[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 dog after having a first dog who was Ruff Around the Edges) When you listen to the episode you'll be blown away...

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?

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 how breed stereotypes and other assumptions may prevent us from recognizing our dogs are in pain.  Are poodles simply...

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 else's rules now and then, just to get you out of your comfort zone. She will have you completely rethink the...

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 uiteindelijk naar Daniëlla van Paws in Touch leiden en wat haar overtuigde om toch nog weer meer geld in training te...

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 you want to start now and not wait for any New Year's resolutions to: Have better relationshipsLearn how you...

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 is something you want to change and how. Change is also about falling back into old patterns and trying again. When you come to...

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 city, James Bond style, ducking behind walls and sneaking around corners, all in an attempt to avoid...

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 through? Are people telling you to stay calm, because it's your anxiety that is making the vet visits problematic for your...

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 nadien ook nog met het vliegtuig naar zij nieuwe thuis vervoerd) is al snel duidelijk dat Thiseas meer nodig...

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 times, wouldn't it? Knowing that spring is coming makes it easier to get through the winter (well, the winters in my neck...

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 crowded either. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.   Ali also explains something that I think is amazing: She tells new...

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 your dog. My guess is that one of your strategies is to focus on regaining calmness as quickly as possible, by doing some...

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 many dog guardians it wasn’t because she had exhausted punitive methods or because her horse had behavioral...

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 someone is always suffering, because you never manage to get it quite right.  Guilt is inevitable. Spend time on...

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 trainChoice points: recognizing what you’re feeling and choosing to do something about it in a healthy and productive way rather than letting your feelings ruin your day.(What Haley describes are actually techniques you will learn in...

Would you categorize stress as a negative emotion? Are you willing to feel it?  What do you do when something stressful happens on a walk?  The answer to that question might already give you the answer to the first two questions. Do you compound your stress with anger at the dog guardian of the out-of-control dog accosting yours? Or do you blame yourself for having gotten yourself and/or your dog in that situation? How could you handle things differently? One of the answers is to look at...

UK veterinarian Grace and I talk about her Romanian Rescue dog Piper and how being the guardian of a challenging dog has impacted her work as a veterinarian. What were the advantages she had, being a vet already, in dealing with her dog? We also talk about all the terms and certifications being thrown around that relate to animal behavior and training. Are there vet behaviorists in the UK? Who can call themselves that? Did you know you can do a master's level studies in animal behavior in the...

Are you going after the wrong goal? Is your goal to be able to trust your dog? Is your goal to not want to be afraid of something bad happening to your dog or because of your dog? Is your goal to be able to have relaxed non-training dog walks? Or is it to be able to be calm under all circumstances? You might be chasing after the wrong thing. You wouldn't tell someone who's been in a car accident that the goal is for them to get to believing that driving is perfectly safe again. You would...

After she had gotten several shoutouts on the podcast already, it was about time I interview the one and only Marissa Martino of Paws and Reward herself. Or rather, I got lucky enough to have her on the show. If I were you, I would listen to this show twice. There are so many gems in there. Listen to it once, just to absorb what Marissa is saying, and then listen again and ask yourself how what she says applies to you and your situation. It will be time well spent. Marissa describes how...

If you agonize over decisions, research purchases to death before buying, and weigh the pros and cons seemingly endlessly, then this is the episode for you. There’s a reason your brain does this. It’s trying to be kind to you. And its kindness often hurts more than it helps. All is not lost though. We’re not at the mercy of our brains. We actually have a say in things, which is what I explain in the episode. There may or may not be an anecdote in there about me having to decide on the colors...

You’ve heard of decompression walks, letting your dog enjoy nature and sniff away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. How about a 1600-mile decompression walk? Luna (Marijke) and Werewolf (Scott) hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (2650 miles)  for their honeymoon and after clearing the desert section in Southern California, their dog SupDog (“real” name Balu) joined them for the remainder of the trail. Marijke tells us about the mindset they needed to be in (Hike Your Dogs Hike), the...

This episode is all about how staying curious can help your dog, your relationships, and yourself. It was triggered by a conversation I had with a friend who wanted to know why I didn't use Caesar Milan's training style, because it seemed to be working for her. My conversation with her once more drove home the point I always try to make, which is that curiosity is the best antidote to judgment, both judgment of your dog, human others, and yourself. It's how we keep communication open between...

Megan and I talk about all things complex dogs: - Labels and when to use them. Is Luna, reactive, aggressive, complex, or "simply" a dog dealing with health issues? -What are her health issues? What's causing her extreme pica and food indiscrimination? -Is pica a cause or symptom of Luna's anxiety? -What's behind her resource guarding of her own vomit? And what is making her vomit in the first place? -The importance of having a great primary care veterinarian, especially a force-free one -The...