Teaching tricks can be a whole lot of fun.  They are good for showing off to your friends, but they can also be used to improve your relationship with your dog and to build good communication.  We believe they can be good for helping to reinforce training ideas and to build confidence.  We list some tricks that we really like, and even give ideas for using them in a practical way. 
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PART 1
Mathilde DeCagny was the trainer for the beloved dog Eddie on the long running hit TV sitcom, Frasier.  Although her credits are too numerous to list here, some of her better movie jobs have included: Marley & Me, Hotel for Dogs, My Dog Skip, Homeward Bound and As Good as it Gets, just to name a few. 
Mathilde spent an afternoon with us and shared some wonderful stories and insights into the world of the movie star dogs (and the dog trainers who make them shine.)
She also gave us some insight as to how some lucky dogs (and other animals) go from "pound puppy"  to "famous face" (and tail) when Hollywood (or at least Mathilde) goes looking for the next promising new animal actor.  She also talked about the dogs she worked with for the upcoming movie, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2."

PART 2 -- More from Mathilde, dog trainer for television and movies. 

There are a lot of fun ways to play with your dog.  Some encourage willingness and co-operation, while others can be instumental in creating relationship and behavioral problems.  Wrestling with your dog, or playing push/pull or "slappy face" games are all forms of rough play.  But before you enter into rough play games with your dog, learn some things about the impact in can have on him.  You might still want to play these games with your dog, but you'll go into it with the information you need to keep it "safe." 

Tug can be a form of rough play, and trainers often disagree about whether you should or shouldn't play it with your dog.  The difference of opinion springs from the fact that you can play it in a way that encourages willingness and co-operation, or in a way that encourages rough and possibly dangerous behavior in your dog.  We talk about the way to keep the "tug" in, and the "war" out of this game. 

Some dogs are reluctant to play interactively with people.  And sometimes people wish to have play as a motivating "tool" in their training tool box.  We talk about how to encourage your dog to play with you utilizing a toy, and provide step by step advice on how to teach him to play.    

You're out walking your dog one day and to your surprise and horror, you see a loose dog barreling towards you!  Or you've been working on your own dog's issues with other dogs and as you round the bend, you unexpectedly come face to face with another dog...and your dog goes ballistic!  What do you do now? We give you some ideas for dealing with the unexpected, as well as some suggestions for how to keep your cool when you do.  We don't guarantee we can give you the perfect solutions, but this podcast is sure to start you thinking about how to plan for the unexpected

If you would like your dog to be well mannered, you'll want to listen to this one.  Dogs that are considered well behaved or well mannered, most certainly have good impulse control.  But what is impulse control and how do they get it?  Do they just develop it with maturity, or is it something they need to be taught?  In this podcast we explain what impulse control is and tell you what steps (if any) you can take to teach your dog this valuable skill.