Hold the Line
Hold the Line
Jo Laurens
THE podcast for force-free gundog training! Hold the Line is committed to helping you to train your dog to an advanced level, using motivational methods and without the use of fear. Or pain. Or anything else nasty.
Episode 148 - how I nearly lost a puppy I bred to rescue
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I talk about what I've learnt as a result of the recent extremely stressful situation I've experienced recently. A 9 month old puppy we bred was dumped at a rescue organisation. We were not told. The rescue refused to rehome him to us. PLUS listener Q&As.
Jun 15
20 min
Episode 147 - ethics and head collars
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Sometimes life is complicated. If dogs are losing out on opportunities for exercise and enrichment because people can't manage them, then their quota of 'good stuff' in life gets a lot lower. A dog which never leaves the house is going to experience the fewest unpleasant things in life - and also would be incredibly deprived, under-exercised and under-stimulated. R+ training needs to accommodate these complexities, and stop over-simplifying things. Because we...
Apr 14
43 min
Episode 146 - get those puppies swimming!
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 Loads of tips towards helping you to get pups swimming!
Apr 8
31 min
Episode 145 - pointers, setters and HPRs are different (sometimes distance work is easier than up-close control)
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 In this episode, I talk about a certain subgroup of gundogs which are very motivated by environmental exploration/reinforcers. They require a different training approach. These dogs might find it much easier to work at a distance (with behaviours like the remote stop and the recall) and much harder to offer sustained focus up-close (as with heelwork).
Mar 24
45 min
Episode 144 - marking vs steadiness, revisited
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 The best marking is most likely if we send the dog immediately the retrieve falls. However, this also erodes steadiness. What to do?
Mar 11
26 min
Episode 143 - how releasing the dog at the right time, improves focus
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 I just wanted to drill down (pun intended) on this particular issue, because it's such a great one for improving focus and attention when you're battling environmental distractions.
Feb 24
19 min
Episode 142 - fix your (dog's) focus!
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 I talk here about a few ways to help dogs which are struggling to offer us focus and attention. Do check out my Focus and Attention course, for more info.
Feb 10
45 min
Episode - 141 - things that I wish people knew
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 This is a random collection of thoughts directed towards helping people become better trainers by addressing things other than the usual 'how to train stuff'. From personality traits of effective trainers to gaps in knowledge and misassumptions.
Jan 27
1 hr 12 min
Episode 140 - how to train the point, flush and (steadiness to) fall
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 This sequence can be really confusing for people at first, leading to people often trying to train this in the actual order it actually happens.
Dec 17, 2025
41 min
Episode 139 - Q&A bits and pieces
🙃 Text me (Jo) at Hold the Line 🙃 This episode is a little bit of everything. It is a buffet of an episode. Not sure if it's all you can eat, but it is a heck of a lot.
Nov 29, 2025
49 min
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