“What am I doing that’s setting my dog up where I feel like I need to reward for effort?” Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, explore what it means to “ask your dog a question” in training. Rather than guessing why a dog is struggling or rushing to a fix, they recommend deliberately testing one criterion at a time to find out what the dog understands and where the breakdown is. Stacy shares how simplifying the setup revealed that Jack needed to see a container to

“There are 100 ways to train a dog. And you’ve got to train the dog that’s in front of you.” Our hosts, Robin Grubel and Stacy Barnett, unpack the role of markers in scent-detection training—and why a clicker or verbal “yes” isn’t a magic button. They explain the difference between a marker that signals the end of a behavior and a cue that asks the dog to do something. They also discuss how a click can accidentally become a cue for a trained final response if it’s used the

“Ultimately, it is an art. There is an artistic side to dog training.” Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, are back with Paul Bunker of Chiron K9 to discuss the finer points of calibration and communication between dog and handler! Paul revisits breed temperament. As a few quick examples, pointers and chocolate Labradors are "pedantic," holding out for their exact target odor, while spaniels and Malinois generalize liberally and are more prone to false alerts. That li

What to listen for: "The bigger the gap between the image in our head and reality, the more we're going to struggle." Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, chat about a peculiar kind of self-deception. The kind that costs years of training, thousands of dollars, and sometimes the well-being of both dog and handler. They call it beer goggles: the tendency to see the dog we want rather than the dog standing in front of us. Robin talks about Flash, her Lab who simply doesn

What to listen for: “The first thing that you have to ask is, ‘Why?’ And if you can ask the why… that leads us to a training plan.” Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, break down why "opting out" has become a buzzword that may obscure more than it reveals. While the term sounds empowering (giving dogs agency and choice), they argue it can become a label that prevents handlers from addressing underlying training gaps. Robin shares the story of 15-year-old Rae, who "opt

What to listen for: “We’re always inspired by the students and all the hard work that goes on. It blows my mind every single year.”...