Annie reads a post from Denise Fenzi's page that sparked some interesting comments on labels in the world of dog training. Some dog trainers are considerate about the use of some punishment in training and others work to avoid it at all costs. And then there are trainers who simply don't know what they're doing at all. Like... Dog Daddy. He calls himself "balanced" but no educated pro trainer would give him that label. Maybe the real problem is that to non-professionals, what this Insta-celeb doing is all they know about dog training. TOPICS DISCUSSED: - Frustrations with the dog training indu ..read more

Today I caught up with Zak George to hear the latest about his public feud with Dog Daddy. See Dog Daddy's petition against Zak George at Change.org https://www.change.org/p/stop-zak-george?source_location=search Dog Daddy, Part 1: The face of modern "bad" dog training https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/IZ8rDgtkWEb Dog Daddy, Part 2: Zak George calls out animal abuse masquerading as dog training https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/pqBs1htkWEb Annie sees Dog Daddy live. Also: Get to know Erin Whelan (2020 episode rebroadcast) https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/0jWG1ftkWEb ..read more

Annie went to see Dog Daddy live in New Jersey this weekend and reports back about the odd experience of being in a room where what looked to her like animal abuse seemed didn't seem to bother anyone else. The episode then includes a rebroadcast of a 2020 interview Annie did with School For The Dogs trainer Erin Whelan. Erin was a professional French Horn Player. Then she adopted a beagle mix named Oliver and enrolled him in Puppy Kindergarten at School For The Dogs. Then she did the School For The Dogs Professional Program. Now, she is a trainer and manager at School For The Dogs. She and Ann ..read more

Zak George, one of the most influential dog trainers of the 21st century, has been using his large virtual platform to bring attention to the problematic methods being used by the Internet-famous dog trainer known as Dog Daddy. Zak and Annie discuss the origins of this work, his efforts to get his followers to picket Dog Daddy's events, and more. Annie also talks about why the conversation about whether or not it is advisable to use force in dog training feels especially important right now. Find Zak George on Instagram or Youtube: http://instagram.com/zakgeorge http://youtube.com/zakgeorge ..read more

Annie reads from How We Got By, a new book by Shaina Feinberg & Julia Rothman which includes a chapter about how School For The Dogs got started. She also gives an update on the bizarre/sad Dog Daddy world tour, and shares how excited she got when she first read about a man being called "the hot dog trainer." Who was the handsome fella? November giveaway: Enter to win a "Hot Dog Trainer" mug this month at http://schoolforthedogs.com/pod Apply to the SFTD Professional Course through Nov. 30th. http://schoolforthedogs.com/pro Get How We Got By on Amazon: https://rebrand.ly/hwgb Hot Dog Train ..read more

Annie talks about why she is generally against costumes for dogs and suggests some alternatives to dressing up your dog on Halloween. She also discusses some feedback she got about last week’s episode, which featured an interview with the lawyer representing the woman who was mauled by Cesar Millan’s dog. Lastly, she shares two anecdotes: one about how she is using a Buy Nothing group on Facebook to get neighbors to help her train her dog (unbeknownst to them) and the other about how her attempt to use negative reinforcement to get her daughter to brush her teeth ultimately back fired (in a so ..read more

A trainer who goes by the name "Dog Daddy" has millions followers and has recently incited arguments on social media: His critics accuse him of harming dogs and calling it training; his fans accuse his detractors of being sissies who can’t face reality. These two vociferous groups are facing off online and at his in-person events around the world. Annie puts the saga into the context of a larger (and longer) story about the use of force and coercion in dog training, and gives a nuanced explanation of what defines "balanced" training and what defines trainers that takes a "LIMA" approach. She a ..read more

Sometimes you stumble on something amazing and free. Maybe that's how you feel about this podcast? That's how Annie felt this week when her dream office chair appeared outside her door... You can buy good dog training (or great chairs). That's what School For The Dogs sells. But you can also get a lot of valuable dog training advice for nothing, if you're lucky. You, dear listener, just got lucky. Visit our new Online Campus to take advantage of a huge amount of free and low cost resource for dog owners. Join us for free Office Hours with a trainer every Thursday at 6PM ET. http://sftd.online ..read more

A bunch of media outlets have recently done stories about private dog runs in NYC, and have mentioned School For The Dogs' School Yard sessions, which are playtimes for dogs. School Yard is members-only, by-appointment and trainer-supervised. Annie talks about why the service is so special, and also why it's so expensive. She addresses some of the negative feedback she's gotten to the articles. She also discusses how she plans to train with her dog, Poppy, while visiting family, and suggests ways in which people can approach training a timid dog in new places or with new people over the holida ..read more

Right after getting a pandemic puppy, Tiffany Chen decided to see if she could build some sort of side hustle in order to get her out of the corporate world. She signed up for the Virtual Assistant Internship and learned that it's wise to pick a niche. While she was working on learning about training her own dog (and building his requisite Instagram persona) she started following a lot of positive reinforcement dog trainers. It occurred to her that maybe she could use her virtual assistant powers to help them improve their marketing. She and Annie discuss how fun the R+ dog training movement i ..read more