How To Train Your Dog With Love + Science - Dog Training with Annie Grossman + Anamarie Johnson PhD (Formerly known as School For The Dogs Podcast) · Annie Grossman

Annie sees Dog Daddy live. Also: Get to know Erin Whelan (2020 episode rebroadcast)

·1 hr 16 min·4 clips

Annie says a young German shepherd was wrestled during muzzle training and the dog looked terrified.

1. How To Train Your Dog With Love + Science centers this episode on Annie Grossman's visit to a Dog Daddy event in Ringwood, New Jersey, followed by a 2020 rebroadcast with Erin Whelan. 2. Annie Grossman is the host, Erin Whelan is an associate trainer and interim day school manager at School for the Dogs, and both matter because the episode ties field observation to training practice. 3. The episode asks what Annie saw at the Dog Daddy event and why she thinks the rebroadcast with Erin Whelan is a useful starting point for School for the Dogs. 4. Annie says she found the event in a Facebook group, considered protesting, and then chose to watch so she could better understand the appeal. 5. She describes paying $100 for a spectator ticket, being checked by a security guard at a stable, and standing with about 20 spectators around eight or so dogs. 6. Annie says there seemed to be no curriculum, only a one-by-one approach where the trainer moved from dog to dog and asked, "what's your problem?" 7. She reports that the trainer seemed to divide dogs into those with people issues and those with dog issues, and that the whole setup felt improvised. 8. Annie says every dog wore a prong collar and a bright yellow leash that she identifies as the "tie me up daddy" leash. 9. She notes that some dogs wore muzzles and that the handling involved repeated yanking, with the trainer also instructing others to yank the dogs around. 10. Annie highlights a young German shepherd and says the trainer wrestled with the dog while trying to fit a muzzle, with the trainer falling down and sitting on the dog. 11. Annie says the dogs looked stressed, and she says the room gave her the sense that she was the only person who saw anything wrong. 12. She says she could not talk freely to other attendees because she felt confused about whether she was there as a journalist, an advocate, or a critic. 13. Annie says she spoke with a woman who had a dog daddy tattoo and no dog of her own, and the woman said she was impressed by his story and magnetism. 14. She also says she spoke with a dog daycare owner in Queens who said he learned to move a reactive dog to a new handler surreptitiously so the dog would not notice. 15. Annie argues that this focus on who holds the leash seems like a red herring when other training choices matter more. 16. She says no treats were given that day, and she contrasts the event with school dogs, city dogs, and positive-reinforcement work that teaches the dog what to do. 17. Annie closes the first half by calling the event a "con" and saying the con is on both the people and the dogs. 18. Erin Whelan then appears in the rebroadcast and says she works with puppy day school, adult and adolescent day school, private sessions, prep school, and puppy kindergarten. 19. The conversation has an interview style with clear back-and-forth questions, and Annie moves from personal story to training philosophy without a heavy formal structure. 20. Listeners who like dog training, rescue stories, and behavior science will get the most from it, while people wanting only light pet tips may skip it.

As heard by us

A candid dog-training dispatch that turns a messy weekend into something useful to think with.

An uneasy weekend reaction to a dog daddy training in Ringwood, New Jersey sets the frame before the episode settles into a re-airing of a conversation with trainer Aaron Whalen.

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Why you'd press play

A live Dog Daddy reaction, then a re-airing with Aaron Whalen that works as a starting place.

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