Ruff Around The Edges

Send a text A chat at the airfield turns into a round of “I would never…” and sparks this episode on what I call verbal condemnation.   From “I’d never rehome my dog” to “My dog would never bite” , these statements often hide fear, not fact. I explore the defense mechanisms behind them, projection, denial, moral high ground, and why they sting so much when directed at us.  Awareness isn’t about br...

Send a text We say things like “I just want to get the most out of life” all the time, especially when it comes to our dogs, who already feel like they’re on borrowed time. But when you stop to really think about it…what does that even mean? In this episode, I follow that thought down a bit of a rabbit hole. What does it actually mean to maximize life? For ourselves, for our dogs? Is it about time...

Send a text When your work is about helping others, whether it’s animals, people, or both, it can be hard to draw the line between care and self-sacrifice.  In this episode, I talk to Gunila Pedersen, a veterinarian who dealt with burnout, left the field, and then returned on her own terms after becoming a coach.  We talk about the pressure to be perfect, the weight of euthanasia decisions, what h...

Send a text It's not my dog's fault I'm sick... It's not my dog's fault work's busy... So, that means I have to put them first. Not make them suffer for my choices. What's suffering though? Are they suffering? Are you? When do you get to put yourself first? That's what this episode is about. I give you some pointers as to how you can question your brain as w...

Send a text Barbara van Rheenen is illustratrice en woont samen met haar twee witte herders Guzzi en Lupo . Recent schreef en illustreerde ze een boekje over wat daar bij komt kijken. Een boekje met tips over opvoeding, maar ook veel herkenbare anekdotes uit haar eigen leven, en natuurlijk met schitterende illustraties. Het schrijven van "Wittebroodsweken- Houden van je herder" leverder...

Send a text  In this episode of Ruff Around the Edges , I explore the power of starting with a "no" to gain clarity on what we truly want. By identifying what we're not willing or able to do, we make it easier to figure out where we want to go — whether it’s choosing how to manage our dog’s behavior or making parenting decisions. I also dive into the importance of listening to your...

Send a text Claire describes such familiar themes. Like what it’s like to look back at how her childhood dogs were treated with the knowledge she has now. How she thought she knew quite a bit about dogs until Ozzy came along. Ozzy was adopted from a charity, who had done a pretty great job preparing prospective adopters for what it’s like to bring a new dog into the home, and yet Claire, like many...

Send a text Warning: this episode references euthanasia What do you do when you have been dealt an emotional blow , and need time to process that, but time is the one thing you don't have? Because you have to get back to work so you can make rent for example? Or because you're parenting small children and you're happy to get 5 minutes of quiet time on the toilet? This episode tries...

Send a text Leah Lykos, a dog behaviorist out of Chattanooga Tennessee and guardian to three dogs, Eva, Biggie, and Mia explains how her focus is on movement and somatic work . That makes sense given that she operates from the philosophy that for dogs even more so than for humans there is no separation of mind and body . We discuss something new to me: resistance feeding . The idea behind resistan...

Send a text [The audio of this episode is a bit wonky, but I hope you'll put up with it because the content is great] Matilda is a canine coach who creates all the things she wishes she would have had available when working with her dog Nala for her clients. We talk about how Rafiki, her second dog, helped her grow into the person she is now. (and what on earth possessed her to get a second d...

Send a text When you have to train something you don't know how to identify, where do you start? Can you even start? I share the experiences a friend of mine and myself have had doing physical therapy, the lessons I learned from it and how they apply to life with our dogs. How do you find which dials to tweak? If the podcast resonates with you and you want to dig a little deeper, coaching is...

Send a text How does a UK national end up a dog (and other animals) trainer in Dubai? Just listening to Aimee's backstory will have you in awe of the way she has stayed true to herself making big life decisions. We talk about how she tries to make clients feel like they can share everything with her as a trainer so that they don't have to hide their feelings and frustration. We discuss h...

Send a text This episode is for you if you identify as a perfectionist . Simply talking with Aga, the short version for Agnieszka about the concept of errorless learning has given me another way to look at perfectionism and how it can (often but not always) be unhelpful. Aga talks about training behaviors to fluency which is different from perfection, and about the benefits of playing by someone e...

Send a text Als Ninke Luka adopteert heeft hij al twee jaar lang in een Russisch asiel gezeten. Eenmaal thuis in Belgisch Limburg durft hij niet eens binnen te komen, zo ontzettend moet hij wennen aan zijn nieuwe leven. Goedbedoelde adviezen als "da's een een scheper, die moet u wel bezig houden" blijken voor Luka helemaal niet te werken. Ninke vertelt over de omzwervingen die haar...

Send a text A spontaneous unscripted ramble about my new Mind's Best Friend group coaching program. If you like what you hear on the podcast and you have been wanting to dig deeper, now is your chance. You can find more information here: https://kajsavanoverbeek.com/november-2023-group-coaching/ Or send me an email, or contact me on social media. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Do...

Send a text Beating yourself up about being stuck in the "I kind of want to change, but I can't get myself to change, so I must not want the change bad enough" is one of the most counterproductive ways to talk to yourself. Change isn't all about action. It starts with you (and your dog) just living your life (or lives), followed by as much time as necessary to consider if there...

Send a text If you follow any kind of dog related social media, then you will know Georgie, where she posts under the handle @trickwoofs. You will have seen the lovely whimsical cartoons she draws about life with a reactive dog, which are so extremely on point they always make me laugh. A particular cartoon comes to mind that has the guardian and their dog navigating the urban jungle that is the c...

Send a text Does your partner brush off your dog's reaction like it was nothing? Don't they understand the concept op threshold and the importance of limiting reactions? It's enough to make you fume! What could be going on on their end though? Is your partner shouting at the dog? Do you so want to get in their face and tell them that's not acceptable? What could they be going t...

Send a text This 50th jubilee episode of Ruff Around the Edges is in Dutch! Come back next episode for more English language content. [Waarschuwing: Rond de 20 minuten horen we Thiseas even blaffen] Maak kennis met Isabelle, het baasje van Thiseas, een adoptiehond uit Griekenland  Na een stressvolle start in het leven (Thiseas wordt met 6 weken met een gebroken pootje langs de weg gevonden en nadi...

Send a text If only you knew you would get there in the end, then the setbacks wouldn't be so hard to bear. If you just had someone who could guarantee you that, yes, your dog's going to go after a couple more cyclists and there will be 4 more periods of regression, but for sure 100% guaranteed they're going to get there, then that would probably make it easier to deal with the hard...

Send a text Ali was from London but now lives in Maryland We talk about how she got into the business of dog training , which has a little something to do with her German Shepherd cross Indie. We talk about the widespread misunderstanding that all dogs should love all dogs and I may or may not tell an anecdote of me hugging a stranger to try and show them that they wouldn’t appreciate being crowde...

Send a text Do you ever have a hard time relaxing after something stressful happens? You want to be in control of your emotions so your bad mood doesn't rub off on your dog or others around you. If you're angry at something, you want to calm down so you don't accidentally start a fight by lashing out at another person or so that you don't end up being unnecessarily harsh with y...

Send a text Jumy is a positive reinforcement horse trainer from  the U.A.E.   who opened her own livery yard, malath paddock paradise , 3 years ago, but she’s been in the industry for 13 years already. I ask lots of no doubt cringe worthy questions, as I know nothing about horses, and we touch upon a ton of things. Of course I want to know how Jumy ended up in the force free training world. Unlike...

Send a text This podcast episode is a reply to an email I received from someone on my email-list. They wrote: I was constantly trying to manage between work, my dogs, my almost adult kids, my house, a big yard with a lot of plants, my husband, my extended family, and some time for myself! Sound familiar? You're juggling all the things, but no matter the effort, it seems like something or some...

Send a text Grab your dog and plan a dog walk or two.  Better yet, sit down, grab pen and paper and take notes. This episode is long and chock-full of wisdom.  Here are just some of the things Haley of @paws.andreflect talk about: Why   we choose to train the behaviors we train Choice points: recognizing what you’re feeling and choosing to do something about it in a healthy and productive way rath...