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

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

Summary: 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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 Meet Leeyah Wiseman SFTD-CPT, School For The Dogs' "Reels" maven and recent Professional Course graduate | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:57:33

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 

 Private socialization lessons for "Misfit" dogs of NYC: A conversation with two SFTD (human) clients | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:32:53

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

 How to train "Look" (Rebroadcast of 12/4/18 episode) | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:37:40

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: https://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

 Elise Mac Adam, SFTD CPT, on how the grief of rehoming a dog led her to the School For The Dogs Professional Course | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:41:58

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

 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" | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:54:39

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

 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 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:26:54

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  

 "We don't expect this sort of robotic, one way dictatorship in other relationships..." Meet Dogminded's Jenny Efimova, KPA CTP | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:51:26

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

 Live From New York, It's... Positive Reinforcement Dog Training! Saturday Night Live set designer Ken MacLeod on becoming a professional dog trainer | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:46:20

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

 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) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:22:03

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

 Bad vegans, coercion & canine immortality: What sociopaths can teach us about dog training | File Type: audio/x-m4a | Duration: 00:20:27

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

 Calm, confidence, love & joy: How Will + Jada Pinkett Smith helped create The Dog Whisperer | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:36:22

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

  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. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:46:58

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

 Best Pet Ever: Comedian (and Scottie lover) Douglas Widick on being a "Big Man [With A] Tiny Dog" | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:41:25

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

 Should your dog stop eating carbs? A conversation with dog food entrepreneur Daniel Schulof of Keto Natural Pet Foods | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:47:58

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

 Private training for puppies: What it's like to work one-on-one with an SFTD puppy trainer (Also: Special offer on virtual training) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:24:31

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

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