If you’re like me, your desire to train your dog far outweighs the time available to you for actually training your dog. You have more goals than you can keep up with. Or maybe you’d love to spend an hour in the ring practicing skills, but most of our dogs learn best with much shorter sessions. To fill the space when we wish we could be working with our dogs, but can’t, I suggest listening to some of the best dog training podcasts as a way to sharpen your skills and expand your creativity for future training sessions. They are a great free source of inspiration and problem solving ideas from some of the most innovative training and behavior experts.
I often listen to podcasts while:
- Driving to work
- Getting ready in the morning
- Exercising
- Doing mindless chores around the house
- Cooking
- Sitting on a plane
Here are some of the best dog training podcasts out there:
1. CogDog Radio
CogDog Radio is hosted by Sarah Stremming. I’ve had the privilege of taking several online classes with Sarah and her concepts have had a significant impact on how I interact with my own dogs. Her podcast focuses mostly on topics related to performance dogs with a bent toward mental wellness for dogs and humans alike, but there is plenty of real life, pet dog stuff sprinkled throughout as well. She has featured several case studies featuring real stories of her clients and shares how they worked through behavior issues. These are in-depth and are broken into multiple episodes – perfect for binge listening. Sarah also interviews other animal training and behavior geeks, which is a fun way to be introduced to new brilliant minds.
Favorite episodes: Balance is a Verb, Changing Minds with Michele Pouliot, The Off-Switch Myth, Happy Crating, Start Line Stays, End of Run Routines, Synergy Part 1, 2 & 3
2. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy Podcast
This podcast comes out of the online dog training school Fenzi Dog Sports Academy (FDSA) and is hosted by Melissa Breau. In each episode, Melissa interviews FDSA faculty, who happen to be some of the best brains in the dog training world, on a very wide range of topics. You can find episodes related to pretty much any dog sport, plus behavior, general training, mental management and the newest ideas in positive reinforcement based training.
Favorite Episodes: 138 & 139. Denise Fenzi & Shade Whitesel – “The Spaces in Between Parts 1 & 2”, 113. Kamal Fernandez – “Pathway to Positivity”, 107. R+2.0 with Amy Cook, Sarah Stremming & Shade Whitesel, 87. Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD – “Choosing a Dog Based on Genetics”, 80. Sarah Stremming & Dr. Leslie Eide – “Raising an Agility Puppy”
3. Drinking From the Toilet
Drinking From the Toilet is hosted by Hannah Brannigan, and let me tell you, it is actually like drinking from a firehose! Hannah is super smart and talks super fast so each episode is jam-packed with good information about dog training, behavior and sports. I love that she isn’t afraid to get nerdy, but she keeps it relevant to real life dog training challenges. It’s science-y while also being very practical. Some episodes are an interview format, which is like listening in on an engaging conversation between two experts, and others feature Hannah alone, spilling brilliant tips and stories.
Favorite Episodes: 97. Errorless Learning Primer, 72. Using Video to Make Faster Training Progress, 67. Settle Down, 65. It’s All Behavior, 56. The Value of Reinforcement Procedures with Emilie and Eva
4. Bad Dog Agility
Bad Dog Agility is hosted by Esteban and Sarah Fernandezlopez, and sometimes Jennifer Crank. This podcast is devoted solely to the sport of dog agility. Topics include specific skills and obstacles, behavior issues, mental management, interviews with agility champions and news on the development of the sport. The hosts are very personable and offer some clear, practical training tips and advice. With well over 200 episodes, they have covered pretty much everything, yet still consistently put out fresh, helpful content.
Favorite Episodes: 224. Defining Your Success in Dog Agility, 199: How to Speed Up Your Agility Dog, 184: Debunking Your Dog Agility Excuses, 169: Creating a Crate to Crate Routine, 165: Should You Be a Dog Agility Minimalist?, 131: Free Your Agility Dog, 84: Large Dog Challenges
5. Animal Training Academy Podcast
This podcast is attached to the Animal Training Academy (ATA), an online animal behavior learning community, and is hosted by ATA’s founder, Ryan Cartlidge. Ryan comes from a bird training background and has a lot of experience working in zoos, so he lends an interesting perspective to dog training. Each episode is an interview with an animal training professional, and while most are dog-centric, even those focused on other animals offer information that can improve our training.
Favorite Episodes: Dr. Susan Friedman & Ryan Cartlidge, Nancy Tucker – The Good Enough Dog, Eva Bertilsson – CCC, Sarah Owings – Embracing Brave Learning
These five are some of the best dog training podcasts out at the moment, but I’ve noticed that there are more and more popping up in various corners of the dog-loving internet. This is exciting and I hope to add to my list, as I tend to consume episodes faster than they’re created.
Do you have any favorites I should check out? I’m always looking to add to my podcast library!
This Post Has 15 Comments
I have been looking for a good dog podcast! Thanks for helping me out!!
I hope you enjoy them! Some super great free info 🙂
I listen to Cog Dog and Drinking from the Toilet. I love to learn because I’m a perpetual student. Thank you I’ll add those to my subscriptions!
Woohoo! Another “dog person of the internet” 😉 I am the same way, always wanting to learn all the things.
Wow I love podcasts and have never heard of any of these! I’ll definitely have to check them out.
I, too, love podcasts! Such an easy way to learn. I hope you enjoy them!
I have never listened to podcasts but I think the time is coming for me to do so. Thank you for pointing me more in that direction
Happy to share my favorites!
As someone who seriously loved podcasts – I’ll be adding these to my list!
Yay! Another podcast addict 🙂 Enjoy!
I didn’t even realize there were podcasts about things like dog training (sorry, I’m old AF). Now I’m going to have to figure out how to listen to “Drinking From the Toilet”.
There are sites like Stitcher and SoundCloud that make it easy to listen. You can get apps on your phone as well.
I’m not a huge podcast listener, but I had no idea dog podcasts were even a thing! Definitely thinking about checking these out 🙂
Be careful, you might get addicted to podcasts 😉 They’re a nice way to learn while doing other tasks!
All of the podcasts you listed sound amazing. (loved how you mentioned your fav episodes) I bookmarked your blog on my phone for easy reference next time I am driving. Thank you so much for this info.