Good Dog Workshop

Josh & Brian discuss how you can help dogs and your community by volunteering at your local shelter.

Carlos & Brian discuss being 'Alpha' to your dog. Not today's emotionally-charged term that implies being aggressive or being a bully, but being in charge of your dog, being able to control him...being a fair and benevolent Leader. Too many 'professionals' in this business either don't understand this or are unable to achieve it. Being in charge of a group is a na...

Brian talks about the most important things to do with your new dog the moment you pull into your driveway! It all starts with Exercise, Leadership & Structure, of course, but you'll also learn things you probably hadn't thought about before, such as where to put your new dog's bed and what activities to do with him in order to bond with him. Check it out!

Carlos & Brian discuss Introductions: How to meet a new dog and how to allow your dog to meet new people. You may be surprised how so many people aren't doing it the right way!

Carlos & I discuss the long-running TV show "Pit Bulls & Parolees". We talk about the cast, the great work they do and we critique some of the methods they use when working with dogs. The people of "Pit Bulls & Parolees" (Villalobos Rescue Center) do AMAZING work. They are selfless, brave and we admire them greatly. We hope this podcast brings more attention to VRC...

This is episode #3 in our series about Sakura, the young Border Collie we brought home from the Fauquier SPCA. She was with us for a week, made some progress and already has a family interested in her and experienced with anxious dogs! Stay tuned...

Carlos & Brian discuss owner liability with respect to a dog who bites someone or another dog. We go over the legal definition of a "dangerous dog", what happens after a dog bites someone or another dog, the owner's liability is when it happens. Brian recalls his experiences in court as a Qualified Expert Witness in Dog Behavior to shed light on this issue which most of us have...

Carlos & I update listeners about Sakura, the young Border Collie we're fostering. Progress is slow but she's definitely coming out of her shell and normalizing.

This is the first in a series of podcasts about Sakura, a 1-year-old Border Collie mix who was shutting down in her kennel. Not drinking or eating much, not comfortable with a leash, sitting at the back of her kennel, she just wanted to be invisible to the world. This is the story of Sakura's journey from fear and uncertainty to stability and contentment. Keep listening for more about Sakura!

Carlos & Brian discuss the fallacies of this trainer's methods as well as her initial rationale which her methods are based on.

Carlos & Brian discuss dog bites, specifically how people deal with the psychological trauma of having been bitten by a dog. We discuss our worst and most traumatic bites and how they changed us.

Carlos & Brian discuss the pros and cons of taking your dog to a dog park. Should you avoid dog parks or should you go? Gain some new perspective on dog parks and find out if they're right for you and your dog!

Carlos & Brian discuss the body language of humans and how we effect our dogs whether we realize it or not. We go into detail about how dog owners inadvertently give the wrong signals to their dogs which the dogs then interpret as anxiety, insecurity and/or weakness and respond by challenging or ignoring their owners.

Carlos & Brian discuss typical "basic" training offered by most dog trainers and commercial pet stores.

In this episode we discuss the relevance and importance of physical touch as an integral part of your relationship with your dog. Physical contact for dogs is a natural and necessary form of communication, both with each other and with us. Without understanding how dogs communicate with each other physically and the meanings of different forms of physical touch, you're missing out on fully un...

Brian & Carlos share their thoughts and valuable experience when it comes to making this very important decision that could make or break your overall success as a dog owner.

We breakdown these overused and misused terms as applied to dog behavior.

In this episode Brian and Carlos discuss a video clip of a dog trainer attempting to teach dog owners about fixing the problem of dog jumping. We break down the effectiveness of the techniques used and explain why they don't work.

Carlos & Brian discuss a training video by Victoria Stilwell in which Dillon the Great Dane has (according to his owners) never met another dog. Needless to say, Dillon gets very excited about the prospect of meeting another dog as soon as he sees one. We discuss not only Victoria's methods and why they're ineffective, but we also examine the poor energy of the people and how that ne...

Our first of many podcasts discussing the importance of walking your dog...every day! Letting your dog run around in the backyard or at a dog park or in doggie daycare are all fine ways for your dog to release energy, but without YOU engaging with him in the activity, you're missing out on some tremendous benefits — the most important benefit is continuing to improve your relationship of trus...

Carlos & I recount one of our most interesting cases! Clients called us to help them with Angus, their adult male English Bulldog. They told us Angus growls at them, goes after other dogs (including the other dog in their house), and they didn't know how to handle him. In a rare case, we took Angus into our care for a couple days and explain everything we did with Angus to work him throug...