Cog Dog Radio Episodes

See the podcast over on Soundcloud. (Many of the links on this page go to Spotify because I still had a Spotify account when I made this page.)
Some of the most useful episodes for me personally, raising Pippin.

Case Studies

Case Study: Kevin

Kevin is a sport dog with anxiety (stranger danger) and strong flight/fawn response. Reminds me of Pippin during big anxiety moments. Lots of great pearls of wisdom in this case study.

Case Study: Jade

Working-line golden retriever Jade has some interesting similarities to Pippin with the frustration-mouthyness, though Pip's is definitely not to Jade's level. Really interesting, and I especially appreciated Jade's human handler's part of the three part series.

Case Study: Synergy

Whippet Synergy reminds me a lot of Pippin, in some really funny ways.

Case Study: Tonic

I can't remember why I marked down Tonic's particular case.

Coercion with Adam Skandarani

On chronic pain and trying to force a dog to do something; when is that okay, even when dogs don't turn out to have health problems?

Creating Behavior, Not Fixing It, with Agnieszka Janarek

The old ways of “free” shaping behaviors are out and the much-improved process of shaping via component parts is in. Join Sarah in conversation with Tromplo founder Agnieszka Janarek for a discussion that goes into frustration, resilience, and core skills as a way of life.

In particular, there is a great discussion on whether or not frustration and "getting it wrong before getting it right" is in any way pedagogically useful for dogs (and maybe even trainers/handlers.) I was half-listening to this while getting ready for a tough ballet class so I do need to listen to this one again, but I really liked what I heard in this one.

Crossover Trainers

I don't consider myself a dog trainer, but as a handler who first helped raised a family dog in the late 00s, there were a lot of things I learned about how to take care of a dog that I now know are pretty wrongheaded (especially with leash and heel training). I find this episode very interesting, because it describes a lot of feelings I've felt about training going wrong, and feeling like you don't have the tools, and shaping somehow feels so unrealistic, long, and, most of all, intimidating.

Decompression for Hunt-y Dogs

A challenge is when the dog thinks the "decompression walk" is actually work time. Interesting discussion on how to handle it.

Let's Talk About Fetch, Baby with Liza Rader KPA-CTP

Notes

  • (- 00:01:37) Definition of fetch used in this episode: “repetitive back and forth throwing of a toy where either the dog is throwing behaviours at, it's not necessarily learned markers (?) or cues (?) again and again and again, usually on a flat surface but sometimes on water. And the dog is cue-ing the next throw by putting the toy down, throwing the toy at you, often with something like a chuck it, or other device like that.” “So the loop is essentially: human throws thing, dog goes and gets thing, heads back in the human's general direction with thing, either spits toy at thing, sorry, spits thing at human, or might even give it to the person's hand, and then person throws it again.” (?) “Repetition thereof.” “It happens again and again. It's not different from a dog putting a toy in a machine that will spit it out again.”
  • Not just pet owners but sport dog people also use fetch to “get the dog's energy out” (Sarah Stremming); It's about meeting a movement need for the dog
  • Border collies want to be obsessed with something; gundogs want to find something to explode at (very true with Pip); fetch is also very reinforcing for the humans
  • Fetch is just a thing we do with dogs
  • So, what's wrong with it:
    • The concept of fatigue, especially physical fatigue ( - 00:07:25 ):

NILIF Discussion

NILIF = Nothing In Life Is Free
This is how I was taught to train dogs, the subtle dominance theory lens was so pervasive in the 00s even if you were trying not to be rough with your animals. It's been fascinating to listen to this deconstruction and force-free alternatives.

Reinforcement, Birds, and Screaming Tollers

FANTASTIC EPISODE BECAUSE: GUNDOGS!!! Gundogs! A lot of stuff in this episode rings true to my (admittedly limited) experience. HIGHLY RECOMMEND, even though the episode meanders all over the place, it's fantastic.

Supporting Dogs at the Vet: What Research Says with Dr Jessica Hekman

  • Spotify Episode Link
  • Shared this episode on my blog over here: https://gersande.com/blog/february-24-bookmarks-from-valentines-week/
    • "Another podcast episode because I have hours of walking to and fro' the university campus and I focus much better on podcasts when my legs are in motion. Cognitive canine behaviourist Sarah Stremming interviews Dr Jessica Hekman in this very informative episode that I think is useful for dog people but also for humans who feel stress in medical settings, because it helps you think about how one could design a medical or veterinary experience that greatly lessens stress. Also, there's an anecdote about veterinary surgeons that reminded me quite a lot of an experience I had with one of my surgeons relatively recently. Human attitudes with regards to the science and practice of care really does permeate and create shocking parallels in both human and nonhuman medical spaces."
  • Jessica Hekman & Functional Dog Collective

Unicorns are Fake

A complex episode that also talks to a lot of things I think about a lot. Words are hard: I like this episode.

Still Need A Listen

Listen to this again

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Table Of Contents
Cog Dog Radio Episodes
Case Studies
Case Study: Kevin
Case Study: Jade
Case Study: Synergy
Case Study: Tonic
Coercion with Adam Skandarani
Creating Behavior, Not Fixing It, with Agnieszka Janarek
Crossover Trainers
Decompression for Hunt-y Dogs
Let's Talk About Fetch, Baby with Liza Rader KPA-CTP
Notes
NILIF Discussion
Reinforcement, Birds, and Screaming Tollers
Supporting Dogs at the Vet: What Research Says with Dr Jessica Hekman
Unicorns are Fake
Still Need A Listen
Listen to this again