The Dog Who Asked for More: Understanding Life With Your Dog Beyond Dog Training and Behavior

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Are you tired of dog training advice that gives you one more thing to try but still leaves you wondering what you're missing? If you've…

by Emily “Em” Breslin | Dog Trainer & Canine Nutritionist

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About The Dog Who Asked for More: Understanding Life With Your Dog Beyond Dog Training and Behavior

Are you tired of dog training advice that gives you one more thing to try but still leaves you wondering what you're missing? If you've followed the advice, learned everything you can, and still can't figure out what actually makes sense for the dog in front of you, this…

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Episodes

New episodes come out several times a week.Latest 200 episodes in the feed

Oct 30, 2026 · 4 min

Why Shame Around Dog Muzzles and Kennels Can Put Your Dog at Risk | Dog Culture

You know the muzzle helps. You know the kennel works. So why do you still catch yourself explaining, defending, or even hiding the tools that make life easier for your dog? Muzzles, kennels, and gates can make everyday life safer and less stressful. But when other people see danger, punishment, or failed dog training where you see safety and support, even the right management decision can start to feel like…
Oct 28, 2026 · 15 min

What Your Dog's Training Plan Might Be Missing When Nothing Seems to Work

When a dog is terrified, knowing how to help them can feel anything but straightforward. And when a training approach doesn't seem to be working, how do you decide what to try next? Dog trainer William Garrido shares the story of Sophia, one of the most fearful dogs he'd ever worked with, and his decision to use a controversial training approach after earlier attempts hadn't helped. We also talk about Fitz, whose…
Oct 26, 2026 · 4 min

How Trying to Help Your Dogs Get Along Could Make Their Conflict Worse | Dog Behavior

You know the plan isn't working. Everyone is more stressed, you're constantly managing the fallout, and yet changing course somehow feels harder than trying one more time. When consistency gets treated like the answer to every dog training problem, walking away from a plan can feel like admitting you didn't try hard enough. But sometimes the thing keeping you and your dog stuck isn't a lack of effort. It's the…
Oct 23, 2026 · 4 min

Why Your Dog's Training Seems to Fall Apart After Taking a Break | Dog Training

Your dog knew how to do this. They've done it dozens of times. So why does one hesitant session suddenly make it feel like all your dog training progress has disappeared? When something changes, even something small, your dog may need time to get comfortable again. But when a skill that once looked easy suddenly becomes difficult, it's easy to assume you're back at the beginning. You'll hear: Why hesitation after a…
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min

How Getting a Second Puppy Could Make Your First Puppy's Problems Worse | Puppy Training

One puppy already has you exhausted. Getting them a playmate can sound like the perfect way to take some of that energy off your plate. But bringing home a second puppy doesn't automatically make raising the first one easier. Two puppies close in age can mean twice the training, twice the management, and challenges you never expected, especially when they become more dependent on each other than comfortable being…

Earlier episodes (195)

Oct 19, 2026 Why “Just Bring Your Dog” Isn't as Simple as People Think | Life With Dogs
“Just bring him. He’ll be fine.” It sounds simple when you’re not the one who knows exactly what could happen if he isn’t. Sometimes the exhausting part of knowing your dog isn’t making the decision. It’s having to explain that decision over and over to people who don’t understand why something easy for their dog isn’t easy for yours. And when you're managing dog behavior that other people don't see or understand,…
Oct 16, 2026 Why Your Dog Doesn’t Need to Learn to Handle Everything | Dog Behavior
If your dog struggles with something, it can feel like you're supposed to train until they don't. But does your dog actually need to handle every situation in the first place? Halloween brings that pressure out fast. Doorbells, costumes, kids, strangers, and plenty of advice about getting your dog ready for all of it. Sometimes the better question is whether they need to participate at all. You'll hear: Why…
Oct 14, 2026 What Happens When Helping Your Dog Means Questioning Something You Were Certain Was Wrong | Dog Training
You can have strong beliefs about what you would never do with a dog. Then one dog comes along and makes you question all of them. Kylie never expected Maya to need the kind of tools she once saw as punishment. But when safety, reactivity, and separation anxiety changed their daily life, figuring out what worked meant confronting some of her own beliefs about what being a good dog parent was supposed to look like.…
Oct 12, 2026 Why a Life That Works for Your Dog Can Still Feel Like It Isn’t Enough | Life With Dogs
Nothing about your life with your dog changed. Then you scrolled past someone else's version of it, and suddenly yours didn't feel like enough. Perfect bowls, elaborate enrichment, matching gear, picture-ready spaces. None of it means your dog has a better life, but seeing enough of it can make you question things you were perfectly happy with before. You'll hear: How ordinary dog care quietly became something…
Oct 9, 2026 Why Your Dog Is Already Stressed Before Halloween Even Starts | Dog Behavior
Halloween is still weeks away, but your dog already seems a little less able to handle things they normally would. October changes more than what shows up on your porch. Your walks move, the afternoons get busier, the weather changes, and your dog's normal routine can quietly look very different before Halloween night ever arrives. You'll hear: The small October changes that can make ordinary situations harder for…
Oct 7, 2026 How One Dog Product Can Change More Than You Ever Expected
Most dog products are just things we buy. Every once in a while, one changes something much bigger than expected. At SuperZoo, I asked pet brands about the moment they realized something they made had genuinely changed someone's day to day life with their dog. Their answers went far beyond whether the product worked, and some of them got emotional telling me why. You'll hear: The everyday problems that became…
Oct 5, 2026 Why One More Training Rep Won’t Help When Your Dog Isn’t Getting It | Dog Training
You run it again because surely one more try is the one that finally clicks. But somewhere along the way, more effort stops moving either of you forward. It can be hard to call a training session when something still isn't working, especially when stopping feels like giving up. Knowing when you've reached that point can change what happens the next time you try. You'll hear: The subtle signs your dog may be done…
Oct 2, 2026 When to Stop Playing, Even When Your Dog Is Asking for More | Dog Behavior
You gave your dog the walk, the fetch, the training, and somehow you're the only one ready to collapse. When a full day of trying to meet your dog's needs leaves you with even more chaos, it's easy to assume you still haven't done enough. But before you add one more round of anything, there may be something important you're missing. You'll hear: Why a dog asking for more doesn't always mean they need more How Em…
Sep 30, 2026 How Dog Products Change When Brands Actually Listen to Pet Parents
Buying something for your dog is easy. Knowing whether it’s actually worth your money is the harder part. Some of the most useful details about a product never become the headline on the package. At SuperZoo, I talked with the people behind a wide range of dog brands about what they’ve learned after their products reached real customers, including the feedback that changed what they make and the features people…
Sep 28, 2026 Why Doubting the Life You Built Around Your Dog Doesn’t Mean You Got It Wrong | Life With Dogs
Building your life around your dog can feel completely right and still leave room for the question you don’t always want to ask: Did I make the right call? Big decisions rarely come with proof that everything is going to work out. When your work, finances, routines, and future have all been shaped by the dog beside you, even seeing those choices pay off doesn’t always make the uncertainty disappear. You'll hear:…
Sep 25, 2026 Why More Exercise Isn’t Helping Your Dog Settle | Dog Behavior
You did the long walk. You played fetch until your arm gave out. And somehow your dog is still pacing around the house like the day just started. “Tire them out” sounds like good advice when your dog has endless energy, but more activity doesn’t always lead to a calmer dog. Sometimes the thing you’re doing to wear them out is actually winding them up even more, leaving you exhausted and your dog still unable to…
Sep 23, 2026 What Pet Creators See Behind the Scenes That Pet Parents Don’t | Pet Industry
The creators you trust the most have opinions about this industry they don't usually put in a caption. At Superzoo in August, instead of collecting swag and taking panel photos, three questions got asked to creator after creator, not the polished, brand-deal-ready answers you see on Instagram, but the real ones. What brand would they actually recommend if nobody was paying them to say it. What myth about training,…
Sep 21, 2026 How Task Training at Home Can Give You the Wrong Idea About Service Dog Potential | Dog Training
Your dog can learn the tasks perfectly at home and still not be capable of doing the job of a service dog. I wanted Fitz to be a service dog badly enough to train him myself. He learned real tasks, including retrieval, deep pressure therapy, and migraine alerts. At home, he was good at them. Then we went out in public, and the dog I hoped he could become collided with the dog actually standing in front of me.…
Sep 18, 2026 What You Gain When You Stop Chasing the Life Everyone Else Expects for Your Dog | Dog Training
There's a version of your life with this dog that you pictured a while back. It doesn't look anything like the one you're actually living now, and somehow that's become other people's business. At some point you stopped going to the places that used to be part of every week together, without ever deciding it in one clear moment. You just noticed what actually worked for your dog and kept doing that instead. People…
Sep 16, 2026 Why Speaking Up Matters When Someone Invades Your Dog’s Personal Space | Dog Body Language
You've said it out loud before anyone's hand even moves. Somehow you're still the one bracing for what happens next. Most people don't think there's anything to ask permission for when a dog looks friendly enough to grab, so the asking never happens. You end up being the one who has to say something, again, with every new person who doesn't bother to check first. You can be completely right about what your dog…
Sep 14, 2026 Why More Research Is Making Your Dog Product Decisions Harder | Dog Products
Somewhere in your house right now is a supplement you bought after one comment section convinced you it mattered, sitting next to a bag of food you're not sure you'll finish before switching again. Caring about your dog's food, training, and health doesn't come with an answer key, and the more you research, the less certain you often feel, not because you're getting something wrong, but because every product comes…
Sep 11, 2026 How to See Progress When Your Dog Is Still Reacting | Dog Training
You scroll past the before and after videos, the dog who used to lunge, now walking calmly on a loose leash, the caption that says six months. Then you look at your own dog, who's been in it for a year, two years, more, and still reacts to the exact same thing they reacted to on day one. Nobody posts the middle. They post the before and they post the after, and the eighteen months in between where nothing looked…
Sep 9, 2026 What Happens to a Working Dog When the Job They Built Their Life Around Is Gone? | Working Dogs
The dog who once had to earn every reward with a task will still find a way to steal your Thanksgiving turkey once nobody's watching. Roadie spent his career as a military working dog, sharp, disciplined, always on the job. When Paul brought him home for good, neither of them knew what came next. The chewing that replaced the anticipation of a task. The people food he'd never been allowed to want, and then wanted…
Sep 7, 2026 Your Dog Slows Down and Suddenly It Feels Like You’re Running Out of Time | Senior Dog
Everything else in your life has changed shape more than once. Your dog has been there for all of it. You've moved, changed jobs, changed relationships, watched people come and go. Your body's changed, your routines have been torn up and rebuilt more times than you can count. And somewhere in the middle of all that, your dog just kept being your dog, same greeting, same spot on the couch, same way they look at you…
Sep 4, 2026 You’re Doing the Bare Minimum for Your Dog Today. And You Feel Terrible About It. | Dog Enrichment
Your dog needs you today, but you have nothing left. There are days when everything they ask for feels like too much, not because you don't love them, not because you're doing it wrong, but because you were already empty before they brought you the ball for the first time that morning. And they don't know that. They just know you're there, and the gap between what they need and what you have left can feel…
Sep 2, 2026 When Did Asking for Help With Your Dog Start Feeling So Risky? | Dog Community
Someone in the dog community made you feel like you were doing it wrong, and part of you still wonders if they were right. Maybe you asked a question in a Facebook group or a Reddit thread and got judgment instead of an answer. Maybe you tried to help someone else and got torn apart for it. The dog community can be one of the most supportive places on the internet, and it can also be one of the cruelest, and that…
Aug 31, 2026 Why Your Stress Level Matters When You’re Managing a Reactive Dog | Dog Training
You know where every dog is before anyone else does, the one at the end of the block, the one behind the fence, the one two streets over. You've already calculated the exits before you're even out the front door. Most people who manage a reactive dog for long enough stop noticing they're doing it at all. The route planning, the scanning, the constant recalculating, it just becomes how you move through the world.…
Aug 28, 2026 What It Means When You Love Your Dog but Don’t Enjoy Being Around Them | Dog Training Burnout
You love your dog. You also spent today wishing they had an off switch. There are days when everything they do is the thing: the pacing, the nudging, the ball dropped at your feet for the fourteenth time, and you are already running on empty before any of it even starts. Then the guilt shows up, because you're supposed to love this, you chose this dog, you know what they need. But loving them completely and needing…
Aug 26, 2026 When Loving Your Next Dog Makes You Miss the One You Lost All Over Again | Pet Loss
She wasn't planning to adopt that day. She saw a photo of a dog with crusty eyes and a cone around her neck, and she just knew. Kailynn had lost her dog Pippa to cancer less than a year earlier, and fostering had already become part of how she was healing. Then she saw Tinsley's shelter photo right around the anniversary of Pippa's passing, and something about it made the decision before she'd even thought it…
Aug 24, 2026 What Happens When You Can’t Trust the Person in Your House With Your Dog? | Life With Dogs
Your dog has been there for parts of your life you've never said out loud. There's a version of this that looks fine from the outside, the version where you're functioning, managing, holding it together well enough that nobody around you knows what it's actually costing. Underneath that, there's a math you're doing constantly, weighing what's safe, what isn't, what you can and can't carry today. And through all of…
Aug 21, 2026 How Old Expectations Can Keep You From Seeing What Your Senior Dog Needs Now | Dog Training
Your dog used to make it up the stairs without thinking. Now you watch them do the math first. Somewhere along the way, you started lifting your dog onto the couch and stopped noticing it as new. Their back legs don't always cooperate anymore. They hear you call and something doesn't quite connect the way it used to. And your first instinct, because you've spent years training this dog, is to wonder if you need to…
Aug 19, 2026 Why Being a Good Dog Parent Doesn’t Mean Every Rescue Dog Is Right for You | Dog Training
Most people think the hard part of adopting a pet ends when the paperwork is signed. But that's usually when the real work starts, and a lot of the struggles that come after could have been caught with the right conversation before you ever brought the animal home. In this episode, Em talks with Amy Castro from Pet Parent Hotline about what actually happens after adoption: why so many dogs get returned once they…
Aug 17, 2026 What Changes When Your Dog Makes the Life You Planned Impossible | Dog Training
There's a version of reactive dog life people talk about: the walks that don't go well, the places you stop going. And then there's the version nobody talks about, the one where it starts costing you at work, your income, your ability to say yes to things you need to say yes to. In this episode, Em shares what it actually looked like when Fitz washed out of service dog training and her life was falling apart in…
Aug 14, 2026 What Your Dog Needs Before the Training Can Actually Work | Dog Training
You've watched the videos, read the posts, followed the steps exactly, and then it falls apart. Your dog can't focus, or gets it three times and forgets everything on the fourth, or shuts down completely. You start running through the checklist in your head. Is the treat not good enough? Did I move too fast? And underneath all of it, the question you don't say out loud: what if I'm the problem? In this episode, Em…
Aug 12, 2026 Why Following Your Dog’s Prescription Exactly May Not Be Enough | Dog Health
She survived a $20,000 heart surgery most vets had never even heard of. Four days later, a pharmacy mistake took her anyway. Krasi and her husband did everything right. They researched, they saved, they flew across the world for a surgery only available in three places. It worked. Daisy came home. Then a routine arrhythmia medication came back from the pharmacy with the wrong dose, ten times what it should have…
Aug 10, 2026 How Trying to Wear Your Dog Out Can Keep Them Wired | Dog Enrichment
You've thrown the ball until your arm gave out, run more miles, extended the walks, done everything that's supposed to work. And your dog still can't settle, still paces, still follows you from room to room like something's about to happen. The exhausting part is that you're doing everything right on paper. In this episode, Em shares what she didn't understand for a long time with Fitz: that fetch and running spike…
Aug 7, 2026 Why Doing Less With Your Dog Can Still Be Enough
You have nothing left today, and your dog doesn't know that. They don't know about the exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix, or the kind of day where just being a person already cost everything. They just know you're there, and they still want the same thing they always want, the ball, the walk, the attention. And that's when the guilt shows up, the quiet math of did they get enough today, was that enough, is this…
Aug 5, 2026 Why Knowing Your Dog Is Fine Doesn’t Always Help You Stop Worrying | Dog Gear
There's a version of leaving your dog you've gotten used to, the sounds, the routine, the timing you can predict without thinking. Then you travel somewhere new, and none of that applies anymore. New space, new sounds, a kennel in a corner you've never seen before, and suddenly you're spending the whole trip only half wherever you actually are. Checking the time. Rushing back early. Doing the math on how long…
Aug 3, 2026 What It Means When Your Dog Is the Reason You Keep Going | Life With Dogs
Your dog knew how bad it really was before anyone else did. There are seasons when everything falls apart at once. In this deeply personal episode, Em shares what it was like surviving an abusive relationship during the pandemic, then getting hit with the Iowa derecho on top of it, and how Toby and Fitz became the one steady thing in a year when nothing else was. You'll hear: What it actually looks like when a…
Jul 31, 2026 What Years of Uneventful Car Rides Can Make You Miss About Your Dog’s Safety | Dog Gear
Have you ever driven with your dog loose in the car and quietly wondered what would happen if you had to slam on the brakes? For years, Em thought her dogs were safe simply because they rode quietly in the back seat. It wasn't until she started traveling with Fitz, who struggled to settle on long car rides, that she realized comfort and safety aren't the same thing. In this episode, she shares how one road trip…
Jul 29, 2026 Why Two Dog Supplements With the Same Ingredients Can Be Completely Different | Dog Nutrition
Have you ever looked at a shelf full of dog supplements and wondered which ones actually work? With so many powders, capsules, oils, and tinctures on the market, it's easy to assume that adding more means giving your dog better support. But what if the real question isn't which supplement to buy, but whether your dog's body can actually use it? Em sits down with canine wellness expert Angela Ardolino to talk about…
Jul 27, 2026 What Your Dog Was Saying Before Their Reaction Became Impossible to Miss | Dog Body Language
Did your dog's reaction feel like it came out of nowhere? After a bite, a fight, or another frightening incident, it's easy to replay every moment and wonder what you missed. The guilt, the questions, and the belief that you should have seen it coming can stay with you for years. In this episode, I share the deeply personal story of my dog Izzy, the decision that changed my life, and the lesson that has shaped how…
Jul 24, 2026 Why Your Dog’s Training Stops Working When You Need It Most | Dog Training
Have you ever watched your dog perform perfectly in one place, then completely fall apart somewhere else? If you have a reactive dog, you've probably felt the frustration of training that works one day and fails the next. But what if the problem isn't the training at all? In this episode, Em talks through what actually happens to a dog's ability to learn once they're pushed past what they can handle, why that…
Jul 22, 2026 Why Leaving Your Dog Behind Never Feels Like a Break | Dog Gear
A dog trainer left his dog in a sprinter van with the AC running while he taught a seminar nearby. Within minutes of the AC failing, the van hit 100 degrees. He only knew because his phone started buzzing. In this episode, Em talks with Kaile from Waggle about the mental load of leaving a dog behind, whether that's at home, in the car, or in an RV, and how real-time monitoring changes what "checking on your dog"…
Jul 20, 2026 What If You Accidentally Taught Your Dog the Behavior You’re Trying to Stop? | Dog Training
Have you ever had one bad day with your dog and immediately wondered if you've ruined everything? If you live with a reactive dog, you know how easy it is to turn a difficult walk, a setback, or a frustrating behavior into a story about who your dog is—or what you're doing wrong. In this episode, we explore why those stories feel so convincing, how they shape your dog training decisions, and what may actually be…
Jul 17, 2026 Why Pushing Your Dog's Progress Could Be Backfiring | Dog Training
What if the thing that feels like giving up on your dog is actually the thing they need most? If you're living with a reactive dog, anxious dog, or a dog who seems constantly overwhelmed, you've probably been told to keep pushing forward. More training. More exposure. More practice. More consistency. But what if progress isn't about doing more? In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , Em shares the reality…
Jul 15, 2026 Why the Perfect Dog on Paper Can Be Completely Wrong for Your Life | Dog Training
Did you choose your dog based on your real life—or the life you hoped you would have? When most people start looking for a dog, they focus on breeds, photos, energy levels, and what life might look like once that dog comes home. But what happens when the reality doesn't match the dream? In this episode, I sit down with Julie Swan of the Honest Dog Breeder Podcast to talk about ethical breeding, rescue dogs, dog…
Jul 13, 2026 When Your Dog’s Reactions Feel Like Proof You’re Failing Them | Dog Training
A bike comes around the corner and the dog reacts. Even knowing everything about triggers and thresholds, it still feels like the stranger watching just saw something true about you. This episode breaks down why a reactive dog's public meltdown gets turned into a verdict about the handler, why understanding the science behind reactivity doesn't make the shame disappear, and why separating the incident itself from…
Jul 10, 2026 What Grief Looks Like When Your Dog Is Still Here | Pet Loss
You don't notice the changes all at once. It's the extra medication with breakfast. The slower trip up the stairs. The way your dog sleeps a little more than they used to. The way your daily routine quietly shifts around their needs until one day you realize just how much has changed. In this episode, I'm talking about a kind of grief that doesn't get discussed very often: the grief that starts before the loss. The…
Jul 8, 2026 Why Nothing You’ve Tried for Your Dog’s Itching and Bad Breath Is Working | Dog Health
Have you ever felt like you're constantly chasing a new symptom with your dog? Maybe it's bad breath. Maybe it's itching. Maybe it's digestive issues that improve for a while, then come right back. You've changed foods, tried supplements, spent hours researching, and you're still wondering what you're missing. In this episode, I sit down with Kendall, co-founder of Kingdom, to talk about why some of the most common…
Jul 6, 2026 Why Your Dog Isn’t Back to Normal Even Though the Fireworks Have Been Over For Hours | Dog Training
The noise has stopped. The holiday is over. But your dog is still jumpy, restless, reacting to things that normally wouldn't bother them, and you're starting to wonder if something is wrong. In this episode, Em explains what's actually happening inside your dog's body after a stressful event and why recovery often takes much longer than most dog parents expect. If you've been worried that your dog should be "over…
Jul 3, 2026 How Making Every Decision About Your Dog Alone Can Make You Trust Yourself Less | Life With Dogs
Being the only one who decides for your dog costs more than you think. You've stayed up at midnight researching food, training, or health decisions, wishing someone would just tell you that you're not getting it wrong. If you're the only one making every call for your dog, this episode is for you. The emotional weight of constant second-guessing, the financial pressure of getting it wrong, the exhaustion dog…
Jul 1, 2026 What Happens When the Dog You Were Assigned Becomes Irreplaceable | Dog Training
What happens when the dog beside you stops being part of the job and becomes the one constant in your life? After years of dog training, deployments, Secret Service missions, and life-changing transitions, Paul Bourgeois discovered that his military working dog, Rroddie, was giving him something far beyond protection or performance. Through war, divorce, retirement, and the difficult transition back to civilian…
Jun 29, 2026 When Training Your Dog Through Fireworks Can’t Help Them Anymore | Dog Training
You've played the soundtracks. Practiced the exercises. Done everything the training advice told you to do. And the fireworks start anyway, and your dog falls apart anyway, and you're standing there wondering what you missed. In this episode, Em shares why so many well-meaning dog parents end up here every year, and why fireworks may not be the training problem everyone assumes it is. Drawing from her experience as…
Jun 26, 2026 What You Don’t Notice When You Start Avoiding Places With Your Reactive Dog | Dog Training
Your reactive dog, and it's not what you think. There are places you and your dog just stopped going. Not because you decided to. Little by little, your world got smaller, and you almost didn't notice until you did. In this episode, Em talks about the quiet kind of avoidance that happens when you're living with a reactive dog: the skipped walks, the places that stopped feeling easy, the moment you realize your…
Jun 24, 2026 How Safer Car Travel Can Change What’s Possible With Your Dog | Dog Safety
Getting there and getting there safely aren't the same thing. Most dog parents never think about car safety until they're faced with a close call, an accident, or the realization that their dog could be seriously hurt in a crash. We think about training, nutrition, enrichment, behavior. How our dogs actually travel rarely makes the list. In this episode, Em sits down with Reed from Ruffland Kennels to talk about…
Jun 22, 2026 When a Hard Day With Your Dog Makes You Question the Whole Relationship | Life With Dogs
Do you ever feel completely exhausted by your dog… and then immediately guilty for feeling that way at all? Some days it feels like your dog needs something from you every second:attention, movement, regulation, reassurance, management, patience, decision-making, and emotional energy. And when you’re already overwhelmed yourself, even small things can start to feel impossibly heavy. In this episode of The Dog Who…
Jun 19, 2026 What Happens After “Trying Everything” for Your Dog Stops Being the Answer | Dog Training
What do you do when you’ve tried everything for your dog… and nothing is working? In this deeply personal episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , Em shares the full story of Izzie — the dog she loved deeply, the years of management and escalating behavior, and the impossible decision she eventually had to make after everything finally fell apart. This conversation explores the emotional reality of living with…
Jun 17, 2026 Why More Options for Your Dog Can Make the Right Choice Harder | Pet Care
Have You Ever Felt Like Helping Your Dog Has Turned Into A Research Project? You've saved the post. Bought the supplement. Tried the chew. Added another recommendation to the list. And somehow, instead of feeling more confident, you feel even less sure about what your dog actually needs. In this episode, Em sits down with Michelle Huie, founder of ShopDotPet, to talk about why so many pet parents get stuck in a…
Jun 15, 2026 Why Doing More Enrichment Can Make It Harder to Tell What Your Dog Actually Needs | Dog Behavior
Have you ever spent hours planning enrichment for your dog… only to end the day wondering why they still seem restless, overstimulated, or unable to settle? Lick mats. Snuffle mats. Puzzle feeders. Frozen toppers. Scatter feeding. Training sessions. Walks. Rotations. DIY enrichment setups. A lot of dog parents are doing everything they’ve been told to do — and still ending up with dogs who feel more activated…
Jun 12, 2026 What Happens When the Dog Who Got You Through Everything Starts Struggling Too | Dog Behavior
Have you ever looked at your dog and realized they became so much more than a companion—they became the thing that helped you survive? For some people, dogs become far more than pets. They become routine, safety, stability, and emotional support when life feels overwhelming. In this deeply personal episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , Em shares the reality of surviving an abusive living situation during COVID…
Jun 10, 2026 Why More Exercise Is Making Your Dog Harder to Live With | Dog Enrichment
What if your dog doesn't need more exercise—just a better way to use the energy they already have? Many dog parents are stuck in the same exhausting cycle: more walks, more fetch, more play, more activity... yet their dog still won't settle. If you have a high-energy dog, reactive dog, anxious dog, or a dog that constantly seems to want more, this episode may completely change how you think about enrichment. Em…
Jun 8, 2026 Why Your Dog’s Reactions Keep Feeling Like They Came From Nowhere | Dog Body Language
Have you ever looked at your dog after a reaction, shutdown, growl, or stressful moment and thought: “Where did that even come from?” A lot of dog parents believe reactions happen suddenly.One second their dog seems fine… and the next there’s barking, lunging, freezing, growling, or biting that feels impossible to predict. But most dogs are communicating long before those moments happen. Most of us just were never…
Jun 5, 2026 When the Training That’s Supposed to Help Your Dog Starts Making Things Worse | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like your dog understands something one day… and completely falls apart the next? You practice.You repeat things.You try to stay patient and consistent. And still your dog seems overwhelmed, reactive, distracted, or unable to settle once real life gets involved. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , Em shares the turning point she experienced with Fitz after realizing that more…
Jun 3, 2026 What No One Prepares You to Lose When Your Dog Dies | Pet Loss
Losing your dog is hard. But losing the dog who changed you feels like losing part of yourself. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , we’re talking about the kind of grief people don’t always understand — the grief that comes after a dog who shaped your routines, your identity, your healing, and the version of yourself you became because they were here. Because when you’ve loved a dog who needed more from…
Jun 1, 2026 What Nobody Told You to Check When Training Your Anxious Dog | Dog Nutrition
You’ve done the training. The walks.The management.The routines.The enrichment. And while some of it helps… your dog still seems anxious, reactive, unsettled, or unable to fully relax. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , we’re talking about the connection between dog behavior and what may be happening inside the body — especially in the gut. Because many dogs labeled as “anxious,” “sensitive,”…
May 29, 2026 Why the Advice That Works for Other Dogs Keeps Failing Yours | Dog Training
Do you ever feel like your brain is constantly running calculations about your dog? Is this walk too much? Did they get enough rest? Should we leave now? Will this trigger a reaction? Did I make the wrong call again? In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , we’re talking about the invisible mental load behind life with a dog who needs more from you than most people realize. Because when your dog struggles…
May 27, 2026 What Modern Life May Be Taking Away From Your Dog | Dog Health
You’ve changed the food. Added the supplements. Tried to do everything right for your dog. And somehow… they still don’t seem fully well. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , we’re talking about a piece of dog health that almost nobody discusses: light. Joined by animal bodyworker and Animal Soul founder Jackie Jolie, we explore how modern indoor living may be affecting our dogs in ways most people never…
May 25, 2026 Who Pays the Price When an Untrained Dog Wears a Service Vest | Dog Training
You've seen it. A dog in a vest that didn't seem okay. Barking, lunging, clearly overwhelmed. And you didn't say anything, because it's not your place, because maybe you're wrong, because what would you even say. This episode is about that moment, and about what actually separates a real service dog from a vest bought online. Because from the outside, a calm pet and a task-trained service dog can look identical,…
May 22, 2026 What’s Behind Your Dog’s Off Days When Nothing Has Changed | Dog Behavior
Your dog had an off day, and nothing about it makes sense. Nothing changed. The routine was the same. And still, the reactions came faster, the settling took longer, and you were left running through everything you did that day trying to find the thing you missed. Em walks through the exact moment this stopped feeling random for her — when she noticed Fitz getting more reactive and Toby withdrawing on the same kind…
May 20, 2026 What You Can Do Before Your Dog Starts Showing Their Age | Dog Health
Have you ever looked at your dog and realized something felt different… and suddenly started wondering how much time you really have left together? In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , we’re talking about the quiet reality of dogs getting older — the small changes most people don’t notice until they become impossible to ignore. A hesitation on the stairs. Sleeping a little more. Not jumping onto the…
May 18, 2026 Why Your Dog’s Walk Is Making Things Harder Instead of Better | Dog Training
At some point, walks stopped feeling enjoyable and started feeling like something you mentally prepare yourself to survive. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em talks about the quiet reality many dog parents carry but rarely admit out loud: walks that feel tense, unpredictable, exhausting, and emotionally draining — even when you love your dog deeply. Because for many sensitive, reactive, or easily…
May 15, 2026 When Trying Harder for Your Dog Makes You Trust Yourself Less | Dog Training
You love your dog deeply… so why does it feel like you’re carrying the weight of everything all the time? In this episode of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em talks about the quiet burnout so many dog parents live in without realizing it. The constant watching. The overthinking. The pressure to prevent every reaction, manage every situation, and stay one step ahead so nothing goes wrong. Because when you care this…
May 13, 2026 Why Your Dog Keeps Struggling When You’ve Already Addressed the Problem | Dog Health
You’ve changed the food. Worked on the behavior. Tried the supplements, the training, the routines… and somehow the same problems still keep coming back. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em sits down for a layered conversation about chronic gut issues, sensitivities, reactivity, nutrition, stress, and what happens when dog parents realize they may only be looking at one piece of a much bigger…
May 11, 2026 Why Nothing Works Once Your Dog Starts Reacting | Dog Training
You keep trying to do the right thing in the moment your dog reacts… and somehow nothing ever seems to work. The barking. The lunging. The feeling that your dog suddenly can’t hear you anymore, even though you know they know these skills. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em talks about the exhausting cycle so many dog parents get stuck in: trying to calm their dog down once the reaction has already…
May 8, 2026 Why Your Dog’s “Picky” Eating Might Be Telling You Something Else | Dog Nutrition
At first it looks small. A skipped meal here. Weird digestion there. A day where your dog just feels a little “off.” Not because one skipped meal feels like an emergency. But because deep down, you know something feels different — even if you can’t fully explain why yet. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em talks about the subtle signs dog parents often brush off at first: inconsistent eating, random…
May 6, 2026 What Nobody Tells You About the Dog Food You’ve Been Told Is Fine for Your Dog | Dog Nutrition
Why do so many dog parents only start questioning food when their dog gets sick? In this episode of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em sits down with Jessica, for a deep conversation about dog nutrition, dog food labels, gut health, allergies, and the emotional reality of trying to help a dog who still isn’t thriving — even when you’re following all the advice you’ve been given. From pancreatitis and storage mite…
May 4, 2026 When More Enrichment Makes It Harder for Your Dog to Settle | Dog Behavior
You’ve Changed Everything For Your Dog… So Why Do They Still Seem Restless, Reactive, Or Unable To Settle? In This Episode Of The Dog Who Asked For More , Em Shares The Story Of Fitz — And The Realization That More Walks, More Play, More Activity, And More Dog Enrichment Were Actually Making His Dog Behavior Harder Instead Of Helping. Like So Many Dog Parents, Em Thought The Answer Was Doing More. More Exercise.…
May 1, 2026 What No One Tells You About Loving a Dog Who Is Hard to Live With | Dog Training
You can love your dog deeply… and still feel like living with them is breaking you. There are moments most people don’t talk about.Not the training. Not the good days. The ones where you feel exhausted.Where everything feels hard.Where you sit there and wonder if you can keep doing this. You go on the walks.You manage the triggers.You plan everything out. And over time… it starts to wear on you. You find yourself…
Apr 29, 2026 Why Trying to Choose the Right Dog Products Leaves You With More Questions Than Answers | Canine Nutrition
You read the labels. You compare the ingredients. You try to make the right choice. And the more you look, the less clear it feels. One product says it's healthy. Another says it's better. Everyone has an opinion, and now you're stuck wondering if you're getting it wrong. This is where so many dog parents end up, not because they don't care, but because they care so much, and the information in front of them…
Apr 27, 2026 Why Your Dog Is Still Reacting Even Though the Training Is Working | Dog Training
Why does it still feel like nothing’s working—even after all the training you’ve put in? You bring treats.You practice focus.You try to stay consistent. And sometimes it works… until it doesn’t. One walk goes well—and the next feels even harder.The reactions come back.The pulling returns.And suddenly, it feels like you’re right back where you started. This is where so many dog parents get stuck. Not because they’re…
Apr 24, 2026 How Learning More About Dog Food Can Make You Feel Like You’re Feeding Your Dog Wrong | Dog Nutrition
You tried to figure out dog food… so why does it feel more confusing than ever? You read the labels.You look at the ingredients.You try to do what’s best. And somehow… you end up feeling worse about what you’re feeding your dog. Feeding your dog should feel simple. But once you start hearing different opinions, comparing raw vs kibble, seeing grain-free warnings, and reading confident marketing claims… it stops…
Apr 22, 2026 Why Life With the Dog You Wanted Can Feel Different Than You Expected | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like you're doing everything for your dog, more training, more enrichment, more effort, and it still feels off? Like something isn't quite clicking, even though you're trying? Sometimes behavior isn't about effort. It's about fit. The rhythm of your life. Your dog's temperament. The expectations you didn't realize you were carrying. In this episode, Em sits down with Kay, The Canine Detective, to…
Apr 20, 2026 What Comparing Your Dog to Everyone Else’s Makes You Stop Seeing | Dog Training
You watch other dogs walk calmly, ignore distractions, settle without being asked twice, and you wonder why none of that comes easy for yours. It's not a thought you'd say out loud, but it's there. In this episode, Em unpacks where that quiet comparison actually comes from, and what it does to the way you see your own dog. Through honest reflection on life with Fitz, she gets into the gap between what training…
Apr 17, 2026 What “I Can’t Keep Doing This” Really Means When You Love Your Dog | Life With Dogs
Have you ever loved your dog deeply… and still quietly wondered, I don’t know if I can keep doing this ? A lot of overwhelmed dog parents carry a kind of exhaustion they don’t feel safe talking about. The constant management. The disrupted routines. The hypervigilance. The canceled plans. The walks that feel stressful instead of peaceful. The feeling that your nervous system never fully turns off. In this episode,…
Apr 15, 2026 How Your Dog’s Health Problems Can Start Looking Like Their Personality | Dog Health
Living with a chronically sick dog creates a kind of exhaustion most people don’t see. The middle-of-the-night potty trips. The constant second-guessing. The vet visits. The spiraling thoughts about food, behavior, medications, stress, and whether you’re somehow missing something important. In this deeply honest conversation, Em sits down with Maya to share Loki’s long journey through chronic diarrhea,…
Apr 13, 2026 Why Your Dog Still Needs More After Getting Plenty of Exercise | Dog Enrichment
Have you ever spent hours walking, playing with, and exercising your dog… only to watch them come home even more restless, reactive, or unable to settle? A lot of dog parents are taught that if dogs have energy, the solution is always more exercise. Longer walks. More outings. More stimulation. More activity. But for many sensitive or anxious dogs, constantly adding input doesn’t create calm — it creates nervous…
Apr 10, 2026 When a Busy Day With Your Dog Doesn’t Catch Up With Them Until Later | Dog Training
A dog can act fine all day with guests over, and then fall apart the next day once everyone's gone. That's not a coincidence, and it's not too much energy. It's often a dog who's still carrying yesterday and hasn't fully come back down yet. This episode breaks down why spring's busier, less predictable rhythm can leave some dogs on edge, why comparing your dog to ones who "handle it just fine" misses what's…
Apr 8, 2026 What You Miss About Your Dog When You’re Looking Everywhere Else for Answers | Dog Health
Have you ever looked at your dog’s food, supplements, allergies, or behavior struggles and quietly wondered… am I missing something important? A lot of dog parents feel overwhelmed trying to make the “right” choices for their dog’s health. Labels are confusing. Dog food marketing is loud. Supplements pile up quickly. And somewhere underneath all the advice, many dogs are still struggling with itchy skin, ear…
Apr 6, 2026 How Your Dog’s Behavior on Walks Changes the Way You See Them | Dog Training
You finish the walk feeling embarrassed, defeated, like everyone else got the version of dog life you were supposed to have. Pulling, barking, reacting, freezing, scanning, avoiding certain streets, walking at odd hours to dodge the whole thing. At some point it stopped feeling like connection and started feeling like something you're being graded on. In this episode, Em unpacks how leash walking became one of the…
Apr 3, 2026 When Your Dog Can’t Settle and More Exercise Isn’t Helping | Dog Training
A dog who lies down, then pops back up, checks the window, sighs, and starts moving again, over and over, looks like too much energy. It might actually be a dog who's already full. This episode breaks down the difference between a dog who's under-exercised and a dog who's overtired, why spring specifically can push some dogs into restless, can't-settle energy, and why calm sometimes comes from doing less, not more.…
Apr 1, 2026 What You Might Be Missing When Your Dog Refuses Treats | Dog Nutrition
Have you ever bought treat after treat for your dog… only to end up feeling confused when they still seem uncomfortable, picky, itchy, unmotivated, or sick afterward? A lot of dog parents assume treat time should be simple — grab a bag, reward the dog, move on. But for many sensitive dogs, treats quietly affect digestion, allergies, energy levels, motivation, inflammation, and even behavior in ways most people…
Mar 30, 2026 Why It Feels Like Your Dog Lost All Their Progress Overnight | Dog Training
A bad day usually has an obvious cause. A bad week can build quietly, with nothing that looks big enough to explain it, until it spills over. This episode breaks down why spring specifically tends to overwhelm sensitive dogs, why what looks like backsliding is often just cumulative load from routine changes, more noise, and less real downtime, and why looking at a whole week instead of one hard moment changes…
Mar 27, 2026 When More Training Starts Adding Pressure Instead of Progress | Dog Training
It's easy to assume a dog who won't listen is being stubborn. Often, that's not what's actually happening. This episode breaks down why "just train more" often makes things worse instead of better, and why what looks like a dog who won't listen is sometimes actually a dog who can't, because they don't feel safe enough yet to learn. Training isn't the foundation. Safety and connection come first. You'll hear: Why…
Mar 25, 2026 What You Might Miss When Your Dog Can Still Do What You’re Asking | Dog Training
What if the dog that looks the most “confident” in training… isn’t actually feeling that way at all? Some dogs look engaged. Focused. High energy. Like they’re doing everything right. But underneath that, there can be tension. Pressure. A body that isn’t fully settled. And it’s easy to miss — especially when it looks like progress. A lot of dog parents get stuck here. Not because they’re doing something wrong… But…
Mar 23, 2026 Why Your Dog Can Be Tired and Still Unable to Settle | Dog Health
A dog who's suddenly more restless. Can't quite settle. It's easy to assume it's a training or enrichment problem. Often, it isn't. This episode breaks down how seasonal allergies and gut irritation can quietly show up as behavior changes in the spring, and why adding more training, more exercise, or more enrichment can actually make things worse when the real problem is physical discomfort, not behavior. You'll…
Mar 20, 2026 Why Your Dog’s Worst Days Often Start Before You Notice | Dog Training
You finally get a calm day. And then the next one feels even harder. The barking is louder. The pacing comes back. And suddenly it feels like all your progress disappeared overnight. A lot of dog parents live in this cycle. One good day, one hard day, back and forth. And it's easy to start blaming yourself. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe nothing is working. Maybe we're just stuck. But what looks like…
Mar 18, 2026 How to Tell When Your Senior Dog Isn’t Just “Getting Older” | Dog Health
The choices made while a dog is young, diet, joint care, how they're exercised, don't just affect them now. They shape how that dog ages years down the line. Em talks with Anna Webb about what actually helps a dog age gracefully: red light therapy for joint pain and recovery, the role fresh food and targeted supplements play in reducing inflammation, and small preventative habits that matter far more than most…
Mar 16, 2026 Why Your Dog’s “Good Behavior” at the Dog Park Deserves a Second Look | Dog Training
Dog parks are supposed to look a certain way: a happy dog running free, easy socialization, and a tired pup afterward. When a dog doesn't fit that picture, staying close, avoiding other dogs, trying to leave, it's easy to start questioning yourself instead of the situation. This episode breaks down why fear doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like sticking close, avoidance, or trying to get away, and…
Mar 13, 2026 Why Dogs Can React the Same Way for Completely Different Reasons | Dog Training
Barking. Lunging. Freezing. Growling. It can look like the same behavior from the outside, but underneath, a dog can be in completely different emotional places, and treating fear the same way as frustration usually makes things worse, not better. This episode breaks down the real difference between fear, frustration, and reactivity, why misreading which one is actually happening leads to trying the wrong kind of…
Mar 11, 2026 Why Your Dog Doesn’t Have to Look Sick for Something to Be Wrong | Dog Health
Have you ever looked at your dog and thought… They’re eating. They’re playing. They seem normal. So why does something still feel off? A lot of dog parents end up in this quiet, confusing space—where behavior and health start to blur together. Training doesn’t help. Nothing looks “serious.” But your gut keeps saying something isn’t right. And then the self-doubt kicks in. Am I overthinking? Am I being dramatic? Or…
Mar 9, 2026 How Spring Can Bring Back Behaviors You Thought Were Gone | Dog Training
The progress felt real. Then spring came, and suddenly the same old behaviors are back, and it feels like something went wrong. This episode breaks down why seasonal spikes in reactivity are almost never about backsliding. They're about load: more stimulation, more unpredictability, more environmental pressure than a nervous system that was just starting to feel safe can handle. It covers why pushing further after…
Mar 6, 2026 Why You’re Always on Edge in Your Own Home With Your Dog | Dog Training
Does your dog struggle to settle at home… even when nothing is happening? The house feels tense. Like everything is a little too loud, a little too on edge. Your dog is pacing, barking, watching everything. And somehow you’re the one holding it all together. A lot of overwhelmed dog parents live in this quiet, constant state of hypervigilance. Trying harder. Adding more training. Doing everything “right.” And still…
Mar 4, 2026 What Your Dog’s Behavior Can Tell You About What They’re Missing | Dog Enrichment
Have you ever felt like your dog is trying to tell you something… but you’re not sure what you’re missing? Like the barking, the restlessness, the shutdowns, the “too much” days aren’t random — but you can’t quite connect the dots? A lot of overwhelmed dog parents end up chasing solutions. More toys. More enrichment. More doing. And somehow it still doesn’t feel better. In this conversation, Em sits down with…
Mar 2, 2026 Why Your Dog Keeps Doing the Same Thing No Matter What You Try | Dog Training
The same pacing before guests arrive. The same tension at the front window. The same shutdown after a busy day. It can look random if you don't know what's actually driving it, but it's actually the most consistent thing happening. This episode breaks down why dogs communicate through repetition, not big dramatic moments, and why trying something new every time a pattern repeats often means the message is being…
Feb 27, 2026 How You Walk Your Reactive Dog Could Be Making Things Worse | Dog Training
Have you ever finished a walk feeling completely drained while your dog seemed even more reactive, stressed, or overwhelmed than when you left the house? A lot of dog parents are taught that reactive dogs improve through more exposure, more practice, more time around whatever sets them off. But for many anxious or overwhelmed dogs, traditional walks actually create constant pressure: straight lines, busy sidewalks,…
Feb 25, 2026 Why Some Dogs Need More Time Before You See Who They Really Are | Dog Training
Have you ever looked at your dog’s behavior and wondered if they were trying to communicate something… but you didn’t know how to hear it yet? Reactive dog behavior can feel terrifying, exhausting, and emotionally overwhelming — especially when aggression, resource guarding, separation anxiety, or shutdown behaviors suddenly enter your home. Many dog parents are told these dogs are “too much,” “dangerous,” or…
Feb 23, 2026 Who Decided How a “Good Dog” Is Supposed to Behave? | Dog Training
And then you feel guilty for even thinking it. Like there's something wrong with you for wanting an easier version of the dog you already love. A lot of dog parents carry an invisible pressure to have a "good dog," one who listens perfectly, loves everyone, stays calm in public, and never causes embarrassment or stress. When real dogs don't match that picture, the emotional fallout can feel heavy in ways that are…
Feb 20, 2026 How Enrichment Became Another Way to Feel Like You’re Failing Your Dog | Dog Enrichment
Have you ever looked at all the enrichment advice online and quietly wondered how anyone is supposed to keep up with it all? Dog enrichment started as a way to help dogs feel calmer, more fulfilled, and more connected to their natural instincts. But somewhere along the way, it became another invisible standard many dog parents feel pressured to constantly meet. Puzzle toys, frozen meals, scent work, training games,…
Feb 18, 2026 How to Know When It’s Time to Stop Working Your Service Dog | Dog Training
Have you ever looked at your service dog and quietly wondered if they were still happy doing the job… while feeling terrified of what the answer might mean? For many handlers, service dogs become more than support systems — they become safety, freedom, partnership, routine, identity, and independence all wrapped into one relationship. Which is why noticing subtle behavior changes can feel so emotionally…
Feb 16, 2026 Why Your “High Energy” Dog Never Seems to Get Tired | Dog Training
Have you ever spent the entire day trying to tire your dog out… only to watch them become even more restless, reactive, or unable to settle? A lot of dog parents are told that high-energy dogs simply need more exercise, more enrichment, more training, and more activity. But for many anxious or overwhelmed dogs, constantly adding stimulation doesn’t create calm — it creates nervous system overload. In this episode,…
Feb 13, 2026 Why Your Dog Doesn’t Respond Even When They Know the Cue | Dog Training
Have you ever asked your dog to do something simple… and the way they didn’t respond felt weirdly personal? A lot of dog parents are taught to see missed cues, slow responses, freezing, barking, or walking away as stubbornness or disobedience. But many dogs who “aren’t listening” are actually struggling with something deeper — overwhelm, stress, nervous system overload, environmental pressure, or emotional…
Feb 11, 2026 When Helping Your Dog Starts Taking Over Everything | Life With Dogs
Your whole life has quietly started revolving around your dog's anxiety, and you're not even sure when it happened. Living with an anxious or reactive dog changes more than routines. It affects your nervous system, your relationships, your sense of self, even intimacy and boundaries, in ways most people never expect. Over time, a lot of dog parents find themselves constantly researching, managing, scanning for…
Feb 9, 2026 Why Getting the Puppy You Wanted Can Feel Like a Mistake | Dog Training
The puppy came home, and instead of the excitement everyone talks about, there's just exhaustion, second-guessing, and a nervous system that hasn't settled since. This episode breaks down what's actually happening beneath that stress, why so much puppy advice sounds right but feels impossible to keep up with in real life, and what starts to shift once you stop chasing a timeline and start paying attention to what…
Feb 6, 2026 Why Chicken and Rice May Not Be Helping Your Dog’s Upset Stomach | Dog Health
Have you ever stared at your dog’s food bowl wondering if the thing meant to help their stomach is actually making them feel worse? For years, dog parents have been told that chicken and rice is the “safe” answer for digestive upset. But many dogs struggling with inflammation, stress, loose stools, vomiting, or gut imbalance don’t actually need more filler — they need support that helps the digestive system recover…
Feb 4, 2026 What Your Dog’s Performance Can Hide About Their Health | Dog Training
A dog that struggles to focus, finish a task, or settle isn't always a training problem. Sometimes the brain and body simply don't have what they need to get there. Em talks with Tanisha from Pet Matrix about the connection between nutrition, recovery, and a dog's ability to focus and regulate, why active and working dogs can still struggle behind the scenes, and what it actually looks like to support a dog's body…
Feb 2, 2026 What Needing a Muzzle Says About Your Dog | Dog Training
The same safety tool can be exactly right for one dog and completely wrong for another. A kennel that gives one dog structure and calm can distress a dog with a different history. Choosing tools like a kennel or a muzzle isn't a training failure, it's a form of responsibility, and the guilt so many dog parents feel around that choice often has nothing to do with whether it's actually right for the dog in front of…
Jan 30, 2026 Why Trying to Make Your Dogs Friends Can Create More Conflict | Dog Training
If one of your dogs is chaotic and overstimulated while the other is selective and quick to correct, it's easy to read that as one dog being the problem. Usually it isn't. It's a mismatch, not a failure, and there's a real difference between forcing dogs to be friends and helping them coexist safely. You'll hear: Why some dogs simply don't want a friend, and why that's normal, not a red flag Why harmony and…
Jan 28, 2026 What’s In Your Dog’s Food Bowl Might Be the Problem | Dog Nutrition
Have you ever watched your dog inhale their food, walk away from their bowl, pace during meals, or seem strangely stressed around eating… and wondered if something deeper was going on? Most dog parents are taught to focus only on what they feed their dog — but very few people talk about how the feeding experience itself can shape stress, digestion, emotional regulation, and dog behavior. In this episode, Em sits…
Jan 26, 2026 Why Your Dog Gets Harder to Live With During the Winter | Dog Behavior
Walks get shorter. Sidewalks get icy. Your dog looks at the front door like absolutely not. And suddenly they're pacing, barking, spinning, or bouncing off the walls, and you're left wondering if you're doing something wrong. In this episode, Em talks about what's actually happening when dogs get more wound up in the winter months, using her own experience with Fitz spiraling into barking fits and torn-up couch…
Jan 23, 2026 How Your Dog Asks for Space Before They React | Dog Body Language
Have you ever felt like your dog’s behavior suddenly changes out of nowhere… barking, freezing, shutting down, or reacting before you even understand what happened? Most reactive dog behavior doesn’t actually come out of nowhere. Dogs communicate stress, overwhelm, and discomfort long before the barking, lunging, growling, or shutdown happens — but many dog parents were simply never taught how to recognize the…
Jan 21, 2026 What to Check Before Your Dog Gets Another Vaccine | Dog Health
Vaccinated once. Vaccinated again. Still nothing. A dog can be vaccinated multiple times and still not actually be protected, and the standard vet visit alone won't tell you. Em talks with Noga Shiller from Bio Gal Labs about how vaccines and immunity actually work in dogs, why the term "booster shot" is misleading for the vast majority of already-protected dogs, and how titer testing catches the small number of…
Jan 19, 2026 Why Your Dog Gets More Chaotic After a Busy Day | Dog Training
Have you ever walked, trained, played with, and exercised your dog nonstop… only to watch them come home even more chaotic, restless, or unable to settle? A lot of dog parents assume hyper behavior means a dog simply needs more exercise. More walks. More fetch. More stimulation. But for many anxious, reactive, or overwhelmed dogs, constant activity doesn’t create calm — it creates nervous system overload. In this…
Jan 16, 2026 Why Your Dog’s Behavior Might Be the First Sign Something Is Wrong | Dog Health
Have you ever felt like no amount of dog training, routine changes, or behavior work was actually helping your dog feel better? A lot of dog parents are taught to see behavior problems as purely behavioral — reactivity, pacing, barking, hyperactivity, shutdowns, restlessness, or difficulty settling. But sometimes those behaviors are actually signs that a dog’s body is struggling underneath the surface. In this…
Jan 14, 2026 Why Your Dog Keeps Doing the Things You’re Trying to Stop | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like no matter how much exercise, training, or activity you give your dog… they still seem restless, reactive, or impossible to fully settle? A lot of dog parents are told that high-energy dogs simply need more walks, more exercise, or stricter dog training. But for many dogs — especially working breeds and purpose-bred dogs — the real issue isn’t energy alone. It’s unmet instinct, lack of…
Jan 12, 2026 How Trying to Change Your Dog Changes You Too | Life With Dogs
Have you ever felt like no matter how much training, structure, or enrichment you tried, your dog still seemed overwhelmed, reactive, or impossible to fully settle? A lot of dog parents quietly believe that if they trained harder, stayed more consistent, or finally found the right method, their dog's behavior would improve. But sometimes the constant pressure to get it right pulls us further away from understanding…
Jan 9, 2026 Why Your Dog Struggles More on Winter Walks | Dog Training
Bundled-up strangers look terrifying to your dog this winter, and it's not the only thing working against them. Ice, boots, static shocks, reduced daylight, unfamiliar silhouettes, shifting routines. Winter adds real sensory overload for reactive or anxious dogs, and if walks have started feeling impossible or unsafe, that's not you failing at training. In this episode, Em shares why winter often makes reactivity…
Jan 7, 2026 What You Give Up When Your Dog Can’t Live the Life You Imagined | Life With Dogs
Have you ever felt like reactive dog training was taking over your entire life… while everyone around you acted like your dog just needed “better behavior”? Living with a reactive dog can feel exhausting, isolating, and emotionally overwhelming — especially when you’re trying to navigate crowded neighborhoods, unpredictable environments, constant triggers, and advice that rarely reflects real life. For many dog…
Jan 5, 2026 What You’re Not Being Told About Your Dog’s Food | Dog Nutrition
Have you ever switched your dog’s food over and over again… only to feel like their digestion, energy, skin, or behavior still wasn’t improving? Dog food has become incredibly confusing for pet parents. Between raw feeding fear, kibble marketing, ingredient labels, prescription diets, and constant online opinions, many people are left wondering whether they’re actually helping their dog — or accidentally making…
Jan 2, 2026 Why Your Dog Keeps Catching You Off Guard | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like your dog’s behavior changes out of nowhere… one second calm, the next completely overwhelmed? A lot of dog parents describe their dogs as “unpredictable” when they’re struggling with reactivity, anxiety, shutdowns, or emotional overload. But most dogs are communicating long before the barking, lunging, pacing, freezing, or withdrawal ever begins. The problem is that many of us were never…
Dec 31, 2025 A Dropped Theater Mask Accidentally Solved a Massive Pet Owner Problem | Dog Gear
Michael made theatrical masks for a living. One day he dropped a sticky silicone mask on the floor of his house, full of pet hair like every dog and cat owner's floor. When he picked it up, it was covered in fur. That accident became Fur Zapper. Em talks with Scott about how a dropped mask turned into a reusable, biodegradable laundry tool that actually works on pet hair, why it took time to get customers to trust…
Dec 29, 2025 Playing Fetch Until a Dog Is Panting Doesn't Mean They're Actually Tired | Dog Training
You've done all the "right" things: daily walks, fetch, tug, flirt pole. And your dog still can't settle. Still pacing. Still barking at the window. Still wound up long after the exercise should have worn them out. In this episode, Em breaks down what real enrichment actually is, and why it's not just a puzzle feeder. She gets into the different types (sensory, cognitive, physical, social, dietary, environmental)…
Dec 24, 2025 Why the Supplement You Give Your Dog Might Not Be What You Think | Dog Health
Your dog starts doing things that feel… different. Pacing at night.Getting stuck in corners.Forgetting routines they’ve known for years. Or just not quite seeming like themselves. And you can’t tell if it’s normal aging… or something else. These changes are easy to second-guess. Easy to explain away. Easy to carry quietly while you wonder if you’re overthinking — or missing something important. In this episode of…
Dec 22, 2025 The Post Holiday Crash Looks Like a Setback. It Isn't. | Dog Training
The house gets quieter.The visitors leave.And your routine with your dog shifts again. But now your dog’s behavior feels different. More restless.More sensitive.Harder to settle in ways that don’t quite make sense. It’s easy to wonder if something went wrong.If your dog is slipping backward.If your training isn’t working the way it should. But this shift doesn’t come out of nowhere. Busy seasons, changing routines,…
Dec 19, 2025 The Dog Who Asked for More Is Growing — Here's What That Means for You
For a long time, it felt like if you just followed the right rules, everything would settle. More structure.More consistency.More “doing it right.” But the harder you try to control everything, the heavier it starts to feel — for both you and your dog. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More, Em shares a personal story about the shift that changed things at home. Not a new method.Not a better set of rules.…
Dec 17, 2025 A Dog Used Talking Buttons to Tell Her Owner What She Dreams About | Dog Training
A dog with a board of recordable buttons pressed "night," "talk," and "sleep" together, over and over, for weeks. It took a research intern's suggestion before anyone realized what she was actually trying to say. Em talks with Alexis, whose dog Bunny helped pioneer button communication for dogs, about how a single outside button turned into a hundred-word vocabulary, the moment Bunny used her buttons to describe…
Dec 15, 2025 Strangers Weren't Judging You on the Walk. You Were. | Dog Training
You love your dog. And some days… you still wonder why this feels so hard. Why everyone else seems to have the easy dog.Why walks feel heavier.Why you’re trying so hard and still feel behind. This is a quiet pressure a lot of dog parents carry. That if you just train better, try harder, follow the right advice… your dog will finally become the “good one.” And when that doesn’t happen, it’s easy to turn it back on…
Dec 10, 2025 Why Your Young Dog Doesn’t Need to Look Like a Service Dog Yet | Dog Training
A calm, well-behaved pet and a real service dog can look identical from the outside, until they're actually asked to do the job. Em talks with Ashley, a behavior scientist and service dog trainer with 24 years of experience, about what actually separates a task-trained service dog from a well-behaved pet, why not every dog is built for the work, and what ethical service dog training looks like when it's built on…
Dec 8, 2025 Just Because You Love Your Family Doesn't Mean Your Dog Has To | Dog Training
Good catch — swapping the opener so it doesn't just restate the title: The house is full of people. Someone brought dessert. Someone let the dog out without asking. For a lot of dogs, this isn't a holiday. It's a nightmare. Em shares the holiday gathering where her sister came in loud and fast, Toby bit her jeans, and it took years to rebuild that trust, and what she's learned since about advocating for a dog who…
Dec 3, 2025 Why Keeping Your Car Clean Isn’t the Same as Protecting It | Dog Gear
Here's the description, pulling from Jim's own founder story and the clean-vs-damage distinction: A dirty car seat is a quick vacuum and some elbow grease. A torn one is a repair bill and a problem you can't undo. Em talks with Jim Umloff, founder of Four Canines, about the difference between a seat cover that just keeps hair and dirt under control and one actually built to stop claws, slobber, and 80-pound dogs…
Dec 1, 2025 You Budgeted for a Dog. You Didn’t Budget for Everything This Dog Would Need | Dog Training
What if the hardest part of dog ownership isn't training or behavior, but the costs no one prepares you for? When we bring a dog home, most of us budget for food, toys, and routine veterinary visits. What we don't expect are the long term expenses that can come with behavior challenges, medical conditions, specialist care, supplements, or emergencies. In this episode, I share my own experience transitioning from…
Nov 26, 2025 Dog Food Brands Are Selling You a Feeling, Not Facts | Canine Nutrition
Shinier coat. Supports healthy functioning. Better energy. These phrases show up on nearly every bag of dog food, and none of them mean anything you can actually measure. Em talks with Daniel Shuloff about the new Pet Nutrition Facts labeling changes coming to the pet food industry, why so much of what brands market has nothing to do with measurable health outcomes, and what actually moves the needle for a dog's…
Nov 24, 2025 Your Dog Is Already Struggling and Nothing Has Even Happened Yet | Dog Behavior
Nothing's happened yet. No guests, no doorbell, no chaos. And your dog is already struggling. Em breaks down precursor cues, the small changes dogs pick up on days before anything actually stressful occurs. Vacuuming, guest towels, a different jacket, faster movement around the house. To you, it's just holiday prep. To your dog, it's a string of signals that something big is coming, and that stress builds long…
Nov 19, 2025 How a Button Built for One Senior Dog Became a Lifeline | Dog Tech
Here's the description, built from the actual content (the I Puppy device, Champ's story as the origin, the service dog/medical alert pivot): What if your dog could call for help? Not metaphorically. An actual notification to your phone, triggered by your dog pressing a button. Em talks with Mark Condon, the accidental inventor of I Puppy, about how his aging dog Champ inspired the idea, how it evolved from a…
Nov 17, 2025 My Vet Recommended It. My Dog Got Worse. Here's What the Label Was Hiding | Canine Nutrition
Have you ever looked at your dog's food bag and wondered if the ingredients are really as healthy as the marketing claims? When our dogs struggle with digestive issues or recurring health concerns, many of us assume buying a more expensive dog food is the answer. In this episode, I share Toby's journey with recurring pancreatitis and the lessons I learned after taking a closer look at dog nutrition, ingredient…
Nov 12, 2025 What Looks Like Destructive Behavior Might Actually Be a Request | Dog Enrichment
The couch cushions. The rug. The corner of a cardboard box. It's easy to assume a dog chewing through things is a problem to correct. It might actually be a need going unmet. Em talks with Adam and Chris, founders of Soda Pup, about what actually makes a chew toy durable, why sanctioned outlets for chewing and destruction often prevent the destructive behavior people are trying to stop, and what real enrichment…
Nov 10, 2025 Guests Break the One Rule You Set, Then Blame the Dog. | Dog Behavior
Do you feel guilty leaving your dog out of holiday celebrations? Many dog parents believe bringing their dog to every family gathering is part of being a good pet parent. But for many dogs, busy homes, unfamiliar guests, loud conversations, and disrupted routines create stress—not joy. In this episode, we explore why protecting your dog's peace can be one of the greatest gifts you give them during the holidays.…
Nov 5, 2025 Why Rescuing a Dog Is Only the Beginning | Life With Dogs
What if your rescue dog isn't being difficult—but trying to tell you something you haven't learned to hear yet? In this special Gotcha Day episode celebrating Toby's 12th year home, I sit down with rescue advocate and foster Tracy Foster Lane to talk about what second chances really look like. We explore fear, trust, dog body language, rescue misconceptions, and why healing isn't measured in days or weeks, but in…
Nov 3, 2025 He Was Scheduled for Euthanasia. 45 Minutes Later, He Chose to Trust Her. | Rescue Dog
What if the rescue dog you thought you were saving was actually the one helping you heal? Many of us adopt dogs believing we're giving them a second chance. But sometimes the relationship becomes something much deeper. In this emotional anniversary episode, Em shares Toby's rescue story—from a terrified bait dog facing euthanasia to a loyal companion who became a source of healing through trauma, grief, disability,…
Oct 29, 2025 Why Your Dog Keeps Crossing the Boundaries You Set | Dog Training
What if your dog could learn where they’re welcome—and where they’re not—without gates, drilling holes, or constant supervision? Many dog parents feel overwhelmed trying to manage household boundaries. Whether it's keeping your dog off the couch, away from the trash, out of certain rooms, or preventing door rushing, traditional solutions often rely on physical barriers, constant monitoring, or repetitive…
Oct 27, 2025 She Thought Her Dog Was Failing Her. He Was Asking for More | Dog Training
Locked: "She Thought Her Dog Was Failing Her. He Was Asking for More." | Dog Training Here's the description: For years, Em thought the answer was to try harder. Longer walks, more fetch, more discipline. Fitz kept barking, kept reacting, kept shutting down anyway. Then she realized he wasn't failing the training. He was asking for something completely different. In this episode, Em shares the realization that gave…
Oct 22, 2025 A Bad Trainer Doesn't Just Cost Money. It Costs Time You'll Never Get Back. | Dog Training
Have you ever wondered if you're getting dog training advice from someone who truly understands behavior—or someone who's just good at social media? In this powerful conversation, I sit down with dog trainer Josh Taylor to talk about the unexpected journey that took him from a 17-year career investigating organized crime to helping thousands of dogs and their families. Along the way, we dive into what makes a great…
Oct 20, 2025 Why Halloween Isn’t the Night to Test Your Dog | Dog Training
For many dogs, Halloween isn't fun—it's overwhelming. Between constant doorbells, strangers in costumes, loud noises, disrupted routines, and unexpected visitors, the holiday can create a perfect storm of dog anxiety , stress, and sensory overload. In this episode, we talk about why Halloween can be especially challenging for anxious dogs , reactive dogs , and dogs who thrive on routine. More importantly, we…
Oct 15, 2025 You're Bathing Your Dog to Fix the Smell and That's Exactly Why It Won't Go Away | Dog Health
Have you ever wondered if bathing your dog too often could actually be making their skin issues worse? Most dog parents want to do what's best for their dogs, but when it comes to dog skin care , there is a lot of conflicting advice. If your dog struggles with itching, odor, irritation, or recurring skin problems, the solution may not be another bath or a different shampoo. In this episode, I sit down with…
Oct 13, 2025 What to Do When Your Dog Is Bouncing Off the Walls | Dog Enrichment
More fetch. Longer walks. All the exercise advice says the same thing, and somehow the dog is still bouncing off the walls, especially now that it's getting dark and cold earlier and outside time is harder to come by. Em walks through seven indoor enrichment games designed to actually calm a dog down instead of just tiring them out, using mental stimulation instead of more physical exercise to help a dog settle.…
Oct 8, 2025 Nobody Sends Flowers When a Dog Dies | Pet Loss
When a person dies, there are casseroles, flowers, cards, time off work. When a dog dies, most people get a couple hours and an expectation to be fine by Monday. Em talks with Anne Marie, author of Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss, about why grief for a pet is so rarely validated the way grief for a person is, the different types of grief that show up after losing an animal, and real ways to honor that loss without a…
Oct 6, 2025 Why “Good” Dog Training Advice Can Keep You Stuck | Dog Training
You've been doing the "right" things, structure, consistency, following the advice everyone gives, and your dog still seems stuck. Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's the advice. A lot of popular dog training advice sounds solid on the surface: be the alpha, ignore bad behavior, never let them win, don't comfort a scared dog. But some of the most common tips out there are quietly making things harder, not easier, for…
Oct 1, 2025 The Dog Toy That Grows With Your Dog Instead of Collecting Dust After Day Three | Dog Enrichment
Have you ever felt like your dog has endless energy no matter how much exercise you give them? Many dog parents assume that longer walks, more fetch, and extra physical activity are the answer to a restless, anxious dog. But what if the missing piece isn't more exercise at all? What if your dog is craving mental stimulation, enrichment, and opportunities to problem solve? In this episode, I sit down with Aina,…
Sep 29, 2025 ou Can Lose Years Waiting for Your Reactive Dog to Get Better | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like your life is on hold because your dog isn't where you want them to be yet? Many reactive dog parents spend years waiting. Waiting for training to work. Waiting for behavior to improve. Waiting for life to feel easier before they allow themselves to dream bigger. But what if waiting for perfect is the very thing keeping you stuck? In this personal solo episode, I share the mindset shift that…
Sep 24, 2025 You Call Your Dog Family. The Law Can Still Call Them Property | Dog Law
Have you ever wondered what would happen to your dog if the law treated them like property instead of family? Most of us see our dogs as companions, partners, and members of the family. But in many courtrooms, pets are still legally classified as property. That distinction affects everything from pet custody disputes to shelter policies, animal welfare laws, and the future of animal rights. In this powerful…
Sep 22, 2025 Everyone Said Walk Him More. Here's What Actually Happened When I Did | Reactive Dog
Have you ever felt guilty for skipping a walk with your dog? Dog parents hear it all the time: a tired dog is a good dog. More walks. More exercise. More exposure. But what happens when you're doing all of those things and your dog is still overwhelmed, reactive, anxious, or unable to settle? In this solo episode, I share one of the biggest lessons Fitz taught me. For years, I believed that more walks would solve…
Sep 17, 2025 She Spent 30 Days Walking a Leash With No Dog on the End of It | Dog Training
She spent five years in prison. For the first 30 days of the dog training program there, she wasn't allowed to have a dog at all, just a leash, walking alongside handlers who did. Em talks with Madison Skoog Simpson about the prison dog training program that changed the direction of her life, the medication and mental health struggles she navigated while incarcerated, and how the training philosophy she started…
Sep 15, 2025 Why Chasing Your Dream Gets Harder When It Starts Working
The podcast looks polished. The clips are captioned, the stories are tight. It's easy to think there's a version of this that has it all figured out. Em pulls back the curtain on what actually keeps this dream running: cleaning houses between recording sessions, editing marathons at midnight, and the version of burnout that doesn't mean something is wrong, just that building something that actually matters costs…
Sep 10, 2025 There's a Whole Conversation Happening With Your Dog That You're Missing | Dog Training
Here's the description, built around the general concept rather than centering the guest's specific story: Dogs communicate constantly. Most of it just gets missed. In this episode, Em talks with Melissa about her experience teaching her dog to communicate using talking buttons, what actually surprised her about what her dog chose to say, and what it reveals about how much dogs already understand and are trying to…
Sep 8, 2025 Dogs Get Called 'Too Much' All the Time. Almost Never for the Real Reason | Dog Behavior
There's a label people reach for constantly: too much, a lot, reactive, difficult. It feels accurate in the moment. It's usually incomplete. Em shares the exact moment she realized Fitz wasn't being difficult, he was in distress, and she'd been missing it for months. She walks through what changed once she stopped asking "how do I get him to stop this" and started asking "what is he trying to say," and what it…
Sep 3, 2025 Why Most Dog Training Advice Is Old Mythology Wearing a New Face
Good instinct — makes sense to avoid naming Chewy or specific brands directly. Here's the description, staying general and pulling from the transcript's real themes (Barbara Woodhouse, the "energy" myth, the shock collar phone calls) without naming brands or people who could take issue with how it's framed: Why does the same bad dog training advice keep coming back with a new face every generation? Decades ago, it…
Sep 1, 2025 At Some Point, 'Fixing' Your Dog Replaced Just Enjoying Them. | Dog Training Burnout
Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right with your dog and somehow things still aren't getting better? Many dog parents throw themselves into training, follow every recommendation, watch every video, and try every tool they can find. But when your dog is still struggling—and you're still feeling overwhelmed—it can start to feel like you're the problem. In this honest solo episode, I share one of the…
Aug 27, 2025 For Some Shelter Dogs, Survival Depends on What State They're In | Rescue Dog
Have you ever wondered what actually happens after a dog leaves an overcrowded shelter? Every year, shelters across the United States struggle with overcrowding, limited resources, and difficult decisions. But behind many successful adoptions is an entire network of people working tirelessly to give animals a second chance. In this episode, I sit down with Michael Schneider, founder of Pilots To The Rescue, a…
Aug 25, 2025 Your Reactive Dog Isn't Getting Worse. They're Finally Telling You the Truth | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right with your reactive dog, but nothing seems to be working? You follow the advice. You buy the equipment. You practice the training exercises. And somehow, your dog still struggles. It's frustrating, discouraging, and can leave you wondering if you're failing your dog. In this solo episode, I'm sharing the three biggest lessons I wish I had learned sooner during my…
Aug 20, 2025 GPS Fencing, AI Coaching, and Real Time Tracking: The Future of Dog Safety | Dog Training
Have you ever worried about what would happen if your dog got loose? Whether you have a reactive dog, an adventurous dog, a service dog, or simply a dog who loves to explore, the thought of losing them can be one of the biggest fears dog parents carry. As technology continues to evolve, new tools are changing the way we think about dog safety, dog training, and staying connected to our dogs. In this episode, I'm…
Aug 18, 2025 Why Fixing Your Dog's Behavior Might Be the Thing Standing Between You | Dog Training Burnout
Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you try with your dog, it still doesn't feel like enough? Many dog parents live with the pressure of getting everything right—the perfect training plan, the perfect walk, the perfect response to every challenge. But what happens when chasing perfection starts creating more stress for both you and your dog? In this deeply personal solo episode, I share the moment that…
Aug 17, 2025 What I Do Before Recommending Anything for Your Dog Isn't What You'd Guess
You usually only see the finished part: the episode, the recommendation, the product I say I trust. There's a lot that happens before any of that reaches you. This week I'm recording from SuperZoo, the largest pet industry trade show in North America, walking rows of new gear, meeting founders, testing products, and having real conversations with the people building things for dogs. Not because it's trendy. Not…
Aug 13, 2025 Her Golden Retriever Was Supposed to Be the Easy Dog. Here's What Living With a Reactive One Actually Looks Like | Dog Training
What if your reactive dog isn't a problem to solve—but a relationship that's asking you to slow down and listen? In this episode, I sit down with Cobia to talk about life with Magic, her reactive Golden Retriever. Like many dog parents, Cobia expected life with her dog to look a certain way. Instead, she found herself navigating fear, anxiety, sound sensitivity, frustration, and the emotional roller coaster that…
Aug 11, 2025 Your Dog Might Actually Hate Walks and You've Been Pushing Through It Anyway | Dog Training
Locked: Ep 93 — "Your Dog Might Actually Hate Walks and You've Been Pushing Through It Anyway" | Dog Training Confirmed the duplicated text was just an export artifact, not a real platform issue — no further action needed there. Now the description — checking against Part 10: Do dogs really need a walk every single day? You've probably pushed through one anyway, telling yourself that's what a good dog parent does,…
Aug 6, 2025 Why the Opposite of Addiction Might Actually Be a Dog | Healing With Dogs
Have you ever felt like your dog changed your life in ways you never expected? In this powerful conversation, I'm joined by dog behavior specialist Matt Beisner for a discussion that goes far beyond dog training. We explore mental health, emotional healing, addiction recovery, isolation, compassion, and the profound ways our dogs shape who we become. What starts as a conversation about dogs quickly becomes a…
Aug 4, 2025 Complete and Balanced' Doesn't Mean Your Dog's Body Can Actually Use What's In the Bag | Dog Food
Is your dog's food actually supporting their health—or are you trusting a label that was never designed to tell the whole story? In this solo episode, I'm sharing the journey that completely changed the way I think about canine nutrition. What started with Toby's pancreatitis diagnosis turned into years of research, difficult questions, and a deep dive into the world of dog food, ingredients, gut health, and…
Jul 30, 2025 The Pee Pad That Turns Purple When Your Dog Has a UTI and Why Nobody Made This Sooner | Dog Health
Why does the pet industry make everyday dog care harder than it needs to be? In this episode, I'm joined by Lindsay and Julia from Pet Life Unlimited for a conversation about innovation, pet products, dog health, and why so many of the products dog parents rely on every day haven't evolved to meet the needs of modern pet ownership. From pee pads and grooming products to ingredient transparency and urinary health…
Jul 28, 2025 The Grief That Starts Before You Lose Your Dog and Why Nobody Talks About It | Anticipatory Grief
What do you do when your dog is still here, but you can feel time changing? If you share your life with an aging dog, you may know the feeling. The extra nap. The slower walk. The moment they pause before climbing the stairs. Nothing is wrong, and yet something feels different. In this deeply personal solo episode, I'm talking about anticipatory grief—the quiet heartbreak that begins long before loss. The grief…
Jul 23, 2025 Everyone Assumes a Dog Peeing Indoors Is Spite. It's Never Spite | Dog Behavior
Why do dogs keep going back to the same spot to pee? If you've ever dealt with marking, potty training setbacks, or mysterious accidents that seem to happen in the exact same place over and over again, you're not alone. In this episode, I sit down with Glenn, founder of NoPee, to talk about canine scent communication, why dogs are naturally driven to return to certain areas, and how one simple product is helping…
Jul 21, 2025 Ashamed of Your Own Dog? Here's Why That Almost Stopped This Trainer From Ever Starting | Dog Training
Have you ever felt like you've tried everything with your dog and nothing is working? Maybe you've followed the advice. Tried the training plan. Bought the tools. Put in the effort. And somehow, you're still feeling stuck. In this solo episode, I'm sharing a part of my story I don't talk about very often: why I almost didn't become a dog trainer and how my own struggles with Fitz made me question whether I was…
Jul 16, 2025 She Placed Fifth on America's Got Talent With Her Dogs and Says Your Regular Pet Dog Is More Capable Than You Think | Dog Training
Do dogs actually enjoy dog sports, tricks, and performance training—or are they just doing it because we ask? In this episode, I'm joined by Sarah Carson, professional dog trainer, performer, and the human behind The Super Collies. From America's Got Talent to canine freestyle, agility, disc, dock diving, and trick training, Sarah shares what she's learned from working with dogs at the highest levels of performance…
Jul 14, 2025 What My Dog Taught Me About Peace That 15 Years of Medication Never Could | Healing With Dogs
What if peace isn't something you earn after you've fixed everything? What if it's something you choose right now? In this deeply personal solo episode, I share how breaking my foot forced me to slow down and confront a question I had been avoiding for years: What am I actually chasing? What started as a physical injury became a much bigger lesson about perfectionism, external validation, healing, and the way our…
Jul 9, 2025 Your Dog Isn't Stubborn or Defiant. A Leading Canine Researcher Says We've Been Reading Them Wrong | Dog Behavior
What if your dog is smarter than you realize? In this episode, I'm joined by Jennifer Holland, author of Dog Smart: Life-Changing Lessons in Canine Intelligence , for a fascinating conversation about canine intelligence, dog behavior, body language, working dogs, and what we can learn when we stop viewing dogs through a human lens and start seeing the world from theirs. We explore the many ways dogs demonstrate…
Jul 4, 2025 She Stayed in a Dangerous Situation Because She Had Nowhere to Go. Her Dog Was the Reason She Finally Left | My Dog Saved Me
Have you ever felt completely alone in your struggles with your dog? Like everyone else seemed to have it figured out while you were lying awake at night wondering what you were doing wrong? In this very first solo episode of Straight Up Dog Talk, I'm sharing the story behind why this podcast exists and the experiences that shaped the way I approach dogs, behavior, and the people who love them. What started as a…
Jul 2, 2025 The Backyard Game That Did What Years of Fetch Never Could for My High Energy Dog | Dog Enrichment
What if your dog's behavior challenges aren't actually an obedience problem? In this episode, I'm joined by Megan, founder of SwiftPaws, for a conversation about enrichment, play, dog behavior, and why understanding the dog in front of you can change everything. We explore the role of instinct, the predatory sequence, and how activities that tap into your dog's natural behaviors can help create a more fulfilled,…
Jun 30, 2025 My Reactive Dog Refused to Get Out of the Car and That Was the Day Everything Changed | Relationship With My Dog
What if your reactive dog isn't giving you a hard time? What if they're having a hard time? In this solo episode, I'm sharing the story of how I spent years misunderstanding my own dog. I thought I was helping. I thought I was doing what every dog owner was supposed to do. More walks. More exposure. More opportunities to "get used to it." Instead, I was missing what my dog had been trying to tell me all along. We…
Jun 25, 2025 The Moment Before Your Dog Bites Has Been Happening for Hours. Here's What You're Missing | Dog Training
What if your dog's aggression isn't coming out of nowhere? Many dog parents are told their dog is being stubborn, dominant, or difficult when the reality is often much more complicated. In this episode, I'm joined by aggression specialist Michael Shikashio for an honest conversation about dog aggression, body language, fear, stress, pain, and the warning signs many people miss before a reaction happens. We explore…
Jun 18, 2025 You've Been Buying Dog Supplements That Don't Work and the Industry Knows It | Dog Health
What does it really take to build a business that helps dogs? In this episode, I'm joined by Will, co-founder and CEO of Pet Matrix, for a behind-the-scenes conversation about entrepreneurship, canine health, nutrition, supplements, and the realities of running a mission-driven business in the pet industry. We talk about how Pet Matrix got started, the challenges of growing a small business, and why education has…
Jun 11, 2025 What If the Best Walk You Ever Took With Your Dog Was Just to the End of the Block | Dog Training
What makes a good walk for your dog? For many dog parents, the answer is distance, steps, or getting enough exercise. But what if your dog needs something completely different? In this episode, I'm joined by Laura Garcia of Curious Snoots for a conversation about dog walking, leash reactivity, enrichment, advocacy, and what it means to truly see the dog in front of you. We explore why dog parks and daycare aren't…
Jun 4, 2025 A Dog Trainer Told This Client the Best Move Was to Stop for 48 Hours | Dog Training
Do you need a Border Collie, Malinois, or high-drive working dog to get involved in dog sports? Not even close. In this episode, I'm joined by certified dog trainer and behavior consultant Catherine McGuire for a conversation about dog sports, enrichment, training, and the incredible things that can happen when you find an activity you and your dog enjoy doing together. From agility and rally to nose work and…
May 28, 2025 This Vet Watched Hundreds of Dogs Die in Vet Offices. Then She Built Something Completely Different | Pet Loss Grief
How do you know when it's time to say goodbye? It's one of the hardest questions any dog parent will ever face. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Benson and Courtney from Paws Into Grace to talk about pet loss, in-home euthanasia, and what it means to create a peaceful, compassionate end-of-life experience for the animals we love. We discuss the conversations many families struggle to have, how to evaluate quality…
May 21, 2025 Two Dog Trainers. No Filter. Everything You Were Afraid to Ask | Dog Training
Not every dog is the right fit for every person—and that's okay. In this episode, I sit down with dog trainer Zoë Holloway of The Dreaded Trainer for a candid conversation about dog breeds, training philosophies, behavior, and what it really means to meet the dog in front of you. From Rottweilers and Dachshunds to shelter dogs and designer mixes, we explore how breed traits, genetics, environment, and individual…
May 14, 2025 This Rescue Keeps an Empty Kennel Just in Case a Dog Ever Needs to Come Back | Rescue Dog
Ever thought about volunteering with dogs… but wondered what it’s actually like behind the scenes? It’s not just cuddling puppies. It’s meds. Laundry. Snowstorms. Poop. Hard days. Big feelings. And a whole lot of love. In this episode, Em sits down with Crystal from Dogs Forever Rescue to talk honestly about what rescue work really looks like — the responsibilities, the heartbreak, the small wins, and the deep…
May 7, 2025 Someone Engraved a Cruel Message on Their Dog's Tag Before Abandoning Him. Here's Who Saved Him | Rescue Dog
What if making a difference didn't require changing everything? In this episode, I'm joined by Kate, the human behind Boss Dog Rick, to talk about rescue, volunteering, community, and the unexpected ways dogs can change our lives. What started as walking shelter dogs during a lunch break turned into a deeper connection with her community, a passion for advocacy, and eventually adopting Rick, a rescue dog with a…
Apr 30, 2025 She Got Her Senior Dog Custom Glasses and It Changed Everything About How She Sees Aging
Have you ever looked at your dog and realized… they’re not young anymore? The jumps are slower. The stairs feel risky. Their eyes don’t see the world the same way they used to. In this episode, Em sits down with Elizabeth to talk about life with her senior dog Charlie—from cataracts and custom dog glasses to TPLO surgery and learning how to adapt their home and routines with care. It’s a gentle reminder that…
Apr 23, 2025 What If the Secret to a Calmer Dog Was Teaching Them Tricks | Dog Training
What if teaching tricks wasn’t just fun… but actually the key to a calmer dog? In this episode, Em talks with Krista from Heeler Point about life with high-energy, high-drive dogs and how trick training became more than cute party tricks — it became mental enrichment, confidence building, and a safe outlet for big feelings. From reactivity and vet visits to skateboards, basketball hoops, and 30-treat stacks, they…
Apr 16, 2025 Not Knowing Your Local Dog Laws Can Cost You More Than a Fine | Dog Safety
Have you ever stopped to think about what you’re legally responsible for as a dog parent? Most of us focus on training, food, and behavior — but every state has laws that can impact your dog’s safety and your finances. From leash rules and licensing to bite liability, tethering laws, and even what happens in an emergency, there are regulations many pet parents don’t realize exist until it’s too late. In this…
Apr 9, 2025 What If the Real Reason Your Dog Is Struggling Starts With What the Pet Food Industry Isn't Telling You | Canine Nutrition
Do you ever feel like you’re trying so hard to do the right thing for your dog… but the food choices still feel impossible? We’re told to trust the labels. Trust the brands. Trust the system. But when more than half of dogs are overweight or struggling with preventable health issues, it’s worth asking — what if the problem starts in the bowl? In this conversation, Em and canine nutrition researcher Daniel Schulof…
Apr 2, 2025 This Practice Might Be the Missing Piece Nobody Mentioned | Healing With Dogs
Have you ever wished there was a gentle way to help your dog feel calmer, heal faster, or just settle… without adding more stress or more “stuff” to manage? When dogs are anxious, recovering from surgery, grieving, or overwhelmed, sometimes they don’t need more training or more structure. Sometimes they just need support. In this episode, Em sits down with Tatiana from Howling Om to talk about Reiki and energy…
Mar 26, 2025 The Dog Collar That Started on a Kitchen Table and Ended Up in Stores Around the World |
Have you ever bought something for your dog and wondered who actually made it? Behind every handmade collar or leash is a real person—late nights, sore hands, big dreams, and a whole lot of heart. In this episode, Em sits down with Diana, the founder of Dainty Paws, a small business creating handcrafted beaded dog collars and leashes that are safe, stylish, and built with intention. They talk about what it really…

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The Dog Who Asked for More: Understanding Life With Your Dog Beyond Dog Training and Behavior

About The Dog Who Asked for More: Understanding Life With Your Dog Beyond Dog Training and Behavior

Episodes

Why Shame Around Dog Muzzles and Kennels Can Put Your Dog at Risk | Dog Culture

What Your Dog&apos;s Training Plan Might Be Missing When Nothing Seems to Work

How Trying to Help Your Dogs Get Along Could Make Their Conflict Worse | Dog Behavior

Why Your Dog&apos;s Training Seems to Fall Apart After Taking a Break | Dog Training

How Getting a Second Puppy Could Make Your First Puppy&apos;s Problems Worse | Puppy Training

More podcasts and shows

What Your Dog's Training Plan Might Be Missing When Nothing Seems to Work

Why Your Dog's Training Seems to Fall Apart After Taking a Break | Dog Training

How Getting a Second Puppy Could Make Your First Puppy's Problems Worse | Puppy Training