Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett

Visit us at shapedbydog.com If you are trying to train a dog who is fussy about food, or if you know someone who is in that situation, you may think, "this dog training is never going to work." And you know, you're probably right! Training will be a challenge unless you have something of great value for the dog. We’re continuing our focus on how to create food drive with a look

Visit us at shapedbydog.com This episode is all about my girl This! with reflections on this year's Canadian Dog Agility World Team Tryouts. You are all part of Team This! and I'm sharing my goals, challenges, and joys. These same things can relate to whatever you're going through with your own dog. Never give up. At 20 months of age This! didn't even want to wrap a cone or do a

Visit us at shapedbydog.com How can I train my dog if they're not interested in food? That's a question I'm often asked, and before we get to the how, we need to look at the why! A dog not really wanting to take food is something I've experienced from time to time. I'm covering the top ten reasons why a dog might have low food drive and not be motivated by training treats as a r

Visit us at shapedbydog.com How many thresholds does your dog cross a day? It could be a physical or emotional threshold. Training thresholds are important to understand, and thresholds can explain why some dogs seem anxious and refuse to budge, and others get way overexcited. I’ve got tips to help dogs with balancing emotions to cross any type of threshold with calm, thoughtf

Visit us at shapedbydog.com What if I told you that the secret to unlocking your dog's success lies within the walls of your own home? I've been using a training den for many years, and so have my students. I’m covering how to use a training den to fast track your dog’s success and confidence, what I keep in my training den, and why it creates a bond with dogs and helps them

Visit us at shapedbydog.com Dog training by nature is quite nuanced. Now, there are behaviors that everyone can get at some level with their dogs, like sit and down and fetch, but to get really brilliant behaviors, we need to understand the nuances. The really good news is that even if you’ve never trained a dog before, you can get this dialed in, and I’m covering what to lo

Visit us at shapedbydog.com Have you ever been triggered by social media dramas about dog training methods? It's likely something we all experience. There was a recent incident at Crufts that flowed into the social channels this week that had a lot of thoughts flooding into my brain, including the question of how can we, as a community of dog loving reinforcement-based trainers,

Visit us at shapedbydog.com Have you tried shaping a timid, shy, softer or fearful dog and found your dog could not offer behaviors or engage in dog training sessions? The challenge is real! Recently, we looked at shaping high-drive dogs, but what about dogs on the other side of the spectrum who seem unmotivated? Help is at hand, and we’re covering how to shape more reserved d

Visit us at shapedbydog.com I recently asked ChatGPT to list the top 10 frustrations people experience with dogs and am covering how to break down dog behavior problems to help make things better for everyone. Making things better is the key no matter what challenge you have, and it will give you relief from frustration and allow you and your dog to experience two-sided joy. I

Visit us at shapedbydog.com High drive, frantic, hyper dogs can be overwhelming! I’ve got shaping tips to help you end dog training frustration. High drive dogs can also be a lot of fun to train once you’ve made a few tweaks and the step by step I’m sharing I’ve learned from my very driven dogs. There are a lot of myths about dogs who seem to get frantic quickly, so we’