No Bad Dogs Podcast

Dear Tom, I would like to get straight to my question which is, how would you correct a dog for jumping up and trying to bite the leash while on walks? Our 6 month old Australian cattle dog, husky and German shepherd mix has a very strong herding instinct, and though doesn’t try to bite me, he tries to bite the leash. I try to pop the leash, though never quite time it right. Thank you for all the free advice you give, and have already found use through it even as an 11 year old. Hope you have a nice day, sir.

Hi Tom, your podcast episodes and YouTube videos have been amazing for our new Toller pup. I have two questions: Is there ever such a thing as starting too early with basic obedience for a puppy? I get a lot of comments from people saying we are being too “strict”. My parents have a German Shepherd that has reactivity issues. He loves and would absolutely not hurt for sure 5 people in his life (including me) but others can be questionable. Bit my sister for trying to pet him and bit my husband for trying to correct him during a fetch session. He also has issues with other dogs. Some are okay and others he wants to dominate. My question is, should I allow the dogs to meet at all? If so should the shepherd have a muzzle at all times? I really worry about my pup having a bad interaction and it changing the way he behaves around dogs because of it. Thank you so much!

Recently found your podcast and purchased the star mark collar for my 2yr old mini bernedoodle. Already she’s paying more attention to what I’m asking. Thank you so much!

Hi Tom, Thanks for the podcast. I can’t stop listening! I have one conceptual question if I may. Here it is: how exactly is the heel command supposed to help with leash pulling? I have a dog, a beagle-spaniel mix, 2 years old, reactive and often pulls on the leash. We are learning the heel command and will, of course, continue with that. However, I’m not sure how often to use it in the future (except for obvious situations like crossing a road). In practice, my dog has two "modes" during our walks: she either heels when I ask, or pulls when I set her free. What should I do when she pulls? I actually don’t need to keep her on my side the whole walk. Being a mix of hunting breeds, she’s a huuugely curious sniffer, and she can’t do this in heel mode, obviously. So I want her to walk more or less freely, stop and start according to her needs, sniff around, but not pull. Could you please draw a picture of how a good, long city walk should be structured? Is the dog supposed to stay at my side the whole time? If not, again—what do I do when she pulls? Thank you so much!