In this Canine Couch Convo, we’re talking about the dogs we know and love best—our own. We share some of our favorite things about each of our dogs, the traits that make them uniquely who they are, and what those relationships have taught us along the way.
We also talk about Britt’s dad’s dog, who has had very little formal training yet is incredibly responsive to him. Why? Because responsiveness isn’t always built through obedience. Sometimes it comes from trust, connection, clear communication, and having a dog’s genetic needs understood and fulfilled.
This conversation is a reminder that a strong relationship with your dog isn’t about controlling every behavior. It’s about knowing who they are, meeting their needs, and building the kind of connection that makes them want to stay engaged with you.
Get Nikki's new book, The Dog Beneath the Behavior, on Amazon.
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Teaching your dog to drop something doesn’t have to turn into a chase or a battle over who gets to keep the item. In this episode, we’re talking about how to teach a reliable “drop it” cue through cooperation, trust, and clear communication.
We’ll look at why dogs hold onto objects in the first place, how grabbing things away can create conflict or even contribute to resource guarding, and why trading can be such a powerful teaching tool. You’ll also learn how to practice this skill before you actually need it, so your dog is more likely to respond when they pick up something unsafe or inappropriate.
The goal isn’t to make your dog surrender everything they value. It’s to teach them that letting go is safe, worthwhile, and part of a conversation they understand.
Too often, we depend on the leash to communicate with our dogs—pulling them closer, steering them away, stopping forward movement, or physically managing every decision they make. But a leash should be a safety tool, not the primary way we communicate.
In this episode, we’re talking about what it really means to walk well together in public. That includes teaching clear verbal cues, creating predictable expectations, helping your dog understand how to move through different environments, and building communication that doesn’t depend on constant leash pressure. Because good public walking isn’t just about a loose leash—it’s about developing a dog who understands what you’re asking and a guardian who knows how to communicate it.
Buy Nikki's new book, The Dog Beneath the Behavior here.
Dog sports can be an incredible way to provide enrichment, build confidence, strengthen your relationship, and give your dog an outlet for natural behaviors—but they don’t have to be about ribbons, titles, or being the best.
In this episode, we explore dog sports from a different perspective: choosing activities based on who your dog is, what they enjoy, and what they were naturally built to do. From scent work and agility to dock diving, herding, and more, we’ll talk about how dog sports can support physical and emotional well-being without turning another activity into a source of pressure.
Because sometimes the goal isn’t to compete. It’s simply to let your dog have fun.
What if the behavior you’re struggling with isn’t actually the problem?
In this special episode, Nikki introduces her new book, The Dog Beneath the Behavior, and explores the idea at the heart of it: behavior is communication, and lasting change begins when we stop asking only how to change what a dog is doing and start asking why they’re doing it.
This episode gives you a glimpse into the science, stories, and practical approach behind The Dog Beneath the Behavior—without giving away everything inside.
Because when we stop focusing solely on the behavior in front of us, we finally have the opportunity to understand the dog beneath it.
Nikki talks with icon, Patricia McConnell about her new novel, Away to Me, her first venture into fiction writing, ADHD in dogs, and the importance of the human part of the human-dog relationship.
Patricia McConnell, PhD, CAAB is an internationally renowned animal behaviorist and author whose acclaimed books, including The Other End of the Leash, For the Love of a Dog, and The Education of Will, have sold more than 1.2 million copies. She saw clients whose dogs had serious behavioral problems for twenty-five years, and spoke around the world about canine training and behavior. A former adjunct professor in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her nationally syndicated radio show, Calling All Pets, played in more than 110 cities for 14 years and her television show, Petline, aired on Animal Planet for two and a half years.
Her debut novel, Away to Me, is her first venture into fiction, and has received rave reviews. She lives with her husband, Jim Billings, her Border Collies Skip and Maggie, and a spoiled flock of sheep on a farm in Southern Wisconsin, and can be found online at PatriciaMcConnell.com.
In this episode, Nikki touches on the neuroscience of making choices and how your dog's decision-making process isn't what you think.
Genetics, learning history, nervous system, memory and so much more goes into every "decision."
In this episode, Sandra and Nikki talk ghosts. Pet guardians talk often about their dog exhibiting strange behavior; strange behavior that can't be linked to a certain trigger or antecedent. Sometimes, you have to look deeper...
When we hear the word stress, most of us think of fear, anxiety, or overwhelm. But stress isn't always negative. In fact, stress is a normal and necessary part of life—for both humans and dogs.
In this episode of DogSpeak: Redefining Dog Training, Nikki Ivey explores the many forms of stress, from positive stress that helps dogs learn and grow to chronic and traumatic stress that can impact behavior, health, and overall well-being. You'll learn why two dogs can experience the same event in completely different ways and how genetics, learning history, environment, and individual perception shape a dog's response to stress.
Nikki also introduces the fascinating field of Affective Neuroscience and the work of Jaak Panksepp, whose research helped identify the primary emotional systems shared by mammals. From SEEKING and PLAY to FEAR, CARE, and PANIC/GRIEF, you'll discover how emotions drive behavior and why understanding what a dog is feeling is often more important than focusing on what a dog is doing.
If you've ever wondered why some dogs struggle with reactivity, frustration, anxiety, or recovery from stressful events, this episode will help you look beyond behavior and into the emotional experiences shaping it.
Because behavior is often the symptom—but emotion is the story underneath.
What do chickens have to do with dog training? More than you might think.
In this episode, I share the story of how a 40-hour week spent training chickens fundamentally changed the way I understood behavior, learning, and my work with dogs. After starting my career in 1996 with traditional obedience methods—including the use of prong collars—I began questioning what I thought I knew about training and discovered a different path rooted in learning theory, communication, and relationship.
I also introduce my new online course, Understanding Dog Interaction, where we explore how dogs communicate through play, body language, and social interactions. Understanding these signals can help prevent conflicts, improve relationships, and teach us to recognize when a dog is saying "yes," "no," or "not right now."
We also recap our reliable recall episode where we discussed why meeting a dog's genetic and behavioral needs is critical for building responsiveness, and how a simple touch cue can become a powerful, reward-based safety tool while recall skills are still developing.
Whether you're interested in dog communication, recall training, behavior science, or the evolution of modern dog training, this episode offers insight into the lessons that shaped my approach and continue to influence how I help dogs and their humans today.