My whole family — and especially our dog — has benefited from our listening to this podcast. Kathy and Mike bring the highest-sourced and most relevant information for dog owners and lovers, and then layer their own wisdom from decades of experience working with dogs on top of it. You get twice the value of the time you invest — learning from leading behaviorists in the field AND the practical tips from “on-the-ground” trainers who are passionate about improving the human-canine relationship. You won’t regret listening, and your dog(s) will thank you for it!

I get lots of great little tidbits from this podcast! There are so many little tips that make for lightbulb moments for working with our puppy. Small adjustments Kathy and Michael suggest make a huge difference sometimes!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!

Kathy and Michael are such a pleasure to listen to, they offer great advice in a sensible low-key way that seems totally do-able. Their love for dogs and the human-dog connection is endearing and makes everything they say resonate. Wish I had them as a resource when we got our first dog.

Ask Google (or ChatGPT) about dog training and you’ll get the collective wisdom of everyone who is right and everyone who is wrong. Pick of the Litter does the work filtering for techniques that work and it goes to the trouble of explaining why they work. If you are a new to dog training, Kathy and Mike get you pointed in the right direction.

I got my first dog over 30 years ago and never was able to train him, even with my best intentions. I used the old methods -- choke chain, lots of "No!" and "Bad dog!" Now it's decades later and I'm training a rescue blue heeler (very challenging!) and I found out about this podcast from the Spirit Dog Academy. I'm so glad Kathy and Mike are doing this. It is so great to hear them talk about positive-only dog training techniques. I hope they interview some of the dog trainers they like. It's a revolution in dog training that I am just learning about.

My first dog Bucky went to Kathy’s PuppyPals and her family fostered my second dog Snickers. Some of the tips and tricks I learned are things I still use. And its great that now she has a podcast where I can continue to get her perspective and advise. I listened to the episode on Pattern Games and Kathy and Mike were engaging and it was easy listening. A holistic approach of enhancing the owner/dog bond comes through while providing practical tips to use day to day. Food for thought: Is it possible to post clips of some of the episodes for opportunities to listen for when there isn’t time for a longer episode? Anyway, great podcast, so good!!

As a dog trainer of over 10 years, I think this is a great resource for dog owners with good information in easy to implement bites. I have also worked with Mike, over the last several years, to give an outside perspective on my own dogs to better their training. My life depends on my service dog, so I do not take or implement advice from just any trainer. Mike is always insightful, knowledgeable and helpful and one of the very few who I trust with my dogs. This podcast demonstrates his ability, and his co-host’s, to take all the information and techniques they have learned through the years and explain them in such a way that the listener can do the exercises with their dog correctly and quickly. I would recommend it to any owner looking to work on training and engagement with their dog.

Enjoyed listening to the first episode. They zoom out to talk about the overall approach to training your dog, well actually more about your relationship with your dog as a whole. Also zoom in to give practical things to put into practice with your furry family member. Highly recommend and looking forward to future episodes!

Training can be overwhelming. You broken it down so well with very helpful information.

Full disclosure- I know the hosts personally from my own experiences with my two dogs. I have never met two people more passionate or knowledgeable about dogs and their relationships to humans. Kathy and Mike are so gentle and loving with animals and it’s amazing to see them work and get results with very happy dogs! This podcast was a wonderful kickoff to what I hope to be a long running show. They really explain how we can have meaningful stress-free (at least to an extent) relationships with our pets and fully experience one of the greatest loves- that of a dog.

Well organized, confident and helpful podcast! Typically most podcasts struggle at first (nerves, production issues or lack of organization), this is very well produced, easy to listen and understand the topic. Want more!!!

This is a great podcast with practical tips to incorporate into your life with your dog. Whether you are a new dog owner or an experienced one, I highly recommend listening to this podcast!