year old mixed breed dog of some sort. And I adopted him right before the pandemic, so in February of 2020, and I ended up seeking out your services because he is quite a handful. I love him very dearly, but he occupies a lot of my time, and good and better time now. More productive time than before I came to you all.

Annie:

You had done some training though, before coming to us, isn't that right?

Alyssa:

Yes. I guess just because we had got him in February of 2020, we, I had done some virtual training, and then I did do some training where I was relocated in Philadelphia. Some in person training there too.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jun 10, 202232:53
How to train "Look" (Rebroadcast of 12/4/18 episode)

How to train "Look" (Rebroadcast of 12/4/18 episode)

Everyone is impressed by a dog whose eyes meets a human's gaze with magnet-like intensity on cue. Teaching a dog to "touch" his or her eyes to your eyes is a great exercise to practice no matter what the pooch's training level is. When teaching this attention-based behavior to a dog-- whether you use a word such as "Look" or the dog's name -- Annie suggests focusing on your training mechanics before jumping to setting criteria for your dog. In this episode, she clearly breaks down how to build a stellar "Look" cue from scratch, in just six quick steps, using only sixty tiny treats.
Notes: Treat suggestions - Tricky Trainers (and other brands that make these pencil-eraser sized morsels) can be broken up into at least four pieces, meaning you'll go through only 15 treats in your session:
storeforthedogs.com/products/tricky-trainers- Lamb lung breaks up into neat pieces without getting greasy or crumbly: storeforthedogs.com/products/lamb-lung.
Dogs and presidents: read.bi/2SrAVxu
"Look For The Silver Lining" ukulele cover by Renei Yarrow: youtube.com/watch?v=CDIHff9eESQ
Partial Transcript:
**music**
Annie:
Hello, everyone. Thank you for listening. Today I’m going to walk you through what I call the Invisible Triangle method of teaching “look.” I think look is a really excellent thing to teach any dog, any age some people call it “watch me” or “attention,” whatever you want to call it, basically you’re teaching your dog to connect their eyes to your eyes on whatever cue you give. And of course that cue, today we’re going to use “look” you could be using their name, you could say “eyes,” you could say “bubblegum babaganoush.,” it doesn't matter but you are to give it some kind of cue. Of course, if you don’t give it a cue and you just teach them that locking eyes with your eyes is always a good thing that certainly not a bad thing to teach either.
I generally think that everything we train our dogs to do, pretty much, comes down to targeting- targeting being teaching them to touch one thing to another. Of course, pretty much the first thing I teach every dog I work with is to hand-nose target so to touch their nose to my fingers, to my hand or to touch their nose to an object. And while there are lots of reasons I like to teach this specific exercise, the big reason is that I think of it as a building block exercise that you can use to teach lots of different things because really what you’re teaching is if you touch X to Y then good thing happens and basically everything you’re ever going to train your dog comes down to something that can fit into that equation. Sit is if if you touch butt to ground. Down is if you touch body to the ground. Go to the crate, well, that's if I touch body to crate. And I think that teaching look is really just the same thing except that if I touch my eyes to my human eyes good thing happens . And like I just said, certainly if that becomes just the default behavior, it's never going to be a bad thing since if your dog locks eyes with you, you certainly have your dog's attention and that's a great starting place for getting your dog to do whatever it is you want or need him or her to do...
Full Transcript at Schoolforthedogs.com/Podcasts
Jun 03, 202237:40
Elise Mac Adam, SFTD CPT, on how the grief of rehoming a dog led her to the School For The Dogs Professional Course

Elise Mac Adam, SFTD CPT, on how the grief of rehoming a dog led her to the School For The Dogs Professional Course

Elise Mac Adam and Annie first met in 2002 when Annie wrote up Elise's engagement announcement for her column in The New York Observer. Both of them were terrier lovers, writers, and native Manhattanites: They became fast friends. When Annie and Kate first started School For The Dogs in 2011 and running classes out of Annie's Manhattan living room, Elise and her dogs were among their first clients. Elise, her sons, and her husband, have worked with half a dozen of School For The Dogs trainers over the last decade, with three of their dogs. She has, overall, clocked more sessions than any other single client. Eventually, she had to make the difficult decision to rehome one of her terriers. She and Annie discuss how rehoming a dog can feel like both a success and failure at the same time, and the silver lining of this difficult experience: It led her to decide to enroll in the School For The Dogs Professional Course. 

Apply to the Professional Course at http://schoolforthedogs.com/professionalcourse2022

Next cohort begins August 31. 

Episodes featuring other graduates: 

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/meet-our-trainer-anna-ostroff/

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-190-our-newest-sftd-certified-professional-trainer-ionelee-brogna-on-shock-collars-horses-schnauzers-trick-training-and-learning-empathy-by-selling-used-books/

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-93-school-for-the-dogs-trainer-erin-whelan-on-how-dog-training-changed-her-life/

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-111-school-for-the-dogs-trainer-em-beauprey-on-conformation-cats-bespoke-dog-walking-and-training-trainers/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Elise Macadam is here with me today. I am excited to talk to you because I think you're the only person – you're probably the person I've known longest who's been on this podcast. No, I guess I talked to my friend, Daisy, who I've known since I was 14, but second to maybe Daisy, in 200 plus episodes. You are someone who knew me from my previous life.

Elise:

I knew you from many previous lives, probably.

Annie:

And who I have now known as a friend, as a client and as an apprentice.

Elise:

Yeah. We go way back.

Annie:

And you've known me as well. You wanna tell the story of how we first met?

Elise:

So I met you when I was ghostwriting a book about wedding resources in New York City. And you were writing engagement column.

Annie:

Yeah, I was writing, I was at the New York Observer in, it must have been 2002?

Elise:

Yeah, probably.

Annie:

And I was the assistant to the editor and I wrote a weekly column where I interviewed three different couples who were getting married, and it was called The Love Beat: Countdown to Bliss. And it was a bit of a scramble sometimes to find couples, ‘cause this was long before social media. I had all these like hacks of finding couples. I remember seeing a woman with a big diamond ring on the subway and like writing her a note, slipping her a note once or going to places where people register and like going up to people.

Elise:

Oh, that's so awesome. I didn't know you did that.


Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast


May 27, 202241:58
An academic study of corgi butts on the Internet (and other animal content online): Univ. of Alabama's Jessica Maddox on Ukrainian kittens, cloned influencers, and the neoliberal "economy of cute"

An academic study of corgi butts on the Internet (and other animal content online): Univ. of Alabama's Jessica Maddox on Ukrainian kittens, cloned influencers, and the neoliberal "economy of cute"

Jessica Maddox, an assistant professor of digital media at the University of Alabama, is the author of the forthcoming book The Internet Is For Cats: How Animal Images Shape Our Digital Lives. Her research has largely involved looking at how people share and consume photos of animals on the Internet. She and Annie discuss a variety of topics relating to social media pets. Maddox offers an academic take on why people create Instagram accounts for their pets, are drawn to stories about Ukrainian rescue cats, and more. What does Youtube have to say about the practice of tying puppies to train tracks so that someone can post a video of their rescue? Why do some brands prefer to work with pet influencers over human ones? Are we living in a new era of anthropomorphizing our pets in a non-private arena, or is this just a new iteration of an age-old practice? And: Is it possible to breed an NFT cat? Maddox addresses these questions, and more.  

The secret life of pet Instagram accounts: Joy, resistance, and commodification in the Internet’s cute economy

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444820956345?journalCode=nmsa

More about Jessica Maddox

https://cis.ua.edu/cis-theme-staff/dr-jessica-maddox/

The Internet Is For Cats: How Animal Images Shape Our Digital Lives

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-internet-is-for-cats/9781978827912

Why the Internet Is Obsessed With the Cats and Dogs of Ukraine

https://slate.com/technology/2022/03/ukraine-war-dogs-cats-pets.html

Crypto Kitties

https://www.cryptokitties.co/

Instagram accounts mentioned: 

@lolabarksdale

@wander_with_willow

@thecalfvet

@drhunterfinn

Follow School For The Dogs on Instagram: 

@schoolforthedogs

Follow Annie on Instagram: 

@annie.grossman

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:
So Jessica Maddox, tell me your exact title so I get it right.

Jessica Maddox:
Yeah. I am an assistant professor of digital media technology at the University of Alabama. I earned my PhD in mass communication from the University of Georgia in 2018.

Annie:
And tell me about your field of study.

Jessica:
Yeah, so I, largely speaking, just study social media and how social media contribute to internet pop culture. So, I've always been interested in things like selfies and memes and YouTube and TikTok and Instagram and the like. And several years ago, I became very interested in researching cats and dogs and horses and bearded dragons and all of the internet's pets. Because I was finding in my line of work that there really wasn't a whole lot of research being done on something that is so much a part of how we are online.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

May 20, 202254:40
Happy Birthday Karen Pryor! Dr. Julie Vargas, daughter of B.F. Skinner, on the importance of this nonagenarian's work in the field of positive reinforcement-based animal training

Happy Birthday Karen Pryor! Dr. Julie Vargas, daughter of B.F. Skinner, on the importance of this nonagenarian's work in the field of positive reinforcement-based animal training

Karen Pryor turns ninety on May 14th! Annie is celebrating today and... plotting continued celebrations on this podcast in the coming year. 

If you're a Karen Pryor fan, join the celebration! If you're not, you'll enjoy learning why she is so worthy of it. In this episode, Annie interviews BF Skinner Foundation president Dr. Julie Vargas, about the importance of this incredible scientist, writer and entrepreneur who, over the last thirty years, has done more than probably anyone else alive to help show people how we can use operant conditioning and secondary reinforcers to train dogs with rewards: aka, clicker training. 

When her husband bought Sea Life Park in the 1960s, Pryor was tasked with training the dolphins to perform. She got her hands on a paper written by students who were working in BF Skinner's Harvard lab, and it outlined the basics of operant conditioning and how to use a secondary reinforcer, like a whistle, to pinpoint the moment a desired behavior occurred. It further described how to then use successive approximations to shape the behavior using reinforcement. She  took what she had learned about dolphins and wrote a book about about using positive reinforcement in everyday life: Don't Shoot The Dog!, then started doing seminars on how to use a clicker with dogs in the 1990s. In the 2000s, she started running Clicker Expo, a conference which brings the worlds best positive-reinforcement trainers together several times a year, and began training dog trainers through her Karen Pryor Academy. 

Follow us on Instagram, @schoolforthedogs, where we are giving away her book Reaching The Animal Mind and a signed clicker this weekend. 

Learn more about Dr. Vargas: 

https://www.juliesvargas.com/

Learn more about Karen Pryor:

https://karenwpryor.com/biography/

Learn more about the BF Skinner Foundation: 

http://bfskinner.org

Books: 

Don't Shoot The Dog!

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog-Teaching-Training/dp/1860542387

Reaching The Animal Mind

https://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Animal-Mind-Clicker-Training/dp/0743297776


---

Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Tomorrow May 14th marks the birthday of Karen Pryor. And this is not any birthday she's having tomorrow. She's turning 90. She has done so much with those years, so much that has benefited the lives of so many dogs and so many people through her work. Her work as a scientist, as a writer, as an animal trainer, an educator, and an entrepreneur.

She started the Karen Pryor Academy, which I attended in 2010, really going in knowing nothing about the world of positive reinforcement dog training. I just thought being a dog trainer sounded like a great career, sign me up. There is no way I had any idea what a life changing experience it would be doing that six month program, because it really shifted the way that I see the world and the way that we treat so many behavior problems in our homes, in our society, in ways that don't make a lot of sense, at least when seen through the prism of what we know about behavioral science

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast


 

May 13, 202226:54
"We don't expect this sort of robotic, one way dictatorship in other relationships..." Meet Dogminded's Jenny Efimova, KPA CTP

"We don't expect this sort of robotic, one way dictatorship in other relationships..." Meet Dogminded's Jenny Efimova, KPA CTP

Before she became a dog trainer, Jenny Efimova was working human trauma survivors for a living. Her job involved being empathetic and meeting people where they were. It wasn't immediately obvious to her that a lot of the lessons she'd learned at work could be applied to someone in her home who was suffering: Her dog. Her young rescue, Larkin, was increasingly afraid to go out on walks in her neighborhood. The first professionals she worked with told her she was the issue: She wasn't “confident” enough with her puppy, and he thought he was the boss.  It didn't feel right to her, and the suggested methods didn't work. In fact, they felt like they were making matters worse. Then she started working with a trainer who explained how to use positive reinforcement in training, and it was a behavioral game changer for her and her dog Larkin. This led her to become a certified dog trainer herself, through the Karen Pryor Academy. Today she trains online and in Brookline, MA. She also runs an Instagram account @dogminded.

Annie and Jenny discuss the challenges that come with cultural expectations of how both dogs and dog owners should behave. They confront the popular idea that if you are not a stern leader with your dog, you are spoiling them, and consider whether there has been any cultural shift in changing the conversation about what it means to be a compassionate dog owner. They also discuss how interspecies relationships and examining our expectations of our pets can help us learn to be more humane and compassionate in general.

Learn more about Jenny at:

https://www.dogminded.training/

Follow Jenny on Instagram: @dogminded

Follow School For The Dogs @schoolforthedogs 

---

Partial Transcript:

Jenny Efimova:

We don't expect this sort of robotic one way dictatorship in other relationships, but with dogs, for some reason, there's this expectation that there are these behavioral outputs, and that they have to do everything we say, and they have to behave in certain ways. And that any behavior that is inconvenient or troublesome for us has to be eliminated. And that there's not room to say, Hey, this is actually a sentient being. I'm gonna treat their behavior with the same courtesy I would treat the behavior of anybody else.

So it's this kind of bizarre dynamic which isn't actually natural for a lot of people, because all the people I work with love their dogs tremendously. We know that there's research showing that people who lose their pets often grieve those losses more than they grieve losses of people in their lives, right?

The relationships people have with their dogs and their pets are profound. We currently, I think, don't have the language and the norms in our culture to really honor that. And I think dog training as a whole falls really behind in that regard. Because what people really want is to have a joyful relationship with their dog. And at this point, I think a positive reinforcement based approach is what allows that to happen in the most compassionate way.

[music]

Annie:

Jenny I'm so eager to talk to you, happy to have you on the podcast. I have followed you on Instagram for quite a while, and I feel like I kind of know you in an Instagram way. And I'd like to know you in a real person way. But this is the interim, I guess.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast


May 06, 202251:27
Live From New York, It's... Positive Reinforcement Dog Training! Saturday Night Live set designer Ken MacLeod on becoming a professional dog trainer

Live From New York, It's... Positive Reinforcement Dog Training! Saturday Night Live set designer Ken MacLeod on becoming a professional dog trainer

In his work as a set designer, Saturday Night Life staffer Ken MacLeod had seen many well-trained dogs, and had even done commercial work with his own Jack Russell, Mac. But then he got a dog named Scooter and he realized that every dog has different needs. This realization led him to decide he wanted to become a certified dog trainer. Today, he splits his time: Part of every month, he can be found building sets for SNL, and the rest of the time, he is training out of his Hoboken, NJ-based studio, My Positive Pup. He talks to Annie about getting certified,  the emotional nature of working with dog owners, behavior lessons learned learned on the ski slopes, and how the old saying "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" can be true for both people and dogs.

Learn more about My Positive Pup at https://mypositivepup.com/

Learn more about L.E.G.S.® Applied Ethology Family Dog Mediation® Professional Course (thinkific.com) https://kimbropheylegscourses.thinkific.com/courses/legs-applied-ethology-family-dog-mediation-professional-course

Learn more about the Karen Pryor Academy at https://karenpryoracademy.com/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Okay. Ken, why don't you just go ahead and introduce yourself and your business and we can, we can go from there.

Ken MacLeod:

Cool. My name is Ken MacLeod. I have a dog training company in Hoboken, New Jersey called My Positive Pup. You can find us on the web at mypositivepup.com. I am a positive reinforcement dog trainer, obviously with that name. And I also work in the film industry at Saturday Night Live. And, to say the least, both of them are pretty crazy businesses.

Annie:

So let's talk about your, what would you say, bifurcated career, which came first? Well, and actually also, are you originally from New Jersey? Where are you from originally?

Ken:

I'm originally from Massachusetts. I moved down to New Jersey when I was a sophomore in high school, became a huge Springsteen fan who couldn't. And then went to college to Penn State and came out and wanted to go into the film industry. I really didn't have a lot of interest in dogs until I met my wife, I guess, 14 years ago. And she had a dog named Mac who is a Parsons Jack Russell who I completely fell in love with. And everything kind of started from there. I had trained Mac to be in a couple commercials, ‘cause I worked in the commercial industry. And it all kind of, you know, snowballed from that.

Annie:

You were training him for commercials. Were you doing it with any guidance or just by feeling?

Ken:

Like, just like he'd have little parts in a commercial, like, pick a newspaper up and run to the door. Go to the couch and bark at somebody. And it wasn't like I was doing this for work. It's just that Mac was really, really good at it. And at that time Parsons Jack Russells were very, very popular. So in being in the film industry and around people, both my wife and I, we just knew producers and said, Hey, would Mac want to be in it? Would Mac, you know, would it be okay if you had Mac in this and it'd be like, sure, no problem at all. So it kind of started that way accidentally, I guess.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Apr 29, 202246:20
You can say "hi" to my dog, but DON'T BE A DICK ABOUT IT! How well-intentioned people make dogs anxious on the street (and how you can help them be better dog lovers)

You can say "hi" to my dog, but DON'T BE A DICK ABOUT IT! How well-intentioned people make dogs anxious on the street (and how you can help them be better dog lovers)

Oftentimes, the toughest thing about training dogs is dealing with people. Strangers out in public, however well-intentioned, can be major obstacles to a fruitful training session, further complicating things in what is most likely already a high-pressure environment for your dog. Annie feels for dogs who are basically bullied (often unintentionally) by strangers, or even their own owners, during interspecies greetings. 

If people who love dogs so often make them uncomfortable without meaning to, is it fair to judge people by how they relate to their dogs? Maybe not. Annie reads aloud from an article that she wrote for the Boston Globe about how animal welfare is relative and not absolute. (Stay until the end for a rather shocking bit of trivia about a certain genocidal dictator).

Episode includes a special Earth Day offer: a coupon code (good this weekend only) for 20% off the REVOL crate by Diggs

---

"Animal welfare is a matter of perspective" - Boston Globe article by Annie Grossman
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/05/12/animal-welfare-matter-perspective/svHGwYm1ySStcy71UsfDzI/story.html

Related episodes

Episode 29: A modern dog owner's guide to sidewalk leash greetings

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-29-a-modern-dog-owners-guide-to-sidewalk-leash-greetings/

Episode 41 | New "Diggs" for your dog: Zel Crampton's dog crate revolution 

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-41-new-diggs-for-your-dog-zel-cramptons-dog-crate-revolution/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

So, something that drives me crazy is when I'm on the street training with Poppy, giving her treats, and someone else walks by with their dog, and their dog seems interested in saying hi, and I'm working keeping Poppy's focus on me. Not because she has a problem or because she's reactive, just because we're working.

And then the other person who's just standing there with their dog says like, Oh, it's fine, my dog's friendly. As if what I'm doing has anything to do with whether or not their dog is friendly or not. And it's always frustrating to think about what to say in these situations. I usually say something like, Oh, we're just doing some training or, oh, my dog's friendly too.

Today, I had a thought of what could be said in those situations. In French, there's a term called L’esprit de l’escalier, which is like, when you think of the perfect thing to say after something is over. I thought if someone says to me, Oh, it's okay, my dog is friendly. I could just turn around and say, oh yeah, well I’M NOT!

Would probably make both them and their dog leave you alone.

[music]

Hello. Thank you for being here. I am Annie Grossman, owner and co-founder of School For The Dogs at East 7th street. You can sometimes find me there behind the desk. I curate our retail store, which is also online at storeforthedogs.com. If you don't know about School For The Dogs, check us out. We do so much great training, both in New York City and virtually.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Apr 22, 202222:03
Bad vegans, coercion & canine immortality: What sociopaths can teach us about dog training

Bad vegans, coercion & canine immortality: What sociopaths can teach us about dog training

The Netflix docu-series Bad Vegan is about the owner of a raw food restaurant (which happened to be located on Annie's street) who was conned out of millions of dollars by a narcissistic sociopath who claimed he could make her dog immortal. The story leads Annie to think aloud about how genius manipulators use coercion, punishment and classical conditioning in order to get the behaviors they want from their victims. 

While many of their techniques do not constitute “good” dog training, we can draw parallels between how they create positive associations in others to make themselves appear trustworthy. Can we do the same to build our dogs’ confidence? Also: Should we trust our pets to be good judges of character in potential partners? Annie offers her answer. 

--- 

Bad Vegan on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938 

Inventing Anna on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81008305 

Related Podcast Episodes: 

Episode 84 | Sociopaths as dog trainers, Negative Reinforcement at NXIVM & how to train humans to wear masks 

https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/Sociopaths-as-dog-trainers--Negative-Reinforcement-at-NXIVM--how-to-train-humans-to-wear-masks-ektcb7/a-a3gpaiv 

Episode 104 | Dog training with Mary Poppins, Professor Harold Hill and Little Orphan Annie

https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/Dog-training-with-Mary-Poppins--Professor-Harold-Hill-and-Little-Orphan-Annie-enm162

Episode 123 | A conversation with Terra Newell (former groomer, owner of a mini Aussie) about killing her stepfather… and dogs 

https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/A-conversation-with-Terra-Newell-former-groomer--owner-of-a-mini-Aussie-about-killing-her-stepfather----and-dogs-er34gv/a-a4oiink

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

So I just watched the Netflix docu-series ‘Bad Vegan,’ which is about the downfall of a restaurant called Pure Food and Wine. And this story, I thought, well, this is a show I have to watch for a couple reasons. One, Pure Food and Wine is on my block. Like it's just around the corner from me. I could get there without crossing a street.

And I never dined there very much or went to its outpost, which was called One Lucky Duck, because it was very expensive. And I always sort of thought one day when I make a lot more money, I will eat here all the time. But then it closed. They specialized in this really interesting and tasty, raw vegan food, like gourmet vegan food, but not just vegan, but uncooked. And the couple times I did go, it was pretty fabulous.

I was also interested cause the story is specifically about the owner Sarma Melngailis. I actually interviewed her and her former business and romantic partner, Matthew Kenney, 15 or so years ago when I was writing about restaurants for the New York Post.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Apr 15, 202220:28
Calm, confidence, love & joy: How Will + Jada Pinkett Smith helped create The Dog Whisperer

Calm, confidence, love & joy: How Will + Jada Pinkett Smith helped create The Dog Whisperer

Did you know that The Dog Whisperer and Jada Pinkett Smiths are longtime best friends? Two weeks ago, Will Smith calmly and confidently sauntered up on to the stage of the Oscars and slapped someone who said something he didn't like. His vibe and techniques struck Annie as a bit Dog Whisper-y. Maybe that's because she was aware that Cesar Millan, aka The Dog Whisperer, was supposedly made famous in part early on because of his connection to a small handful of movie stars, among them, the Smiths. Annie unearths some old Red Table Talk recordings of The Dog Whisperer revealing his origin story to Jada and her mother,. She also reads from a 7-year-old Cesars Way blog post where Jada talks about how the dog training lessons she learned from Cesar has helped her marriage. 

Cesar Millan on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith and Gammy (Adrienne Banfield-Norris) in 2018

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=600331890366290&id=538649879867825&_rdr

Cesar’s Way article from 2015: Jada Pinkett Smith Takes The Lead

https://www.cesarsway.com/jada-pinkett-smith-takes-the-lead/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Have you ever disliked a celebrity purely by proxy? I'm not telling you that there's a celebrity, I've maybe long disliked by association. I'm just asking you. Have you ever disliked a celebrity because of that celebrity's association with another celebrity? Where one of these celebrities might be in a completely different field than the other celebrity?

Because there's this one celebrity who has been in the news a lot in the last week. And I don't think I need to tell you how I feel about this person. But I do wanna tell you that this person has probably had a larger impact on the field of dog training than one might realize, on dog training as it exists in the mainstream today. And I wanted to also maybe propose the argument that he has caused a lot more harm to dogs than he's ever caused to people, if only secondarily, if not also in practice. I don't know.

Purely because this one person's celebrity helped create the celebrity we know as Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. Now, if you've ever watched The Dog Whisperer, you probably would guess that someone who is an acolyte of Cesar Millan might be very forceful, might feel that they need to be the alpha, as they say, lead the pack, be the protector, be the leader and not take not take lip from anyone. And someone who might feel fine about using physical force, without considering the unintended consequences or fallout of using punishment, be it physical or otherwise, he'd be perhaps someone like Will Smith.

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are long time friends of Cesar Millan’s. And their celebrity is part of what helped him reach such heights in popular culture. I started thinking about this and wanted to do an episode on this and started to look online. I knew that he had worked with Cesar. I mean, I knew that Cesar had worked with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's dog. So I thought maybe I could find clips of him giving the kind of advice that, were you'd apply it to humans, would lead you to slap people in the face.

Sometimes Cesar Millan is so often talking about humans and the human behavior and energy, and how to be an alpha, and all these kinds of things that make me think of someone actually kind of like Will Smith. Someone who is charismatic and seems like they're beaming love and energy and confidence, but also fine using force.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Apr 08, 202236:22
 Best Pet Ever: Katya Lidsky, host of The Animal That Changed You, on writing love letters to her dying dog. Also: Jonathan Safran Foer's case for eating... dogs.

Best Pet Ever: Katya Lidsky, host of The Animal That Changed You, on writing love letters to her dying dog. Also: Jonathan Safran Foer's case for eating... dogs.

Annie interviews Katya Lidsky, a writer, podcaster and frequent dog fosterer who lives in Austin, TX. She recently started a podcast called The Animal That Changed You, and interviewed Annie about an animal that changed her (head over and check out the episode! https://www.katyalidsky.com/podcast).

Katya, who refers to herself as a "soft core" animal activist, tells Annie about loving and losing a dog who helped her heal from her longtime struggle with an eating disorder. In her dog Ophelia's final days, Katya wrote her love letters daily. Annie lends her some advice on introducing a foster dog to her current dog, and the two discuss their thoughts on how vegetarianism relates to being a dog lover -- Katya doesn't eat meat, but Annie does and... has complicated feelings about that fact. 

That point in their conversation moved Annie to share a section from the 2010 book by Jonathan Safran Foer Eating Animals: The Case For Eating Dogs. 

Learn more about Katya at https://www.katyalidsky.com/

Find our on-demand courses (including Body Language Basics) at http://schoolforthedogs.com/courses

Get Safran Foer's Eating Animals at https://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884

Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast at http://schoolforthedogs.com/podcast

Book a session with us at http://schoolforthedogs.com 

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

So I recently started a series on School For The Dogs Podcast that is really just an excuse to talk to interesting people about their interesting pets and inspired in part by Betty White, who had a show in the seventies called The Pet Set, where she basically just got her famous friends to go on TV with her to talk about their pets.

And I was pleased to see that I'm not the only person who's had this clearly genius idea because shortly after I started this series, I got an email with a subject line, The Animal That Changed You, and it was from Katya Litsky, who is joining me right now. Katya, thank you for being here. You are the host of the podcast, The Animal That Changed You. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Katya Lidsky:

Oh gosh. I like the way you put – I like any sentence that says Betty White in it at all, but it's a podcast about talking to extraordinary people about the extraordinary animal or animals who have changed their lives. I look forward to having you on there Annie. And you know, it's kind of like a community for people who cannot watch what happens to a horse in a war scene in a movie, but have no problem seeing what happens to the human on the horse. Even if the horse tramples that human. That's fair game, but please spare the animal.

And I have this theory that if we can identify with something, if we can identify as being animal lovers, I think we can grow into it. And even if we grow 2% more, that is really good for animals and for people, for everyone involved. So I'm all about, you know, if you love an animal, you have a space in that community.

Annie:

I know that you describe yourself on your website as a self-described, or you call yourself a self-described softcore animal activist.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/podcast


Apr 02, 202246:58
Best Pet Ever: Comedian (and Scottie lover) Douglas Widick on being a "Big Man [With A] Tiny Dog"

Best Pet Ever: Comedian (and Scottie lover) Douglas Widick on being a "Big Man [With A] Tiny Dog"

Annie recently received an email from a producer who had a request: Were there any School For The Dogs students who were big men with tiny dogs? Or people who had big dogs who wouldn't mind their dogs being humorously mocked on Youtube? 

The request came via Douglas Widick, a Brooklynite who had recently brought his young Scottie, Skye, in for playtimes at School For The Dogs. A musical comedian, he'd written a song and was casting its music video. The song's title was "Big Man, Tiny Dog." 

Annie called Doug to talk about the origin of a song that pitches woo to the Yorkiepoos of the world while also poking fun at men who seem to use big dogs as accessories to accentuate their own toughness. Their fun conversation touches on everything from being inspired by the Notorious BIG, swimming with dolphins, Dorothy's poor dog training abilities in The Wizard of Oz, dog-fostering tourism in Hawaii, and the joy of using a hands-free leash. 

-----

Through the end of this month: Get a FREE virtual 90 minute private session with a School For The Dogs trainer when you sign up for our on-demand courses. Learn more at SchoolForTheDogs.com/virtualbundle.

-----

Big Man Tiny Dog on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9Jsey3UOnk

Douglas Widick 

https://www.douglaswidick.com/

The Found My Animal hands-free leash 

https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/found-my-animal-1/products/found-my-animal-leash-1

Annie's Reel walking with a hands-free leash on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZSUtNGJ8Mx/

Maui Humane Society

https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/beach-buddies/

Puppy Playtime at SFTD

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/services/puppy-playtime/

----
Partial Transcript:

Douglas Widick:

I was watching the Notorious B I G documentary. And he talked about how he was like, “People told me that like certain lyrics were either too intense or whatever on this album, but I'm just writing my truth.” And I was like, oh, is it that simple? Like, he's just writing his truth. He had a song called, Ready to Die, which was about feeling suicidal. And I was like, okay, well, my truth right now is that I'm a big guy with a puppy. [laughs]

[music]

Annie:

A few weeks ago, our client Douglas Widick got in touch with me to ask if I could help him cast a video he was doing a music video to go with a song he had just written. The song, he told me, was called “Big Man, Tiny Dog.” And I heard the song. I thought it was hilarious, just so witty and well written. And I said, of course, we'd be happy to help you.

The music video and the song just dropped this week. You can find it on our Instagram @SchoolForTheDogs. I'll also link to it in the show notes. The video features his dog Sky who has come to our puppy play times as well as our Great Dane student Bandit, who came to us when he was just a tiny Great Dane pup.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Mar 25, 202241:26
Should your dog stop eating carbs? A conversation with dog food entrepreneur Daniel Schulof of Keto Natural Pet Foods

Should your dog stop eating carbs? A conversation with dog food entrepreneur Daniel Schulof of Keto Natural Pet Foods

High-fat diets are popular right now in the human realm, but should your dog be "low carb" too? Annie speaks to Daniel Schulof, who left a career in law in order to help combat the canine obesity epidemic by getting people to stop feeding their dog food that is high in carbohydrates. He is the author of Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma, and founder of a new company that makes low-carb dry food for dogs: Keto Natural. He and Annie discuss his journey into the world of pet food and chat about some of the myths and misconceptions about what dogs should be eating.  

KetoNatural food is available at https://ketonaturalpetfoods.com/

Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma: The Silent Epidemic Killing America's Dogs and the New Science That Could Save Your Best Friend's Life

https://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Dog-Food-Dogma-Epidemic/dp/0692768408/

Like School For The Dogs Podcast? Leave a review on iTunes! http://schoolforthedogs.com/listen

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Keto eating is kind of all the rage right now. I feel like I was an early adopter. Six or seven years ago, I read on Reddit about something called keto chow because I am super lazy about eating. I don't like shopping for food. I don't like thinking about what I'm going to eat next. I don't like preparing food very much. And my favorite food is the food that just appears in front of me. And I thought, you know, if only I could find some kind of decent meal replacement that I didn't mind eating, that would be helpful.

Anyway, so I read about keto chow, how it was really delicious and it was made with heavy cream. And that if you were gonna use this as a meal replacement, you really needed to have a diet that was overall super, super high fat, low carb.

So that's sort of how I started to get interested in learning about ketosis and this way of eating and how this type of eating worked really well in conjunction with fasting. And I was sort of interested in that cause my natural rhythm has always been to only eat once or maybe twice a day. And I had thought that that was not a good thing, that I should be eating small meals all the time. But the more I read about high fat diets and ketosis, the more I realized it was okay if I only ate once a day and that eating fat does not make you fat.

When I first started to learn about this type of eating, I thought, Huh, well, if this is a way of eating that makes sense for humans, would it be so crazy to think that this might be a good way for dogs to eat, too? And I looked around a little bit online for information on this and for products. And I really didn't find anything.

But then the other day in my inbox, I got an email and the subject was Your Dog Wasn't Built to Eat Carbs: Podcast Guest Submission. It was someone suggesting I speak to Daniel Schulof who started a company that sells super low carb, dry dog food. So I wanted to learn more.

[music]

Daniel Schulof:

My name is Daniel Schulof, and I am at least somewhat notable in the dog ownership community for two reasons. One is I am the author of a 2016 book that's called Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma, which is about the weird overlap between industry clinical veterinary practice and the scientific community in the world of companion animal nutrition. 

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Mar 18, 202247:58
Private training for puppies: What it's like to work one-on-one with an SFTD puppy trainer (Also: Special offer on virtual training)

Private training for puppies: What it's like to work one-on-one with an SFTD puppy trainer (Also: Special offer on virtual training)

Every day, School For The Dogs trainers meet one-on-one with puppy owners in private sessions designed to help pave a path of success for all the species in that unique, particular household. Annie attempts to take an unbiased peak at what happens in these sessions by cold calling two clients who recently attended private ninety-minute sessions with a School For The Dogs trainer. She speaks to Dana, whose family has worked with SFTD's Erin Whelan with her dog, Goldie, and she speaks to Rachel, who saw SFTD's Shaina Norton. She discusses the experience of attending these sessions, their expectations, and their takeaways. Annie also chats with these owners about the benefits of walking with a leash attached to your waist, and throwing "desensitization picnics" for your puppy. 

Want to work with a School For The Dogs trainer? You don't have to be in NYC! 

Through the end of March 2022, take advantage of a special offer: Two of our on-demand courses plus a ninety-minute virtual private session with a School For The Dogs trainer for just $297 (a $591 value). Learn more at http://schoolforthedogs.com/virtualbundle

Book a private session with us at http://schoolforthedogs.com/services

Learn more about Shaina and Erin at https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/about-train-your-dog-new-york-city/

Episode with Erin Whelan:

https://anniegrossman.com/2020/11/podcast/episode-93-school-for-the-dogs-trainer-erin-whelan-on-how-dog-training-changed-her-life/10279/

Also mentioned in this episode: 

The Found My Animal hands-free leash 

https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/found-my-animal-1/products/found-my-animal-leash-1

Follow us on Instagram to see photos and videos of the puppies mentioned in today's episode! @schoolforthedogs

---
Partial Transcript

Hi, podcast listeners. So it occurs to me that there might be some people who are listening, who see this as called School For The Dogs podcast, but might not realize that School For The Dogs is not just the podcast name. It is an actual place in New York City. We are located in the East Village in Manhattan, 92 E 7th street. It is a two story storefront location with a big red awning and a little yard out back. And we train dogs.

Now I say we train dogs, but of course I believe we are always training dogs. Dogs are always learning. So dog training is kind of, you know, this, this amorphous thing that has no start and no end the way I see it. But we specifically work with dogs and they're human best friends in our location, doing group lessons, doing private lessons, doing what we call off-leash services which are essentially play groups that are monitored by trainers. We separate by puppies and adult dogs, and if they're adult dogs, we sometimes separate them by size or temperament.

We have Drop-Off services. Those are services where people bring their dogs for part of the day to work in some cases one-on-one with a trainer, in some cases in group sessions with a trainer. We call that Day School...

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Mar 11, 202224:31
A $229 bully stick holder? Yup! A chat with the Treat Clincher’s creator, Susan Mravca of BarkerFun

A $229 bully stick holder? Yup! A chat with the Treat Clincher’s creator, Susan Mravca of BarkerFun

Susan Mravca is an entrepreneur with a mission: To help people spend more time with their dogs, without their dogs bothering them. Bully sticks, she found, are great at keeping a dog occupied, but she didn’t like having to hold her dog’s chews in place in order to keep her from burying it or swallowing it. She decided to try to design something that could work—something unlike any other product she could find for this purpose—but she had one major criterion that was rather unusual: It had to be an object of great beauty. The result, which she designed with help from her brother —an engineer with a background in the Department of Defense — is the recently-launched Treat Clincher, which just won the prestigious Good Design Award. The price tag, however, will leave some pet owners aghast. Annie interviews Susan about the origins of this product (and offers a $30 coupon to the first five people to purchase a Treat Clincher at SchoolForTheDogs.com/clincher).

https://storeforthedogs.com/products/treat-clincher-bully-stick-holder

http://www.good-designawards.com/award-details.html?award=41703

Previous episodes about things relating to bully sticks: 

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/a-better-mousetrap-building-the-perfect-bully-stick-holder/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-make-sure-your-dog-never-swallows-bully-stick

https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/What-is-a-bully-stick--A-very-detailed-answer-to-an-awkward-question-ekd2ph/a-a3ih6c2

---
Partial Transcript:

This episode is about a product we are just starting to sell at School For The Dogs and at StoreForTheDogs.com. And as I was editing the episode just now I was writing the product description for the online store. And this is what I wrote:

Do you worry about your dog swallowing bully sticks? Do you hate having saliva coated chews or sinewy raw bones dragged all over your carpet? Does your dog make you hold her bully stick or bother you when you're on Zoom calls? Do you worry that a home strewn with dog products messes with your mid-century modern aesthetic? Are you looking to buy a pet accessory that your child will hand down for generations? If you answered yes to even one of these questions, then this product, winner of the Good Design Award 2021, may be for you.

The product is the Treat Clincher, and it's pretty interesting. Its function is interesting. It's interesting looking and its creator is certainly interesting too. It's also pretty expensive. I'm gonna talk about that, but if you wanna get a visual and a spoiler alert on the price, go check out storeforthedogs.com while you are listening to this, or you can get to the product directly at schoolforthedogs.com/clincher

Annie:

As a dog trainer and someone interested in all things relating to products that help us have dogs in our homes and keep them happy and give them happy lives, I've developed this kind of sub interest in bully sticks. Bully sticks being dog chews that are made from pizzle, and pizzle is the penis of a bull. And we certainly sell a lot of bully sticks in our shop and online.

And I think I first started becoming interested in bully sticks in a more [laughs] academic way because I was really thinking about how did this happen? Have people who've had cattle farms always known that this was something that dogs would really enjoy?

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/podcast

Mar 04, 202233:14
Great writing about dogs: An NY Times Obituary and a chapter from Mary Poppins (Also: We’re 4!)

Great writing about dogs: An NY Times Obituary and a chapter from Mary Poppins (Also: We’re 4!)

In celebration of School For The Dogs' recent ten year anniversary, this podcast's fourth anniversary, and Annie's birthday last week, she shares two gems for anyone who loves dogs and loves reading, or writing, about them. One is an obituary for Finn, a Manhattan-based dog who died last month. He belonged to Dr. Alexandra Horowitz of Barnard's Dog Cognition Lab. The other is a fictional piece about a pampered dog, yearning to break free from an overbearing woman who insists on treating him like a child. It is a chapter from the first Mary Poppins book, written by P.L. Travers in 1934. Special guest: Magnolia Pedicone 


Finnegan, Dog Known for His Exemplary Nose, Dies at 14  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/opinion/dogs-animals-obituaries.html 

Books by Dr. Alexandra Horowitz  https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Alexandra-Horowitz/46971319 

Miss Lark's Andrew  https://lingualeo.com/en/jungle/p-l-travers-mary-poppins-chapter-four-miss-larks-andrew-165704 

Mary Poppins  https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Poppins-Dr-P-Travers/dp/0544439562 

Liked this episode? Here are some others that may be of interest:  

Dog training with Mary Poppins, Professor Harold Hill and Little Orphan Annie  https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-104-dog-training-with-mary-poppins-professor-harold-hill-and-little-orphan-annie/ 

Episode 1: Meet Annie and learn how School For The Dogs came to be https://anniegrossman.com/2018/03/podcast/school-dogs-podcast-episode-1/9222/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hello, human listeners. Thank you for being here. Today I got a little reminder on Facebook that 10 years ago, I had put a t-shirt on my late wonderful dog Amos that said “The Dogs: Dog Training near Union Square.” And it made me remember that School For The Dogs just turned 10. Kate and I met in 2011 and started training together in 2011. So I guess it's actually a little bit more than 10 years.

But I think it was about February, 2012 that we really started training out of my apartment, which is where we were located at the time. We converted my living room into a dog training center. And at first we called it the dogs, cause I had a blog called The Dogs and then we changed it to School For The Dogs to make it a little bit more descriptive, so people understood what we were doing and we've come a long way in the last 10 years. It went from being just me and Kate to now we have a staff of, I don't even know 15 people.

And we're certainly still figuring it out. I had no idea what it meant to run a small business. Neither did Kate. And we're working hard at it, trying to make it work, learning all the time. And I'm really proud of our team and what we've created. And I'm honored that this podcast has listeners. And this podcast also is having a kind of birthday. I posted the first episode four years ago next week, and I had a birthday last week.

So to celebrate all these birthdays today, I wanted to just share a couple things I've read lately that really touched me. So these are gifts that I want to give you or share with you these little gems.

The first one is a piece that was written by Dr. Alexandra Horowitz last week for the New York Times. It's an obituary for her dog. She is the head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College. The author of several really wonderful books about dogs including Inside of a Dog and Our Dogs Ourselves. And totally a superstar celebrity in this field.

Full transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/podcast

Feb 25, 202230:54
Best Pet Ever: Producer Meredith Witte on living in an NYC studio apartment with a Border Collie

Best Pet Ever: Producer Meredith Witte on living in an NYC studio apartment with a Border Collie

In 2014, Meredith Witte decided she needed a Border Collie. The fact that she lived in a studio apartment in Manhattan did not deter it. But how was she going to train a puppy? The day the dog arrived, she called Annie. At the end of their first training session, Meredith was in tears. But they were good tears! Fast forward eight odd years: Meredith and her super bright dog sidekick, Roma, now live in LA. Roma knows how to count and can perform a wide array of adorable tricks. Annie and Meredith discuss their own friendship, Meredith and Roma's incredible relationship, and the wonders -- and challenges! -- of sharing your life with a brainiac, active dog. 

Find Roma and Meredith on Instagram! @romalovepup

Get our free guide to people training at http://schoolforthedogs.com/people

Book a free session with an SFTD Certified Professional Trainer this month only at http://schoolforthedogs.com/virtualconsult

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

I am here with client turned friend Meredith Witte. Meredith, thank you so much for being on this segment of Best Pet Ever. You do have one of the best pets ever. Why don't you just introduce yourself, and then we can go ahead and talk about the lovely miss Roma.

Meredith Witte:

Oh gosh. I mean, I can talk about Roma for hours. It's always so fun to talk to you, Annie, and you made such a big impact in my life. I mean, when I got Roma, I didn't know what I was doing. So I think of you as this person who kind of saved me in this moment of crisis, which, not that getting a puppy was a crisis. But for me, it was such a big deal. And I was so concerned that I was going to do it wrong. And you reassured me so much and gave me the tools I needed to raise Roma up and enjoy the whole process.

Annie:

Aww. Well, pshaw. That's sweet of you. I just, I know the first time we met, I remember sitting on the floor in your apartment with you and you were holding Roma and you were crying. You had just gotten her like the day before. And I kind of remember thinking like, you know, she's really emotional, but you know what, that's not unreasonable. Like this is totally within the normal spectrum of responses someone could have when they're first getting a puppy and she's gonna be fine.

[music]

Meredith:

My name's Meredith Witte, and I lived in New York for 10 years, and I'm a producer. And I decided one day I was really ready for a dog. I was in my thirties and I lived alone in a studio apartment in Manhattan. And I didn't want just any dog, I wanted a border collie.

Annie:

Yeah. Now that's…that's where I think you're a little nuts. So how did that come about now? Did you grow up with border collies?

Meredith:

Well, so kind of, yeah. My grandfather had a ranch in Texas and they always had two or three dog. And the majority of them were usually border collies. Some were German shepherds. But I grew up around them. So you know, whenever I’d go visit or like during college. My childhood dog growing up was kind of a mix. It was probably like an Aussie mix, just a good old Southern mutt, you know. But she looked kind of like that type of dog.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/podcast

Feb 19, 202248:10
How to train your dog to touch your hand (and why it is such an important thing to master)

How to train your dog to touch your hand (and why it is such an important thing to master)

***February 2022 Special: New to School For The Dogs?  Book a free virtual consult with a trainer at http://schoolforthedogs.com/freeconsult***


This episode is a rebroadcast. It first aired on May 15, 2020. 

There is one behavior we teach every dog we work with at School For The Dogs: Touch! 

This is an easy-to-teach building block that you can use to build... whatever you want! In this episode, Annie outlines how to teach touch, and talks about this behavior's countless uses and variations. 

Annie's Free Webinar on training touch - https://event.webinarjam.com/go/replay/78/k6v60c95ir6t6nf1

More on Chirag Patel's Bucket Game - https://www.facebook.com/thebucketgame

Ken Ramirez demonstrates different types of targeting. - https://theranch.clickertraining.com/live-episode-1/

Doodle Buddy and other apps you can use with your dog - https://anniegrossman.com/2013/12/training/3-apps-your-dog-can-use-to-make-art-35313/8246/

Support this podcast by shopping in our online store, storeforthedogs.com!  http://storeforthedogs.com/

Products mentioned in this episode:  

Clicker Sticks https://storeforthedogs.com/products/clicker-stick

Lamb Lung https://storeforthedogs.com/products/lamb-lung

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+++ Need help house training your dog? Download our free eBook at http://schoolforthedogs.com/house +++

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Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/podcast

Feb 12, 202233:28
Best Pet Ever: Joanie Comenzo is in a complicated relationship with the dog she loves, Nelson the Welsh Terrier

Best Pet Ever: Joanie Comenzo is in a complicated relationship with the dog she loves, Nelson the Welsh Terrier

Someone in a dog-related Facebook Group reported being bitten by a dog in School For The Dogs' neighborhood. The person wanted the dog owner to pay his medical bills  -- this seemed, to Annie, to be reasonable. But then a client reached out to Annie, upset about the rancor in the comments section. It seemed like an angry mob was forming to lobby that the dog be euthanized. Could Annie maybe chime in to suggest that the dog and his owner perhaps deserve some empathy, too? She did. And she also suggested people in the group listen to this episode... 

This episode is part of our new Best Pet Ever! series. Inspired, in part, by Betty White's 1970s talk show, The Pet Set, this series features conversations with people about a pet they love, or loved. Listen to the first episode in the series here

https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/Best-Pet-Ever-WriterProducer-Jessica-Vitkus-talks-about-Cookie-and-Coffee--her-guinea-pigs-e1cjtj5

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Special announcements: 

Sign up to be notified when we begin taking applications for the next round of our Professional Course at http://schoolforthedogs.com/apprenticeship2022

This month only, we are offering a limited number of free virtual consults! 

Sign up for one at http://schoolforthedogs.com/freeconsult

----

This is a rebroadcast of an episode that originally aired October 22, 2018. 

After years of researching breeds, Joanie Comenzo of Manhattan decided to get a Welsh Terrier. When she went to pick up her new dog, Nelson, the breeder pushed him into her arms and said "Your puppy is an alpha." Joanie loved him from the moment she saw him, and that love never waned, even after he bit her multiple times, and sent her mother and boyfriend to the hospital. Over the last eight years, Joanie has sought training and medical advice from a wide array of professionals. Today, Nelson wears a muzzle every moment of the day that he isn't in his crate. He and Joanie live a happy, if unusual, life together. This is their love story.

Notes: Nelson's preferred muzzle

http://storeforthedogs.com/products/the-baskerville-muzzle

Fun Dog Fact Of The Day: As late as the early 1900s, dogs were allowed to roam off leash in Philadelphia as long as they were muzzled.

http://thepethistorian.com/2015/08/20/dog-muzzles-and-city-dogs-1900/

Music: "Love Is Strange" cover by Toast Garden

---

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/podcast

Feb 04, 202201:10:07
Our Newest SFTD Certified Professional Trainer Ionelee Brogna on shock collars, horses, schnauzers, trick training, and learning empathy by selling used books

Our Newest SFTD Certified Professional Trainer Ionelee Brogna on shock collars, horses, schnauzers, trick training, and learning empathy by selling used books

When Ionelee Brogna decided to bring a Miniature Schnauzer puppy into her NYC apartment a couple of years ago, she knew she didn't want to employ the punishment-based or "balanced" methods that her family had used on their dog back in rural Massachusetts. But she wasn't sure what other options there were. Her research led her to... this podcast! And then to classes at School For The Dogs, and then to our six-month-long Professional Course. Ionelee, who formerly worked in publishing and at New York's famous Strand Book Store, just finished apprenticing with us, and is now starting to see clients. She and Annie discuss her background training horses, the human insight one gains working in the service industry, the surprising lessons learned while teaching a dog tricks, and the challenges associated of living with a terrier who is training obsessed. 

If you're interested in being notified when we start taking applications for our 2022 Professional Course (aka our "Apprenticeship") join the waiting list at http://schoolforthedogs.com/apprenticeship2022

We will be welcoming four students into our spring cohort. Not in NYC? No problem! The program is fully virtual.   

Want to learn how you can use dog training techniques on people? Check out our free eBook at http://schoolforthedogs.com/people  

*** February Special!*** 

Book a complimentary 15-minute virtual consult with a School For The Dogs Certified Professional Trainer at http://schoolforthedogs.com/freeconsult

---

Partial Transcript:

Annie:

I am joined today by Ionelee Brogna, one of the very most recent graduates of our Professional Course. When she is not training, she is often at the front desk at School For The Dogs and mans our inbox. Her official title is admin assistant and client coordinator.

Ionelee, though, something I've wanted to ask you since I've met you, and I've never asked you, is tell me about your name, ‘cause I've never met an Ionelee before.

Ionelee Brogna:

So it's a variation on my grandmother's name, which was Ione space Lee, and my parents smooshed that together so that my middle name could be my other grandmother's name, which is Carol.

Annie:

Oh, and is Ione a kind of, is that a name from somewhere?

Ionelee:

Yes, it's Scottish actually.

Annie:

Oh, okay.

Ionelee:

Which is ironic. Cause I'm mostly Italian and Mexican, but…

Annie:

[laughs] But your grandmother was Scottish.

Ionelee:

Yes.

Annie:

And her name was Ione.

Ionelee:

Yes.

Annie:

Well, it's very pretty. Although it's, I've noticed and I'm guessing you've noticed in your life, people refer to you sometimes as Lone-ly.

Ionelee:

Yes, I get Lonely a lot. I like to tell telemarketers that I'm not lonely. I do have friends. Which is why a lot of times I'll just sign my name fully in lower case.

Annie:

Well, anyway, it's a beautiful name. So, I wanted to have you on today to hear about your journey into the world of dog training. Because, as I know, and as other people on staff know, you started out with us as a client, then started working for us doing work at the front desk, and now have graduated our apprenticeship program...

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jan 28, 202258:07
Does the Pope hate dog owners? A conversation with one of the pontiff's former secretaries, Professor Dan Gallagher of Cornell University

Does the Pope hate dog owners? A conversation with one of the pontiff's former secretaries, Professor Dan Gallagher of Cornell University

James Joyce said that Catholicism means "Here comes everybody." But does "everybody" mean our Yorkiepoos, too? 

Earlier this month, Pope Francis made the remark that "many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one – but they have two dogs, two cats… Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children [...] And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity." Annie, who is not Catholic, wondered if this pooh-poohing of pet ownership was echoing the church's stance on our relationships with non-human animals, or if maybe the Pope was going rogue. So, she called her friend Dan Gallagher, a professor of Classics at Cornell University. Professor Gallagher is uniquely qualified to discuss this topic: He used to be one of the Pope's secretaries and translators. He also grew up breeding Cocker Spaniels, and once gave a funeral to a hamster. He and Annie discuss some of the Catholic church's past champions of animals -- from Saint Francis of Assisi to cat-lover Pope Benedict --  try to parse the Pope's words and wonder if maybe it's time for Pope Francis to try his hand at...pet sitting.

Read the Pope's full January 6th catechesis:

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2022/documents/20220105-udienza-generale.html

Learn more about Daniel Gallagher

https://as.cornell.edu/people/daniel-gallagher

Learn more about the Paideia Institute 

https://www.paideiainstitute.org/

Donate to the School For The Dogs Scholarship Fund

http://schoolforthedogs.com/fund

Get a tile in the School For The Dogs Mosaic

http://schoolforthedogs.com/mosaic

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

I want to read a few paragraphs from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, that my friend Dan sent me the other day, on the Respect for the integrity of creation, 2415:

The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man’s dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.

Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.

God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jan 21, 202259:32
Two dog trainers' tips on bringing your dog to the dog park

Two dog trainers' tips on bringing your dog to the dog park

Dog parks aren't appropriate for every dog, and urban dog parks have their own unique challenges--a revolving population and small foot prints, to name a few. If Annie had her way, all dogs parks would have life guards! She gives some reasons why you might think twice before bringing just any dog to any dog park. If you've decided the dog park might be a good thing for your dog, take some tips from Annie's partner Kate Senisi, a trainer with an expertise in working with high-arousal urban dogs. Annie shares Kate's top eight tips, and adds a few of her own. This episode talks about how to enter the park, what to bring, signs it may be time to leave, and more.  

This episode offers special thanks to Alexandra Messiter, who, along with her dog Cooper, has been students at SFTD since 2019. Alexandra and her husband gave a generous donation to our Scholarship Fund recently, and we are so appreciative!  "I felt moved to donate mostly because Cooper (who we adopted from Bideawee in 2019) is just so awesome - he's such a fun, smart, loving companion and has made my husband and I much more passionate about trying to encourage folks to consider rescuing.  Because we know that lack of access to affordable quality training can lead to more dogs being surrendered -- and can discourage folks from adopting great dogs with some behavior concerns -- we're always happy to help any organization that is filling a need, which SFTD is definitely doing here." -- Alexandra Messiter  

Visit our site for 8 tips to read Kate's 8 tips on keeping your dog safe at the dog park. 

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/8-tips-to-keep-your-dog-safe-at-the-dog-park/

Learn more about our Scholarship Fund at schoolforthedogs.com/fund 

Get half off our on-demand dog body language course using code HALFOFFBODYLANG 

https://storeforthedogs.com/products/750634 

Other episodes mentioned in this episode:  

SniffSpot: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/air-b-pee-sniff-spot-allows-dog-owners-to-rent-peoples/id1355439730?i=1000512680806 

Bully Test: https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-95-the-bully-test-how-to-tell-if-your-dog-or-kid-or-country-is-having-fun-plus-fomo-crate-training/

---

Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hey all. Annie here. Today, I wanted to talk about dog parks. Dog parks are not appropriate for every dog, and dog parks in cities have their own unique challenges. They can be very small and dense, and they can have a highly revolving population. Meaning that a lot of people in a big city, a lot of people bring their dogs to a big city dog park means that you might see a lot of different dogs there. It's not just a small population of a dozen or so dogs, like I imagine maybe some small town dog park, what that must be like.

It can be challenging for dogs and for people. 

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jan 14, 202220:08
Best Pet Ever: Writer/Producer Jessica Vitkus talks about Cookie and Coffee, her guinea pigs

Best Pet Ever: Writer/Producer Jessica Vitkus talks about Cookie and Coffee, her guinea pigs

Introducing a new series: Best Pet Ever! Wherein Annie talks to interesting people about their interesting pets. Inspired by Betty White's 1970s show, The Pet Set, Annie interviews one of her closest friends, Jessica Vitkus. Jessica is an East-Village based writer and TV producer — she was Annie's boss ten years ago on the Animal Planet show, Too Cute: Puppies and Kittens. Jessica, her kids and her partner Stephen recently got a pair of Guinea Pigs. Jessica talks about the world of Guinea Pig rescue, Guinea Pig Pavlovian Conditioning, and about how rodents may be an underused tool in couples therapy. Like this podcast? You can support us by leaving a review on iTunes and/or shopping at StoreForTheDogs.com

Follow us on Instagram: 

 @schoolforthedogs

 @annie.grossman

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Partial Transcript:

Jessica Vitkus:

I didn't expect Guinea pigs to be so fun and funny and comical. They are ridiculous furry potatoes in appearance. But also their behavior. A Guinea pig learns that a knife on a cutting board means maybe there's food coming. So anytime we cut on the cutting board, we hear “week, week, week, week.” They make this sound, they call it weeking. And it's “week, week, week.”

Anytime plastic crackles, they think it's lettuce coming out of the fridge. So any crackling, if I am like taking batteries out of a deli bag and the bag crackles, they're like, “week, week, week.” They just, they know us. And now I think even the sound of the knife drawer opening, they get excited. “Week, week, week, week.” And also when they're happy, they cluck like chickens. It's hilarious.

[music]

Annie:

Last week saw the passing of 99 year old actress and noted animal lover and advocate Betty White. In one of the obituaries for her, I read that in the 1970s, she had something of a talk show called The Pet Set, where she basically interviewed her friends about their pets. And I thought, huh, that sounds like a fun thing to do. Her friends were 1970s celebrities. Mine are not 1970s celebrities, but they're celebrities in my life. And I will grab at any opportunity to talk to people about their dogs. It's what I love to do.

At first I thought maybe I could make it more focused and talk to people about their first dog or a dog that they've lost. But then I thought that would rule out me talking to so many of the dog owners who I've come to know at School For The Dogs who are our clients, both human and canine. So why limit things?And also, I thought why limit it just to dogs? In fact, the first person I realized I wanted to talk to for this series has a pet who is not a dog at all, but is a kind of animal I would really be curious to learn more about.

So for the very first entry into this series, which I am going to call “Best Pet Ever,” I am speaking to my good friend, Jessica Vitkus. Jessica is a writer and TV producer. We have been good friends for nearly 20 years. And about 10 years ago, I was lucky enough to be hired by Jessica when she was the executive producer for the show Too Cute: Puppies and Kittens, which aired on Animal Planet. She hired me as an associate producer/animal wrangler/dog nerd on site with facts and training recommendations.

Anyway, it was a fabulous job, really great experience for me. And during that time, I know that Jessica worked with lots of different kinds of animals, not just cats and dogs, and learned about all different kinds of animals, including pigs that people kept as pets, and hedgehogs.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Jan 07, 202228:25
SFTD's Behavior Therapy Trainer Jen Nastanski on working with guide dogs, competitive Obedience and more (Also featuring special guest: Melanie Friedson)

SFTD's Behavior Therapy Trainer Jen Nastanski on working with guide dogs, competitive Obedience and more (Also featuring special guest: Melanie Friedson)

School For The Dogs' Behavior Therapy Trainer Jen Nastanski came to work at our New York-based facility after two decades of working with dogs at professional and competitive levels. She tells Annie about getting trained to be a trainer at PetSmart, getting involved in competitive Obedience using positive-reinforcement-based techniques, teaching (and helping to raise) guide dogs, and, most recently working at New York City's ASPCA, working to enrich the lives of dogs seized and held in custody by the NYPD. 

Special guest on this episode: Annie's friend Melanie Friedson, mom to Bichpoo, Herschel Stanley. 

Like this podcast? Leave a review on iTunes at http://schoolforthedogs.com/listen 

Need help leaving a review? See here: https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/subscribe/

Shop with us at http://storeforthedogs.com

Support us by shopping with us online at storeforthedogs.com

Book a session with Jen at http://schoolforthedogs.com/jen or call 212-353-3647

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Can I include your funny dog voice on the podcast? I don't have to attach it to your name.

Melanie Friedson:

[funny voice] Of course. It's not funny. It's just how it is.

Annie:

[laughs] I should introduce you and say that you are –

Melanie:

You can. I'm not ashamed of my dog voice, Annie.

Annie:

You are one of my best friends, Melanie Friedson, human owner. How do you refer to yourself when it comes to Herschel?

Melanie:

[voice] I'm his mom.

Annie:

Okay. Mom to Herscshel Stanley [laughs]. 12 year old cavapoo?

Melanie:

Bichpoo.

Annie:

A bichpoo, of Washington, DC.

Melanie:

Yep.

Annie:

Anyway, so it's the last day of the year. And I'm putting up the last podcast episode of the year. I wanted to say to listeners that if they have enjoyed this podcast this year, that maybe they could leave a review on iTunes or shop at storeforthedogs.com to support us. But I thought it would be more fun if it was in your dog voice than in my normal human voice.

Melanie:

Oh, okay. So you want me to say that?

Annie:

Yeah.

[laughing]

Melanie:

If you like this podcast, please support us! Leave a good review on iTunes, or you can shop for us at storeforthedogs.com. This is Herschel Stanley Friedson’s mom!

[intro and music]

Annie:

Jen Nastanski.

Jen Nastanski:

Hello.

Annie:

Hello. Thank you for being on School For The Dogs podcast. And thank you for being part of School For The Dogs since, what, has it been two months now? Something like that?

Jen:

Something like that. Time is a little nebulous right now.

Annie:

Remind me of your official title, cause I'm bad with titles.

Jen:

I'm a behavior therapy trainer.

Annie:

And you've been doing private lessons. You've been doing Day School, right?

Jen:

Mm-hmm, yep.


Full Transcript at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast


Dec 31, 202148:27
How to teach a dog to "Break" during play. Also: On how "No" can confuse (and stress out) both dogs and humans

How to teach a dog to "Break" during play. Also: On how "No" can confuse (and stress out) both dogs and humans

While doing the NYC's annual workplace Sexual Harassment Prevention course, Annie noted that people are being told to assume that many things other than the word "No" may mean "No."  This might be a good thing, but it's also potentially confusing! In the world of dogs, she's seen how the word "No" can also be a confusing concept, as it is frequently used ineffectively, and can even end up positively reinforcing some behaviors. She thinks about how, for both dogs and humans, this confusion about "No" can lead to stress. What if, with both dogs and humans, the focus were not on explaining what not to do, but rather on teaching what appropriate behaviors can be engaged in instead? Maybe men, in particularly, could learn something by taking discussion-starting tips from "Linda Richman," the Mike Myers "Coffee Talk" character from Saturday Night Live in the nineties. ("Talk amongst yourselves: I'll give you a topic. Discuss!")

Annie goes into how it's possible to condition a secondary punisher to make the word "No" more meaningful... but most people don't do this work. She also explains that it's a misconception that Positive Reinforcement-based trainers never try to stop behaviors. She explains how SFTD trainers work to help build a dog's ability to stop and start a behavior, and help owners think about what a dog should ideally be doing instead of an undesirable behavior. As an example, she explains how "Break" is taught at School For The Dogs for dogs attending off leash play sessions. 

Interested in learning more about our trainer supervised off-leash sessions? Visit us online at https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/services/school-yard/

NYC's Sexual Harassment Prevention  

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/law/sexual-harassment-training.page

Coffee Talk with Linda Richman (Mike Myers) on SNL 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haunEK4HLI8

In the #MeToo era, 60% of male managers say they’re scared of being alone with women at work

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/men-are-afraid-to-mentor-female-colleagues-in-the-metoo-era-heres-what-not-to-do-2019-05-20

Episode 26 | Teach a foolproof DROP and COME using Classical Conditioning

https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/Teach-a-foolproof-DROP-and-COME-using-Classical-Conditioning-e29h2c/a-a2daie5

Like this episode? Please leave a review on iTunes! 

Learn how here: http://schoolforthedogs.com/subscribe

Special thanks to Toast Garden for the theme song!

https://www.youtube.com/c/ToastGarden

---
Partial Transcript:

Voice:

No comes in many forms. Verbal no means no. Body language can mean no. Excuses can mean no. A tone of voice can mean no. Maybe can mean no.

[intro and music]

Annie:

I recorded that clip from the annual sexual harassment awareness training required by everyone at any business in New York state. So, I'm going through this online training thing, and I realize there's kind of this focus on the concept of no...

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Dec 24, 202123:27
Spencer Williams wants you to be your dog's best friend: Meet the CEO of dog toy maker West Paw

Spencer Williams wants you to be your dog's best friend: Meet the CEO of dog toy maker West Paw

Spencer Williams, the founder and CEO of Bozeman, Montana-based company West Paw, grew up on a working ranch where the dogs slept outside, worked hard, and, when they played, they did so with sticks. And... they were happy! Some twenty-odd years ago, he decided he wanted to help modern non-working dogs be that happy too, and wanted to do so in a way that wouldn't just improve doggie lives: It'd also improve the community and the earth. Those weren't small goals! Annie talks about the origins of this interesting company, whose guaranteed-for-life, recyclable, made-in-the-USA products have been sold at School For The Dogs in Manhattan and at storeforthedogs.com for nearly a decade. Learn how they became a "B-Corp" and what that means, in addition to finding out about some of their innovative products, materials, and practices.  Find West Paw products in our online shop: https://storeforthedogs.com/collections/west-paw-designs Like this podcast? Tell your friends! And leave us a review on iTunes! http://schoolforthedogs.com/listen

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat. I'm really excited to get to know you a little bit. I feel like I know you through your business. But maybe we could just start out, you could just say your name and your title, and we'll go from there.

Spencer Williams:

I'm Spencer Williams and I'm the CEO and owner of West Paw

Annie:

And West Paw, as School For The Dogs fans might know, makes some of the most fabulous dog toys on the market. We have been selling them at storeforthedogs.com since 2014. And I'm excited to talk to you, because as I've spent these years buying West Paw products, both for my own dogs and for our shop, I've learned a little bit about the company that has intrigued me. So first of all, tell me about being a B Corp. Is that what it's called?

Spencer:

Yeah, I mean, that's great. Well, and thanks for all the years of experience you have buying and using and selling our products. I'm looking forward to the conversation. And B Corp's a great place to start because it is a movement that matters a lot to West Paw.

This whole concept started just about a dozen years ago. And what people realized is that when they were leading a business that was impact driven, if that business had a change in leadership or a change in ownership, sometimes those impacts the business was able to drive would be lost in those transitions.

And the idea around the B Corp was how do you create more opportunity for those impacts to be long lasting? And how do you measure the impact? So the idea here, Annie is how, how do you differentiate from really good marketing to fact-based information on a company's impact.

And so that's where the B Corp movement came from. And in a nutshell today, what it means is that a company can choose to become a certified B Corp, and the B stands for benefit. That's a good way to think of it. Like you're benefiting primarily four areas in a business: the employees who work in the business, the community that that business is located in or impacts; it's also around the environment and how the business impacts the environment; and then finally the customer piece.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Dec 17, 202144:31
The matrix of expectations & resilience, issues with the "Positive Reinforcement" label & more

The matrix of expectations & resilience, issues with the "Positive Reinforcement" label & more

A School For The Dogs Instagram Reel that was meant to help dog owners understand how to tell if a trainer is a "positive reinforcement" trainer or not resulted in a battle in the comments section about what kind of dog training methods are best. Annie considers how the very title of "positive reinforcement dog trainer" is problematic, and talks about how the conversation led her to consider the possibility that maybe the divide between dog trainers comes down to expectations about what we want dogs to do and how emotionally resilient we think they may be.   

Other episodes mentioned in this episode: 

What is good dog training?  https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-2-what-is-good-dog-training/ 

Don't chase your cat around the house with the Christmas tree: On the TikTokers who are "traumatizing" their cats in order to spare their holiday decorations https://anchor.fm/dogs/episodes/Dont-chase-your-cat-around-the-house-with-the-Christmas-tree-On-the-TikTokers-who-are-traumatizing-their-cats-in-order-to-spare-their-holiday-decorations-e1b73jq 

"Clues a dog trainer may not be positive-reinforcement based" Reel:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXHK_LHlOD6/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Last week, we posted a Reels on the School For The Dogs Instagram, and the title of the reel was “Clues that a dog trainer might not be positive reinforcement based.” And, you know, reels can be kind of tricky to do because they're short and to the point and meant to be kind of flip and quick and ephemeral.

And, you know, it's not like we workshop them for weeks. We do them pretty quickly. And there have been a couple of times where I've sort of regretted ones we've put up, not because I didn't think they were good, but because they deal with a topic that in reality is quite nuanced and complicated. And when you reduce a topic like this down to something that is 20 seconds long or 10 seconds long and lip synced to music, it can be misleading and certainly reductive.

Last week when we posted this reel saying, Hey, here are some tips that or some clues that a dog trainer you're working with might not be positive reinforcement based. I wrote the text for this reel and I guess the avatar in my mind of who was reading this is someone who is like I was when I was when I first got a dog, and first found a dog trainer. I mean, I didn't research different kinds of training. I just went to the closest doggy daycare that was offering puppy kindergarten classes and had no idea about the language people use or methods people use.

And so, I guess, often in things I do when I'm thinking about clients, I'm thinking about the client I would've been, and if somebody's following us on social media, I assume that means that they're kind of into what we're doing. So, I thought of it as like, Hey, if you're into what we're doing, here is how to maybe try and figure out if a trainer you're working with or following is doing a similar thing. And the shorthand for the kind of training we do that's most well understood is positive reinforcement training.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Dec 11, 202131:35
Don't chase your cat around the house with the Christmas tree: On the TikTokers who are "traumatizing" their cats in order to spare their holiday decorations

Don't chase your cat around the house with the Christmas tree: On the TikTokers who are "traumatizing" their cats in order to spare their holiday decorations

Earlier this week, TikTok user @becs.richards posted a video of herself chasing her cat around her house while holding her Christmas tree like a bayonet; in the text that goes with the video, she explains that she saw a TikTok explaining that if you traumatize your cat with your Christmas tree before you put it up, the cat will leave the tree alone. The video and a few follow ups (showing that the cat hasn't attacked the tree) have gotten over thirty million views and four million likes. Annie meditates on the strange way that this example of punishment-based training -- billed as unvarnished traumatization -- is so funny and intriguing to the masses. Would a dog being traumatized get so many hundreds of thousands of "likes?" Beyond that, she ponders how weird it is that we expect cats to NOT want to interact with a tree in the house, and suggests some practical ways to keep pets from messing with holiday directions (spoiler alert: Get a menorah!). 

The video by @becs.richards that has gotten 30 million views and 4 million likes in just a few days: https://www.tiktok.com/@becs.richards/video/7035718104269491502

Bored Panda's 40 Genius People Who Found A Way To Protect Their Christmas Trees From Asshole Cats And Dogs

https://www.boredpanda.com/protecting-christmas-tree-from-dogs-cats-pets/

Like this podcast! Tell your friends! Leave a review on iTunes

Shop at StoreForTheDogs.com

Follow SFTD on Instagram: http://instagram.com/schoolforthedogs

Follow Annie on Instagram: http://instagram.com/annie.grossman

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

So, there’s these TikToks that have been going around. They’re of people in their homes with lovely Christmas music playing, and then you see a person holding their Christmas tree in their arms, like a bayonet, and running around, pointing it at their cats

[music and intro]

And these videos are captioned, “If you traumatize your cat with your tree before putting it up, they will leave it alone.” At least one of these videos posted by user becs.richards just four days ago already has nearly 30 million views and 4 million likes.

These videos in some cases are kind of funny. I mean, it's kind of funny to see a cat running around scared of a tree, something that we humans know will not hurt them. As much as I love cats and I don't want them to be fearful about the world we're asking them to live in, I admit that I sometimes laugh when a cat seems to think something is scary.

I am specifically thinking about the many hours I have spent watching videos of people putting large zucchinis next to their cats, terrifying the cats, because the cats don't really realize it's not a snake, and many cats are hardwired to naturally be scared of snakes.

Full Transcript at SchoolForTheDogs.com/Podcast

Dec 04, 202118:42
Making dog training affordable: SFTD's Scholarship Fund, Black Friday Sale, on-demand offerings, and more. Plus: Jimmy Stewart's poem about his dog

Making dog training affordable: SFTD's Scholarship Fund, Black Friday Sale, on-demand offerings, and more. Plus: Jimmy Stewart's poem about his dog

It costs a lot to run a small business in New York City, which can be a conundrum for a mission-driven business like School For The Dogs. Annie talks about some of the ways that she and Kate have worked to offer services and goods at prices that can make "Good Dog Training" accessible to everyone, and what it means to "shop small" in a world when the little guys are selling products that can so often be purchased at big-box stores or on Amazon. Listen up for information on SFTD's Black Friday sale -- including an exclusive discount for podcast listeners interested in on-demand courses. Annie also talks about the School For The Dogs Scholarship Fund, and mentions a special gift all donors to the fund will be offered between now and the end of the year. Lastly: She shares a poem written and read by the late Jimmy Stewart, about loving, and losing a cherished canine best friend. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

---

Full Transcript of this episode available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Nov 26, 202126:07
On being a dog run snob! Also: The case for spending money on pets, and how to help your dog have a good Thanksgiving (Hint: Be your dog's advocate!)

On being a dog run snob! Also: The case for spending money on pets, and how to help your dog have a good Thanksgiving (Hint: Be your dog's advocate!)

A bunch of media outlets have recently done stories about private dog runs in NYC, and have mentioned School For The Dogs' School Yard sessions, which are playtimes for dogs. School Yard is members-only, by-appointment and trainer-supervised. Annie talks about why the service is so special, and also why it's so expensive. She addresses some of the negative feedback she's gotten to the articles. She also discusses how she plans to train with her dog, Poppy, while visiting family, and suggests ways in which people can approach training a timid dog in new places or with new people over the holidays. 

Follow School For The Dogs on Instagram: http://instagram.com/schoolforthedogs

Follow Annie on Instagram: http://instagram.com/annie.grossman

Learn more about School Yard here: https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/services/school-yard/

Products mentioned in this episode are all available Storeforthedogs.com!  Also come shop with us at our storefront in Manhattan at 92 E. 7th Street. 

Revol dog crate: 

https://storeforthedogs.com/products/the-revol-dog-crate

Slow food bowls: 

https://storeforthedogs.com/search?q=slow+food

Want to donate to help a rescue dog owner in need access free private training? Learn more about our Scholarship Fund at http://schoolforthedogs.com/fund

Articles mentioned: 

The New York Times: Does Your Dog Deserve a Private Park?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/style/private-dog-parks-new-york-city.html

New York Post: Pledging for pooches: VIP clubs where NYC’s doggie 1 percent hangs out

https://nypost.com/2021/08/03/dog-owners-are-paying-thousands-to-join-exclusive-canine-clubs/

The Wall Street Journal: Dogs Rule at These New York City Spots—For a Price

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-dog-owners-private-clubs-dog-run-off-leash-pandemic-puppy-11625580000

Other episodes about relevant topics: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sftd-off-leash-manager-adam-davis-on-training-as-teenager/id1355439730?i=1000510765257

https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-33-how-to-shape-your-dog-to-go-to-a-mat-and-to-be-a-polite-thanksgiving-guest/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hello, Annie Grossman here. I am the host of School for the Dogs Podcast and the owner and co-founder of School for the Dogs in New York City on East 7th Street and 1st Avenue. Make sure you come on by when you're doing your shopping this holiday season. You can also shop with us at storeforthedogs.com.

We specialize in selling toys that are meant to engage your dog’s brain and mouth at meal times. Of course, we also have an awesome selection of treats. We have our own house brand of Lamb Lung training tools. Everything we sell, we sell because we use these things ourselves. We use them with our dogs. It's just, yeah, just great stuff. So make sure you do shop with us this holiday season. We put a lot of love and effort into our shop and make sure to follow us on Instagram @SchoolfortheDogs, because we do product giveaways every Friday.

Full Transcript at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Nov 19, 202135:48
Two things every dog needs to know: Find it and touch! Featuring SFTD apprentice Leeyah Wiseman. Also: What Nat Geo was told about Cesar Millan's techniques before The Dog Whisperer even aired

Two things every dog needs to know: Find it and touch! Featuring SFTD apprentice Leeyah Wiseman. Also: What Nat Geo was told about Cesar Millan's techniques before The Dog Whisperer even aired

Annie is joined by School For The Dogs apprentice Leeyah Wiseman to discuss two super important behaviors: Touch and find it. She and Annie discuss the benefits of teaching these two things and talk about why both behaviors are such great starting places for many dogs and their humans. Check out @schoolforthedogs' Reels on Instagram to see Leeyah demo both! 

Annie also engages in some time travel, reading a letter that Dr. Andrew Luescher, a veterinary behaviorist at Purdue University, wrote more than fifteen years ago. It was addressed to National Geographic, which had asked him to review their show, The Dog Whisperer, before it was released... Based on what happened next, it seems like no one read it. 

http://beyondcesarmillan.weebly.com/andrew-luescher.html

See the Illuminaughtii episode on Cesar Millan at https://youtu.be/ENl5RTBResY

or find it on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Ygtrku55i49RA0HxxPVPG

Find Leeyah on Instagram: http://instagram.com/galdogtraining

Find Annie on Instagram: http://instagram.com/annie.grossman

Previous episodes with Malena DeMartini:

Episode 159 https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/episode-159-how-has-quarantine-changed-the-way-we-think-about-treating-separation-anxiety-in-dogs-a-conversation-with-malena-demartini-ctc/

Episode 59 https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/podcasts/separation-anxiety-expert-malena-demartini-on-helping-dogs-learn-to-be-alone/

Want to make sure you know when the next round of our apprentice opens up? Make sure to sign up for our newsletter! You can also email Annie directly at Annie@Schoolforthedogs.com. 

Love this podcast? Give it a five-star rating and leave a review on iTunes! 

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Hi! Today I am joined by School for the Dogs' apprentice, Leeyah Wiseman, who is going to talk about two very important behaviors that we teach all the time at School for the Dogs, Find it and Touch. Leeyah has been doing reels for our Instagram. You can see them @schoolforthedogs on Instagram. You can also find Leeyah on Instagram @galdogtraining, it stands for George and Leeyah dog training. George is her pup.

I tried to schedule this call with Leeyah at a time when my infant daughter would be napping, but I was foiled. So you can hear her goo-goo ga-ga-ing a little bit during this talk. And I apologize for that, but as working mother, sometimes I just have to not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, as they say.

In the beginning of the conversation, I'm asking her about Malena DeMartini, who I've had on the podcast before, who was a separation anxiety expert. And earlier in the week, Malena was gracious enough to speak to our apprentices. We have guest speakers who participate periodically.

Full Transcript at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Nov 12, 202124:42
She helps Positive Reinforcement dog trainers grow their businesses using Instagram: Meet Tiffany Chen, aka Pawsistant

She helps Positive Reinforcement dog trainers grow their businesses using Instagram: Meet Tiffany Chen, aka Pawsistant

Right after getting a pandemic puppy, Tiffany Chen decided to see if she could build some sort of side hustle in order to get her out of the corporate world. She signed up for the Virtual Assistant Internship and learned that it's wise to pick a niche. While she was working on learning about training her own dog (and building his requisite Instagram persona) she started following a lot of positive reinforcement dog trainers. It occurred to her that maybe she could use her virtual assistant powers to help them improve their marketing. She and Annie discuss how fun the R+ dog training movement is on Instagram, talk about ways to help trainers build their followings, and think aloud together about some of the overlap between training dogs and how social media's efforts to train us.

Follow Pawsistant on Instagram @pawsistant
Follow Annie on Instagram @annie.grossman
Follow School For The Dogs on Instagram @schoolforthedogs

Also mentioned in this episode:  @misunderstoodmutt @fromdusktilldog @k9fuel_ @doginspired https://virtualassistantinternship.com/

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

In the decades of my life before I became a professional dog trainer, I think I had an avatar in my brain for who a dog trainer would be, what a dog trainer would be like. And I mean, if I try and remember what that avatar is, it's someone female, older, and kind of uncool, kind of schoolmarm-ish. I guess kind of like Barbara Woodhouse, like a martinet. Not that I thought of myself as particularly cool. I didn't. But I think I thought of myself as uncool in a different kind of way than that.

And when I pictured myself becoming a dog trainer, I didn't really have a picture of what that would be like. I had, even when I graduated from Karen Pryor Academy, I hadn't even seen that many people train dogs, period. And I didn't really, I couldn't quite picture what it would be like as a career.

I mean, I literally didn't know, like how would I dress when I went to clients' houses? Like how, how do I as a dog trainer, like what clothing do I wear? It sounds simple and even silly to say that, but we're all playing roles all the time and I wasn't sure what this role was about or like how I could fit myself into it.

And I think I've talked about this on the podcast before, but in 2010, I went to the Association for Professional Dog Trainers Conference in Atlanta. It was shortly after I had graduated Karen Pryor Academy where I had only met a couple of trainers, because there were only two other people in my class, and my instructor.

And my mind was kind of blown, cause I just sort of had this moment of like seeing there's so many cool and fun and interesting things in the world of dog training. There's so much that you could do with dogs. There's so much to learn about dogs. And I think that this is somehow an overlooked hobby, discipline, area of the world when so many people have dogs in their homes.


Full Transcript at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Nov 05, 202135:18
Bonus: Regarding Blippi, Duo Lingo's training of humans, Travis Barker's True Romance obsession, Nabokov's letters, the key to getting good at anything, and... a deathaversary

Bonus: Regarding Blippi, Duo Lingo's training of humans, Travis Barker's True Romance obsession, Nabokov's letters, the key to getting good at anything, and... a deathaversary

Annie's life has two speeds right now. You'll find her physically trapped underneath her two young daughters using a suite of remote treat dispensers to train her dog, or she's at a local co-working space in a tiny room alone, talking to herself. In this bonus episode, on the one-year anniversary of her beloved dog Amos passing, she is in the latter mode, recording a kind of phone call to her late father, who she thinks would've enjoyed learning what she's learned about the Youtube star Blippi, aka Stevin John, fka Steven or "Steezy" Grossman (no relation). A line of thought about loving those who are no longer alive leads her to discuss the nature of pet love as something that exists inside of us and how the expression and feeling of that love is, in many ways, projection of something that doesn't go away when someone gone. She somehow relates this both to Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian's recent public display of their love of the movie True Romance and the way in which Nabokov's letters to his wife and to his mistress were sort of fungible. Also: She talks about how the app Duo Lingo is manipulating our behavior in a good way and she reveals the not-so-secret key to getting better at anything, which she only really understood after she became a dog trainer.  Want to use a remote trainer to train YOUR dog while your kids are climbing on you? Get a Treat and Train at http://schoolforthedogs.com/TT

---
Partial Transcript:

Annie:

I'm sitting in a vertical phone booth, coffin-like, although rather brightly lit, tiny, windowless room in a We Work. If you can call this a room. I guess actually it does have windows, but not external windows. And I feel like my life rhythm is funny right now. I'm either in a spot like this, alone, either staring at a screen or talking to myself as I am now, or I am home underneath two small children, often literally lying down underneath them, it seems.

Although to bring it back to dog training, I have set up a Pet Tutor and two Treat and Trains in my apartment because I feel like I have so little time to devote to training Poppy. And so I've been trying to use these moments where I'm like paralyzed under the two girls to do push button training, basically triggering the Treat and Train, one of the Treat and Trains.

I have one on her bed, one in her crate, and then like her relaxation mat. So like go to bed, go to crate, go to mat. I just sort of have her going from one to the other with this hilarious, like all these buttons that I'm wearing, one for each dispenser. And it's, it's ridiculous, but I think it's been good for her. If only because when I have the two of them piled on me, like I don't also want her piled on me, which she has a tendency to do cause she likes to be snuggly. Anyway.

But that moment is not this moment. This is the isolated-in-a-coffin moment. And I just wanted to share a couple things. One is that this is the one year anniversary of Amos dying today. And so I've been thinking a lot about him, but of course I think a lot about him every day. And I guess just, you know, feeling those feelings.


Full Transcript at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Nov 03, 202126:55
Ilana Alderman talks to the animals--all of them: Training and enriching the lives of fish, mice, squirrels, dogs and toddlers, too.

Ilana Alderman talks to the animals--all of them: Training and enriching the lives of fish, mice, squirrels, dogs and toddlers, too.

Dog trainer Ilana Alderman, one of Annie's closest friends, has a reputation at School For The Dogs for being a kind of Disney Princess: She looks sort of like Snow White, and seems to titter with birds and befriend fish like Cinderella or Ariel. For nearly a decade, Ilana has focused on training (and enriching the lives of) pretty much every animal she's come across. She has taught fish to play basketball, helped ring tail lemurs learn to step onto scales, taught goats to enjoy being milked, built tiny amusement parks for mice, and even trained the squirrels in her yard to ring a doorbell. She also has helped Annie organize her closet, and feels this is a kind of animal training too. Ilana has never owned a dog, but she has helped many dog owners, and is the architect of the School For The Dogs Professional Course and its open source free online text book, Born To Behave. She and Annie discuss her journey into the world of behavior and the latest animal who is benefiting from being her presence: Her son.  

Find Born to Behave at http://schoolforthedogs.com/courses

For more from Ilana, see this summer’s bonus episode: Annie reads animal trainer Ilana Alderman's 14 tips on getting a toddler to brush his teeth https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-annie-reads-animal-trainer-ilana-aldermans-14/id1355439730?i=1000524543383 

Find Ilana on Instagram @baby_enrichment and on the web at childcooperativecare.wordpress.com/

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Ilana Alderman. I have tried so hard to get you on this podcast. You know how hard I've tried. So, God, I don't even know where to start, cause you are such a dynamic person who I also happen to love very much.

Ilana Alderman:

Aw honey.

Annie:

But, why don't you just introduce yourself, and then maybe we can kind of go chronologically. Why don't you introduce yourself by whatever title you would currently give yourself in your life, and then we could maybe work backwards or forwards. Forwards from, from early on…

Ilana:

To now. Okay. Yeah. The title I would give myself professionally would probably be Animal Behavior Consultant or I, at parties, I say I'm a dog trainer. It's just so much simpler. And yeah, I like to work with any species of animals, including humans. So everything to do with behavior and how it works, and how we can change the way people or animals feel in a given situation. That's what really fascinates me. And let's see what else we were asking me, how did I,

Annie:

I mean, I say that you came into my life, I guess it was before the fire.

Ilana:

It was before the fire!

Annie:

Cause I remember you came to School for the Dogs when it was in my living room.

Ilana:

Yes.

Annie:

And yes, I think at that point you were thinking about doing Karen Pryor Academy and you were living upstate and you came in to just talk to me a little bit about it. Little did I know what a force you were. So it must have been like 2013, 2012.


Full Transcript at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcast

Oct 29, 202101:20:28