Sit, Stay, Fika

In our first guest episode of Sit, Stay, Fika, I share a cup with Tower Anderson of Dog Pause in Truckee, CA. Tower has been a dog trainer since the ’90s and in additiona to his own private training business, is the canine training coordinator at his local humane society. Tower started out using prong collars, shock collars and corrections. But then he met Roo, a terrified shelter dog who couldn’t be corrected into confidence, and she changed how he trained for good.

We talk about why treats “stop working” when your dog’s brain is overwhelmed, using a hand touch as a quick check-in, and bringing a high-drive teenage Dutch Shepherd mix into a home with a calm senior dog. We also cover how to help shelter and foster dogs without getting stuck on their past, and why your job is to be your dog’s tour guide through a confusing human world.

Tower also shares this week’s Fika Pause, Three Second Scratches. It’s a simple way to ask a dog’s consent before and during petting, and it works with new dogs and your own.

Stay for the Quick Sips round: Halloween costumes, morning walks, and Bagheera’s most useless trick.

🐾 Find Tower: Dog Pause: https://www.dogpause.training/ | @DogPause on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook
☕ Find Charmaine: https://fikadogs.com | Instagram, Facebook and YouTube

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Sit Stay Fika
00:44 What’s in your cup with Tower Anderson
03:00 How Roo changed the way Tower trains
08:00 Aversives, arousal and why treats “don’t work”
11:35 The hand touch check-in
13:30 Adding Bagheera, and then Panda
21:30 Letting your dog have an opinion
25:40 Helping shelter and foster dogs
30:30 Be your dog’s tour guide
39:00 Three Second Scratches
45:00 Quick Sips
52:00 Where to find Tower

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: U7U3KRVALHXEQ7MW

For our very first episode, I’m turning the questions on myself. Meet my four dogs, hear how I found my way into dog training, and learn why I started Fika Dogs with a focus on relationship over quick fixes. I also answer a round of Quick Sips (yes, we’ll settle the couch question) and share the first fika practice to try with your own dog this week.