The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology

• Demand barking in dogs (and what to do about it)

  Demand barking is a type of barking that dogs do to get something they want, like a treat, toy, or attention. It happens because we've previously (accidentally) rewarded them for it. So what should you do if your dog is demand barking?In this episode, we talk about:How dogs bark for different reasons, including watchdog barking and barking due to fearWhat demand barking isWhy the phrase "demand barking" is actually a bit of a misnomerWe give examples of demand barking, including when Zazie's dog Pepper does thisWe share ideas and tips for what to do about itKristi talks about why she set up a course on this and what's includedAnd finally we talk about the books we're reading.The books we recommend in this episode are:Spoiler Alert: You're Gonna Die by Korttany Finn and Jacquie PurcellJunie: A Novel by Chelene KnightAlso mentioned in this episode:The episode on harmonious multidog households and resource guarding in dogs https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/17835523 The episode on how to help your reactive or fearful dog https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/17695165The Hogan's Alley Society https://www.hogansalleysociety.org/ Learn more about Kristi Benson and her courses: https://www.kristibenson.com/Learn more about Zazie Todd: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/p/home.htmlGet Zazie's books from all good bookstores or here: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/p/books.htmlSend us a text to say hello!Support the showAbout the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website Facebook Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat. Instagram BlueSky

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• How to get started in dog sports with Ayoka Bubar

  Dog sports are fun activities for you and your dog, but with so many to choose from, it can feel daunting to get started. We demystify dog sports with trainer Ayoka Bubar, a Rally Obedience judge who has taught (and tried) many different sports. She shares the details and tells us how to match sports to dogs.We talked about:Why Ayoka loves dog sportsWhy dog sports are good for dogsWe get examples: rally o, tricks training, barn hunt, and cartingWhich kinds of dogs and people these sports are best forThe best place to start if someone is interested in trying a dog sportThe role of a dog's breed in choosing a dog sportWhich dog sports are suitable for reactive and fearful dogsWhat Ayoka has learned from doing so many different dog sportsThe kind of community that is found amongst dog sports peopleAnd as always, we get a book recommendationAyoka chose Atomic Habits by James Clear as her book choice.Ayoka Bubar is an approved judge for the Canadian Association of Rally Obedience and she never passes up an opportunity to try a new sport with her Rottweilers. She has trained or trialed in Flyball, Agility, Tracking, Trick Titling, Herding, Rally Obedience, Mondioring, IGP, and Scentwork, so she is the perfect person to tell us about dog sports. As well, Ayoka believes that dog training should be fun for dogs and their humans, which we love to hear. And she likes to use positive reinforcement techniques to help handlers communicate more effectively with their dogs.Learn more and get details of classes at https://ayokabubar.com/Ayoka on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayoka.bubarInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theogrottendog/ Also mentioned in this episode:Bark! The Science of Making Your Dog Happy by Zazie Todd. Available wherever books are sold. Tricks classes by Erica Beckwith of A Matter of Manners Dog Training https://www.amatterofmannersdogtraining.com/Send us a text to say hello!Support the showAbout the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website Facebook Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat. Instagram BlueSky

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• Harmonious multidog households: How to prevent (and stop) fights

  The benefits of having more than one dog and what you should do to ensure everyone gets along. We talk about:How having another dog in the home can be beneficial for a dogHow it can cause issuesDisagreements between dogs are normal, just like people disagreeWhat kind of disagreement is okayThe mistake many people make which makes things worseHow to make sure resources aren't a source of stressHow to deal with dog fights and break them upManagement can be life-saving for multi-dog homesOn the fly training for polite interactionsAnd as always, we recommend some booksThe books recommended in this episode are:How to P*** Off Men: 109 Things to Say to Shatter the Male Ego by Kyle PrueBirds of Coastal British Columbia by Nancy Baron and John AcornThis episode topic was suggested by a listener. If you have ideas for things you'd like us to talk about, let us know!Send us a text to say hello!Support the showAbout the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website Facebook Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat. Instagram BlueSky

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• Teenage dogs (and what to do about them) with Tina Spring

  Content warning: Suicidal ideation comes up in this conversation. Help is available. In Canada or the US, call or text 988 for the suicide crisis helpline. In the UK, the Samaritans are on 116 123. When a cute puppy turns into a terrible teen, many people struggle. Tina Spring of Sit Happens joins us to talk about adolescent canines and how she helps people with their teenage dog in a place where many pups miss out on puppy class. Tina is also the smart, funny, and kind host of Your Family Dog podcast.We talked about:the importance of puppy class and how to socialize your puppywhy Tina offers an adolescent puppy classthe issues that people have as their puppy becomes a teenthe importance of food treats and seeing things through your puppy's eyeswhat Tina says when people are struggling with their adolescent dogsimilarities between parenting teenage puppies and teenage humansburnout and trauma in dog trainingYour Family Dog podcast and how Tina got involvedZazie Todd and Marc Bekoff on Your Family Dog Zazie on YFD to talk about anxious dogs  and happy dogs The Beast Keepers by Julie Fudge Smith Colleen Pelar https://colleenpelar.com/Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell.The full show notes and transcript are available here: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2025/09/teenage-dogs-and-what-to-do-about-them.htmlTina Spring started training dogs as a child in 1979 in 4H. Her love of dogs and of teaching led her to a career working with dogs and families. She published her first book, 90 Days to the Perfect Puppy, in 2005 and it’s now part of her online puppy rearing program that bears the same name. She is the owner of Sit Happens Dog Training & Behavior, LLC in Athens, Georgia, where she does in person and online consults and specializes in fear and aggression and the special relationships between kids & dogs. She’s also the co-host of the Your Family Dog podcast, which is a really fun and excellent podcast.Send us a text to say hello!Support the showAbout the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website Facebook Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat. Instagram BlueSky

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• How to help your reactive or fearful dog

  If a dog is reactive, fearful, or anxious, often the dog is struggling--and so is their person. We share tips to help you to help your fearful dog, from the first chapter of Zazie's book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog. Bark! is out now in paperback and available wherever books are sold.Get Bark!: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/p/books.html We talked about:How important it is to recognize the signs of stress in dogsYour priority is to help your dog feel safePick a food your dog really loves that you can use to teach them to like the thing they are scared ofThe kinds of food that are bestHow to be prepared and make sure you have those tasty treats to handHow to bridge and fridgeThe importance of finding activities that both you and your dog loveKristi and Zazie each share a story of a time something unexpected happened and they had treats to handAnd finally we talked about the books we're reading.The books we mention in this episode:The Beaverton podcast (okay, it's a podcast!)The Home Cookbook, 125th anniversary editionOtter by Jackie MorrisAlso mentioned is a study on how people spot signs of stress in dogs interacting with children. You can read about it here: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2017/05/people-mistakenly-think-anxious-dogs.htmlSend us a text to say hello!Support the showAbout the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website Facebook Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat. Instagram BlueSky

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