Question on E.307. Have you ever found old school submission pins or flips to be effective? And would you ever use them and when? I have a leash reactive lab. Loves dogs and people but will charge and bark when on leash with me. The level of correction on prong and ecollar we’re making me uncomfortable like 70+ on educator and he was just spinning and pushing through it 2/3 times. I feel like he was just giving me the bird and saying I’m gunna react because I can. I started pinning him if he went to charge dogs after I gave the leave it command and I have seen a huge change. I feel like the prong and ecollar corrections were maybe not “personal enough”? I’m probably gunna catch flak for using this but I’m using way less force and discomfort than the prong/ecollar. He is conditioned to both and loves people and plays well with dogs off leash.

Great episode. I learned why it’s more more productive to think about re-framing an issue that I have with something my dog does, from “how to I stop this…” (negative frame) to “what do I actually want the dog to do instead” (positive)? And also why it’s key to understand the impetus behind the undesired behavior. Thank you! I love this podcast!!

Hi Tom, I really enjoy your podcast and have gained a lot of insight for my dog training—thank you for sharing your knowledge. I’m currently working with a client who has a six-year-old, three-legged mixed breed (similar to a Border Collie). Recently, while the dog was lying in the kitchen, their young son—who just started walking—came within about 2 to 3 feet of the dog. The dog suddenly got up and bit him. According to the owner, there was no interaction or warning beforehand, and no prior issues between the dog and the child. I’ve also seen no indication of neurological problems in this dog. There’s a second dog in the home (a Husky) who was in the living room at the time, and there doesn’t seem to be any connection to the incident. The mother was present in the kitchen during the bite. For a bit more context, this dog does show signs of resource guarding the mother, particularly when she’s on the couch spending one-on-one time with the child. The dog knows “place” and “leave it,” and follows them fairly well. My question is: Would your e-collar methods—specifically your off-leash training protocols—be helpful in this case? I’d love your thoughts on how best to support this dog and family moving forward. Thanks again for all you do!

I started listening about 2 weeks ago and I have been through countless episodes trying to learn as much as I can. Thank you for all the knowledge and experience you share with your listeners! My boyfriend and I recently adopted a mixed breed shelter puppy and we are working diligently on training. We both work for small family businesses and work very long hours 5-6 days a week so we alternate who takes the puppy. My parents bring their dogs to work as well but we have had to rotate which days they come because of the puppy. They are pit bulls which they got because I have one that they fell in love with. They are both around 95-110lbs. One of their dogs gets along really well with the puppy and they play all day. We introduced the other one to the puppy and it went horribly. Their dog is very reactive and honestly aggressive towards the puppy. He has met other dogs in the past and has done okay with them but hasn’t been SUPER socialized because of his reactivity and their lack of control over him. I don’t know why but with the puppy he immediately went after him and submitted him to the ground. The puppy got scared and helped and that sent him off the cliff. I was afraid that if we didn’t pull him off he would’ve killed the puppy. I don’t know what to do whether it’s hopeless and they’ll never be able to be in the same room or if scheduling a consultation with you would provide more information and what we could do. I’ve gone through so many episodes trying to find a similar situation and I haven’t heard one yet. Please help!!

Dear Tom, I would like to get straight to my question which is, how would you correct a dog for jumping up and trying to bite the leash while on walks? Our 6 month old Australian cattle dog, husky and German shepherd mix has a very strong herding instinct, and though doesn’t try to bite me, he tries to bite the leash. I try to pop the leash, though never quite time it right. Thank you for all the free advice you give, and have already found use through it even as an 11 year old. Hope you have a nice day, sir.

Hi Tom, your podcast episodes and YouTube videos have been amazing for our new Toller pup. I have two questions: Is there ever such a thing as starting too early with basic obedience for a puppy? I get a lot of comments from people saying we are being too “strict”. My parents have a German Shepherd that has reactivity issues. He loves and would absolutely not hurt for sure 5 people in his life (including me) but others can be questionable. Bit my sister for trying to pet him and bit my husband for trying to correct him during a fetch session. He also has issues with other dogs. Some are okay and others he wants to dominate. My question is, should I allow the dogs to meet at all? If so should the shepherd have a muzzle at all times? I really worry about my pup having a bad interaction and it changing the way he behaves around dogs because of it. Thank you so much!

Recently found your podcast and purchased the star mark collar for my 2yr old mini bernedoodle. Already she’s paying more attention to what I’m asking. Thank you so much!

Hi Tom, Thanks for the podcast. I can’t stop listening! I have one conceptual question if I may. Here it is: how exactly is the heel command supposed to help with leash pulling? I have a dog, a beagle-spaniel mix, 2 years old, reactive and often pulls on the leash. We are learning the heel command and will, of course, continue with that. However, I’m not sure how often to use it in the future (except for obvious situations like crossing a road). In practice, my dog has two "modes" during our walks: she either heels when I ask, or pulls when I set her free. What should I do when she pulls? I actually don’t need to keep her on my side the whole walk. Being a mix of hunting breeds, she’s a huuugely curious sniffer, and she can’t do this in heel mode, obviously. So I want her to walk more or less freely, stop and start according to her needs, sniff around, but not pull. Could you please draw a picture of how a good, long city walk should be structured? Is the dog supposed to stay at my side the whole time? If not, again—what do I do when she pulls? Thank you so much!

Hi Tom love this podcast so much I have a one year old Labrador border collie mix who is very well trained and has great recall but I was wondering what the best to make him respond faster to the commands like you have with your Shepard!

I have a 7 month old puppy we adopted from a rescue at 3 months. Ever since we got her, she has been very fearful and skittish—pure flight mode in many situations. I have worked hard on obedience & our relationship to help with her confidence, and we have made huge strides in areas we frequent often… My question is: When we go to new places, like trails she is unfamiliar with, what should I do, specifically, to help her through this fear and help her to become more confident in these new situations/areas? I’m hoping to help her grow into a resilient/flexible pup as much as possible. Thank you, I appreciate your help so much!

I’m Octavio owner of Dogtavio training in France, and Tom helps me everyday to understand human And dogs needs, great example, empathy and communication, this is a go to if you have a dog or you think of having one 🧡🐶

Tom, For the Mil Man in Germany; I have a Cz GSD from Germany & the fence covers/screens work for us. Huge difference. Thanks for all you do Tom. Love your podcast.

Hi Tom, the content and knowledge you provide is absolutely outstanding. If I could give you more than a 5 star review, I would. You’re amazing and I’m so grateful you share your knowledge. I binge your podcasts on a daily basis and my dog walks always include me listening to you 😀 I’m a dog mom with two goldens one being a new puppy. I have learned so much about dog behavior and developing a relationship with them. I couldn’t have done it without you. I can’t thank you enough for what you do and I will be coming to your seminar in December 2024. I can’t wait. Thank you again for all you do. 😊

Tom clearly has a lot of knowledge and experience that dog owners can use. Overall, his manner is positive and polite. I do wish that he would try not to veer into broad judgments that aren’t accurate based on what the guests on the show have said about their training efforts. For example, in Ep. 274, he says “You’ve basically let your dog get away with anything he wants,” despite the owners explaining that they’ve trained their dog on basic commands, but struggle getting him to comply when walking on the leash outside. Most of us dog owners have done a degree (sometimes a significant amount) of training with success, but still find ourselves needing help. It’s frustrating when you hear the guests honestly portraying their efforts and challenges only to be told that basically they haven’t done a single useful thing. It’s a process, after all, and the people coming on his show (and listening to it) are sincerely committed to continue learning and growing as dog owners.

Excellent recent episode with Alfred Brenner. Thank you for sharing your story! I will be reading your book!

Wow. I almost could not get through this episode. LADY…give that puppy back! You really have no business owning a puppy. Tom is a trainer, not a miracle worker. I feel bad for that pup. Outside of that, good podcast.

I have a 5 year old GSD with an anxious/reactive history. She is prong collar and e-collar trained. She has come a long way with her behavior, but she is sneaky about food. She knows not to go into the garbage, on the counter, or near family member’s plates when I’m around. She waits until I leave the room to grab a drink, use the bathroom, or need to help my wife in another room. She uses all of these opportunities to get food from the trash, counter, and my son’s plate. I understand the importance of timed corrections and I can never catch her in the act. Do I need to tie this dog to my waist? lol. I want her to have freedom and not have her tied to her place command every time I need to move. Any advice would be appreciative :) Love the podcast.

I understand that my dog most likely will not get over her fear of strangers but she needs help managing her fear. She is well trained in obedience. She knows heel very well but when we are walking around the neighborhood and the neighbors are outside minding their own business she feels the need to pull away and break heel to essentially run away. I correct her for breaking heel but she won’t go back into heel until we pass the non-threatening neighbors. After 1 year of this she doesn’t seem to be making any progress on managing her fear of people. I am not sure if my corrections are appropriate and if I’m making her fear worse. How would you attempt to modify this behavior? Thanks

Great podcast, ton of amazing free resources. I have a 7 month Alaskan malamute who can be very stubborn (per the breed). He’s fairly smart and picked up well on his obedience (sit, place, stay, come, down) , however, he is definitely in his teenage phase. Our biggest issue is his inability to “leave it” when he’s outside. He will try and sneak bark chips, pine cones, grass, sticks you name it. He was worse as a puppy puppy but he’s slowly getting better. Still, he will grab something outside he’s not supposed to have and run the other way. We tried a muzzle and found that he would barely listen and was a lot more spastic on walks. We just bought an e collar and slowly started to get him comfortable with it in the house and practicing “place” per your video. It’s going pretty well. Long story short, he knows “leave it” but continuous to ignore it when he really wants something. He will also ignore us when he’s very invested in a smell, a sound, etc. how can I use the collar to train him to “leave it”, “drop it” and focus on me when he really doesn’t want to. He’s food motivated but still ignores us in these situations.

I figured you might appreciate the click bait title 😁 Anyways, I could probably write a novel in thank you’s as I feel it’s important you always know how meaningful your work and resources are to the every day dog owner. I’ll try to keep this condensed. I have an 8 month old male German Shepherd named Sheriff who has you to thank tonight for keeping him safe. I have a previous background in horse training so it’s possible I find your insight readily digestible, but I absolutely attribute your wonderful resources to the amazing relationship I have with my dog as I had the pleasure of stumbling upon your resources shortly after I brought Sheriff home. We live on a humble 3 acre farm with a couple of horses and tonight we had our first encounter with a coyote. Again, thanks to your available resources, I was able to immediately put Sheriff in a “place” while I ran inside to quickly equip myself. He proceed to not budge an inch as I eventually ended up nearly 2 acres away. Once I felt we were in the clear I broke him from his “place” where he bounded straight to me and proceeded to walk the property line at my side. I am incredibly grateful that I had the confidence in our relationship and his training to not have to worry about him high tailing it after a coyote and straight into a potential ambush. Probably not your typical “You Saved My Dog” review, but nonetheless thank you for all of the content you put out as it’s in the real life scenarios that all of this truly matters 😊

Awesome podcast and advice! I have a 7-month-old husky puppy. She’s really smart, really confident, but really stubborn (huskies lol). Tom’s videos (especially on heel work and engagement) have been super helpful for her training and for wiping out bad habits before they become a problem. Question: How do I stop demand barking? This is a new thing with her. So far this really only happens around food, and ONLY if our cats are nearby. For example, I put her on a Place while I prep her food bowl, but if the cats are within eyesight she throws a FIT and won’t stop demand barking at me. It’s like she panics that the cats are going to eat her food (they don’t try, and usually they’re blocked by a gate anyway). I have tried to counter this behavior with obedience, but she still demand barks as she sits, lays down, etc. Any time I try to correct her with leash pops while barking she couldn’t care less. I’ve worked with her a lot to encourage calmness indoors and she’s very quiet for a husky, so this is the first major hurdle I’ve had with demand barking. Would appreciate any advice on this.

Tom really helps me sort out my dogs’ behavior through this podcast. I have learned so much! My new rescue had extreme leash reactivity to other dogs. Using a prong and working on obedience we are able to walk right past dogs with no issues if she is heeling in only 3 months of her being with me. I do have a question for the podcast: the rescue I mentioned is a GSD, malinois, Dutch shepherd mix. Dynamics were better with our male dog, but this morning I woke up to her humping me while I was sleeping! I know usually that means she is trying to establish dominance… right? What do I do now? I thought I had established really clear leadership for her.

I love the podcast and you have helped so much with my two French Bulldogs and my Mastiff! My question is about my mastiff. He is over 70 lbs at 4.5 months and he is well trained in most circumstances but sometimes he sees another dog and his training goes out the window. I am a very small middle aged woman and I am doing everything in my power to be sure I have control over him. He has a great temperament but the sheer weight issue can pull me off my feet. Is 4.5 months too young to start e collar training with a pup? He is in dog training 3x a week and i work with him 2-4 hrs a day at home, but my trainer doesn’t do e collar, and my pup knows his commands but if he gets a trigger, the prong had zero effect and in two months, he will weigh the same as me. I want to buy your e collar to train him, but I’ve often heard you say to wait till a pup is 6 months. Thanks for any help you can provide.

And I’ve listen to your podcast to teach me how to raise him and I must say…. He is very well behaved . You’re very straight to the point and I really enjoy what you do. Thank you so much

My 2 dogs NEVER listen. I took my dog to off leash training and she listened for 2 weeks after. We paid 250$ for her to still not listen! I started looking for help to train them. I found this podcast and I found it made sense. I looked at other podcasts and they would explain about stuff that was hard to understand. When I tried to use it on my dogs they literally listened!!! I love this podcast so much and it works so well! Please watch if you need help with training a pet! Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much Tom!!!!!!

This is not a question, but simply a thank you. I’m an up and coming young trainer and recently adopted my first dog. He’s a Belgian Malinois, and you and Lakota have been my biggest inspirations. My Mal Remi is one years old and we have been following your free content religiously. He’s become my demo dog, which has greatly helped with my career. I watch all your videos and listen to your podcasts while I’m driving to clients houses. I need to constantly educate myself, and your content has been like gold. Thank you Tom and thank you Abbie for all of your work. You’ve given me priceless career advice and I beyond appreciate you and your team.

Any tips on how to continue to improve my relationship with my dog that is anxious, and also improve his overall confidence. He is epileptic so not sure if that plays a role in his overall thinking process and behavior. Obedience seems to stress him out more, so I’m unsure how to help him. I feel like I’m walking on egg shells, and there’s no quality dog trainers in Greensboro, NC that I trust.

I’ve been a big fan for a while, the No Bad Dogs treat pouch is also incredible. Question: We have a 2 year old lab/pyrenees mix that is a certified therapy dog and has his advanced CGC. One thing we have struggled with is that he offers his paw all the time. Pretty much every interaction he offers his paw without being asked while sitting and even standing. This is something we are trying to break, but a correction with e collar or leash hasn’t stuck with him. What do you suggest to stop the behavior? It’s cute but could potentially scratch someone as he’s a big guy.

Hi Tom! I have a 3yo 80lb golden retriever who we are currently training for leash reactivity. We just perfected our “heel” with a prong collar (minus when dogs are around, other distractions are fine). We used a gentle leader in the past and A) he really didn’t like it and was always pawing at his face to get it off and B) he became collar smart. We really want to avoid him being collar smart with the prong collar, especially because we have finally perfected his heel with it in just over a week. We went on a car ride the other day, so we didn’t put on the prong collar since we were only walking out to the car, and he dragged me once he realized the prong collar wasn’t on. Help!!? How can we avoid this. I want to eventually just be able to use the flat. Especially when we go away because I don’t trust someone else to walk him with a prong collar if they don’t know how to use it.

(Not a question) I’ve been working with my Malinois, Aegis(ee-jis) way more after we’ve been going to help friends on the weekends, she’s been in the crate now 13 hrs(obviously not on purpose) and she had no mess or drool marks near her crate! She wasn’t even whiny, when I came home. Her training has been improving so much, and I can’t thank you enough! The fact that you can answer these people’s questions about dogs for free helped me and my dogs relationship so much! Me and her are so much happier and it feels like we’re ACTUALLY progressing for once! We’ve bumped up to 57 commands and her crate training is going amazing! I’m eternally grateful for your advice! Thank you Tom, so much for all the work you do, I now can have a better relationship with my dog and she isn’t a menace any longer! Persistence is definitely key! Also I’ve seen you working with Burleigh(I think that’s how you spell it) and he’s so amazing! Big dogs can be a challenge as they mature MUCH slower and are big babies the first few years of their life, and I admire you patience! Thank you so much Tom! Also I wanted to know if maybe you will be doing a seminar in Indiana possibly(or later down the line) I would love to see you work with dogs!

Hello Tom! First I want to say thank you so much for all the awesome content you have and helping educate me and many others about dogs! One thing I admire about you is how well/easily you can explain to people how dogs thinks and how to do what you do! Thank you from dog lover to dog lover you’re a blessing! Quick context:I have 2 dogs both fixed male and female named Sonny and Cher. Sonny is a St. Bernard GSD mix. And Cher is a mixed breed not sure what. Both are I would say intermediate level 3. They listen 80-90% of the time to me and my partner off leash with out without e collar. Have your Tom Davis dogtra 280C for both them. Cher tends to be extremely sensitive to it where most days level 8 is too much for her as the boost. But her working level is about 2 or 3 and boost is set to about a 6-7. Sonny he just doesn’t care about it at all even at level 100. He does, however, care about the vibrate function on it and I don’t like using the vibrate for his working level Question: need a second opinion on Cher: is the e collar something I shouldn’t do or if she was your dog would you be okay with how sensitive she is to the e collar at low levels? Sonny might just not be feeling the stimulation, are there any longer prongs for the e collar, and how do I go about making him care about the e collar or even taking a notice to it? Because level 100 is kinda crazy to not even flinch at. IMO.

This podcast has been so helpful and informational for me. I recently rescued a pit bull mix who is leash reactive and the episodes on reactivity have been motivating and incredibly helpful for me. The analogies Tom uses really help put things in perspective. There are days that I get so frustrated that I feel like just giving up but then I listen to this podcast and it gets me back on track. We recently had an encounter on a walk where my dog and I were charged by a very small off leash dog. I froze and then panicked. I use a prong collar but had to man-handle my dog away from the situation. No one was hurt but it did not go well at all. I am wondering what I could do better if/when this happens again? I did order a basket muzzle to help ease my panic in this case.

The training videos are spot on impressive. We love your work and the dedication you have to making dog lives easier and more enjoyable with their humans. We love everything you’ve created and it’s been so helpful with our 10 week old puppy. Keep up the great work! We understand our puppy is a puppy. However; she has gotten to the point that she enjoys having rocks, sticks, leaves, etc in her mouth. Sometimes she’ll spit it out and other times she swallows them down. Which inevitably she throws everything up at night. We’ve have tried to remove them from her mouth but she clamps her jaws shut so we can’t get what she has. She is very good at staying by us and listening to her commands but every now and then she wanders. Do you have tips on how to get her attention away from eating those things or will this come with time as she ages? Appreciate everything you’ve done!

Thank you for all that you do. You take the time to explain things well, and offer your expertise for every type of situation and dynamic. I have recommended you to all of my friends that are dog parents!

Hey Tom I’m having a hard time with getting my dog to listen if he knows I’m not gonna reward him. I know I need to change something I’m doing I’m just not quite sure what. We train every day and he does great when he knows there’s a reward but as soon as I try to put any of our training into real world it seems to fail. This is a struggle when it comes to recall when there’s distractions. Very open to any criticism just want the best for my dog.

Hi Tom! I am so thankful for the podcast and my dog has a better and more structured life because of what I’ve learned from the podcast! I have specific question about demand barking. My dog has recently picked up a new habit of demand barking, specifically on his place. He does not try to break his place, he holds the place command well, but he may or may not have a huge episode of demand barking. When this happens, it is an out-of-control crazy tantrum where he seems to lose his own mind (all while holding the place command). So far, we completely ignore him until it stops. And I may calmly tell him “good” once it stops and soon after I will break him from the place. But the issue has persisted and it is so miserable when it does. I don’t know how to correct this behavior, because it seems like walking over to him to deliver a correction on the prong would be also be positively reinforcing him because it would be giving him the attention he wants. He is conditioned the ecollar (mini educator) but so far, we only use this tool for negative reinforcement and never yet for positive punishment. Can you advise on whether we should correct this, and how?

Hi Tom, We have rescued our dog from a HAWS location and he is a hound mix, 2 years old. He was relinquished to shelter due to his previous owners living in apartments and dog was barking. Haws did share that he did pull/lunge on leash. We took him on a walk during our first initials visits to decide if we were going to adopt him and did notice he was reactive towards another dog but didn’t think about it. Fast forward we have had him for 2 months now and he has progress in terms of him being a sweet dog in the house, when we are on walks and he sees anything, strangers, other dogs, strollers, bicycles etc he gets very reactive and aggressive, lunges, pulls, barks, on hind legs. We live in apartments in a very busy area with a lot of other dogs and we tried to control when we take him out but he still reacts when he sees other dogs and in the car he also gets very reactive and jumping to back seat to get to strangers. We do see there is opportunity for obedience training and relationship building and others shared that it takes 3-4 months for him to get use to us but we don’t have that much time as we are fearful he may react and bite someone. Is there anything we can do in terms of getting his reactivity lessen with the short time he has been with us?

Hi Tom, I love the way to teach dog training. The analogies are SO helpful. What causes leash reactivity? My dog is great on leash and I want to make sure I don’t make any mistakes. Thank you!!!!

Hi Tom! I have two questions. My first question is that I’ve noticed that my dog can be a bit of a bully to other dogs. For example, when she is around my family dog, who she usually gets along with, my dog will often get jealous if someone is petting the family dog. She will try to get in between my family dog and whoever is petting her. How do you recommend correcting this behavior? Similarly, she will also try and take bones or toys from the family dog. My second question is about prong collars. How do you recommend introducing a prong collar? Thank you so much!

Thanks for the great content! I have a 1 year old gsd/border collie/dane/pit mix dealing with some leash reactivity. He grew up in the shelter so his puppyhood wasn’t built around calm interactions with other dogs. He doesn’t necessarily bark when seeing other dogs but he gets himself into a tizzy and I can see his excitement and/or anxiety escalating. I generally ask him for either a heel, sit or down when we see another dog to give him something to focus on. If he listens I reward with praise or a treat. If he blows me off and keeps focusing on the other dog I will give either a leash correction or ecollar correction. I understand it take time and repetition to start seeing change but here is my concern. When I give him a correction he will bark loudly and get snappy towards me. It’s like a pressure cooker getting released. I understand that he’s getting built up by the sight of the other dog and me snapping him out of it in the moment is what’s causing the “redirected aggression”. What would you do differently in this situation? There are situations in which I want to snap him out of the intense eye contact and the building but I also don’t like seeing the backlash when I do so.

Need Help! Our 2year old Australian Shepherd (neutered) is triggered when people come to our house or mail workers deliver to our house (these are the only places we have this behavior at). We have learned to make him "place" when he barks at something/someone outside to alert us and that works. BUT once he is in attack mode like the mail worker he doesn't listen. We just purchased a sonic sound clicker which doesn't seem to phase him when he is in attack mode. When someone comes over we have learned to keep him on a leash, do training tricks to work anxiety out, have our guest give him treats and he is calm after that. I am just wanting to know is there anything else we can do to stop his reactivity and his attack mode??

Hey Tom! Just wanted to say I’m so grateful for the work you do, I’ve been following you for a month or so and have learned so much. I’ve also found tons of value in your NBD community membership, really love that space. QUESTION: any tips for training two puppies? I have a 9mo pit/gsd mix and a 5 mo gsd. I know I’m crazy for getting two puppies just a few months apart but here we are! I split them up a couple times a day and work individually with them which is super helpful and also where I see the most progress but just wondering if there is anything else you’d suggest. Thanks!

I have a question about my 6 month old Australian Sheppard mix. Whenever I come home after being at work all day he ducks his head and tail and starts to pee. It can happen a few times a day. When I greet him with a pet he immediately pees and walks away. What should I do? Great podcast! Keep it up!

Tom, love your content, really appreciate all you do. Purchased your e-collar…works exactly like you said it would, definitely money well spent. Two questions which are a bit off topic but would appreciate hearing your thoughts. In your experience, do you believe dogs prefer going for walks on familiar routes or like to explore new areas more? What age do you advise to spay/neuter?

Edit for Context: 6mo border collie/Lab sometimes redirects on me through gentle bites to my hands/wrists. Is this something I should work on directly? Or is it likely a result of gaps in our communication and will get better with everything else? Since original post, redirection has significantly decreased (yay!) The only time it is still occuring is when he is highly stimulated/disregulated and I have to grab his collar to lead him away from something(such as barking at fence in yard or if he gets playing too rough with person.) I will be adding in ecollar in the coming weeks. His leave it and other off leash ob is decent but not up to the level in these high stim situations. Original: Hi Tom! I am loving your podcast, Youtube content, and the NBD club. This podcast gives such comprehensive information to help people understand dogs, their relationship to people and the world at large in addition to the many technical training bits. Your analogies are awesome! I am starting to see great progress with my dog (5mo Lab/Border Collie) in terms of obedience, our relationship, and his reactivity. My Q: As we work through things(especially new things), he does sometimes redirect on me through nips at my hands, barking, showing his teeth. Is this something I should work on directly? Or is it likely a result of gaps in our communication and will get better with everything else? My common sense says he is rightfully frustrated, but I also dont want to be naive and ignore it

Long time listener. Wish it was socially acceptable to give your info to dog owners unsolicited 🤓 your recent episode on off-leash training got me to take our almost 4 yr old fixed 55 lb mixed breed - Bowie - with me to our place in the mountains so I could do some training. He loves it here but hates riding in the car. He doesn’t look forward to getting IN the car - but also doesn’t protest. Its a two hour drive and he pretty much stands the entire time panting and clearly anxious. Same deal when just driving around town. Same whether in a mostly solid kennel in the car or just sitting on the back seat or way back of SUV. Same if we went for two hour hike and then he got in car. Tried CBD treats; didn’t seem to do anything Q1- Advice on how we can reduce his car anxiety? Q2 - he knows place. “Problem” is that he likes his place bed and will just go to it to lay down and relax. He will basically put himself in place and then look to us to say “break” as if he is stuck there. Similarly, if we put him in place and after a bit we say “break” he sometimes seems to just want to stay….if we put him in place and say break do we have to make him physically leave “place”?

Hi! I love your podcast it has been very informative for me. I just got an Australian Shepard puppy. Haddie (the dog) is fairly obedient and has learned sit and is still trying to be potty trained. What should I train her to do, and In what order should I train her that. Thanks!

Hi Tom! I need your advice/input. My Malinois and my neighbors dog do not like eachother. We have a fence separating our yards but every single time my neighbor lets her dog out it immediately charges the fence looking to attack my dog, weather we’re outside or not. I spend most my days outside with my dog, if I’m able to see the neighbors dog before my mal then I can recall her. But if she sees the neighbors dog before I do she will also charge the fence and they will run up and down trying to bite eachother through the fence. What should I be doing in this situation? I have your ecollar and use that to correct her for charging fence after ignoring my recall. But she doesn’t not care, no matter how high I turn it up. Is it even fair to correct her in this situation? I know she’s just trying to protect me but ultimately i want her to ignore the dog, is that fair to ask of her?

Hi Tom! Thank you so much for all of the amazing information that you put out. You have transformed my understanding of dog training and dog behavior. We recently adopted a 3 year old small Shepard mix who was a stray in Texas. She is a wonderful dog, but has a VERY strong prey drive (squirrels, chipmunks, birds, mice etc.). I have listened to many of your podcasts about e-collar training. We are working hard on obedience training currently with your kickstart course- as I know obedience is the first step. Is it realistic that we can get off leash trained with her with the use of the e-collar despite her incredibly strong prey drive? Thank you so much- and keep up the great work you do!

Love love love your podcasts and your work, Tom! 2 questions please :) Question 1 - Should I correct my 16 month intact male GSD for marking my fixed 8 year old female GSD's pee on walks? I correct him when his nose is right in her business while she's peeing but let him mark when she's done and walks away. She's not an excessive marker. Question 2 - What should I do when my 16 month intact male GSD are around family dogs that are excessive markers? The family dogs (11 year old fixed GSP and 10 months intact male Brittany) are excessive markers. They both excessively mark even when there are no other dogs around. I watch my 16 month intact male GSD very closely when he's around them and won't let him join the competition. However he will go back after the fact and mark. I don't want him to learn the excessive marking behavior from the other two. It's not an issue when it's just him and my female GSD. I know scent marking is a canine behavior and marking can increase around other males so not sure what to do in this situation. I'm thinking about leashing him when the other two are around. Thank you so much, Tom!!!