Your Dog's Best Life

In this podcast, Liane discusses new frontiers in dog training with Concept training. Concepts are generalization of things like colors or toys, as well as mimicry, social learning, or Do as I Do training. Maggie just ran a Master Class in Generalization for dog trainers in Reno, NV, and brings these cool ideas to us.Catch up with us on FB

There's a fallacy that there are no hard breeds to train. Liane explores this from the perspective of genetics. She also discusses the lack of correlation between easy to train and easy to live with.

More and more people are thinking about getting Livestock Guardian Dogs to protect their small homesteads. With more buyers, there are more breeders, and unfortunately, some of these dogs are ending up in situations that could have been prevented. Livestock guardian dogs - Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherd, Akbash, Maremma Sheepdog, Caucasian Shepherd, etc.. Are genetically predisposed to certain behaviors that can be problematic if people are not aware. They are also not the best answer for many small homesteaders wanting to protect stock from predators. Whether you are looking for an LGD, or already have one, this is great information

In this episode, Liane explores our understanding of emotions in dogs. By understanding how our dogs feel their world, we are better equipped as trainers to help them succeed. Emotion is still poorly understood in human science, but there are some assumptions we can safely make based on studies conducted by Jaak Panksepp.

In this episode, Liane speaks with special guest Nita Gandera about how she is raising her current Australian Shepherd puppy, Nessie. Liane has a puppy from the same litter, so the discussion includes where their training differs as well as where it is similar. Discussed: Critical socialization period, Puppy Culture, Early puppy training, obedience, mistakes people make when socializing puppies, a few scientific segues, and exercise and puppies.Join us on FB : Your Dog's Best Life

Liane introduces us to her new puppy, Brisco, an Australian Shepherd from working lines. She justifies getting another dog pretty adequately, and for those who haven't met them yet, introduces the rest of the pack

Do you cue your dog, or do you give commands? While these words are synonymous, the mindset behind them can be vastly dissimilar. In this episode, Liane discusses some recent trialling issues she has faced with her herding dog, Cody, and how she analyzes those problems through the lens of cue vs command.

Liane discusses signs that your dog trainer isn't being up front about the methods they're using. Using wishy washy language like, "energy", "joining" or promising miracles 'without using food' are all red flags that a trainer is trying to hide their compulsive training behind language.Prong colors are designed to cause pain; e-collars are almost always used in a manner that creates pain; there is no magical energy that makes dogs behave. All of these are signs that a dog trainer is shining on their listeners (lying) to get your business. A basic understanding of the science of dog training helps pet owners choose the right dog trainer.

In this episode, Liane discuses (makes excuses?) for why she hasn't recorded in a moth. She discusses a herding trial in Arizona, and that leads into how she is using punishment to prevent her youngest dog, Tagg, from gripping sheep out of frustration. Liane brings everything home by discussing excited door greetings, jumping, biting, and barking, that can occur when people enter the house, and why what you're doing to correct these behaviors may not have the desired effect. Join our fB Page, Your Dog's Best Life Podcast

In this episode, Liane takes a break from purely training topics, and describes how she lives with seven dogs. How we live with dogs is both deeply personal. and built by our society and history with dogs. Liane explores a little bit of how the history of stock keeping in the West informs how she grew up with dogs, and how that affects how she lives with them today. Please join our Facebook page: Your Dog's Best Life

In this episode, Liane asks agility trainer, and bijorer Ffluffy Nicholas about the sport of bikejoring. Bikejoring is a sport that allows dogs who love to pull an outlet. Perfect for huskies and other nordic breeds, but also, possibly just what the doctor ordered for a lot of bored pit bull types, and Liane's little maniac, Matilda. Fluffy took up bikejoring in 2020, and fell in love, buying a racing rig, and competing with her dogs. She uses her staff mix, as well as her border collies, and Malinois. We also discuss canicross, which is a slower version, where the dog simply helps a person run or hike.

In this episode Liane discusses the question with special guest Emily Magnuson. Right now dog training is the Wild West, with everyone doing their own thing, and with educational backgrounds as diverse as, trained my pet dog to PhD and everything in between. Calls for a national standard occasionally arise, and Emily and Liane discuss the pros and cons of such an action, and whether or not it would actually help the dogs in our care. As all conversations with Emily go, this sometimes runs off the rails, but we think it is a fun listen Please join us on our new Facebook Page: Your Dog's Best Life

In this episode Liane discusses why and how we can train our dogs using food. Training with food, while popular, still faces some common complaints and problems. How do we train with food if the dog doesn't want it? How do we move away from using food so our dog listens all the time? How do we make food more exciting for our dogs? How do we work with a dog so frightened that it won't take food? Liane discusses and trouble shoots each of these issues. We now have a Facebook page where this podcast streams! Check out Your Dog's Best Life on Facebook!

Liane discusses her efforts to find a dog sport suitable for her and her border collie, Matilda. She discusses a multitude of sport options and divides them up based on how difficult they are to come into with little or no training, vs sports that require a great deal of preparation to enter. She discusses the sports she has done with her own dogs. Lastly she discusses why sports may or may not be an important part of helping your dog live its best life. We Now Have a Facebook page streaming our podcast! Check out Your Dog's Best Life on Facebook

In this episode Liane discusses three dog bite situations and explains how they differ. She shows that a behavior divorced from motivation tells us nothing. She also discusses why attributing emotionally charged words to behavior sets us and our dogs up for failure. We now have a Facebook page for our podcast! Check out Your Dog's Best Life on Facebook!

Liane tells a crazy tale about sheep on the lamb, road trips, herding trials, swimming sheep and more. She somehow manages to briefly talk about dogs as well. Facebook: Empire Ridge Ranch. Website is the same

In this episode, Liane discusses the origin of of our dogs, and why understanding the evolutionary history of the domestication of the dog matters to you, and to them. Why do dogs dig? Why do dogs go through the trash? Why do dogs bark? All of these behaviors are explained once we understand where our dogs come from, and how Man's Best Friend, came to be.

In this episode, Liane, and guest, Emily Magnuson, discuss common social media memes about dogs. Too many dog-themed memes either dumb down or entirely misrepresent the facts as we know them about caring for your dog. Liane, a Certified Veterinary Technician with 17 years in the field, and Emily, a veterinary Assistant with 20 years of experience, bring their experience, and any associated studies to bear on dog themed memes. Memes discussed include: Car temperatures, asphalt temperatures, and shoe safety for our dogs, rawhide safety, what the research says about exercise in young puppies, and what we do and do not know about dog food.

In dog training we discuss management vs training a lot. Which is better is sometimes a matter f opinion, training styles and methodology, and more. What we know for a fact is that we are all managed to some extent. Choices and decisions that could have unwanted consequences are managed quite often for both humans and dogs. Management can, like most things, be a double edged sword, so decisions about how, when, and under what circumstances our dog's behavior should be managed can become complicated. In this episode, Liane dials down into the management side of training our dogs, and discusses what circumstances benefit from management, and how management in conjunction or absence of other training is a good choice.

Maggie Evans and Liane start off talking about the mechanics of dog training, then things get out of hand! From there they leap into a debate of the pros and cons of shaping during luring (Yes, fasten your seatbelts, geekiness ahead!), and the difference in Maggie's heel work vs Liane's. From there they move into how mechanics affects training your dog to lie Down; how Liane teaches Stay vs how Maggie trains it. Maggie discloses her secret shame, and Liane discusses a video of the best way to proof a 'whoa' for bird dogs. So much dog training stuff!

In spite of the 'fuzziness' of the word, how our dog sees us is incredibly important to our overall life with our dog. Relationship implies give and take as well as mutual interest and obligation. Liane explains the ins and outs of how to improve your relationship with your dog.

In a recent video circulating on social media, a pitbull-type dog attacks a draft horse in a public park. In this episode Liane discusses how to interpret situations like this. Liane argues that dogs that attack other animals are not 'bad' rather they were given an opportunity to express instinctual drives. Owners need to understand what their dogs were bred to do and take action to prevent tragedies.

In this episode, Liane visits the many reasons the our dogs to come when called, and how to fix our dog's recall

In this episode, Liane Explores the shifting views of what a dog is both biologically, and within our family. She discusses how these views affect our dog's ability to enjoy their best life, and how our beliefs affect our care for our dogs.

So often we find ourselves struggling for our dog's attention, repeating cues, and being ignored. In this min-cast, Liane explains why that happens and how to fix it!

In this episode, Liane discusses her dog, Dice's recent injury, and what it's like to deal with an injured, high-drive dog without going nuts. She covers everything from how to address the injury in the moment, how to ensure your vet sees you right away, and how to work through keeping a high-drive dog sane during the healing process. Liane also discusses how she would deal with dogs that are higher drive than Dice, when you should ask your veterinarian for pharmacological help, and more.

In this episode, Liane discusses how dogs create habits, and how training through those habits can be complex and cause our training to seem ineffective. She discusses why habits exist, how they function in the real world, and how to work through them when they affect your training.

In this podcast Liane introduces you to the incredible versatility or target training in dogs (and other critters too!). By teaching our dogs this incredibly simple task, we can create a diversity of behaviors. Targeting (or Touch) is the January Training Challenge on Liane's FB Page, Empire Ridge Ranch. Show notes can be found here: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/teach-your-dog-touch

In this podcast Nita Gandera and Liane Ehrich discuss using your leash to prevent unwanted behaviors when your dog is in the house. Many common issues that we face as dog trainers are caused by our dog's ability to explore their entire indoor environment without supervision. Liane and Nita discuss how teething works, how to do it, when to do it, and why to do it.

In this episode, Liane discusses why how we define our dog, and how we look at our dog's behavior affects how we see our dog. She also discusses what we can do to fix a broken relationship with our dog, how to avoid a confrontational relationship with our dog, and what to do if our dog doesn't live up to our expectations

Maggie and Liane discuss the three most common forms of aggression that we see in dogs: resource guarding, dog on dog aggression, and human aggression. We discuss strategies to prevent aggression from occurring in our dogs, and ways to mitigate some existing aggression. We also discuss when to bring in professional help.

Too often our dog training plans fail because we didn't spend enough time setting up a successful picture. In this episode, Liane discusses how to ensure that your dog has every chance to succeed in training. We also examine what to do if training doesn't succeed as planned. Shownotes can be found at: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/blog

In this episode Liane explores what Impulse control is, and how to gain a better understanding of how to help our dogs make better decisions. Liane Explains the difference between Impulse Control and Stimulus Control, and why creating a dog with better stimulus control is the way forward with a dog who may exhibit behaviors that we describe as impulsive, including jumping up, aggression, and the like. Join us on Facebook at Empire Ridge Ranch Shownotes can be found at: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/it-s-not-about-impulse-control-it-s-about-stimulus-control-show-notes-for-ep-19

Liane is all by herself on this one, so be kind! In this podcast she discusses the reason that positive reinforcement training fails and how you can avoid these common pitfalls. Positive reinforcement training can be incredibly powerful, and almost anything can be trained using positive reinforcement training, yet, oftentimes we hear that reward based trining failed. Why is this? Learn how to ensure that positive reinforcement works for your dog in this podcast. For Shownotes: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/why-positive-reinforcement-training-fails-podcast-notes

Emily got a new gig as owner of one of Tucson's premier pet sitting companies, so we thought we'd talk a little about her company, Casas and Critters, as well as Liane's businesses, Empire Ridge Ranch, her dog training company, and The Dog Spot, a trainers co-op in Tucson. For additional information, please visit our shownotes here: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/emily-s-got-a-new-gig-show-notes

Emily and Liane discuss how to ensure pet safety when forced to evacuate, when traveling, and when leaving pets in the care of sitters when traveling. This detailed podcast describes all of the things to keep in mind to ensure that in the event of an emergency, planned or unplanned travel with your pets, or you leave your pets with a caretaker everyone stays safe. For the purposes of our show notes, we have written three separate posts outlining Evacuation - Travel - and Petsitters separately - all of them can be found here: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/blog

Maggie and Liane discuss how to address frustration in dog training. This is a dense subject with many facets, and we attempt to break it down and create real life solutions to help dogs deal with frustration. Frustration is part of every day life, and as it is part of the RAGE System as outlined by Panksepp, it can be incredibly powerful. Ny introducing small levels of frustration into dog training, we are able to inoculate our dogs against inappropriate levels of frustration later on. Complete show notes including videos can be found here: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/blog

Liane and Emily discuss the pros and cons of dog parks and day cares, and provide tips to help ensure that your dog enjoys their day care or dog park experience. We discuss what we see as the fundamental flaws of dog parks and day care centers, and how to ensure that dog owners have the tools to use these places safely. Dog Daycare and dog parks are both recent phenomena in the world of our dogs, and yet many feel that dogs who do not attend these types of play groups are somewhat missing out. We explain what we see as the fallacy of this mindset, and describe what we see as fundamental components to create happy well-rounded, and tired dogs. SHownotes and resources can be found here: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/dog-parks-and-doggy-daycare-podcast-show-notes

Emily and Liane discuss how they would solve the problem of dogs rushing and barking when strangers arrive at the door. We also discuss what we teach in basics and puppy classes and why.

This week, Emily and Liane discuss Separation Anxiety in dogs. We drill down to look at the symptoms associated with separation anxiety, and the various causes as described in the 2020 research paper entitled, Developing Diagnostic Frameworks in Veterinary Behavior Medicine: Disambiguating Separation Related Problems in Dogs (full link and explanation can be found in our show notes). We discuss ways to prevent separation in our dogs, methods for diagnosing separation anxiety, and ways to help dogs already experiencing separation anxiety. All of our links, as well as additional information and tips to assist dogs experiencing separation anxiety can be found in our show notes: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/separation-anxiety-podcast-show-notes

This week we spoke with Randi Hubbard about the dog sport, Rally. The AKC recently introduced virtual rally titles for Rally Novice and Rally Intermediate. We discuss what rally is, how to get started, what you need to work on, and how to enter your first dog show. For all links and shownotes, please visit our website: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/dog-sports-rally-with-randi-hubbard If you enjoyed our show, please, rate, review, subscribe, and share. You can contact Liane on Facebook or Instagram at Empire Ridge Ranch GwePk5cyVE2f6YFuOx9q Thank you!

Emily and Liane interview Nita Gandara, KPA, CPDT-KSA about the need to build resilience in our dogs. We discuss methods and techniques that Nita uses to help alleviate fear in dogs and build confidence. Full show notes can be found at: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/nita-gandara-building-resilience-in-dogs-shownotes

In this episode Liane and Emily discuss the two most common stress-models used to assess dog behavior. We discuss trigger stacking and the layered stress model, how they affect your dog (and you!) and what actions you can take to alleviate stress in your dog. Additional information on this podcast episode can be found at https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/9-understanding-stress-in-your-dog-show-notes Liane can be reached on FB at Empire Ridge Ranch Thank you for listening, please rate, review, and subscribe

Liane and Emily discuss compulsive behaviors seen in pet dogs. We discuss how to identify them, address them, the breeds most likely to exhibit them, and how to work with dogs who already have them. For complete show notes go to: https://www.empireridgeranch.com/post/8-compulsive-behaviors-in-dogs-shownotes

Liane and Emily discuss lions, tigers (and too briefly, wolves) with Alicia Antle, an animal handler at Myrtle Beach Safari (Featured on Netflix's, Tiger King). An old friend and former student of Liane's, Alicia discusses how she works with and socializes tigers and other wild animals. Here are the links to the websites discussed in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyrtleBeachSafari https://myrtlebeachsafari.com http://www.rarespeciesfund.org Our Website: http://empireridgeranch.com/podcast

Emily and Liane discuss the use and misuse of pressure in dog training, as well as the how to assess what pressure is. We use pressure all the time in dog training, whether we intend to use it or not, and understanding when it occurs is the first step to using (or not) it as a training method.

Maggie and Liane continue their conversation about the Lemonade Conference after a short break due to an electrical outage caused by a storm. No worries, Liane and Maggie start off where they left off

Maggie and Liane discuss the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultant's online education conference (the Lemonade Conference) which they both 'attended'. This s part one of a to-part conversation

We ramble through how to start your puppy with clear opportunities for play, discuss ball throwing as exercise, go over breed traits and how they affect play, and more

In our third episode we introduce our guest cohost Maggie Evans

In our second episode we meet our cohost Liane Ehrich