No Bad Dogs Podcast

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!

Hi Tom love this podcast so much I have a one year old Labrador border collie mix who is very well trained and has great recall but I was wondering what the best to make him respond faster to the commands like you have with your Shepard!

I have a 7 month old puppy we adopted from a rescue at 3 months. Ever since we got her, she has been very fearful and skittish—pure flight mode in many situations. I have worked hard on obedience & our relationship to help with her confidence, and we have made huge strides in areas we frequent often… My question is: When we go to new places, like trails she is unfamiliar with, what should I do, specifically, to help her through this fear and help her to become more confident in these new situations/areas? I’m hoping to help her grow into a resilient/flexible pup as much as possible. Thank you, I appreciate your help so much!