This week we spend some time hanging out with Amy Cook, PhD.
Amy is a fast-talking, tap-dancing, ultra-cool dog geek who teaches with me at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy.
Amy has been training dogs for over 20 years. She earned a PhD in Psychology from UC Berkeley. Her research focused on the dog-human relationship and its effect on the problem-solving strategies dogs employ. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant through the IAABC, and specializes in working with shy and fearful dogs.
In this conversation we talked about:
- The importance of having empathy with your learner
- Considerations when working with humans as learners
- The importance of putting emotional state first, whether working with people or dogs (or both!)
- A number of other stream-of-consciousness dog training topics (as you do…)
Mentioned in this episode:
- Amy’s new website: Playway Dogs
- Amy’s upcoming online class “Dealing with the Bogeyman” – A great resource for shy or fearful dogs
- Marzipan’s Advice Column
