This week we spend some time hanging out with Amy Cook, PhD. Amy is a fast-talking, tap-dancing, ultra-cool dog geek who teaches with me at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Amy has been training dogs for over 20 years. She earned a PhD in Psychology from UC Berkeley. Her research focused on the dog-human relationship and its effect on the problem-solving strategies dogs employ. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant through the IAABC, and specializes in working with shy and fearful dogs. In this conversation we talked about: The importance of having empathy with your learner Considerations when working with humans as learners The importance of putting emotional state first, whether working with people or dogs (or both!) A number of other stream-of-consciousness dog training topics (as you do...) Get the show notes at: http://www.wonderpupstraining.com/blog/podcast-09-conversation-amy-cook#.WNo3ohIrL-Y