Jan. 21, 2025

From the Vault: Solve the Five Biggest Dog Behavior Problems with Expert Trainer Ruth Hegarty

From the Vault: Solve the Five Biggest Dog Behavior Problems with Expert Trainer Ruth Hegarty
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Bonus Episode From the Vault: The #2 Most Downloaded Episode of 2024!
While we’re on a break until Feb 4, we’re bringing back one of your all-time favorite episodes of 2024 from the vault!

This episode focuses on addressing the top five dog behaviors that frustrate pet owners and providing actionable strategies to manage them effectively. Through insightful discussions with dog training expert Ruth Hegarty, listeners gain tools to:

  • Improve their dog’s leash manners using positive reinforcement
  • Reduce nuisance barking with effective management strategies
  • Train reliable recall skills to ensure safety
  • Manage jumping behaviors to keep guests happy
  • Curtail destructive chewing and protect your belongings

To Learn More

This re-airing of a fan-favorite episode delivers practical dog training advice that every pet parent needs to hear. Don’t miss this opportunity to tackle common dog behavior problems and strengthen the bond with your furry friend!

Comment on this episode! For questions or if you need a reply- please email us at Amy@StarlightPetTalk.com

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CONTACT: Amy@StarlightPetTalk.com
Thanks for listening to Muddy Paws and Hairballs, your go-to resource for all things pet care. From dog training, behavior, and socialization to cat enrichment, pet adoption, and tackling behavior problems, we provide expert advice and real talk to help you create a happy, healthy life with your pets. Whether you're dealing with dog anxiety, looking for puppy training tips, or exploring enrichment ideas for your cat, we've got you covered. Be sure to check out all our episodes!

Chapters

00:10 - Top 5 Annoying Dog Behaviors

11:08 - Effective Dog Training Techniques

23:09 - Effective Dog Recall Training Tips

34:16 - Proper Dog Behavior Training Techniques

46:37 - Dog Chewing and Toy Tips

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:10.811 --> 00:00:20.550
As we take a short break before launching the new season of Muddy Paws and Hairballs, I'm rerunning one of our most popular episodes the top five annoying dog behaviors and how you can fix them.

00:00:20.550 --> 00:00:24.772
I can definitely relate to the struggles you face when your pet has some behavior issues.

00:00:24.772 --> 00:00:26.033
You can fix them.

00:00:26.033 --> 00:00:28.536
I can definitely relate to the struggles you face when your pet has some behavior issues.

00:00:28.536 --> 00:00:36.171
I am currently dealing with an incontinent chihuahua, a yappy terrier, who in hindsight probably was not the best addition to the household, at least in my personal opinion.

00:00:36.171 --> 00:00:44.490
And then there's always Sassy, my blind pit bull, who really isn't even my dog, but we still have not been able to find her a forever home.

00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:51.072
I'm trying to be patient and understanding and I'm trying to focus on solutions, and this episode really helped.

00:00:51.072 --> 00:00:56.441
We dove into the top five most frustrating dog behaviors that can really drive us all up the walls.

00:00:56.441 --> 00:01:03.984
So if you've got a dog with quirks of their own or you're just trying to figure out how to manage a variety of personalities, this episode is for you.

00:01:03.984 --> 00:01:13.090
Stay tuned for some practical tips from professional dog trainer Ruth Hegarty and a little bit of humor along the way to help you get through those challenging moments with your pack.

00:01:13.090 --> 00:01:27.733
I don't know about you, but sometimes my dogs drive me crazy and it's 100% my fault because I will admit that I have not done the best of jobs in doing all the types of training that they need.

00:01:27.733 --> 00:01:30.549
I've kind of done some and then ignored some other issues.

00:01:31.061 --> 00:01:45.254
Well, today we're going to be tackling some of the top issues that not only kind of drive pet parents and the people around them nuts sometimes but, on a serious note, can actually push pet parents to the point of considering giving up their pets.

00:01:45.254 --> 00:01:54.210
So my guest today, Ruth Hegarty, is the founder of Creature Good Dog Training and she does work not only in person but online.

00:01:54.210 --> 00:02:08.293
She does training programs and education programs to help pet owners who have fearful and reactive dogs and they're struggling with that same frustration and sometimes embarrassment that we all might be struggling with a little bit from their dog's behavior.

00:02:08.293 --> 00:02:15.562
And she gets them to the point where they're kind of back to enjoying their walks and enjoying living with their pets, which is the ultimate goal.

00:02:16.125 --> 00:02:28.026
And what I like about Ruth is that she not only has a ton of dog certifications but she also has people certifications, because it really is a people issue Sometimes, I think more than a dog issue.

00:02:28.026 --> 00:02:56.847
So she's got an MS in education and she's got certifications in dog training, life coaching for people, dog bite safety education, dealing with canine separation anxiety which we're going to do on a whole nother episode, because that's another thing that comes up a lot and she's even finishing up a certification as a pet bereavement specialist and I wish I was living where she's living right now after this hurricane just came through Houston, but she lives in Cambridge Massachusetts with her pit bull, Shadow Dawn.

00:02:56.847 --> 00:02:59.219
So, Ruth, thank you so much for being here today with us.

00:02:59.721 --> 00:03:01.625
Oh, my pleasure, Amy, I'm really happy to be here.

00:03:02.225 --> 00:03:06.373
Yeah, so I know, when we talked before the show it was kind of a struggle.

00:03:06.413 --> 00:03:18.623
We were trying to figure out what topics because there's so many topics that we could talk about that would be helpful for pet parents, and both of us kind of did some research and put it out to our followers to say, hey, where do you think we should start?

00:03:18.623 --> 00:03:25.493
And this idea of the top kind of most common and sometimes relatively simple bad dog behaviors.

00:03:25.493 --> 00:03:36.854
I think if we could tackle some of these, or at least get pet parents to pick their worst one, that we could be a long way towards not only keeping pets in homes but keeping homes harmonious along the way.

00:03:36.854 --> 00:03:51.205
So the first one on my list is the pulling on a leash, reactivity-based or not, because obviously there can be multiple reasons why pets do this, but that's something that can really get to the point where you just don't even want to leave the house with your pet.

00:03:51.205 --> 00:03:53.212
So what's your advice?

00:03:53.212 --> 00:03:59.209
As far as you know, how do pet parents kind of identify that that's an issue and then work on resolving that?

00:03:59.889 --> 00:04:00.189
Sure.

00:04:00.189 --> 00:04:06.741
So I have sort of two rules I follow in dog training and one thing I say this is dog training.

00:04:06.741 --> 00:04:07.622
It's very important.

00:04:07.622 --> 00:04:09.568
You have to do this thing like recall.

00:04:09.568 --> 00:04:11.421
It's a safety issue, your dog should know it.

00:04:11.421 --> 00:04:15.662
And then there's what I call parenting issues, because I call dog owners dog parents.

00:04:15.662 --> 00:04:20.492
So how much your dog pulls A little bit of parenting issue.

00:04:20.492 --> 00:04:25.507
So long as they're not pulling you down to the point of injury, you can decide what's too much, what's too little.

00:04:25.507 --> 00:04:29.982
But in general if you feel like the walk is uncomfortable, the walk is unsafe.

00:04:29.982 --> 00:04:34.317
You're afraid to walk your dog because they might knock you down or pull you down.

00:04:34.619 --> 00:04:35.802
Dogs are very strong.

00:04:35.802 --> 00:04:41.012
Your average dog has the pulling power of a human man, three times their weight.

00:04:41.012 --> 00:04:45.271
So they're much stronger than their size will sometimes give you the idea.

00:04:45.271 --> 00:04:50.180
Also part of pulling and this doesn't necessarily mean your dog is reactive or aggressive.

00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:52.004
It could be overexcitement.

00:04:52.303 --> 00:04:58.944
Some dogs are also naughty on leash but not off leash, because they are frustrated by being contained.

00:04:58.944 --> 00:05:06.040
So if they're pulling to the point where their front paws are coming up off the ground, that's pretty extreme.

00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.966
If they're also barking while they're doing it, if it looks scary to pass their by.

00:05:10.966 --> 00:05:16.495
You know if it's hard, if you have to have, you know, 20 feet between you and the next person walking their dog.

00:05:16.495 --> 00:05:25.333
So you know there's certainly extremes, yeah, but a tiny bit of pulling could be problematic if you have a balance issue or bag problem.

00:05:25.333 --> 00:05:27.485
So you know a little bit.

00:05:27.485 --> 00:05:30.351
You get to decide how much pulling is too much pulling.

00:05:30.351 --> 00:05:43.531
But it is a common problem and, as you were saying, problem behaviors are the main reason people surrender their dogs and with a bit of training that doesn't have to be a problem.

00:05:43.531 --> 00:05:46.302
You can keep your dog and enjoy your walks at the same time.

00:05:46.824 --> 00:05:47.345
Yeah, I know.

00:05:47.345 --> 00:06:01.071
One of the things that always scares me is when you see the person that has a pretty powerful dog who's dug in and I'm just waiting for them to let go because they're just going to not be able to hold it, and then presume all heck is going to break loose.

00:06:01.071 --> 00:06:04.206
And then you start wondering well, why does that person bring that dog out in public?

00:06:04.206 --> 00:06:13.202
But eventually you got to get out there in public and expose your dog to those scenarios, because walking around on a leash, well-behaved, in your backyard, it's not doing us a whole lot of good either.

00:06:13.925 --> 00:06:15.831
And if people get frustrated.

00:06:15.831 --> 00:06:17.418
I'm not a small person.

00:06:17.418 --> 00:06:18.641
I'm a six foot tall woman.

00:06:18.641 --> 00:06:22.187
My 60 pound dog can take me down if she really wanted to.

00:06:22.187 --> 00:06:29.788
So they're very strong and you don't want people to feel like they have no choice but to put a prong collar on their dog.

00:06:29.788 --> 00:06:30.992
I'm a positive trainer.

00:06:30.992 --> 00:06:35.550
I don't want that for people, I don't want that for their dogs, and you can teach your dog.

00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:42.307
Obviously, if you get a puppy or a small dog, it's going to be easier because the first thing they learn is to not pull.

00:06:42.307 --> 00:06:46.774
But if you adopt an adult dog, you can still teach them.

00:06:46.774 --> 00:06:47.300
Right?

00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:48.163
I got Shadow.

00:06:48.163 --> 00:06:50.327
She was two, almost three years old.

00:06:50.327 --> 00:06:53.661
You can still teach them to walk politely on leash.

00:06:53.661 --> 00:06:58.730
Dogs will pull by default because they walk faster than us.

00:06:58.730 --> 00:07:04.250
They are so interested in getting to that next smell and pulling doesn't bother them.

00:07:04.250 --> 00:07:05.740
They don't mind how that feels.

00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:13.394
So it's a human issue for a human society, so it's incumbent upon us to teach them.

00:07:13.394 --> 00:07:17.531
It's really better for me, as the human, for you, not to do this.

00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:18.420
Right.

00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:27.605
So you mentioned the prong collars, which I am opposed to those, mostly because I think people jump straight to that as a way to control the dog.

00:07:27.605 --> 00:07:35.009
They'll go from having a pit bull on a harness and then say, well, this isn't working, and then go to that opposite extreme.

00:07:35.009 --> 00:07:37.704
What do you think are some of the biggest equipment mistakes?

00:07:37.704 --> 00:07:43.427
I think harnesses are a huge equipment mistake for a dog that's pulling, but I'm sure all dogs are different.

00:07:44.168 --> 00:07:46.244
All dogs are different, different shaped dogs.

00:07:46.244 --> 00:07:53.206
Sometimes the like the easy walk, which is a type of front pulling is, can be easier for some dogs to slip out of.

00:07:53.206 --> 00:07:57.052
So equipment is meant to help you, right?

00:07:57.052 --> 00:07:59.327
My mom used to say the right tools for the right job.

00:07:59.327 --> 00:08:01.055
She was the tool guy in my house.

00:08:01.055 --> 00:08:02.923
So equipment can be your friend.

00:08:02.923 --> 00:08:09.769
Just like for anything you want to use the right kind of equipment to keep yourself safe or do the job the best.

00:08:10.509 --> 00:08:15.348
So the main mistake that people make with a harness is getting a harness that hooks in the back.

00:08:15.348 --> 00:08:19.166
That's just going to give your dog more pulling power.

00:08:19.166 --> 00:08:26.370
You know, if you picked your, you know a sled dog team and where they're hooked it's just going to make it easier for them to pull you.

00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:37.552
So ones that hook in the front are better because they use that's where your dog's center of gravity is and when the dog pulls they're designed to sort of turn them to the side a little.

00:08:37.552 --> 00:08:39.267
And there are a few different models.

00:08:39.267 --> 00:08:42.687
There's the Easy Walk, which some people love it, some people hate it.

00:08:42.687 --> 00:08:45.351
Like I said, some dogs can roll out of it.

00:08:45.351 --> 00:08:56.000
So you, if you like it and you want to use it, you can get another little piece or use a carabiner, if you have those already, to hook it to the collar so that if they do roll out of it they're not going to get away.

00:08:56.902 --> 00:09:03.591
And the harness I use for my dog and recommend to my clients is the two hound freedom harness.

00:09:03.591 --> 00:09:06.014
So it hooks in the front and the back.

00:09:06.014 --> 00:09:08.501
So you have a choice depending on what you're doing.

00:09:08.501 --> 00:09:18.595
I, for my dog, hook her on both, so she is double leash to the front and the back, because she's so strong and that gives you more control.

00:09:18.595 --> 00:09:21.142
Yeah, I love having that backup too.

00:09:21.142 --> 00:09:26.634
Right, right, my dog has some aggression issues, so she's quite hooked.

00:09:26.634 --> 00:09:32.831
But the reason that the harnesses are good is they're going to reduce the pulling.

00:09:32.831 --> 00:09:44.649
Those front hooks will reduce the pulling almost by half, just by nature of how they're designed, and that's going to make it easier for you to teach your dog not to pull on leash.

00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:54.626
Okay, and what about when you are starting off with a young dog or a puppy?

00:09:54.626 --> 00:09:58.000
Is there a way to modify the behavior other than equipment to just control it?

00:09:58.740 --> 00:09:59.864
100%, 100%.

00:09:59.864 --> 00:10:01.629
So you always want to teach them.

00:10:01.629 --> 00:10:04.299
You don't necessarily want to only rely on equipment.

00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:05.865
You can only rely on equipment.

00:10:05.865 --> 00:10:06.548
It's up to you.

00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:16.025
So there's a few different ways, right, the traditional ways is there were two sort of traditional ways to teach a dog what we call loose leash walking.

00:10:16.025 --> 00:10:20.410
One is every time they pull, you turn around and go the other way.

00:10:20.410 --> 00:10:27.734
And the other is every time they pull, you stop and wait for them to kind of readjust.

00:10:27.734 --> 00:10:32.393
Some dogs get very frustrated at the stop and start.

00:10:32.393 --> 00:10:34.961
I have found that the turning around works much better.

00:10:35.763 --> 00:10:42.701
The reason these methods work is because it teaches your dog that you're whimsical.

00:10:42.701 --> 00:10:48.648
At any point you're going to turn around and go in another direction, and so they want to keep their eye on you.

00:10:48.648 --> 00:10:57.291
They want to make sure they know where you're at so that they're not surprised by a turn, and that will help them to kind of get more in sync with you.

00:10:57.291 --> 00:11:07.361
So you cease to just be the person that can open gates and you become the partner on the walk, and if they want to smell something, you let them smell.

00:11:07.361 --> 00:11:12.520
The smelling part of the walk is more important to the dog than the walking part of the walk.

00:11:12.520 --> 00:11:14.986
They really want to get to all those smells.

00:11:15.587 --> 00:11:29.085
Another way that you can teach them is to teach them that approaching you and staying nearby you is more desirable than pulling or wandering off and this will also help with recall, when we talk about that.

00:11:29.085 --> 00:11:43.833
And you can do that by putting your dog on a long line, you know 20, 30, 50 feet, and just kind of wander around the field or your backyard and every time they come up to you they get rewarded and it's their choice.

00:11:43.833 --> 00:11:51.032
Do they come and walk near you so that they can get multiple treats or do they wander off because the smells are more interesting to them in that moment.

00:11:51.032 --> 00:12:01.648
But what you're doing is making, being with you, rewarding and also their decision, their choice, and you want to teach your dog to make choices that you approve of.

00:12:01.648 --> 00:12:04.432
That will help them be less frustrated.

00:12:04.432 --> 00:12:08.105
It will help them just default to better behaviors.

00:12:09.067 --> 00:12:18.565
So there's a few different ways and it's I'm not going to lie walking your dog when you're trying to teach them not to pull can be kind of a nuisance.

00:12:18.565 --> 00:12:21.611
You're not going to get very far, but it doesn't take long.

00:12:21.611 --> 00:12:23.865
You know it's not going to take you four weeks.

00:12:23.865 --> 00:12:25.229
Maybe it's going to take you one week.

00:12:25.830 --> 00:12:26.010
Yeah.

00:12:26.561 --> 00:12:27.931
So it's worth it.

00:12:28.979 --> 00:12:43.836
Yeah, and I think the problem with most people, myself included, is that, because it does take time and it takes consistency, just like training anything else is that people start off, you know, they go to that puppy kindergarten class or whatever they do.

00:12:43.836 --> 00:12:57.913
They hire a trainer for X number of weeks and they get started and the dog is trained, you know, and then they're not consistent in deploying whatever methodology that they're using and then the dog becomes untrained.

00:12:57.913 --> 00:12:59.604
You know, because I know my dogs.

00:12:59.604 --> 00:13:06.731
There's lots of things that they used to know and used to do and now don't do so well, but it's because I've been inconsistent in how we manage that.

00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:12.731
It's just a question of practice, and if you're loosey-goosey about it which again, is your choice, right.

00:13:12.731 --> 00:13:17.851
But what it tells your dog is that sometimes it's okay to pull, sometimes it's not.

00:13:17.851 --> 00:13:22.383
And so that translates into it's up to me Do I feel like pulling today?

00:13:22.383 --> 00:13:23.346
I'm the dog, laid into it's up to me.

00:13:23.346 --> 00:13:24.408
Do I feel like pulling today?

00:13:24.408 --> 00:13:25.312
I'm the dog.

00:13:25.312 --> 00:13:26.515
Do I feel like pulling today?

00:13:26.515 --> 00:13:31.706
Because that's what being inconsistent teaches them is that it's not that important to you.

00:13:31.706 --> 00:13:32.028
So they'll just.

00:13:32.028 --> 00:13:35.000
They're entitled to do what they want, and I mean, I would think that too if I was them.

00:13:35.643 --> 00:13:38.791
Sure, I mean, it's the same thing when you're teaching kids certain things.

00:13:38.791 --> 00:13:54.327
You know, if it's like you will hold my hand in the parking lot or you will sit down on the grocery cart or whatever it might be If you're inconsistent in managing that behavior, then it's eh, you don't really mean that.

00:13:54.227 --> 00:13:54.923
So therefore, I'm going to run my own agenda.

00:13:54.923 --> 00:13:57.664
But teaching them to walk lightly on leash is easier than teaching them consistent recall.

00:13:57.664 --> 00:14:03.303
In the moment they're like oh, I can't spend the next 15 years of my dog's life doing this.

00:14:03.303 --> 00:14:03.965
It's horrible.

00:14:03.965 --> 00:14:05.708
I'm like no, no, not 15.

00:14:05.708 --> 00:14:06.770
You know they're going to learn it.

00:14:06.770 --> 00:14:12.630
You're going to do it for, you know, one week, two weeks, and that's going to get easier and easier and that's just going to be natural.

00:14:12.630 --> 00:14:16.663
You're not constantly going to have this, isn't your life from now on?

00:14:16.663 --> 00:14:23.431
This is just you're going to do this for a little bit and then you're going to reap the rewards of doing it for that little bit.

00:14:24.152 --> 00:14:24.371
Right.

00:14:24.371 --> 00:14:28.616
So let's talk about my next favorite subject nuisance barking.

00:14:28.616 --> 00:14:36.519
So we had a dog and she would, anytime you put her outside and you left her out there for more than 30 seconds, she would start barking.

00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:43.183
But you know, opening the door and hollering be quiet, stop barking didn't really help the situation too well.

00:14:43.183 --> 00:14:59.610
And so we actually and I hate to admit this, but we actually resorted to a bark collar, because in my limited experience which was even more limited, 35 years ago, you know we put that bark collar on, it operated once or twice and then after that it didn't even have batteries in it.

00:14:59.610 --> 00:15:04.932
We just put it on her when she went outside and she didn't make excessive noise while she was out there.

00:15:04.932 --> 00:15:07.746
But there's gotta be, there's gotta be a better way to deal with that.

00:15:07.746 --> 00:15:08.408
And then I've got.

00:15:08.408 --> 00:15:20.802
You know like I'm trying to do this podcast and my daughter out there by the time I get off this podcast is going to be like whew, because she's trying to manage six dogs and keeping them to shut the heck up while they're out there.

00:15:21.403 --> 00:15:38.144
Yeah, you can see how smart dogs are, because when you put the bark collar on them, whether it sprayed citronella or had a high-pitched sound, an ultrasound it only took one or two times for the dog to experience it before they're like I'm not going to make that thing hurt me again.

00:15:38.144 --> 00:15:44.131
So no one suggests that aversive measures don't work.

00:15:44.131 --> 00:15:47.940
We just don't like them because yeah, is there a better alternative?

00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:52.027
Yeah, so barking is fascinating.

00:15:52.027 --> 00:15:54.431
It's truly a fascinating subject.

00:15:54.431 --> 00:16:00.647
An excessively barky dog actually impairs their human's ability to think properly.

00:16:00.647 --> 00:16:04.293
Studies have shown that it's considered a type of noise pollution.

00:16:04.293 --> 00:16:05.794
It's extremely annoying.

00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.347
My dog, shadow, she, has this problem.

00:16:10.347 --> 00:16:12.272
It's so much better.

00:16:12.272 --> 00:16:15.544
I've had her about a year so much better than it was in the beginning.

00:16:15.544 --> 00:16:20.203
But I got deep into barking because of her and frightened dogs.

00:16:20.203 --> 00:16:22.089
Now I specialize in fear and anxiety.

00:16:22.089 --> 00:16:25.163
Frightened dogs bark right, just like frightened people scream.

00:16:25.884 --> 00:16:28.908
So there are a multitude of reasons that dogs bark.

00:16:28.908 --> 00:16:37.034
Ideally, if you can figure out why your dog is barking, then you can specifically address the underlying cause.

00:16:37.034 --> 00:16:39.623
If you can't figure it out, that's okay.

00:16:39.623 --> 00:16:44.798
You can just do some trial and experimentation to address the underlying cause.

00:16:44.798 --> 00:17:04.409
You know, throw a few things at it and see With barking you want to first minimize the barking, because if your dog is at their peak of barking and they're just yappy, yappy, yappy, yappy, yappy, yappy, to the point where you're like I have to stop this by any means necessary, your dog isn't in a position where they can learn.

00:17:05.892 --> 00:17:09.363
So the first step is always to look at the environment.

00:17:09.363 --> 00:17:11.750
What's triggering my dog's barking?

00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:15.182
Is it what they see out the window, which is shadow's issue.

00:17:15.182 --> 00:17:19.934
Before you even start training, you block their access to their triggers.

00:17:19.934 --> 00:17:27.453
To reduce the barking and give them an opportunity to take a breath and focus that, you add enrichment.

00:17:27.453 --> 00:17:28.976
Some dogs bark because they're bored.

00:17:28.976 --> 00:17:30.719
Some dogs bark because they're stressed.

00:17:30.719 --> 00:17:36.531
So you add in all kinds of enrichment to help them relax, help them be entertained.

00:17:36.531 --> 00:17:39.498
Whatever needs to be covered is covered right.

00:17:39.498 --> 00:17:44.895
Puzzle toys, licky mats, chewing, licking, sniffing are all naturally relaxing for dogs.

00:17:45.678 --> 00:17:51.159
Then, once your dog is kind of like huh, and they can focus, you teach them.

00:17:51.159 --> 00:17:54.800
Maybe you teach them a quiet cue, right, because all dogs bark.

00:17:54.800 --> 00:17:56.015
They're going to bark from time to time.

00:17:56.015 --> 00:18:04.598
My last dog actually deterred a man trying to climb in my window in the middle of the night one time a robber, I'm going to assume.

00:18:04.598 --> 00:18:06.978
So that was good, you know he barked.

00:18:07.549 --> 00:18:11.291
You want them to do that sometimes but you don't want them to bark excessively.

00:18:11.291 --> 00:18:14.333
So you can teach them.

00:18:14.333 --> 00:18:17.394
They bark, bark and you say okay, thank you quiet.

00:18:17.394 --> 00:18:21.757
Or you redirect them If they bark at guests.

00:18:21.757 --> 00:18:24.357
You know they get so excited they bark at your friends that come over.

00:18:24.998 --> 00:18:39.164
Maybe you teach them an alternative like go get your favorite toy and show it to your guests so that they're still using their energy, they're still getting the attention that they're craving through that barking, and you're not having to sit and listen to all that barking.

00:18:39.164 --> 00:18:44.748
So there's a lot of different ways that you can approach it, depending on why they're barking.

00:18:44.748 --> 00:18:51.432
If it's separation anxiety, that's a very unique scenario.

00:18:51.432 --> 00:18:52.074
You can address it.

00:18:52.074 --> 00:19:13.400
But you have to address the issue of separation anxiety as a whole rather than the barking, because the barking is territorial, it's warning barking, it's attention barking, it's excitement barking, boredom barking.

00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:20.263
And those are all things that you can address with changing the environment, permanently or temporarily.

00:19:20.263 --> 00:19:28.042
Now, if it's just as easy for you to put a couch in front of a window or something like a table so that your dog never looks out at it, problem solved.

00:19:28.804 --> 00:19:30.527
Yeah, so that your dog never looks out at it.

00:19:30.527 --> 00:19:30.866
Problem solved.

00:19:30.866 --> 00:19:33.271
Yeah Well, I think it's interesting.

00:19:33.271 --> 00:19:37.426
You said that, though, because I think a lot of times people think and I have thought this before running an animal rescue, we get a lot of deliveries.

00:19:37.426 --> 00:19:43.029
I mean, the poor Amazon person, the chewy person, the EPS guy, the mailman, whatever you know.

00:19:43.029 --> 00:19:53.310
We get a lot of people coming and going, and not only does it turn into a barking situation, but it's turned into fights before, because somebody is trying to control somebody else and it just you know.

00:19:53.310 --> 00:20:00.483
So I guess I thought it was like a personal failure that I had to shut the blinds in order to prevent that.

00:20:00.483 --> 00:20:04.902
But if that's the easy, simple solution, then yeah.

00:20:05.730 --> 00:20:13.792
You know, I always think of things like closing the blinds as akin to I locked my door right Now.

00:20:13.792 --> 00:20:17.342
Is it a failing on my part that I don't trust society not to come in?

00:20:17.342 --> 00:20:20.154
Absolutely not.

00:20:20.154 --> 00:20:28.923
But also, you know, one of the things that you can do is you can sort of change your dog's emotional response right.

00:20:28.923 --> 00:20:32.434
You can sort of change your dog's emotional response right.

00:20:32.434 --> 00:20:41.461
Whether your dog thinks there's an intruder or just so excited that someone's coming over, you can actually use, you know, desensitization and counter conditioning to change the response to the doorbell.

00:20:41.461 --> 00:20:56.915
And you know, in a 30 second demonstration it's ring the bell, give a treat, ring the bell, give a treat, ring the bell, give it until your dog starts to associate the bell Not with oh gosh, a big scary man's going to come in, but oh treats.

00:20:57.630 --> 00:20:58.775
Now see they need to invent.

00:20:58.775 --> 00:20:59.637
Maybe we should do this.

00:20:59.637 --> 00:21:12.645
We can go into business together and invent a doorbell that has a treat dispensing portal on the inside of the house and every time the doorbell rings it kicks out a treat like those little automated ones that they have.

00:21:12.645 --> 00:21:13.905
We could make millions.

00:21:13.905 --> 00:21:17.508
Hopefully Ring is not listening to this podcast episode.

00:21:17.508 --> 00:21:21.511
Next thing we know we're going to see it on the market, so I like that.

00:21:21.511 --> 00:21:42.934
So, starting off with identifying the stimulus, preventing what stimulus you can, and then redirecting the behavior, is the way to go, and I would think, just like with anything else, that's something that would start in puppyhood too, because I've noticed that, having had litters of puppies here, some of them are just, even if, even though they're from the same litter, they're just.

00:21:42.934 --> 00:21:55.230
Some are talkers and some are super quiet, and so identifying those talkers and redirecting that early, yeah, yeah it's.

00:21:55.250 --> 00:21:58.258
I mean, just like if you have six human children, they're all going to be different, you know, even though they have the same parents.

00:21:58.258 --> 00:21:59.902
That's just how genetics works.

00:21:59.902 --> 00:22:00.792
It's fascinating.

00:22:00.792 --> 00:22:03.602
But you know, we socialize puppies.

00:22:03.602 --> 00:22:09.195
If you adopt an adult dog that maybe hasn't been socialized, things can feel more triggering to them.

00:22:09.195 --> 00:22:11.641
But yeah, we do teach puppies.

00:22:11.641 --> 00:22:20.672
You know, that's one of the benefits of raising a dog from puppyhood is being able to expose them to a lot of different things that they might not have been if you got them as an adult.

00:22:20.672 --> 00:22:28.252
There's special joys to adopting an adult dog as well, so you know, it's just sort of what works best for you.

00:22:29.915 --> 00:22:39.582
Yeah, all right, so let's move on then to and we talked about this a little bit, because you talked about using a long lead and recall but any other tips that you want to talk about?

00:22:39.582 --> 00:22:45.392
Because if you don't have recall, you shouldn't have your dog off leash in public, and it's amazing to me how many people do.

00:22:45.833 --> 00:22:46.734
Recall is important.

00:22:46.734 --> 00:22:49.641
It's a safety issue and I think everyone should focus on it.

00:22:49.641 --> 00:22:53.776
And it isn't as hard to teach as people think.

00:22:53.776 --> 00:22:57.804
And there are two main mistakes that people make with recall.

00:22:59.111 --> 00:23:06.691
The first I alluded to earlier when I said they let it go and cause their dog to believe that it's optional.

00:23:06.691 --> 00:23:12.873
So if they call their dog, they've been working on it in the house and then they take it to the yard.

00:23:12.873 --> 00:23:17.534
They call their dog and their dog doesn't come, they'll say, well, he didn't come.

00:23:17.534 --> 00:23:25.978
You can't do that because in your dog's mind it's like well, they call me, but it's up to me, so you cannot let it go.

00:23:25.978 --> 00:23:33.971
And if they don't come, not let it go.

00:23:33.971 --> 00:23:35.496
And if they don't come, you have to make it easier for them to come.

00:23:35.516 --> 00:23:41.816
If you have to get within a foot of them and still call them, they take one step towards you and you're like good boy, yeah, you did it, here's your treat.

00:23:41.816 --> 00:23:51.344
You act like they ran a mile to get to you, through like razor wire, because you want them to know that it's not optional.

00:23:51.344 --> 00:23:52.511
You want them to.

00:23:52.511 --> 00:24:01.913
When they hear you call their name, you want them to like if it was a romantic movie and at the end of the movie that people are like running on the beach to each other.

00:24:01.913 --> 00:24:04.763
You want that to be you and your dog.

00:24:05.003 --> 00:24:09.323
When you call their name, yeah, and so the other major mistake people make is they fall into this trap of only calling their dog when they actually have to call their name.

00:24:09.323 --> 00:24:14.900
Yeah, and so the other major mistake people make is they fall into this trap of only calling their dog when they actually have to call their dog.

00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:19.375
It's time to leave the park, it's time to come in the house, it's time to go to the vet.

00:24:19.375 --> 00:24:28.979
So you have to practice calling your dog so that only 30% of the time it's actually the fun is over.

00:24:28.979 --> 00:24:33.226
Otherwise, your dog can develop a negative association with being called.

00:24:33.226 --> 00:24:40.844
Nobody wants to go to anybody if the only time they ever call you is to like disappoint you.

00:24:41.630 --> 00:24:42.290
Yeah, that's such.

00:24:42.290 --> 00:24:45.394
A huge point is how many times we use our dog's name.

00:24:45.394 --> 00:25:04.173
You know, calling them when we're angry about something, or calling them because you're going to give them a pill, or calling them, you know, it's like I've caught myself doing that and it's like, even though they're good natured and they're coming over, it's like, oh, maybe I would have been better off walking over to them and giving them that pill, or walking over to them and then just cutting their nails, than to use the name.

00:25:05.075 --> 00:25:18.804
Or if you call them, 10 times, only cut their nails one time, the other nine times they got a treat and they got to go back to play, or they got a treat a belly rub, and then they got to go do what they want.

00:25:19.711 --> 00:25:21.678
So you're saying the dogs play on the odds right?

00:25:21.979 --> 00:25:36.136
Yes, Like, hmm, let me see Dogs are eternal optimists, so that if even sometimes a bad thing happens, right, they won't focus on that.

00:25:36.136 --> 00:25:41.362
They'll focus on ah, sometimes I get cheese when she calls me.

00:25:41.362 --> 00:25:43.938
Maybe this is the time, you know.

00:25:43.938 --> 00:25:52.781
Yeah, Even if every once in a while you give cheese and the rest of the time you give kibble, they'll be like oh, I wonder, if this is cheese time, They'll run over and it'll be kibble and be like dang.

00:25:52.781 --> 00:25:54.413
Maybe next time it'll be the cheese time.

00:25:54.413 --> 00:25:58.131
They'll just do it because they're like oh, maybe next time, maybe next time.

00:25:59.011 --> 00:26:11.747
Well and think about it, though, because I think about there are certain words that I, if I say them in the kitchen like oops, or I use a bad word, everybody comes running because they know for a fact something has likely fallen on the floor.

00:26:11.747 --> 00:26:20.539
So it's like it's interesting they all come running when you say oh crap, or something like that, but yet they don't come when you call their names, because they've learned.

00:26:20.970 --> 00:26:25.796
Trainers have this expression called poisoning the cue, Whereas you've taught them something.

00:26:25.796 --> 00:26:27.058
But you kind of messed it up.

00:26:27.058 --> 00:26:28.162
Now it doesn't work anymore.

00:26:28.162 --> 00:26:30.053
You can just change the word.

00:26:30.053 --> 00:26:34.703
You could literally be in the park and go oh crap, and all your dogs will come running.

00:26:34.703 --> 00:26:37.913
And if it works, it works.

00:26:39.237 --> 00:26:42.330
Everybody's dogs are going to be coming home with me, then if I do that though.

00:26:42.330 --> 00:26:44.675
Now that's such a good point.

00:26:44.675 --> 00:26:47.643
Yeah, maybe come up with a better, a different recall word.

00:26:48.190 --> 00:26:50.638
Yeah, because it doesn't matter to the dog.

00:26:50.638 --> 00:26:57.875
You could use the word dollhouse for recall, and so long as everyone in your dog's life knows that they come.

00:26:57.875 --> 00:27:00.843
When you say dollhouse, it's fine, it doesn't matter.

00:27:00.843 --> 00:27:04.098
They don't speak your language per se.

00:27:04.098 --> 00:27:11.836
They've learned a particular sound and they've related it to a particular behavior, but it doesn't matter to them what that sound is.

00:27:12.356 --> 00:27:13.661
Yeah, yeah.

00:27:13.661 --> 00:27:24.240
Now I've got all kind of fun thoughts running through my head about the things you could be screaming out in public to make your dogs go yeah and have people wondering about your sanity, but anyway, okay.

00:27:24.977 --> 00:27:37.961
So that's definitely something and that's, I think, also something that I have made the mistake of not doing when I've had puppies is it's so much easier to work on that when they're little and you can catch them, you know, and they can't get that far away.

00:27:37.961 --> 00:27:41.614
And making that a positive thing to come back to you, right.

00:27:42.035 --> 00:27:59.577
When I'm working with a client and we're teaching recall to their dog, I always say when you get to the point where you 100% think you can trust your dog to come away from distractions at the park off leash, you put them on a long line and practice it for another month, right, and then you try letting them off.

00:27:59.577 --> 00:28:12.028
So you have to raise up the distractions slowly and when you think you can trust them, you still need to work on it because your dog knows the difference between being on leash and off leash.

00:28:12.088 --> 00:28:22.698
Oh, yeah, yeah, I had a golden retriever in high school and that dog I will say that other than the recall, I mean he was so well trained, he would do everything with hand signals.

00:28:22.698 --> 00:28:26.161
I would set up obstacle courses and he would go over under around.

00:28:26.161 --> 00:28:35.431
You know, he would heel and spin around and sit at my side and we worked and we worked on that long and obviously I either did something wrong or I didn't work on it long enough.

00:28:35.431 --> 00:28:58.977
But I felt like we did the long lead so many times and I swear it was a thing like okay, he, he, he was reliably coming and then I would take the leash off and he would come once, he would come twice, he would come halfway the third time and then it was like a light bulb went off and off he went and it's like, and then I finally gave up Like I couldn't get past that point.

00:28:58.977 --> 00:29:01.191
But yeah, I never did break him of that.

00:29:01.191 --> 00:29:02.272
He was always a runner.

00:29:03.054 --> 00:29:28.365
I do also tell people when you're practicing it wait till your dog comes all the way to you before you give them the treat, and some of the time touch their collar and then let go and give them the treat, Because dogs will sort of come close enough to get the treat, but not so close that you can grab them, and that way you can desensitize them to the touching them and the hooking them and that sort of thing.

00:29:28.365 --> 00:29:37.962
And there are a couple of breeds that are more difficult to teach because of what they've been bred for Huskies, beagles.

00:29:37.962 --> 00:29:43.571
I mean, I'm not saying you can't teach them, but it is more challenging because it goes against their genetics.

00:29:44.435 --> 00:30:00.803
I had somebody tell me and I can't remember if it was a trainer or just a person who had said something about after a certain age that the dog can kind of like let's say, you've got a dog that's sitting 10 feet away from you and you call them that they have the ability to think to themselves.

00:30:00.803 --> 00:30:02.473
I'm here, what do you want?

00:30:03.356 --> 00:30:06.205
I think at any age some dogs will do that.

00:30:06.205 --> 00:30:09.876
I think that's a personality trait more than an age or a breed thing.

00:30:09.876 --> 00:30:28.952
Some dogs my last dog he would think, you know, I'd call him and I'd wait it out and he would think for a minute and then he'd slowly kind of shuffle over my dog now Shadow, I call her and she flies at me like I'm going to give her a million dollars.

00:30:28.952 --> 00:30:32.137
So you know, your dogs have different personalities.

00:30:33.821 --> 00:30:40.484
Is it bad to keep saying because that's another thing I see people do it's like I say Gunny come, gunny, gunny, gunny, come, come.

00:30:40.484 --> 00:30:43.780
Should you really say it once and then wait it out?

00:30:43.780 --> 00:30:45.023
And when do you repeat it?

00:30:46.165 --> 00:30:48.230
This is something that other trainers do different.

00:30:48.230 --> 00:30:53.645
I know there are trainers who say say it once and if they don't come, they didn't come.

00:30:53.645 --> 00:30:55.449
I don't agree with that.

00:30:55.449 --> 00:30:57.632
I am a two strikes guy.

00:30:57.632 --> 00:30:59.534
Call my dog.

00:30:59.534 --> 00:31:05.251
If they don't come maybe they don't hear me right I'm going to give them a second chance, call them again.

00:31:05.251 --> 00:31:09.308
Also, give them a moment to finish their sniff, right?

00:31:09.308 --> 00:31:19.047
If I ask my friend to grab me a coffee while they're in the kitchen and they're like, yeah, in a minute when I finish this phone call, that's not a no, that's an.

00:31:19.047 --> 00:31:20.347
I'm'm doing it right.

00:31:21.169 --> 00:31:24.093
Give your dog that same benefit of the doubt, unless there's a bear coming at them.

00:31:24.093 --> 00:31:26.375
Give your dog that same benefit of the doubt.

00:31:26.375 --> 00:31:37.191
And if they're running to you and you want to encourage that, then you could say whatever you want while they're coming, like you're cheering on a race.

00:31:37.191 --> 00:31:45.881
So the reason that we say typically, don't repeat yourself is we talked about how the dogs don't really speak the language they understand sounds.

00:31:45.881 --> 00:31:51.673
So to a dog, come shadow is not the same as come, come, come, come, come, come, come.

00:31:51.673 --> 00:31:53.603
There's two different sounds.

00:31:53.603 --> 00:31:55.968
So you don't want to confuse your dog.

00:31:55.968 --> 00:32:00.242
So I usually tell clients count to 10 in your head before you repeat yourself.

00:32:00.924 --> 00:32:05.554
Give your dog a moment to kind of wrap their mind around.

00:32:05.554 --> 00:32:06.563
Oh, they said come.

00:32:06.563 --> 00:32:09.332
I don't really want to, but I love them and they have hot dogs.

00:32:09.332 --> 00:32:10.019
So I'm going to go.

00:32:10.019 --> 00:32:20.498
Before you say it again, I focus how I do things on what your average family with a dog is comfortable with, right?

00:32:20.498 --> 00:32:21.559
So I'm going to.

00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:28.586
If you're telling me you want to train your dog for obedience competition, you're going to have to learn it a completely different way.

00:32:28.586 --> 00:32:45.567
But I don't do that work Right, and I work with families who want a safe and healthy and happy dog and dog owner experience, and so that sort of informs how I do things and what I think most people are going to be comfortable with and capable of.

00:32:45.567 --> 00:32:53.682
So that's sort of what backs up my philosophy, which makes me differ a little bit from some of the other trainers Not all, I mean.

00:32:53.682 --> 00:32:58.029
Some others are like me, but you know, there there is advice that says you call them once.

00:32:58.029 --> 00:33:02.778
Use a unique sound like or something instead of a word, which is fine.

00:33:02.778 --> 00:33:05.284
There's nothing wrong with that, yeah.

00:33:05.964 --> 00:33:07.086
Yeah, all right.

00:33:07.086 --> 00:33:13.805
So another personal favorite of mine we're down to our last, last two items here is jumping up on people.

00:33:13.805 --> 00:33:28.503
So a pet peeve that I have, as I am trying to adopt out dogs and I'm trying to work on the jumping up thing, is when you have the guest or the potential adopter who tells you no, no, that's okay.

00:33:28.503 --> 00:33:39.489
And it's like I have to go through this explanation of why it's not okay, because at minimum it's because we're trying to train the dog not to jump up on anybody, because not everybody loves it is kind of the bottom line with that.

00:33:39.489 --> 00:33:44.873
But I've tried different techniques for doing that and have had various success.

00:33:44.873 --> 00:33:53.330
So I'm curious what your thoughts are as far as like, is it OK for a dog to jump up on people or is it something that everybody should be eliminating from their dog's behavior?

00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:59.875
It's OK for your dog to jump up on you if you don't mind, right?

00:33:59.875 --> 00:34:07.781
Shadow jumps on me every time I come home and I think it's adorable, but would I allow her to jump on a passerby like she wants to do?

00:34:07.781 --> 00:34:10.090
No, because that's not appropriate.

00:34:10.090 --> 00:34:13.561
You don't want people to get dirty frightened, you don't?

00:34:13.561 --> 00:34:17.664
You never know who has a medical issue that that a dog jumping on them could.

00:34:17.664 --> 00:34:20.447
You never know who has a medical issue that a dog jumping on them could set them back.

00:34:20.447 --> 00:34:25.891
So you can't allow your dog to jump on other people who don't want your dog to jump on them, right?

00:34:25.891 --> 00:34:36.652
Or if you're not sure they don't want to be jumped on, you default to they don't want to be jumped on, it's perfectly fine, if you don't mind your dog jumping on you.

00:34:37.081 --> 00:34:37.666
But how does the dog?

00:34:37.686 --> 00:34:38.190
know the difference.

00:34:38.190 --> 00:34:39.400
So what I do with people?

00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:44.222
Because this comes up that the dad loves the dog to jump on them and the mom and the kids are like, no, I hate it.

00:34:44.222 --> 00:34:48.235
Default to teaching your dog never jump on people.

00:34:48.235 --> 00:34:49.418
That's the rule.

00:34:49.418 --> 00:34:54.012
Never jump on people unless a people invites you to jump on them.

00:34:54.012 --> 00:34:59.367
So unless someone says come on, come on, then they don't jump.

00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:01.802
Dogs are smart enough to understand that.

00:35:01.802 --> 00:35:09.547
The way you teach your dog not to jump on people is you teach your dog rather than try to tell them no, don't do that thing.

00:35:09.547 --> 00:35:12.413
That's hard, that's nebulous, right?

00:35:12.413 --> 00:35:15.023
You teach them to do something else.

00:35:15.023 --> 00:35:17.326
That's incompatible with the original behavior.

00:35:17.326 --> 00:35:18.106
You teach them to do something else.

00:35:18.106 --> 00:35:19.148
That's incompatible with the original behavior.

00:35:19.168 --> 00:35:24.795
So, jumping up me putting my paws on your body, the opposite of that is me keeping my four paws on the floor.

00:35:24.795 --> 00:35:30.777
So I teach the dog keep my four paws on the floor or do something else.

00:35:30.777 --> 00:35:32.778
When I hear the bell, I go to my place.

00:35:32.778 --> 00:35:35.161
When I hear the bell, I go get a toy, whatever it is.

00:35:35.161 --> 00:35:36.204
You want to teach your dog.

00:35:36.204 --> 00:35:55.170
There's always multiple ways to go about it, but you teach your dog that the other behavior, the desired behavior, is preferable, and you do that by using treats or toys, some kind of reward that feels good to your dog, and by trying to make jumping on people as boring as possible.

00:35:55.170 --> 00:36:06.514
One way to make it boring is for the person not to respond, which is hard, because even for a dog like if you're like no, no off, that's exciting.

00:36:06.820 --> 00:36:07.300
Yeah, you're playing.

00:36:07.300 --> 00:36:08.123
It's like a game.

00:36:08.123 --> 00:36:10.130
When you're put especially, I've seen people a lot.

00:36:10.130 --> 00:36:16.152
They're talking a lot, they're flapping their hands, they're pushing the dog and it, you know, it becomes a, it becomes a game.

00:36:16.152 --> 00:36:23.936
One of the things that I've always done is just to put my arms up, kind of cross them across my chest and out of the way and turn my back to the dog.

00:36:23.936 --> 00:36:33.740
You know, if I've got a dog, that's that's jumping on me, just because I'm certainly not going to make it fun for you and I'm not going to engage you while you're demonstrating that behavior.

00:36:34.041 --> 00:36:34.260
Right.

00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:38.123
If the dog isn't rewarded for the behavior, the behavior will fade away that behavior Right.

00:36:38.123 --> 00:36:39.625
If the dog isn't rewarded for the behavior, the behavior will fade away.

00:36:39.625 --> 00:36:42.487
So if that response is possible, it's a good solution.

00:36:42.487 --> 00:36:54.117
And by possible I mean the human is physically capable of it and the dog responds to it, because some dogs, when people do that, get frustrated and they'll start to nibble on your bum.

00:36:54.117 --> 00:37:00.445
I usually say and I address this the same way I address things like demand barking.

00:37:00.445 --> 00:37:07.512
If the behavior is new, if your dog just figured out that they could jump up, ignoring it is a good way to shut it down because it's not a fully ingrained behavior.

00:37:07.512 --> 00:37:17.409
If your dog has been doing it for four years and you finally got to the point where you're going to address it, you're going to have a hard time just ignoring it.

00:37:17.409 --> 00:37:30.885
Because when in a situation like that, the behavior is going to get worse before it gets better, because it has always worked and your dog has an expectation that it will work and so they're going to double down, like this always works, why isn't it working?

00:37:30.885 --> 00:37:31.126
Maybe.

00:37:31.126 --> 00:37:36.972
Maybe they don't feel me jumping on them, so they're going to, they're going to double down at first before it fades away.

00:37:36.972 --> 00:37:40.842
It's just harder for you, physically and mentally probably.

00:37:40.842 --> 00:37:47.103
So if the behavior is ingrained, I usually go straight to teaching an alternative behavior.

00:37:47.103 --> 00:37:51.152
And so let's say it's jumping on guests when they come in the house.

00:37:51.152 --> 00:38:01.885
You can create a block, you can put a baby gate or an X-pen or something to help your dog stay away from the guest, keep your guest behind it or whatever.

00:38:01.885 --> 00:38:08.974
But you can also leash your dog right, like have when the people knock or, you know, have your friends.

00:38:08.974 --> 00:38:14.449
You can practice it yourselves or your friends text you when they're outside, put your dog on the leash.

00:38:14.449 --> 00:38:18.409
The person comes in, ask the person to come in and sort of be boring.

00:38:18.409 --> 00:38:20.385
Don't come in, like hey, everybody, how's it going?

00:38:20.385 --> 00:38:39.090
Come in quietly, just stand there, throw treats on the floor for your dog so that they start to associate someone coming in with like little smorgasbord on the floor, and you'll see after some practice that your dog will hear the door start to open and look down for their treats.

00:38:39.090 --> 00:38:41.608
And then you can start to practice it off leash.

00:38:41.608 --> 00:38:54.190
The reason for the leash in the beginning is that if your dog always jumps on people the minute someone comes in they're going to default to jumping and even if they see your treats, it's going to be after they jumped on the person Right.

00:38:54.190 --> 00:38:58.617
So the leash will help you in the beginning and you can slow it down.

00:38:58.617 --> 00:39:05.481
Where, if your dog starts to yank on the leash when the door just starts to open an inch, okay, close the door.

00:39:05.481 --> 00:39:07.789
No one comes in because you did that you get.

00:39:07.909 --> 00:39:10.764
You know you can different dogs you can take.

00:39:10.764 --> 00:39:15.927
You know some dogs you can come right in Some dogs you really have to go minuscule, step by minuscule step.

00:39:15.927 --> 00:39:17.711
It just kind of depends.

00:39:17.711 --> 00:39:21.083
Really have to go minuscule, step by minuscule step.

00:39:21.083 --> 00:39:21.585
It just kind of depends.

00:39:21.585 --> 00:39:24.193
Dogs are lovely in that they don't mind giving up an old behavior for a better behavior.

00:39:24.193 --> 00:39:30.391
You know humans, sometimes we feel like, well, I've always done it this way, I'm not going to try your newfangled way.

00:39:30.391 --> 00:39:33.485
Like we can get in our heads like that sometimes.

00:39:33.485 --> 00:39:34.347
But dogs don't.

00:39:34.347 --> 00:39:37.543
If you show them a better way, they're happy to do the better way.

00:39:38.224 --> 00:39:47.623
Okay, great, those are definitely some good suggestions, and I think that, again, that goes back to the, especially when you're talking about having to, you know, open the door an inch, open the door an inch.

00:39:47.623 --> 00:39:58.233
You know it's, it's, it's patience on the part of people, and it makes me wonder, like I'm sure people say to you you know, I'm, I've got three kids and I'm busy and I don't have time to do this all the time.

00:39:58.233 --> 00:40:01.597
And you know, my thinking is always then you shouldn't have gotten a dog.

00:40:01.597 --> 00:40:03.461
But maybe I'm just being rude.

00:40:03.461 --> 00:40:03.983
I don't usually.

00:40:03.983 --> 00:40:11.603
Well, sometimes I do, sometimes I do say it, but I try to say it as nicely as possible, but it's like this is what it's going to take.

00:40:12.585 --> 00:40:23.126
So yes, I don't say that because I mean partly because this is my business and people pay me to come to their house and help them, not tell them what they're doing wrong.

00:40:23.126 --> 00:40:30.228
So I want them to succeed and so I think what will make them succeed?

00:40:30.228 --> 00:40:36.550
I mean I've had clients with you know, multiple jobs and multiple kids and they had a newborn and their grandma's sick.

00:40:36.550 --> 00:40:39.557
Or you know jobs and multiple kids and they had a newborn and their grandma is sick, or you?

00:40:39.938 --> 00:40:50.014
know, like, yeah, people's lives are complicated and whether or not they have the emotional and time resources for their dog, they have their dog, they love their dog.

00:40:50.014 --> 00:40:52.643
You know, maybe their life changed after they got the dog.

00:40:52.643 --> 00:40:53.103
You know what I mean.

00:40:53.103 --> 00:40:55.820
Like I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

00:40:55.820 --> 00:41:02.313
Sometimes it's the fact that they had a baby or that they moved that creates the unwanted behavior.

00:41:02.313 --> 00:41:07.730
So dog was well behaved before and then you know, something happens in their life that changes it.

00:41:07.730 --> 00:41:13.753
But so you do not need vast amounts of time to train your dog.

00:41:13.753 --> 00:41:16.929
You can take five to 10 minutes a day.

00:41:16.929 --> 00:41:25.829
You can take five, three minute increments and almost everybody can find that amount of time right.

00:41:25.829 --> 00:41:31.527
Like, well, leash walking that we talked about earlier, you walk your dog anyway.

00:41:31.527 --> 00:41:33.610
It doesn't matter how far you get.

00:41:33.610 --> 00:41:40.460
You might as well practice not pulling on leash while you're walking your dog anyway, right?

00:41:40.460 --> 00:41:50.186
So the easiest way to find these five minute spots in your schedule to teach your dog is around the things you do with your dog anyway.

00:41:50.186 --> 00:41:56.666
So maybe five minutes before you feed them, maybe even while you're getting their dinner ready.

00:41:56.666 --> 00:42:05.193
You're like sit, lie down, come place, run through some things, practice so they don't forget.

00:42:05.193 --> 00:42:22.050
Or while you're on a walk, if you usually walk your dog for 30 minutes, walk your dog for 20 and take that 10 minutes to practice recall or whatever it is you want to practice the not jumping and the fact that your dog is using their brain and their body too.

00:42:22.050 --> 00:42:32.362
If you're practicing recall, they're still getting that same level of stimulation, enrichment and exercise that they would have if you spent that 10 minutes doing a little bit longer walk.

00:42:32.362 --> 00:42:56.333
So you know, you, you look at people's schedules and you fit it in where people are able to fit it in, cause I mean the way I look at it, like I'm not a successful dog trainer if my clients aren't successful with their dogs, so whatever it takes for me to figure out for them, like here's, here's exactly what you do.

00:42:56.333 --> 00:42:58.023
This takes 30 seconds.

00:42:58.023 --> 00:42:59.284
This takes 30 seconds.

00:42:59.284 --> 00:42:59.846
This takes 30 seconds.

00:42:59.846 --> 00:43:11.302
Here's four 30-second things that you're going to do two minutes four times a day, right after breakfast, right after whatever it is, and that's all it takes.

00:43:11.302 --> 00:43:12.344
You don't need more time than that, right?

00:43:12.344 --> 00:43:17.291
You just need a little bit of time and you need to do that every single day.

00:43:17.291 --> 00:43:20.175
I mean you're going to skip a day.

00:43:20.175 --> 00:43:27.503
You're going to catch the flu, you're going to skip a week, fine, go back to it, just like.

00:43:27.503 --> 00:43:32.701
The same advice applies when people are like well, I have to start exercising, okay, well, where can I fit it in?

00:43:32.701 --> 00:43:34.445
How much time realistically do I need?

00:43:34.445 --> 00:43:35.668
Where can I fit it in?

00:43:35.668 --> 00:43:36.612
You know what I mean.

00:43:36.612 --> 00:43:42.572
Well, eventually it'll become a habit, right, right, your 28 days or whatever it is they say that creates a habit.

00:43:42.980 --> 00:43:47.817
And also, you know, it's self-rewarding, so it's not just rewarding for the dog.

00:43:47.817 --> 00:43:51.543
If you're working with your dog one, it's good for you, right.

00:43:51.543 --> 00:43:53.867
Playing with your dog lowers your blood pressure.

00:43:53.867 --> 00:43:54.869
It reduces stress.

00:43:54.869 --> 00:44:05.762
As you see, your dog's behavior improve, you feel good and you're like this is working.

00:44:05.762 --> 00:44:06.706
That's self-motivating to keep doing it.

00:44:06.706 --> 00:44:07.871
And then you're like what else can my dog do?

00:44:07.871 --> 00:44:19.181
At first, when you're looking at all these unwanted behaviors and you're like this is an insurmountable mountain of trouble and I don't know what to do and I don't know who to turn to and all of that kind of stuff.

00:44:19.181 --> 00:44:23.052
You know I've had problems like that too, where you're like where do I even begin?

00:44:23.052 --> 00:44:30.463
But once you get started and you have someone you trust to help you, you're like oh, wow, look, I didn't know my dog could do that.

00:44:30.463 --> 00:44:31.907
You know, you feel so good.

00:44:31.907 --> 00:44:32.751
You want to keep going.

00:44:33.780 --> 00:44:38.931
Yeah, you definitely have to have the right motivation and go for those smaller wins as they come along.

00:44:38.931 --> 00:44:40.882
Yeah, all right.

00:44:40.882 --> 00:44:52.054
Last but not least, I'm going to protest my property taxes, and one of the things I'm going to show them is the work that I would need to do on this house to get it up to the value that they believe it is.

00:44:52.054 --> 00:45:01.644
But part of it is because I've got all kind of places on my walls, on my baseboards, where various creatures who have been in this house have chewed.

00:45:01.644 --> 00:45:06.862
So that's one we hear a lot, and it's not just puppies that chew on things.

00:45:06.862 --> 00:45:10.070
So obviously I can't take the baseboards away.

00:45:10.070 --> 00:45:10.911
They exist.

00:45:10.911 --> 00:45:13.981
So what is your advice for the destructive chewing?

00:45:14.583 --> 00:45:18.226
So dogs most dogs have a need to chew obstructive chewing.

00:45:18.226 --> 00:45:19.088
So dogs most dogs have a need to chew.

00:45:19.088 --> 00:45:22.911
It is a way to self-soothe, it's a way to clean their teeth.

00:45:22.911 --> 00:45:26.554
It's enjoyable, like how some people like to chew gum.

00:45:26.554 --> 00:45:27.255
It's fun.

00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:40.019
So you need to allow appropriate outlets for your dogs chewing so that they don't chew on inappropriate things and in order for them not to chew on inappropriate things.

00:45:40.019 --> 00:45:47.030
Every time you catch them chewing on something they shouldn't, you redirect them to something that's okay to chew on.

00:45:47.030 --> 00:45:52.844
And anytime you see them maybe sitting around thinking thoughts like what can I do?

00:45:52.844 --> 00:45:59.449
Offer them something appropriate to chew on so that they're meeting their need to chew.

00:45:59.449 --> 00:46:01.244
It's helping them relax.

00:46:01.764 --> 00:46:07.606
And especially for you where you have rescue dogs, you know that's a stressful situation to be in.

00:46:07.606 --> 00:46:09.293
They're homeless, right.

00:46:09.293 --> 00:46:10.659
They're living in a shelter.

00:46:10.659 --> 00:46:14.994
They, you know they don't know who their real mom is going to be someday.

00:46:14.994 --> 00:46:20.891
And it's a stressful situation for dogs to be in a new environment with different smells and different sounds.

00:46:21.579 --> 00:46:25.110
So different dogs have different preferences for chewing.

00:46:25.110 --> 00:46:31.188
Some like harder, some like softer, some like to tear something up, some like to just chew on something that stays the same.

00:46:31.188 --> 00:46:35.438
So baseboards, if they're wooden, they have that say.

00:46:35.438 --> 00:46:40.833
You know, maybe yak cheese might have a somewhat similar mouthfeel.

00:46:40.833 --> 00:46:42.664
You can try that.

00:46:42.664 --> 00:46:52.695
Or you can just try a variety of different things, edible and non-edible, in order to satisfy that need on something that you don't mind them chewing.

00:46:53.900 --> 00:46:59.793
And then you just, you know, the main things to think about is the size of the dog, because the size of the mouth matters.

00:46:59.793 --> 00:47:07.411
You know, the Kongs come in different sizes, different hardnesses, so don't the yak cheese and lots of different things.

00:47:07.411 --> 00:47:11.610
They make teethers now for puppies, but adult dogs can use them too.

00:47:11.610 --> 00:47:14.088
So you want to avoid choking hazard.

00:47:14.088 --> 00:47:19.447
You want to supervise a dog if they're chewing on something that can break up like a bone.

00:47:19.447 --> 00:47:27.706
You can get them real bones, just not cooked bones, that you can either buy at a pet place or you can get from a butcher if you have a butcher.

00:47:27.706 --> 00:47:29.168
My dog now.

00:47:29.168 --> 00:47:32.302
She likes tracheas, she likes to chew on tracheas.

00:47:32.342 --> 00:47:39.324
They're disgusting but she loves them and I buy them and some of them are going to last longer, because I know we used to do the.

00:47:39.324 --> 00:47:58.264
My Doberman loved cow hooves, the little cow hoof, trimming things, but, boy, you got to watch that like a hawk, because we had a couple of scary instances where I didn't get that last little you know half dollar sized piece up off the floor and the next thing you know, he swallowed it and caused an obstruction.

00:47:58.264 --> 00:48:02.833
So, keeping an eye on the condition, same thing even with the stuffed toys.

00:48:02.833 --> 00:48:07.871
It's like once they eviscerate it, pick up that stuffing, don't let them swallow that stuff.

00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:10.547
Right, right, because you don't want to bowel obstruction.

00:48:10.547 --> 00:48:17.231
The other thing you want to think about with hard shoes just like people, different dogs have different strength teeth.

00:48:17.231 --> 00:48:24.110
Whether it's just like people, different dogs have different strength teeth, whether it's genetic or the nutrition they had as a puppy.

00:48:24.110 --> 00:48:30.949
So a lot of vets recommend against antlers because they've met dogs who've broken their teeth on antlers.

00:48:30.949 --> 00:48:32.876
So you kind of have to know your dog.

00:48:32.876 --> 00:48:34.641
If you're not sure, you can ask your vet.

00:48:34.641 --> 00:48:40.827
You know, do you think this is appropriate for my dog, because they're going to know your dog's mouth better?

00:48:40.827 --> 00:48:44.211
And then also, what does your dog like to chew on?

00:48:44.211 --> 00:48:44.532
My dog?

00:48:44.532 --> 00:48:44.672
Would?

00:48:44.672 --> 00:48:47.335
My last dog would chew on anything I dipped in peanut butter.

00:48:47.655 --> 00:48:58.514
Yeah, yeah, and I've had dogs that have had no interest in chewing things, Like I had a dog named Bonnie that she had her little stuffed fleece baby and she would carry that thing around.

00:48:58.514 --> 00:49:03.726
I mean she never, never ripped it, never really chewed on it and she didn't really want anything to do.

00:49:03.726 --> 00:49:05.987
I mean she like an edible bone?

00:49:05.987 --> 00:49:06.849
Yeah, she did that.

00:49:07.722 --> 00:49:10.688
But something that was just solely for the purpose of chewing.

00:49:10.688 --> 00:49:12.032
She wanted nothing to do with it.

00:49:12.032 --> 00:49:19.052
But then you have other ones that are you know, you give them something stuffed and it's just, you know, in a million pieces, in two seconds, yeah.

00:49:19.233 --> 00:49:22.639
Right, some dogs prefer licking my dog now Shadow.

00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:33.472
She'll destroy toys, except for particular toys that she treats like babies and she hides them in a big pile on the couch, checks on them every once in a while.

00:49:33.472 --> 00:49:40.168
They're under a blanket and the only difference is that they make like there's a cow and it moos and there's a chicken and it squawks.

00:49:40.168 --> 00:49:45.445
So to her those are completely different from the regular squeaky toys and she treats them different.

00:49:45.987 --> 00:49:46.507
And I, you know.

00:49:46.507 --> 00:49:52.190
The other thing I would say in my experience cause I've learned this the hard way is supervision goes a long way.

00:49:52.190 --> 00:50:11.711
You know, it's like when I close dogs up in the hallway with a baby gate and go to work or whatever it might be, I'm kind of asking for it If I don't know that dog well enough to know, yes, they're going to chew on the baseboards or puppies, you know, if there's not enough, sometimes even if there is enough stuff in there, it's like they've been there, done that with that toy and they're looking for something else to do.

00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:14.027
They're curious animals.

00:50:14.027 --> 00:50:16.047
Some dogs will chew on electric cords.

00:50:16.047 --> 00:50:23.601
Some Furious animals.

00:50:23.601 --> 00:50:24.402
Some dogs will chew on electric cords.

00:50:24.402 --> 00:50:25.202
Some dogs won't do anything naughty.

00:50:25.202 --> 00:50:26.664
Some dogs are safer, crated when you have to leave them unsupervised.

00:50:26.664 --> 00:50:34.983
One thing you can do is same thing people do with human children is take half their toys and put them in a closet and every three to six months just rotate everything out so it seems new again.

00:50:34.983 --> 00:50:45.052
Or trade toys with a friend so that they have completely different smells every once in a while, just like a do a toy trade with the mother.

00:50:45.052 --> 00:50:52.782
You know your dog mom friends or dog dad friends and those toys you know other people's toys are always more interesting than your own toys.

00:50:52.782 --> 00:50:56.329
So there you go so that helps too.

00:50:57.030 --> 00:50:58.434
okay, that that's a good yeah good idea.

00:50:58.434 --> 00:51:04.385
Just make sure you wash them good and everybody's up to date on all their disease prevention of course I wouldn't even wash them.

00:51:04.500 --> 00:51:07.186
I would just give them because they're going to smell like the other dog.

00:51:07.186 --> 00:51:10.744
But I wouldn't pick it up off the street give it to my dog.

00:51:11.085 --> 00:51:16.650
Yeah, Okay, Well, Ruth, thank you so much for all of your wisdom and information here.

00:51:16.650 --> 00:51:28.532
I'm hoping that those who are struggling with some or maybe even all hopefully not all, that would kind of suck, but some of these issues at least have some starting points and some food for thought.

00:51:28.532 --> 00:51:36.987
But I know that you obviously you're in the Cambridge Massachusetts area, so people that are in that area can seek you out for in-person.

00:51:36.987 --> 00:51:44.552
But how would people get a hold of you if they wanted to pursue you to help them virtually or through the courses that you have to offer?

00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:51.771
So my website is creaturegooddogtrainingcom and you can find everything there.

00:51:51.771 --> 00:51:55.083
You can make an appointment for a free consult with me.

00:51:55.083 --> 00:52:00.693
I have created a handout for the stuff we talked about today where I've written down my advice.

00:52:00.693 --> 00:52:06.724
People can download that through my resource library, social media, through my website, so that's the easiest way.

00:52:06.724 --> 00:52:14.813
Yeah, and I'm happy to answer questions and you know I could talk about dogs like all day, every day, you do.

00:52:15.139 --> 00:52:15.903
You already do.

00:52:15.903 --> 00:52:18.125
I think it's my job yeah.

00:52:18.947 --> 00:52:28.932
All right, well, great, well, I put those links and information up on the show notes and hopefully people who are struggling with this realize that this podcast is just a starting point.

00:52:28.932 --> 00:52:52.077
You don't have to go it alone, and I'm quite sure that the advice that we've given and I think we alluded to it throughout is that all dogs are going to be a little bit different, all situations are different, so seeking out a consultation to basically say here's my specific scenario, is obviously going to be even more helpful, because Ruth would be able to give you, you know, specific advice tailored to your needs.

00:52:52.097 --> 00:52:58.110
Right, that's going to fit your lifestyle, fit your dog's personality, I mean, that's just like anything.

00:52:58.110 --> 00:53:06.885
Getting help from an expert is the easiest way to go, and you know, DIYing it is harder, but if you're a diehard DIYer you can do that too.

00:53:07.206 --> 00:53:08.708
That's right, you've got options.

00:53:08.708 --> 00:53:11.221
You've definitely got options, all right.

00:53:11.221 --> 00:53:15.724
Well, again, ruth, thank you for being here and thank you to everybody for listening to another episode.

00:53:15.724 --> 00:53:18.490
We will see and hear you next week.

00:53:18.490 --> 00:53:21.869
Thanks for listening to Muddy Paws and Hairballs.

00:53:21.869 --> 00:53:31.452
Be sure to visit our website at muddypawsandhairballscom for more resources and be sure to follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app so you'll never miss a show.

00:53:31.452 --> 00:53:36.347
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00:53:36.347 --> 00:53:42.192
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00:53:42.192 --> 00:53:43.719
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00:53:43.719 --> 00:53:48.150
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