Jo Laurens
Hold the Line
THE podcast for force-free gundog training! Hold the Line is committed to helping you to train your dog to an advanced level, using motivational methods and without the use of fear. Or pain. Or anything else nasty.
Author
Jo Laurens
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Jun 15, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
Episode 123 - force-free gundog training isn't about training 'gundog skills' 28.01.2025 43:00
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Why we need to ensure a split doesn't develop (hopefully this intrigues you enough to listen to more!)
Episode 122 - What to train puppies to do - and when 30.12.2024 43:05
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 This episode is not necessarily going to provide the structure some of you really want - because I don't think that's helpful, for puppies. But it will give you some broad pointers...
Episode 121 - canine brucellosis, recalls, steadiness to flush and more 17.12.2024 48:00
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 This is a slightly jam-packed episode which leaps around various different subjects!
Episode 120 - my dog has developed a phobia around competing and around birds 03.12.2024 34:45
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I respond to an email from a listener about a dog which became worried about specific (unknown) elements of competition.
Episode 119 - the implications of selecting for dogs which experience verbal aversives as strong aversives 19.11.2024 37:20
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I talk about feeding raw on a budget. And about the ethics and implications of selecting for dogs which experience verbal aversives as strong aversives. (Thereby circumventing the banning of certain 'tools'.)
Episode 118 - (field) trials - and tribulations 12.11.2024 45:50
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I waffle about trials as a form of assessment.
Episode 117 - what is going on with the cost of vet care and insurance? 01.11.2024 23:52
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Roche just cut her foreleg on (we think) barbed wire. The quote for sedation and stitching was astronomical. I ramble about what is going on, systemically, and about various societal factors from poverty to capitalism in a failed attempt to make sense of any of this...
Episode 116 - help, my dog won't pick game! 24.10.2024 34:41
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I talk about how to help dogs make the transition to picking up game.
Episode 115 - is your dog ready for a shoot? 25.09.2024 33:52
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 How do you find a shoot? Is your dog ready to work on a shoot? What is required from them? What different kinds of shoots are there? What are the roles on a shoot? This is all things shoots 101.
Episode 114 - the recent 'chasing' research paper (e-collar vs food reinforcers) 19.09.2024 54:00
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I look at a recent research paper called 'Comparison of the Efficacy and Welfare of Different Training Methods in Stopping Chasing Behavior in Dogs' by Johnson & Wynne https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14182632
Episode 113 - the current dog training controversies and listener questions 05.09.2024 38:07
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I talk about why the best way forwards is for us all to advance together - instead of fostering division and us/them splitting.
Episode 112 - mouthing or chomping the dummy 26.08.2024 31:07
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 I talk about how to stop mouthing or rolling of the dummy (it's the clicker retrieve again, this time the part of it called 'proofing the hold against food').
Episode 111 - don't let shot get attached to retrieves!! (and listener questions...) 08.08.2024 43:19
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode I answer a few listener questions and then waffle about why we need to keep shot unattached to a retrieve for as long as possible. Shot means 'sit'. Like the sit whistle means 'sit'.
Episode 110 - working with the AWOL dog 31.07.2024 53:23
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I focus on how to weave yourself and the environment together - rather than thinking about yourself as being in 'opposition' to the environment. All those juicy reinforcers out there are not a threat to your ongoing control of your dog. They are simply more reinforcers you can use to train your dog, with the caveat that they are in th...
Episode 109 - our experience with immunotherapy and canine allergies 18.07.2024 36:51
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 I talk here about my experience with immunotherapy for Ren's extreme allergies. Whilst there seem to be so many people around with itchy dogs, it seems that not many have explored immunotherapy and there isn't much information about it out there....
Episode 108 - interview with Collette May (another one!) 04.07.2024 1:05:26
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 I last spoke with Collette back in 2019, pre-Covid. Her life has changed in so many ways over the last 5 years, I wanted to catch up with her again and hear about her new ventures. If you want to connect with Collette, check out her websites midwalesholidays.com and completelygundogs.co.uk - and, if you're looking for a pup, her affix is Windlemoor.
Episode 107 - dropping water deliveries & straight line vs hunt it up blinds 25.06.2024 33:19
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 I describe the way that one part of the Clicker Retrieve process ("Proofing the Hold Against Food") is a powerful tool for teaching a dog not to drop on exiting water. And I help a listener who wants to train both straight line blinds AND 'hunt it up' blinds.
Episode 106 - working with 'distractions' and reinforcers 19.06.2024 44:00
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Check out as well episodes: Episode 86 - getting focus from your dog outdoors Episode 78 - behavioural trilogy (part 3), the super-drive, hunting crazy dog Episode 72 - behavioural trilogy (part 2), food motivation, allergies, body sensitivity and focus Episode 58 - developing reinforcers before contact with game Episode 38 - puppy exercise and developing food m...
Episode 105 - should we outright condemn aversives? 07.06.2024 34:12
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 This episode was inspired by the debate between Zak George and Denise Fenzi on Instagram recently. Check out their Stories there if you want to hear what they had to say in their own words.
Episode 104 - retrieving problems and the importance of basics 17.05.2024 34:20
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I answer a listener question about dogs trying to bring back multiple dummies. I also talk about the importance of having a rigorous training system which begins with the basics and doesn't just want to jump in with the sexy stuff...
Episode 103 - the UK's approach to blind retrieves for HPRs 18.03.2024 44:22
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Did you know that HPRs in the UK are expected to handle? That means: To hold straight lines. To be cast left, right and back. Essentially, to 'be' Retrievers. Some of you might thing that sounds insane....
Episode 102 - aversives and listener questions 22.02.2024 56:57
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I answer listener questions about in-a-row blinds, dealing with frustration in blinds and the use of aversives.
Episode 101 - in 15mins "my dog pulls on the leash" 01.01.2024 17:30
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Check out episodes 16, 17 And take a look at my online course, Heel .
Episode 100 - in 15mins "my dog has problems with blind retrieves" 31.12.2023 17:28
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Episodes to check out are: 30, 33, 34, 36, 41, 47, 48, 62, 64, 66, 85, 88 Online courses covering blind retrieves are: Blind Retrieves Remote Stop First Steps in 3HC Training the T Drill
Episode 99 - in 15mins "my dog doesn't recall in certain situations" 30.12.2023 17:48
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 For more help on this one, check out episodes: 82, 87 See the Reliable Recall course, on my website forcefreegundog.com Or check out the chapter on the Reliable Recall in my book, Force-Free Gundog Training: The Fundamentals for Success, available from Amazons everywhere
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