The Rooted Podcast

This episode is a little different and one of the most meaningful conversations we’ve recorded so far. Today, we sit down with our daughters, Brielle and Ezra, for an open, unscripted conversation about what it’s really like growing up in a household where dogs aren’t just pets they’re part of the work, the lifestyle, and the family. We talk about life behind the scenes of dog training, what they’ve learned from being around working dogs, how dogs have shaped their confidence and perspe...

Everyone sees the bite. Everyone sees the videos. But behind every deployment — there’s a handler who carries the weight of getting it right. On this episode, Alison and Michael sit down with Jay Nix and Mike Lilley to talk about the realities of the K9 world: the wins, the failures, the responsibility of developing dog teams that protect communities, and the need for clearer standards in a rapidly changing industry. You’ll hear perspectives forged through actual street work, unit leadership,...

“What the Decoys Do”** Decoys are one of the most important — and most overlooked — pieces of the working-dog puzzle. In this episode of The Rooted Podcast, Alison and Mike talk about what decoys actually do, why the role matters, and how it influences the dogs we train, test, and put on the field. They discuss the general differences between training decoys, trial decoys, and the gray area in between — and how each role plays a part in developing a dog that can understand the work. Whether y...

When a dog stops believing its behavior makes a difference, everything unravels — drive, confidence, focus, all of it. In this episode of The Rooted Podcast, Alison and Mike dig into the core of every successful training program: cause and effect. They break down how dogs learn that what they do actually changes what happens next — and how that belief builds confident, independent, reliable partners. They get into: The science of cause and effect (and why your timing makes or breaks it)How r...

Welcome to The Rooted, where we strip away the fluff and talk about what’s really happening in the dog world. In this episode — The Woke Dog Trainer Era — we dive into how the industry has become a battlefield of ideology, ego, and moral grandstanding. From the San Francisco Standard article claiming that “wokeness has infected dog training,” we break down how philosophy has replaced practicality and how that affects dogs in the real world. We also take on the growing debate around bite work ...