Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast

If you've ever had a dog that couldn't train around food or who stopped eating in certain environments... you know that training with food isn't always as simple as "Click, Treat, Cookie!" In this episode Sharon and I dive into the ways food can interfere with teaching behaviors and what we can do about it. 

In honor of the upcoming multi-dog conference, we have several of the presenters — Christina Young, Kim Palermo, Karen Deeds, Irith Bloom, and Dr. Amy Cook — on the podcast to talk about the realities of living in a multi-dog household.

What do cues and mechanics have in common? A lot, it turns out! If you've ever asked your dog for a behavior you'd have sworn they knew, only to have them stare at you like you're speaking Greek, this episode is for you. Behavior expert Karen Deeds shares how conflicting cues come to be and what we can do about them. 

Laurie Huston joins me for a conversation all about crosses — from what they are (for the non-agility folks), to how she uses her course map and her time walking the course to plan out which cross to use where... and the elements that determine if a cross looks like dancing with your dog or ends in an on-course collision. 

Nose work is about so much more than setting and finding hides — in this episode, Michele and I dive into how you can be more intentional in skill building for your nosework dog, both by developing your own observation skills and by thinking through the challenges you set them a little differently.

It's no surprise that jumping is hard on your dog's body... so what can you to minimize that impact and keep them moving (and competing) as long as possible? This week, Kelly and I discuss the impact of jumping on sports dogs, how different sports impact things differently, and how handlers can approach fitness with jumping in mind. 

Wondering what it actually means to be a good nosework handler? Join Julie and I for a conversation on how your handling impacts your nosework dog and what you can do to become as good at your role on the team as you expect your dog to be at theirs. 

Ever wondered how leading competitors build the incredible engagement we see in the ring, where the dog stares up at their handler and the team looks totally in sync and in step? Petra Ford joins me to talk about how she builds engagement strong enough to win Obedience Nationals with mulitple dogs. 

Teaching our dogs the concept of "stillness" is more complex than we sometimes realize — after all, how do you teach a dog that what we want is the absence of a behavior? In this episode, Nicole and I talk about how she teaches the concept, and then how it serves as a foundation behavior for teaching rock solid stays to her competition dogs.

In this episode I interview clinical psychologist Dr. Jennifer Kunst about the intersection of dog training and psychology. We look at how her three-strand approach to living a good life—embracing reality, choosing change, and surrendering control—applies to dogs and dog training.

Four of the presenters from the upcoming one day conference, Arousal Modulation: Building a Clear-Headed Dog!, join me for a conversation about how arousal works, why it's not all good or all bad, and what handlers who have dogs that tend toward overarousal should stop doing... then what they should start doing instead. 

In this conversation, Irith and I talk about what causes demand barking, what we can do about it, and why the advice to "just wait it out" is often completely ineffective.  

Dr. Amy Cook and Josefin Linderström, founders of the Social Approach, join me for a deep dive on the topic of touch and our relationships with our dogs. In this episode they share some of the research that's been done on the benefits of touch, their take on how much of our dogs' preferences are nurture vs. nature, and how they'd add touch to training (including as a reinforcer!). 

If you're like most dog trainers and handlers out there, you've started training lots of different behaviors that never quite reached a finished and fluent state. In this episode, Julie and I discuss why that happens, the phases behaviors need to go through, and what it takes to get them there. And, of course, she answers the question of whether it's even possible to "finish" training a behavior.

Does your dog have big feelings about dog agility? Whether they love the sport so much they can't contain themselves or have big feelings about new environments, other dogs, or strangers, in this episode Bronagh and I talk about how big feelings impact your dog's agility performance and what you can do about it.

Want your dog to come running when you call them? In this episode Crystal Wing steps in as guest host to talk to Melissa Breau about her upcoming class on building a reliable real-life recall, including why reps matter, how reinforcement history builds a better recall, and what to do if you have a recall cue that your dog has learned to ignore.

Curious why and how to teach a contact heeling behavior? Contact heeling is a transport behavior distinctly different from formal obedience heelwork or loose leash walking – and in some instances, it offers significant advantages over either of those other options. In this episode Sarah Rida joins me to talk about why she teaches contact heeling, when it can be helpful, and how to actually begin training this useful skill.

Kelly and Ashley join me in this episode to discuss why canine fitness is sometimes overlooked by dog sports teams, how it can help dogs with impulse control, arousal modulation, and emotional fitness, and the difference between quality movement and a dog who is just active in their environment in a less intentional way. LINKS & RESOURCES: Ashley's upcoming class, CC210: Patience in the Details: Impulse Control, Body Awareness & Precision Through Conditioning (starts June 1, 2026): https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/2418 Kelly's upcoming class, CC150: FUNctional Foundation Fitness (starts June 1, 2026): https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/45377 Ashley's FDSA instructor page: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/people/786-people/faculty/36119-ashleyescobar Kelly's FDSA instructor page: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/people/786-people/faculty/39473-kellydaniel FDSA Course Catalog: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com

What does it really take to stand out in obedience and rally? In this episode we look at the invisible skills you and your dog both need to perform and achieve your goals, from careful splitting of behaviors and building behavior chains to managing your own mental game.   LINKS & RESOURCES: Skills & Beyond: Obedience & Rally from the Backyard to Competition (May 16, 2026): https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/36252 FDSA Course Catalog: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com

Ever wondered how scentwork dogs' abilities change as they age? Many dogs who got started in scent sports right as the sport took off are now hitting their senior years. In this episode, Aleks Woodroffe joins Melissa Breau to talk about how age impacts the nosework dog, what aging gracefully looks like for the scent work team, and how to keep senior sniffers in the game. LINKS & RESOURCES: Aleks's upcoming class, N3001: Noses Just Get Finer With Age, Supporting the Senior Sniffer (starts May 1, 2026): https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/51917 Aleks's FDSA instructor page: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/people/787-people/guest-intructors/39598-guest-instructor-alexwoodroofe2 FDSA Course Catalog: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com  

Living with multiple dogs means managing multiple personalities, and like any home with multiple personalities, there will be times when there are disagreements. In this episode, Christina Young and Melissa Breau talk about how to prevent conflict between dogs in your home, the early signs of tension people tend to miss, the difference between management and structure, and how to teach your dogs to actively move away from situations that might escalate.   LINKS & RESOURCES: Christina's upcoming class, B3002: Fighting at Home? Teach Dogs to Move Away From Conflict (starts May 1, 2026): https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/51912 Christina's FDSA instructor page: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/49783 FDSA Course Catalog: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com

For our first ever dually published podcast episode (both as an audio podcast and on youtube as a video podcast!) we brought back our first ever guest — Denise! — and revisited the things we talked about 10 years ago in our first ever podcast episode. Together they talk about how Denise's training philosophy has evolved, what it means to "Train the Dog in Front of You," how training has impacted Denise's approach to dealing with people, how her own fitness journey has led her to thinking about canine fitness differently, and more!

Jennifer joins me to talk about the idea of impulse override and how it can help teach dogs to wait for their turn — an important skill in the field trials and hunt tests where she competes!

Ever wondered how you approach teaching a dog to focus around distracting scents - things like bitch in season scent or trash on the side of the road? In this episode Shade and I discuss the way she handles scent distractions as a real life skill.

Kim joins me this week to talk about the relationship between resilience and arousal. We talk about how control unleashed and freework can both help improve resilience and arousal management for dogs with big feelings.

Fitness training can benefit dogs of all ages — but it should be adapted to meet the specific needs of the dog in front of us based on their health and their age. In this episode Kelly and I talk about how to adapt fitness training for puppies and seniors.

Dr. Sue Yanoff specializes in canine sports medicine. In this episode we discuss the importance of getting an accurate diagnosis for canine sports injuries and how to advocate for your dog if the right diagnosis isn't immediately clear. 

Erin Lynes, Kim Palermo, Crystal Wing, and Denise Fenzi, all presenters from the upcoming one day conference on Building the Bond join me to talk about what goes into building a bond with a dog.

Teaching your dog a recall just makes sense — but what about those situations when running to you might be more dangerous than staying put? In this episode, Julie makes the case for why an emergency stop is just as important... and the added benefits it can offer for sports dogs.

In this episode Erin and I dive deep into the benefits of thoughtful movement through puzzle games and movement puzzles. Whether you have a dog who moves without thinking (adolescent labrador?) or a dog who needs to build confidence in movement, Erin argues this type of training offers significant benefits for sports and life.

What's really going on when a dog competes in the breed ring? Ashley breaks down what judges look for, what we can do to help present our dogs in the best light, how training helps, and what the handler's job is, when competing in conformation. 

Amy and Josefin have been working together on a new program designed to help us rethink every interaction we have with our dogs... and they're calling it "The Social Approach."

If your sport doesn't allow you to bring primary reinforcers onto the competition field with you, then at some point you need to work through removing those reinforcers from your training. This week Shade and I talk about the process of reducing reinforcement while minimizing frustration on the part of both dog and handler. 

Have a differently motivated dog? This episode is for you! Sharon and I do a deep dive into what it means to train and compete with these dogs. 

Kim shares what free work is and how she's incorporated it into all aspects of her training — resulting in wide ranging benefits, from better arousal levels to better conformation. She says it's essentially meditation for dogs... join us to hear how you and your dog might benefit! 

Ever wondered how arousal impacts performance? Debated whether jackpots are worth using? In this episode I ask Petra Ford about both topics — and we do a deep dive on how to keep your dog at an optimal arousal level then chat about the trade offs that come with choosing to use jackpots in training.

With the Active Dogs: Fitness and Injury Prevention one day conference happening on Jan 10th, we took the time to sit down with 2 of the presenters to talk about what it means to keep our sports dogs in good health so they can play our games as long as possible.

Join me for a fascinating conversation with Denise on the ins and outs of engagement — from pre-engagement strategies to help young dogs to prepping for competition. We talk about the importance of acclimation, how the process differs for low drive vs. high drive dogs, and more!

Does your dog struggle to regulate their own arousal? Join me and Sara for a conversation on how to help them manage things, and then (ultimately) teach them to manage it themselves! 

Join me as I interview Erin Lynes about building confidence in our canine partners — we talk about clear communication, natural levels of confidence (and how much you should expect to be able to move the needle), the "Mr. Rogers" technique, and more! 

In this episode Ashley walks us through why she's turned to conditioning to help her young dogs develop impulse control, body awareness, and precision — and how she's adapted it to help any dog that would benefit from strengthening those three skills. 

The sport of obedience adds new challenges at each level of competition — in this episode, National Obedience Champion Petra Ford joins me for a conversation on what it takes to train for and compete at the open level.

Whether working with your first agility dog or your fifth, the right foundation can play a huge role in your team's success. Join us for a conversation on how to build the skills you'll need as a team... even if you have minimal access to equipment.

It's easy to fall into the habit of only practicing skills you know that you and your dog are good at — in this episode, Julie and I talk about how to avoid that issue, and how to continually evaluate where your nosework dog is strongest, identify holes, and ensure you continue to progress in your training together.

The life stages our young sports dogs go through can come with dramatic changes and significant transitions - so what's normal? How do we decide what to prioritize? What are the current best practices when it comes to socialization? Join us for a conversation on all things puppy and adolescent! 

Crystal Wing joins me for a conversation on how to build your training around a great relationship with your dog by balancing mindset and mechanics. 

Ever have a situation where your dog refuses to move forward? In this episode Kathy Sdao and I talk about what balking is, why we think dogs do it, and what we can do about it.

Join handler fitness trainer, Liz Joyce, and me for a podcast all about how you can start — or restart — your fitness journey, gently. 

Join handler fitness trainer, Liz Joyce, and me for a podcast all about how you can start — or restart — your fitness journey, gently. 

Heather and I discuss what skills you need to earn your CGC, the sticking points that can cause trouble for some teams, and how to decide if your dog is a good fit for therapy work from there.