ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka EP. 358: Sit, Stay, Breathe: ADHD Brilliance in Dog Training with Devene Godau
Nov 12, 2025
Devene Godau, a certified professional dog trainer with over 25 years of experience, shares her journey from journalist to dog trainer after adopting a greyhound. She emphasizes the importance of compassion in training, revealing that dogs, much like people, thrive when understood. Devene discusses the effectiveness of clicker training and playful gamification, especially for neurodivergent dog owners. She also highlights how dogs reflect their owners' emotions and how sniffing can enhance wellbeing, providing practical strategies to strengthen the bond between dogs and their owners.
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Sniffing Is Canine Breathwork
- Scenting is like meditative breathwork for dogs and they visibly relax when allowed to sniff.
- Devene compared the dog's sniffing state to human breathwork and said dogs love the work intrinsically.
Exercise Fixed A Frustrated Searcher
- Devene rescued a scent-dog who searched with his eyes because he was frustrated.
- After regular swimming as an outlet, his focus improved and he became a working dog on the East Coast.
Greyhound Rescue Sparked Her Career
- Devene adopted a traumatized retired racing greyhound that bled in her crate and eliminated in the house.
- Working through the dog's confinement issues sparked Devene's move from pet work to professional training using clicker-based methods.
