The Bitey End of the Dog

A podcast dedicated to helping dogs with aggression issues. Michael Shikashio CDBC chats with experts from around the world on the topic of aggression in dogs!

The Bitey End of the Dog is a education podcast hosted by Michael Shikashio CDBC, with 113 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 82.

Michael Shikashio CDBC hosts The Bitey End of the Dog, a education show with 113 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #14

  Dog Welfare: Are We Giving Dogs the Lives They Actually Want?

  Sep 21, 20261h 7mS7

  Your dog can be loved, well-fed, and perfectly “trained” and still be living a life that doesn’t feel good to them. That’s the uncomfortable heart of animal welfare, and it’s why I sat down with Kim Brophey and veterinary behaviorist Dr. Carlo Siracusa for a wide-ranging, nuanced conversation about what quality of life really means for dogs. For the season finale of The Bitey End of the Dog, we dig into a definition of animal welfare that’s easy to say but hard to live by: the dog’s quality of life as perceived by the dog. From there, we explore positive welfare, the Five Domains, and why measuring welfare can’t rely on one snapshot moment. We talk about behavioral diversity as a concrete way to notice when a dog is thriving versus when their world is getting smaller, and we discuss agency and choice as the missing ingredient in many “perfect on paper” dog lives. Then we take on aggression through a welfare lens. When is aggressive behavior normal communication that deserves to be heard, and when is it a sign of deeper dysregulation or compromised welfare? We also get specific about the relationship of physical health and behavior, including pain, resilience, and the role of behavior medication. Dr. Siracusa explains why meds can support welfare when used thoughtfully, and why the bigger risk is often unregulated, low-quality behavior modification. If you care about dog behavior, dog training ethics, enrichment, and humane aggression work, this one will challenge your assumptions in the best way. Learn more about Kim: https://www.familydogmediation.com/ Learn more about Dr. Siracusa: https://www.vet.upenn.edu/directory/carlosiracusa/ Learn more about options for help for dogs with aggression here: AggressiveDog.com Learn more about the CANIS Conference here: CANIS Conference Subscribe to the bonus episodes available here: The Bitey End of the Dog Bonus Episodes Check out all of our webinars, courses, and educational content here: Webinars, courses, and more!

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  Episode #13

  What Really Predicts Dog Bites? With Dr. Helen Howell

  Sep 7, 202658 minS7

  You can’t “test” your way to certainty about whether a dog will bite—and provoking a dog during an assessment may tell us very little about the risk that dog presents in the real world. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Helen Howell, a forensic behaviorist and expert witness who works on serious injury and fatality cases. We talk about what a modern dog bite risk assessment should look like when the goal is not only to assess risk, but also to identify practical ways to reduce it. Helen brings a unique combination of experience to this work, including 16 years as a police officer and detective, along with her background in clinical animal behavior. Her approach asks us to look beyond the dog and consider the entire picture: the environment, daily management, human behavior, training history, predictability and routine, as well as the caregiver’s ability and willingness to manage risk. We also discuss why provocative assessments can be both ethically concerning and scientifically unreliable. Helen explains how structured professional judgment—a model used in forensic psychology—can provide a more consistent, evidence-based way to assess whether a dog presents a low, moderate, or high risk while still accounting for the individual circumstances of each case. Helen walks us through the DBR24, which considers 24 risk factors along with the potential impact of a bite, and the DBR Triage tool, designed to help nonspecialists recognize possible risks in homes with children or vulnerable people. We also explore factors such as pain, aversive methods, inconsistent training, human behavior, and the limitations created by poorly recorded dog bite data. If you work with aggression, human-directed aggression, legal cases, or dog bite prevention, this conversation offers a thoughtful and practical framework for assessing risk while improving safety and welfare for both dogs and people. About Helen: https://www.dogbehaviourexpert.co.uk/ Learn more about options for help for dogs with aggression here: AggressiveDog.com Learn more about the CANIS Conference here: CANIS Conference Subscribe to the bonus episodes available here: The Bitey End of the Dog Bonus Episodes Check out all of our webinars, courses, and educational content here: Webinars, courses, and more!

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  Episode #12

  The Real World of Consent-Based Care With Tabitha Kucera

  Sep 1, 20261h 11mS7

  Touching animals sounds simple enough. But what happens when you need to trim a nail, clean an ear, draw blood, remove a painful mat, or help a frightened animal through urgent medical care? In this episode, I’m joined by Tabitha Kucera, an Elite Fear Free and Low Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician and Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior. We take a practical and honest look at what humane handling means when an animal needs care but may not want to be touched. We talk about consent, cooperative care, low-stress handling, and Fear Free veterinary care—and why none of these should be treated as a one-size-fits-all approach. Tabitha explains how body language, baseline stress, pain, illness, relationship history, and context can change how an animal experiences touch. We also discuss the important difference between an animal who is comfortable and one who is frozen, shut down, or simply enduring the interaction. There is an important human side to this conversation as well. Caregivers may be frightened, frustrated, or ashamed when routine husbandry becomes difficult. Veterinary teams may be working under significant time pressure with an animal who urgently needs help. Better outcomes require communication, empathy, realistic expectations, and collaboration among trainers, veterinary professionals, groomers, shelter teams, and caregivers. If you’ve ever wondered when touch is welcome, when it’s necessary, and how we can make difficult handling safer and more humane, this episode is for you. If you find the conversation helpful, please share it with a colleague, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a review so more professionals and caregivers can find it. About Tabitha: https://chirrupsandchatter.com/about/ Learn more about options for help for dogs with aggression here: AggressiveDog.com Learn more about the CANIS Conference here: CANIS Conference Subscribe to the bonus episodes available here: The Bitey End of the Dog Bonus Episodes Check out all of our webinars, courses, and educational content here: Webinars, courses, and more!

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  Episode #11

  The Trainer Wars: A Better Way Forward with Carmaleta Aufderheide

  Aug 24, 20261h 10mS7

  The dog training world has always had disagreements about methods and approaches. But in recent years, the divide between force-free and balanced training has grown into something much bigger. Conversations have become increasingly polarized, curiosity is often replaced by conflict, and simply trying to understand another perspective can sometimes put you at odds with your own community. In this episode, I sit down with Carmeleta Aufderheide, a dog trainer with a master’s degree in conflict and dispute resolution, to talk about why this divide continues to grow and, more importantly, what we might be able to do about it. We explore the role social media plays in fueling polarization, what happens when we begin to view people with different approaches as a threat, and a fascinating concept called the “enemy trance.” We also discuss the pressure to align with one side or another, why newer trainers may become afraid to ask questions or explore different ideas, and how all of this ultimately impacts dog guardians who are simply trying to find help for their dogs. Most importantly, Carm and I talk about how we can start having better conversations. Listening to someone’s story doesn’t mean agreeing with or condoning their methods. Curiosity doesn’t mean abandoning your ethics. And empathy doesn’t require agreement. There may always be disagreements in dog training. But if we can create more room for curiosity, conversation, and growth, perhaps we can spend less energy fighting each other and more energy moving the profession forward. About Carm: https://www.northstartraining.info/about-us Learn more about options for help for dogs with aggression here: AggressiveDog.com Learn more about the CANIS Conference here: CANIS Conference Subscribe to the bonus episodes available here: The Bitey End of the Dog Bonus Episodes Check out all of our webinars, courses, and educational content here: Webinars, courses, and more!

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  Episode #10

  Why Mood Matters in Aggression Cases With Karin Pienaar

  Aug 17, 20261h 26mS7

  A dog can be “aggressive” on the outside while living a totally different emotional story on the inside, and that mismatch is where so many training plans break. We sit down with Karin Pienaar, author of Mood Matters, to talk about what behavior is really made of: mood, emotions, arousal, and the dog’s lived experience day to day. We get concrete about definitions first, then go deeper into why mood is the starting point for everything we ask dogs to do. Karin explains the difference between emotion and mood with a simple visual that sticks, and we connect it to the reality of reactive dog training and aggression in dogs. If arousal is too high, learning fails, and “progress” becomes trigger rehearsal. We also talk about how to read thresholds in real time using responsiveness, food, and clear physiological signs. From there, Karin walks us through her MHERA framework (Mood, Hedonic Budgets, Emotionality, Reinforcement Assessments) and the role cognitive bias plays in how dogs interpret novelty and ambiguity. We explore why enrichment and exposure are not automatically helpful, how agency and consent cues can change outcomes, and why two dogs displaying the same behavior at the end of the leash may need completely different behavior change plans. About Karin: https://mhera.org/about.html Learn more about options for help for dogs with aggression here: AggressiveDog.com Learn more about the CANIS Conference here: CANIS Conference Subscribe to the bonus episodes available here: The Bitey End of the Dog Bonus Episodes Check out all of our webinars, courses, and educational content here: Webinars, courses, and more!

  ListenShow Notes

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