Training the Pointing Labrador

#136 G Update and Transferring Responsibility to Your Dog

In this episode, we talk about the improvements in G and her work, and the associated idea of teaching your dog to take responsibility for doing their own work without your constant reminders and assistance.  It is a big part of training a dog to be very good at what they do. 

#135 G Update and Listener Questions

In today's episode, I tell on Miss G and all the things she's doing this week.  We also break down 4 listener questions about the training of a puppy at this age, centered on when to begin 'discipline', live bird introduction, the real purpose of basic obedience and why working on retrieving is so important.

#134 G Update and Working on Young Dog Skills

In today's episode, we talk about how Miss G makes me have to think a lot about what we're doing; outlandish behavior on the walk and retrieves without any return.  We also discuss how the training aspects now are important to future behaviors, so it helps to keep in mind how quickly these little guys learn and grow.

#133 Puppy 12-week Status and Discussion of Dog Types

In this episode, I bring you up to date on "G" and her latest hijinks and what I plan to do about them.  From there we go into a discussion on the approach to various dog personalities, their abilities, their limitations and how to think about adjusting your training program to take your dogs idiosyncrasies into account.

#132 The New Puppy and Behavior Issues with the Little Guys

The new puppy has a call name!  We discuss what she's been up to, good and bad and how to approach, or at least think about, questionable puppy behavior.  Barking, biting, good aggression are also talked about; these little fellows, though short in duration can certainly be a handful...

#131 Puppy Progress and How to Approach your 2021 Training

In this episode, I bring listeners up to date with the latest yellow puppy progress.  We also discuss how to approach your dog goals in 2021, the way to be the best trainer possible and wind up with the success you'd like to see this coming year.  Hint:  don't be afraid of training problems, and small things are much easier to fix than big things...

#130 New Pup and Don't Always Believe what you Literally See

In this episode, I introduce a new puppy I'm going to showcase over the next year on the podcast and on Facebook.  We also discuss that just responding to your dog's behavior without really thinking about it first can sometimes cause problems.  Dogs will tell you their story.  You  need to step back and listen more sometimes... Happy New Year to All!

#129 What do Dogs Know and How Important your Mindset is

In this episode, we look at research that supposedly tells us how dogs know who we are.  There are many interesting ideas about the dog/human relationship, perhaps none more significant than what you actually think about your own dog.  It is a fascinating topic and very helpful when you are engaged in any kind of dog training.

#128 Podcast by Request: Why Puppies and Dogs often have Health Issues

This particular episode is done by request from a man who recently bought a new pup, against his wife's wishes.  The pup came with what appeared to be some health issues and he was worried because his neighbors dogs had come up with odd health issues as well.  He wanted to know what to think of these problems, and what he might be able to do to fix them.  An interesting peak into why dogs often get 'sick'.

#127 "Kicking in" the Point and a Story

In this episode, aimed at my pointing retriever people, we talk about ways to get the pointing dog to point when they may not have pointed yet, or only tend to point for a few seconds before breaking on the bird.  We finish off with a story of a very titled and talented dog who was a fantastic flusher until one magic day in the snow....