Beastly Talks

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we are still in recovery mode from a long and exhausting trip to Europe. But there is no rest for the wicked! Only a few days after landing we picked up Rex, a 7-month-old Border Collie who is in training to become an assistance dog. I wanted to give a little breakdown of how board & trains work and how they can be helpful, what an assistance dog is and what t...

This week's episode of Beastly Talks, did get a little bleak, as we tackle the topic of dogs in shelters. Sky is a qualified dog trainer, working in a not for profit shelter in California. Despite her very young age, Sky is very knowledgable and open about the reality of life for many dogs in a shelter environment. The high levels of ongoing stress can lead to anything from increased aggressio...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, prepare yourself for some big laughs and great knowledge bombs, as we sit down with Ross Macnamara from Mac Dog Training in Scotland! Like myself, Ross focuses a lot on rehabilitating reactivity, with a particular focus on play based training. But he also works a lot on building confidence in puppies, the importance of structure and sleep, and preventing what he c...

In this week's episode of Beastly Talks, we had a very interesting chat with Jacqui Zakar from Dogsense in Perth. With a background in studying psychology, Jacqui has a very no nonsense approach to dog training and behaviour modification, and she keeps up to date with the most recent scientific literature. Where Stian talks a lot of "bro science" (meaning things I observe, but don&#3...

Carolina from DynamoDogs is back once more! We had a great chat about something we both believe is incredibly important when training dogs (and dealing with behavioural issues): Authority and Autonomy. Authority is often mistaken for authoritarianism, but the two are very different. Autonomy is important for your dog to learn to make good choices. Join us as we deep dive into what this all means a...

In this week's episode of Beastly Talks, I took inspiration from someone being sassy about how I train on social media, and told me I was using markers wrong. So I decided to put my whole marker system into an episode! Marker training is using a particular sound or signal to tell the dog when they're right, wrong, encourage them to continue, teach different reinforcers and so on. At the mo...

We received a message from an Instagram follower, who is currently dealing with an adolescent dog. So, in this episode of Beastly Talks, that is exactly what we're getting stuck into (as I am currently dealing with the same painful thing). From selective memory, to lack of engagement and even increased aggression and fear, adolescence affects all dogs differently. In this podcast we go through...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we're diving into a somewhat complicated topic to wrap your head around: how punishment can open the door to reinforcement. For a lot of dogs – especially dogs with a low stress tolerance – panic quickly sets in and shuts off any form of positive reinforcement opportunity. The dog gets stuck in what I call a "Mindset trap", where stress begets more s...

We have another great episode lined up for you, one that I learned a lot from! NOTE: at one point all our recording shut down and we had to start again to finish the conversation (I mention it in my additional intro that I made for this episode). Sorry about that! This week we are speaking with Maddie from Companion Dog Training and Von Goron Shepherds. Maddie is a dog trainer who also breeds Germ...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we're doing another "Reddit is Retarded" (I'm probably going to get cancelled for writing that). I came across a post that said "I think my dog is being dominant towards me." The person then proceeded to list a whole lot of extremely common behavioural problems, not at all linked to dominance. Most of the replies were surprisingly good...

We are incredibly excited about this episode, where we had the opportunity to sit down and speak with one of the biggest names in the Australian dog training industry: Ben Geurts from Kaizen K9. Ben has more than 20 years experience training dogs. He started his career as a K9 trainer with the Special Operations Command and has been working with pet dogs for over a decade. Ben is both NePoPo® and...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we tackle a difficult and nuanced topic in the aggression space: resource guarding (also known as possession aggression). Resource guarding is what I categorise as 'true aggression' meaning it is not reactive in nature, but has clear purpose (to protect resource) and intent to harm. I have seen many photos of people getting badly injured when dealing with...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we have a good laugh and great conversation with the perpetual motion engine Carolina from DynamoDogs! Stian and Carolina go way back and have been partners in crime in both dog training and fostering for nearly a decade. They met when Stian helped Carolina out with her personal dynamo, Cricket, a kelpie who was far more than a handful. After that, Carolina decide...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we do a quick dive into the difference between reactivity and aggression. Many trainers don't like the term reactivity, but we don't mind it. It is greatly misunderstood by many, however! I am very tired of all the polarising opinions and nonsense in the dog training industry. But I'm trying my best to keep the conversation light, entertaining and unde...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we chat to our good friend Paula from Crazy Mutz. Paula is a former student of Stian, who bailed him up in his driveway one day, insisting he teach her about dog training. Since then Paula has come to the realisation that as a dog trainer, you are never "finished" with your education, because there is always something new to learn. There is always a new...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we have a very interesting conversation with our good friend Hailey from ZenergyK9. How do you know when it's time to retire a working dog? Working dogs come in many different forms: from police K9 units to assistance dogs, these highly trained dogs all perform a very clear job for their handlers. But being a working dog can be highly taxing – both physically...

Here is part 2 of the Pressure Mastery podcast! We had a lot of good feedback on the first episode, and I am very excited to get the second episode published. In part 1, your host Stian Helling, talked about the concept of pressure and how it is involved in pretty much every part of our lives. In this episode, we delve into how to use pressure in a dog training setting. We discuss how to get the b...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, we begin the conversation on a topic that breaks so many people's brains: pressure. Understanding pressure is absolutely crucial if you want to take your dog training skills to the next level. But so many people get hung up in the application of pressure, not understanding what pressure really means, and how it affects you in every part of your life. I've...

NOTE: we did have some technical issues in the beginning of this chat, apologies for that!  We had a great chat a few weeks back with Andrew Clark from CanisAU. Andrew has been in the industry for a long time and he has seen many parts of dog training shift, often not for the better.  We dive into the rise of the fear free ideology, the problems with pushing stress free agendas and how often outla...

In this week's episode of Beastly Talks, we delve further into the topic of aggression, this time focusing on it's functionality. Why does aggression "stick around" unless tackled? What is environmental manipulation? What is the difference between active and reactive aggression? How does aggression make dogs feel empowered? How do we actively create aggression in dogs? Lots of (h...

Here we are again. Another call for dog training tools to be banned. Another call, which seems to have completely forgotten to ask balanced trainers on the value of prong collars, and has colluded under the table with a corrupt RSPCA to try and sneak it through. This is despicable behaviour and completely without due process, which we should demand in a democracy. This is not a podcast I had plann...

In this week's episode of Beastly Talks, we delve into the purpose of aggression.  Why is aggression necessary in social species? What is ritualistic displays of aggression? How does dominance and submission play into the use of aggression? When does aggression stop being communication and start becoming problematic? An incredibly interesting topic, which I have done so much research on (both...

In this episode of Beastly Talks, your host – Stian Helling – delves into what he calls "The Curse of Freedom." When bringing a new dog into your household – be that a new puppy from a breeder, or a rescue from a shelter – one of the biggest mistakes people make, is to immediately give that new dog free run of their house. Why is this a problem? Because dogs need a ton of structure and g...

PSA: Our good friend and frequent guest on the show – Mr Harry Hunt from Everyday K9 Academy – is now officially a regular co-host on Beastly Talks and we cannot wait to get stuck into a ton of recording next year! Thank you to everyone who has supported the show, we love the messages and comments we have received! It's that time of year again, where people celebrate a two thousand year old st...

My good friend Harry Hunt and myself recently saw a completely moronic video on social media – created by the Devon Dog Lady – where she gives you a number of reasons why you “shouldn’t play with your dog.”  After laughing at her ridiculous haircut and her stupid video, we both became quite angry about all this nonsense being spread on social media. So we decided it was time to talk about play and...