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All right, dog lovers, listen up, because this episode might just save you from making a tremendous mistake.
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Too many people pick a dog the way they pick a new pair of shoes because it looks cute.
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Then, a few months later, they're wondering why their house is destroyed.
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Their dog is bouncing off the wall.
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Their life is a chaotic mess.
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If you don't want to have dog buyers remorse, then this episode is for you.
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Stay tuned.
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I'm Amy Castro and, as you know, I'm the host of Muddy Paws and Hairballs, and today I've got with me a guy who has seen it all in his 25 years as a trainer and behaviorist working with extreme canine behavior cases.
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He's the owner of Kindred Souls Canine Center in Howell, new Jersey, and his new book is called Canine Conversations and it's available now on Amazon in paperback and as an e-book, and his name is Pete Campione, and Pete and I are here to save you from yourself, or at least from choosing a dog that's going to turn your life upside down.
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We're going to talk about big mistakes people make, what you should actually look for when picking a pup, and why a dog is not a cute accessory it is a lifetime commitment.
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So before you bring home an adorable fluff ball.
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Let's make sure you're not about to make a disaster-level decision.
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So, pete, welcome to the show and let's save these people from themselves to the show and let's save these people from themselves.
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Hi, amy, thank you so much and it cracks me up because in your intro you said people spend more time researching a pair of shoes.
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Do you know?
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I actually got a bad review on Yelp for saying that to somebody.
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This woman came in and she had a French bulldog and she was getting pissed at it because it was being a French bulldog and my assistants kept whispering in my ear.
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They said she's being really mean to that dog, she's doing this, she doesn't like that.
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And she gave me a bad review.
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And I had actually walked up to her and I looked at her shoes and she had Hoka sneakers, which are really cool sneakers, and I said there's nothing wrong with this dog.
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I guarantee you you researched those sneakers more than you did this, because this is a perfectly normal French Bulldog and she gave me a bad review for it.
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But tough luck, there was nothing wrong with the dog.
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Yeah, I agree.
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Yeah, I'm sure she did.
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I'm sure she did, or she just got lucky because she followed the trend of other people around her, which is another way that people tend to pick their pets, which is why I think there are so many French bulldogs and doodles that are in the wrong homes and we won't even get into whether those dogs should really exist or not.
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That's a whole other show.
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Oh, please, but I do want to do that show yeah.
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So you've been working with dogs for 25 years.
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What are some of the most common mistakes people make with picking a dog, and how often do they come to you?
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And the conversation starts with but he was so cute.
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Oh please.
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I've learned in 25 years to avoid the look of horror that normally goes on my face when I hear this, and now I've learned to breathe five times before I answer, because you're dealing with close to 50% of my clientele will come in with a dog that they know nothing about, and then I hear these words which make my head explode Well, well, I didn't know, but that's why I'm here to which, of course, I always answer do you buy the car before you learn to drive or do you buy the car after you learn to drive?
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And do you buy the car because it's red or do you drive the car because it's efficient, save you know whatever?
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So that's the problem with a lot of the breeds that are popular right now, that are really iffy in most homes.
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I'm a firm believer every dog, including mixed breeds, including mixed breeds every dog is not right for every home, and that is neither good nor bad.
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It's not anybody's fault if you're not the right home for a chihuahua.
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If you've got six four-year-olds running around your house, you should not have a chihuahua or a dachshund.
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These are just common sense, and I think the most crazy making thing is people really do so much research when it comes to everything.
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Now they get their phones out and immediately Google what they want and what are the reviews on it and what are people saying.
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But again, just like you said, but he was so cute, or he picked me, I couldn't leave.
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Because he picked me, I'm like no, he didn't.
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No, he didn't, you just smelled nice.
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Come on, you smelled like that hamburger you ate five minutes ago.
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Yeah, I mean, come on, no, no, no, no, no, no.
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It's interesting you say, when you gave the example of buying a car before your license so I teach, amongst other things, that I teach to humans.
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I know you teach dogs Well, you teach humans too.
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Absolutely.
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Probably more than the dogs, but anyway.
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Absolutely.
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When it comes to productivity and how people spend their time, oftentimes people don't know how to judge what is the most important thing on their to-do list, and I'm a big believer that you should have criteria, just like you would when you were buying a car.
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So when you buy a car, you have criteria for fuel efficiency, how many passengers can hold, what is the right reliability rating.
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You know what is the price range that I can afford, etc.
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Etc.
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Etc.
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And I advocate for people to do that with their productivity.
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You know, to identify what are the things that are your goals and objectives and then use that as the criteria to filter how you spend your time.
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And I think you know, anytime we're making big decisions like having a pet, we should have a list of criteria.
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You know we should be going through some questions that say you know what's my activity level, what's my lifestyle, etc.
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What kind of thing would you say if somebody was going to create that list?
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What kind of questions or criteria do you think that they should be going through to narrow down what kind of dog they should get, where they should get it, et cetera.
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Well, first of all, you're looking at two lists.
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You're looking at your bucket list and then you have to look at the dog's bucket list.
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So you decide okay, this is who I am, this is the time I spend at work, this is the time I have free, this is the time I want to do this, this is the time I exercise.
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You look at your surroundings.
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The environment is so critical in every dog.
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That's why I mean my breeds, and they're both.
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In the room with me right now is my Australian Shepherd, which I've had Australian Shepherds for over 25 years, and Dobermans.
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These are two breeds that are not for everybody.
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They have bucket lists, so not only do they have to fit my lifestyle, I have to be able to support what they need to make them healthy and balanced.
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If you don't do both, you're on a crash course, and what happens a lot of times?
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What I see is okay, they didn't do that.
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So now the human, not the dog.
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The human has to work harder to compensate to the dog's bucket list, because the dog is now not getting what it needs, therefore redirecting it in all the wrong places.
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And then they come to you.
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I have actually heard the words.
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Can't you train this husky not to be so active, and then of course, my head explodes.
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Calm down and answer them no, I cannot change the DNA on this dog.
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This is something that is inherent in this breed.
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So you got two lists, but you've got to look at everything.
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My problem people start with their heart and then it goes to their head.
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They need to start with their head so then their heart can enjoy the situation.
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Switch it Head first, heart second.
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You're inviting something into your house.
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I would tell people, do as much research on the dog.
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But imagine you're inviting someone to rent a room in your house and think of all the research you would do on that person before you allowed them to live with you.
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Why not do the same thing?
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Because more than likely the roommate won't last more than a few months or a year or two Dog's going to be there 15 years minimum, you know, depending on the dog.
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And the research you do does start first off with yourself.
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I have three kids and I may get in trouble for this, but most good breeders and I don't know about your rescue, but most rescues in new jersey do not adopt to families with children under six.
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It is not fair to those two-year-olds and three-year-olds who do not understand the concept of this is not a toy to make them miserable following rules that they don't understand.
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So you know you have to look at everything.
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Do you have 95-year-old great-grandma living with you who has skin like cellophane, who cannot have a dog jumping on her?
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Here's my environment.
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Now, the rescues I deal with and the breeders that I deal with not only want to get these, not only rehab the dogs and profile them, but then they profile the families that are coming in and asking I mean, do you know how many people I actually know right now with Australian Shepherds who have no backyards?
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Oh my God, I mean, how do you have a herding breed with no backyard?
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So that means they either got it from someone who's a puppy mill or they got it from someone who was just trying to make a buck.
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Here's the dog.
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Give me the money Bye.
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And you know, as a legitimate rescue, how many rescues are out there right now making money and just grabbing dogs from no-kill shelters, selling them for $4.50, and you never hear from them again.
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They don't care who takes the dog.
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So research on everything.
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Research who you're buying or getting the dog from.
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Research who the dog is.
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A good rescue has a profile.
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A good rescue will ask you as many.
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I want to make the point that the research starts before you walk into that adoption event or walk into that shelter You're doing this work in advance.
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You're assessing your lifestyle, your home, the people that are living in it, and you know I would just plead to people out there is just to be honest about it.
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I mean your comment about kids under six.
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I don't care how well behaved you believe your kid is and we recently just rejected somebody.
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It was actually for a cat.
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They wanted to adopt not one, but two cats living in a very small apartment and one of the cats recently had a front leg amputated and they had children under the age of three.
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And I was like, yeah, no, that's not going to happen.
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Well, my kids are good, my kids are well behaved.
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I'm like if you're not watching them 24-7 and that cat can't get away, it's going to use the other three paws and its teeth to get away and we're not putting that animal in that situation.
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And I think activity level is another huge one.
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It's that people, whether it's a herding breed or whether it is just a working dog breed, that needs a job, if you're a couch potato, don't get a Doberman Pinscher, don't get an Australian Shepherd, because you already are not going to give that animal even just its physical needs, let alone its mental needs.
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But even that is still down to the individual dog.
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My girl, shelby here, who's three.
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My assistant has her brother night and day.
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Her brother I can't stand him.
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He sleeps until 12 o'clock.
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Shelby is whining at seven every morning.
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You will not sleep past seven, that is it, or I will scream.
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You have to base the individual, which is why when you go to a rescue, you go to a breeder, you ask a ton of questions.
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Do you know it takes me usually six months to acquire a new dog?
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Do you know it takes me usually six months to acquire a new dog?
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And if I go to rescue or to a breeder, I give them my list of what I'm looking for and I let the professional who knows the dog tell me what's right for my house.
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When I got Louie, my Doberman, I had the breeder pick.
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I said look, I run a school.
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I need a dog that's active, I need a dog that's got high drive and interested, that wants to work.
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But I need sweetness.
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And that's what I got.
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And if I were to go to a rescue, I'd say the exact same thing Give me a dog who wants to work, give me a dog who doesn't have this or has this and that's the way you do it.
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And you said something before about evaluations.
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Evaluations are cumulative.
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I have found this over time.
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I love people who charge an arm and a leg to evaluate a dog.
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I've had people come to me with dogs that have bitten numerous people, especially men, just because the dog then curls up in my lap and that has happened.
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That doesn't erase the six bites.
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So profiling and evaluation is cumulative.
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You have to put it all together.
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Same thing when you're looking at a dog to get a dog, if I'm looking at a dog, I will go and see that dog three and four times before I take it, because on one day the dog could have just eaten, been very slow and sleepy, and I'll think, oh my God, look, how laid back this dog is.
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But if I go back the next time, he hasn't eaten yet, how laid back this dog is.
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But if I go back the next time, he hasn't eaten yet, hasn't gone for a walk yet, and now he's bouncing six feet in the air.
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So you know, you have to realize that this is a living thing that is not going to be static and consistent in its behavior all the time and you have to move with that variation.
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Right, let's jump back a second because I want to make a point.
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As far as the applications, we get a lot of people that complain about our application, that it's so long, and why do you ask all these nosy questions?
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And what we're trying to do is we're trying to ask the questions that you should be asking, but we're going to ask you about you instead and then we're going to make those evaluations about.
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You know, it's not about evaluating you as a human being, about whether you're good or bad.
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It's about finding the right fit animal for your lifestyle based on what we know about the animal and we don't always know everything.
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Like you said, things change over time.
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But I think that is a good point too, is that you know you don't decide.
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Today's the day I'm going to hit all the shelters in my area and I'm coming in with something, because it does take more than one view.
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And then one other thing I want to say, about shelter dogs too, especially, is that you have to be very cautious about where are you viewing that dog, and I think shelters should do this more of assessing the person and what they're looking for before you even show them any animals.
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Right.
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Don't take them back and walk them the 40 gauntlet cages, with everybody raising hell and jumping up on the cages and barking, they're not going to get a good feel for that animal in that environment.
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No.
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Find out what that person is looking for, because you know those animals.
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Go back and select an animal and then have them meet that animal in a quieter place, versus because I've seen too many times great, perfect fit animals get overlooked because they're acting very active or they're sitting in the corner because they're overwhelmed by the chaos that's going on around them.
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And that's not really who they are.
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It's who they are at that time in that bad environment.
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Quite frankly, in shelters you're dealing with a dog that is in a semi-state of trauma.
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They've been displaced, they are packless, so they're all over the place.
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This is why adaptive process takes between 30 and 90 days.
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So the dog is in flux when they're there.
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So their responses are measured and normally on better behavior than worse behavior.
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Because they've got no rules, they've got no pack, so they tend to be looser and then when they get the dog home, the dog starts to revert to what I call inherited behavior.
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And that's where you come in and you start training and saying okay, this is where you are now and this is what we do here.
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I love I just love what you said about how long your applications are.
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If I don't, if I'm applying for something and this is what I tell people I said if they don't do a home check, if they don't give you a lot of questions, then they don't care where their dog is going.
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They just want you to take the dog.
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If they ask you a lot of questions, if they ask about your environment, they want to give you.
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Take the dog.
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If they ask you a lot of questions, if they ask about your environment, they want to give you the right dog, why would you argue?
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Why would you take the wrong dog when they're trying to give you the right one?
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But we live in a very media gratification society.
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That's the human.
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We want it now.
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Yeah, what should I be looking for?
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Like, let's say, I am going to a shelter, right, and they're doing the right thing.
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They're bringing an animal up for me to look at what would be some positive versus cautionary signs when I'm being introduced to an individual, assuming we've assessed the lifestyle thing.
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Start with engagement.
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Start with how easily does this dog engage?
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That shows you a level of learnability.
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It also shows you how much work the dog will need to get to full engagement.
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You know if a dog engages with you very, very easily, looks at you, follows you.
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Sometimes I'll just take a dog and play with it in the room and move around and see does this dog stay with me?
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Just to see if there's that level of engagement.
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If a dog runs in the corner and goes under a chair, well that tells me something else.
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I let the dog tell me who they are and simple tests of communication back and forth.
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Does the dog understand communication?
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If the dog doesn't understand communication, then that tells me this dog has spent its life in a backyard or in a cage because he doesn't understand to and fro.
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The environment creates the dog.
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So when you're looking at and assessing a shelter dog, that all plays into it.
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Because that's why it's so hard to get research and that's what drives me so crazy about methodologists is we can't get research on dogs because the minute we touch them, we infect them with us, they reflect us.
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So it's very hard.
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You know, you can study bees, you can study whales Can't study dogs.
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We don't infect bees, we don't affect whales.
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Dogs immediately start reflecting the environment and who we are and that's why individualism and that connection that you make with that dog tells you something about that dog in the moment.
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But going back and seeing, does the dog improve.
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I'm dealing with a Border Collie right now that was brought in that had growled and wouldn't let anybody but the owner near it.
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Took me a half an hour to get the dog sitting next to me and now I'm actually using the dog.
00:21:15.031 --> 00:21:23.335
We're on, I think, a week four of a class and the dog is actually working with me now and the dog has calmed down.
00:21:23.335 --> 00:21:28.136
But I have to let the dog tell me okay, come forward.
00:21:28.136 --> 00:21:29.353
Okay, no, go back.
00:21:29.353 --> 00:21:30.159
Okay, this.
00:21:30.159 --> 00:21:34.992
Okay, that you have to earn trust and then communicate this.
00:21:34.992 --> 00:21:39.321
Okay, that you have to earn trust and then communicate.
00:21:39.321 --> 00:21:45.990
And your test would be okay, how quickly did this dog learn and how much do they want to communicate?
00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:48.698
That's just giving you an idea of not whether it's a good dog or a bad dog, but who the dog is.
00:21:48.698 --> 00:21:49.902
That's all.
00:21:50.484 --> 00:21:57.855
Well, and I think it's key that you know that, and I like that you didn't label it good, bad or otherwise, because the dog is who, the dog is Right.
00:21:57.855 --> 00:22:06.039
And then you know, going into it, how much work you're going to have to do to integrate it into your life, your lifestyle, your household and all of that.
00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:07.490
And are you up for that challenge?
00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:15.893
You know some things are going to go much easier and some things are going to take a lot of time and effort, and do you have that time and are you willing to put in that effort?
00:22:15.893 --> 00:22:18.234
I think that's so important for people to ask themselves.
00:22:18.935 --> 00:22:20.317
There are generalities.
00:22:20.317 --> 00:22:24.741
If you look at a dog, you could just tell by the way the dog is moving.
00:22:24.741 --> 00:22:31.928
Okay, this dog likes to work.
00:22:31.928 --> 00:22:32.891
This dog has got a lot of energy.
00:22:32.891 --> 00:22:34.296
This dog needs a lot of stimulation.
00:22:34.296 --> 00:22:35.239
This dog is thriving on that.
00:22:35.239 --> 00:22:36.142
That tells you something, Okay.
00:22:36.142 --> 00:22:38.188
Well, do I have time to do all this?
00:22:38.188 --> 00:22:46.411
You know, if the dog just comes and curls up in your lap, well, okay, this dog may be a little more laid back.
00:22:46.411 --> 00:22:55.955
But you have to realize it's a living thing and you have to be open to the evolving nature of a dog, because no dog stays the same.
00:22:55.955 --> 00:23:06.767
So you can start with an idea, the DNA idea of a boxer versus, you know, a Shih Tzu, but then you have to go directly to individuality.
00:23:07.509 --> 00:23:22.880
So when it comes to getting a dog and I don't want to go too deep into the shelter versus rescue, versus breeder, but I kind of want to talk about how do people make good choices, let's just say in general, about sourcing a dog.
00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.744
You've already said a couple of things.
00:23:24.744 --> 00:23:36.391
You mentioned the questions on the application and how extensive the application, whether they do home visits or not, things like that or things that give you some information about that organization.
00:23:36.391 --> 00:23:47.464
But there are a lot of people who go under that guideline of I want to save a life, so I'm going to only get something from a shelter or I want to get something from a breeder, because that way I know what I'm getting.
00:23:47.464 --> 00:23:53.077
And both of those are not necessarily good criteria or the only criteria.
00:23:53.077 --> 00:24:03.348
What are your thoughts as far as shelter dogs versus going to a breeder and knowing who the parents are of that dog and the grandparents, et cetera, et cetera, if it's a good breeder.
00:24:04.451 --> 00:24:06.997
I don't see a difference when you're acquiring a dog.
00:24:06.997 --> 00:24:17.059
Shelter, rescue versus puppy to me are the same, because what people don't realize when they go into a shelter?
00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:19.211
Oh, this dog has already grown and knows everything.
00:24:19.211 --> 00:24:27.442
I don't have to do any work Wrong, you have to do just as much work Whether you have a puppy or an adult.
