Your Dog Cannot Win A Game You Keep Changing

Your Dog Cannot Win A Game You Keep Changing

From The Everyday Trainer Podcast by Meghan Dougherty

March 13, 2026 · 1h 16m

About this episode

Meg shares insights from a recent dog training experience in Joshua Tree, focusing on the importance of setting clear goals and criteria for effective training.

Joshua Tree gave us the perfect pressure test: new place, big distractions, tired dogs, and handlers who want off-leash freedom fast. I’m Meg, and I’m sharing the real takeaways from our desert weekend, from what went well to what slowed progress down. If you’ve ever said “I have marker words” but your dog still looks lost, this one will hit home. We get into the unsexy fundamentals that make dog training work: picking one goal for a session, setting clean criteria, and using “yes” like it a...

People in this episode

Hosts: Meg, Meghan Dougherty

Topics covered

  • dog training
  • off-leash freedom
  • handler distractions
  • training fundamentals
  • goal setting

Keywords

  • dog training
  • distractions
  • off-leash
  • training goals
  • handler techniques

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