5 Red Flags That Your Dog Is Worse Than You Think

00:00 — Owners often recognize inconvenient behaviors but miss signs revealing their dog’s underlying state of…

Speaker 1: Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger Warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I am Kati Peppe, owner of Diamond Canine Dog Training here in Biddeford Bain. So all too often we get dogs in for training and they are displaying major red flags, ags about their behavior, their state of mind, and the owners are completely and blissfully unaware of them. So yes, most people that bring their dog in here for training, they know their dog needs help with something, that's why they're here. But usually even the people that are just here for like obedience training, right? They just want their dog to like come back when they call them, but they don't realize how many other things are actually wrong with their dog.

Speaker 1: So I wanna talk about some of those red flags today so that you know what they are and you will become a little bit more in tune with your dog's state of mind, a little bit more aware of some of the things that they may be exhibiting.

Speaker 1: So, because I was talking to Joyce today and Joyce is our trainer in training, um, and she's doing wonderful. Um, but it's funny because I initially met her a couple years ago when she needed to train her own dogs. And she has two crazy Labradors. Um, she's done a fantastic job. They've come a very long way. Um, but she was saying to me, um, today, I believe it was how obvious it's now become to her because it wasn't before. Like her dogs were crazy and that was what she knew that was the normal to her.

Speaker 1: So crazy becomes the normal and you don't realize it <laugh>, okay? So yes, you realize it. If your dog is like barking like crazy, um, or like jumping all over people, you're gonna notice that stuff. But you don't notice the other things necessarily if, especially if they're not super problematic.

Speaker 1: You don't necessarily notice them or assign any gravity to them, but maybe you should be. So we had a dog come in today and Joyce was commenting that like the dog was exhibiting all these things she never would've paid any attention to necessarily before. So some of the things this dog was doing, um, well, I won't go over them 'cause I'm, I'm gonna go over the list with you. But it was obvious this dog was <laugh>. It was in a really bad state of mind, very anxious, very needy, very codependent on its owner. Um, just not in a comfortable place at all.

Speaker 1: Um, and so while we're gonna do obedience training with this dog and she wants to be able to have her dog off leash and stop jumping and like, we're gonna do all that, but we're gonna do so much more than that, we're gonna do so much more than that for, for both of them.

Speaker 1: This dog is gonna be so much more comfortable, so much more able to relax and just feel comfortable in its own skin and confident enough to stand on its own four paws and not need to be with its owner constantly. And all these things. The dog doesn't need to be on high alert all the time. It can just calm down, it can shut things off, it can just chill. <laugh>. We're gonna do that. Um, so that's really, um, a rewarding part of doing this training is not just, you know, the obedient stuff that you get out of it, but just how much better, um, how much you can improve your dog's state of mind.

Speaker 1: So here we go. Five signs that your dog is worse than you think. Okay, number one, whining, <laugh>, and whining is the thing I hate the most. <laugh>. So I certainly notice it if your dog's whining, um, I'm just one of those people whining it, it'll just, it'll just grate on me.

Speaker 1: Um, and I, I think that's really common. Um, but you know, I think part of the reason that it does gr on me so much is because it's my job to stop it. So I'm more apt to notice it and be acutely aware of it. Uh, but so whining, yeah, a little bit of whining might not be a big deal guys, but like, what kind of whining does your dog do and how frequent and how intense is it? Okay? Because it's like, yeah, if you have your dog on place and you're playing with the other dog and they let out, you know, a two second little wine, is that a problem?

05:00 — Frequent, intense whining may indicate a serious problem rather than ordinary communication.

Speaker 1: No, not necessarily. That might not be a big deal at all. But if you have a dog that is whining pretty much every single time you put it on a leash and restrict its movement, that's a big problem. If you have a dog that whines every single time it sees a person or a dog and it can't go over there and rush into their space and bother them, if that makes your dog whine, that's a huge problem. So it's like, why is your dog whining? How frequent is it? How intense is it? So if they're whining incessantly for no reason other than you're outside the house or you went somewhere new,

Speaker 1: Here's some whining right now in the background. <laugh>, it's a dog that just came in for a train. It's actually the dog that I was talking about a minute

Speaker 2: Ago.

Speaker 1: No. So I'm gonna address that with a little e-collar tap. No, and you get to hear it in real time. So I'm saying no, and then I'm tapping the eco and try to get her settled.

Speaker 1: Um, but so whining is a big one. Pay attention to that. If the, if your dog whines frequently and intensely, you've got a real problem. If the things that trigger whining are very simple, everyday things like just standing still with your dog on a leash, going outside, going to the store, going in the car, that's a big one. You have a problem. Your dog should not be whining that much. That's not cool. Um, that indicates some serious mental discomfort and lack of coping skills. All right, number two, your dog is stress panting. Okay? So there's no way for you to know for sure why your dog is panting.

Speaker 1: Maybe your dog is hot. But if you start to notice a pattern like your dog always pants in this context, regardless of the ambient temperature, then it's probably stress panting, right? So some dogs

Speaker 1: Will stress pant. Um, and this is similar to whining. They'll stress pant in situations that are just normal everyday situations that they should be able to tolerate. So if your dog is stress panting just because you are working on some training with them and dogs do that, then that indicates that your dog is struggling with some things that are outside the realm of normal <laugh>. Okay? Your dog needs help. They don't have, they're not equipped with the coping skills that they should have. So for instance, we started training today, the dog that I was talking about earlier.

08:00 — Stress panting during ordinary training or daily situations shows the dog struggles to cope.

Speaker 1: Daisy came in for board and train. Um, we got some pictures and and footage of of Daisy and some of her current behaviors. And then we started digging right in and doing a little bit of just like basic leash work, simple training, nothing advanced, nothing major. Just a few minutes of of doing stuff on a leash like place and sit.

Speaker 1: And she's stress panted and whined <laugh>, but she was stress panting the whole time, the whole time. It's not that we're doing anything that's stressing her out. I mean, we are, but it's not that we're doing anything bad. It's not that we're doing anything wrong. It's not that anything that should be stressful or anything bad is happening. It's just stressful to the dog to be in an environment that's not its normal environment. Be doing something that's not it's normal routine. Be with somebody who's not it's normal owner. So your dog may be abnormally stressed by things, um, simply because they're outside of the realm of what they are really used to.

Speaker 1: Um, so your dog can't tolerate any change, can't tolerate stimulation, can't tolerate, um, you know, separation, what, whatever it may be. If you're getting stress panting in these situations, then your dog just doesn't cope well with things that they need to be able to cope well because they're just normal, regular, everyday things. So if you're exposing your dog to something that's crazy different, that's extreme in some way, then a little stress panting might not be a big deal, right? And after you do it a couple of times, it might even subside and just be a thing of the past.

Speaker 1: Um, but you know, if you can't put your dog on a leash and like go for a car ride, get out at the gas station, like if your dog's ha just because, you know, and their, their, their eyes are usually really big too. So that'll be another kind of telltale sign. Um, that's a, you know, kind of a red flag that your dog has, has a problem coping. Um, and that's something that needs to be worked on so that they can be more comfortable, more confident, and, um, trust you more, but also just be more confident standing on their own four paws, as I like to say.

11:00 — A dog constantly needing your lap, attention, or physical contact may lack independence and…

Speaker 1: All right, number three, your dog always has to be in your space, especially if you leave the house and you're somewhere outside the normal living space, right? Your dog always has to be in your space on your lap, putting their paws on you, leaning up against you, sitting on your feet, um, pushing into you trying to climb up your, your legs and get you to pick them up or pet them. That's a huge red flag.

Speaker 1: So, and we saw that with Daisy when she just came in. So there's a codependency there that's not healthy. It's like, I don't know what to do when I don't have a human attached to me. I, I don't know what to do when I don't have this coping mechanism. I don't know what to do when I'm not constantly being touched, constantly being talked to, constantly being, um, given affection. So, and that's not healthy. And our instinct when we see that is to reassure the dog, pet the dog and it's the worst thing we can do for them.

Speaker 1: So a dog that isn't comfortable when they're not, I mean even sight of you, right? They have to be able to see you if you leave sight, they get upset. Um, but even worse than that is like they have to be touching you. They have to be on you, especially if you go somewhere new, somewhere different.

Speaker 1: Um, they're just trying to climb your legs if you try to to work them and ask them to do things, they try to climb your legs instead of having to do the things that you're asking them to do. Really common in small dogs, I see that a ton. Um, but, you know, indicates it's a huge red flag that indicates that your dog has some serious codependency issues on you. Um, and you wanna work on building up their independence and their confidence and, um, you know, introduce some more coping skills into their lives so that they can be more comfortable.

Speaker 1: Number four, your dog cannot keep their butt on the ground.

Speaker 1: So, and this go ties right into the other one. So you might have a dog that's whining and stress panting and trying to climb up your legs and they just cannot sit like you might ask them to sit and they're just gonna pop right back up, okay? Or if you have some leash skills, you might pull your leash up to get your dog to sit and they might put their butt on the ground, but again, they pop right back up, right? So that's one of the first things we teach our clients when we're doing private sessions is how to get that nice physical sit just using your leash, um, so that they can put themselves in those situations intentionally and they have to just keep following through and following through and applying that leash pressure to get the sit until their dog finally decides to just stay in the sit.

Speaker 1: And that's how we start to build those coping skills and build the relaxation. But really not that uncommon to see a dog that's just so overstimulated, so over aroused, so anxious, but never hits the ground. If it does, it springs right back up. Huge red flag. You get to teach your dog how to calm down, how to settle down. And you know, the thing is guys, the mind follows the body. So if you can get the body to lower its profile a little bit to relax a little bit, the mind often will come with that, right?

Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's a miracle solution, but it's a little bit closer to what you want. It's a little bit calmer, it's a little bit less intense. So we often think about just getting behaviors or just how the dog feels, but they're tied together. They're tied together.

15:00 — Teaching a dog to choose calmer body positions can help calmer feelings follow.

Speaker 1: So if you can get the dog to choose to do the thing you want with its body, the feelings will follow, right? And it's a process. And the more you do it, the easier it gets, uh, and the, the better it gets and the deeper you get into their state of mind. But keeping that butt on the ground is a big one. Uh, one of the first exercises we give people if they, if they have a dog like this, is put your dog on the leash and prong, um, just put 'em in the car, drive down to, you know, your local supermarket, gas station, park, whatever the case may be, get out of the car and just stand there and use your leash to get your dog to sit.

Speaker 1: And every time they get up, you put 'em back in the sit until they choose to stay in the sit for a good long time. And that's it. Just sitting, sit, sit, sit and see things that stress you out. See things that make you excited. See things that make you anxious. See things that make you nervous and just sit. That's huge. If your dog can't put their butt on the ground, or even if they can, if they never choose to, they always choose to stay up, up, up, excited, excited, excited. Red flag. So that's a big one.

Speaker 1: Lastly is your dog's head. This is number five. Your dog's head is on a swivel. So, and again, this often ties in, so everything I mentioned, you'll often see them all together. Really, really common. Um, but your dog isn't just casually looking around, glancing at things. Instead, their head is just practically spinning around like Beetlejuice, right? It's just back and forth and back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And the eyes are big and they're glancing all over the place. And usually those same dogs, you're gonna see them doing things like frantically sniffing, um, and that sort of thing.

Speaker 1: So, you know, and they'll often also be the same kind of dogs that will alert on every little noise, every little site. So they might be sound asleep at home and they hear a pin drop and they just erupt into a bit of barking because it's like that radar is just running on a high all the time.

Speaker 1: They're always on high alert. Everything triggers the alert system. Um, but so, you know, you take 'em anywhere new, anywhere different, or even maybe if someone comes over, like you change the environment in any way and suddenly the head is just on a swivel. The eyes are real big. They have to smell everything, checking everything out. They have to assess everything, right? 'cause there might be a threat. Um, not cool, not a good state of mind, guys. It's not comfortable. So, but a lot of people, my point about all of these things is people don't notice them, right?

Speaker 1: So the average person takes their dog out on a leash and the dog is whipping its head around from side to side, and its eyes are darting around. They don't notice that. Most people don't notice that, but that's a thing. Okay? So your dog is telling you they're not in a good state of mind, they're on high alert, they're anxious, maybe they're nervous, right?

Speaker 1: So I, I like to be somewhat careful about the adjectives that I apply <laugh> to these behaviors, um, especially since they're usually human, um, attributes, right? Um, but whatever you wanna call it, your dog's not calm. Like that's the key. That's the important thing. Your dog is not calm, they're not relaxed, they're probably not feeling very confident. Um, but whatever the case may be, this is not good. So that head is swiveling around and they're just looking for things. And some dogs are looking for things to target, looking for things to erupt at. So if you have a really reactive dog, that's super common, right?

Speaker 1: The reactive dogs that are at the end of the leash, it's like barking and lunging at people and other dogs. Um, they've got their head on a swivel and they do that because they're looking for it. So they've gotten into this pattern where that's what they do.

Speaker 1: They go out, they scan head's on a swivel, they locate it, they target, they load, they erupt. Um, and so that's actually one of the things we go after. And we punish for reactive dogs, right? So we don't allow them to do that head on a swivel scanning thing because they're just scanning their environment to look for something to erupt at. And so I'm not necessarily saying that that should be your plan of attack because it depends on what your dog's problems are. Um, but there's never a time where, where a head on a swivel is a good thing.

Speaker 1: Um, so your dog's telling you something, they're not comfortable, so you don't notice these little things. But all of those things are much bigger than they sound and they all indicate unrest. They all indicate that your dog is really uncomfortable. So picture like an old dopey, you know, golden retriever who just lays around on his bed 18 hours a day.

Speaker 1: So I'm not saying your dog should do that, I'm not saying that at all. But compare the small moments throughout the day of what your dog does compared to a dog like that, right? What are some of those differences? What are some of those behaviors, right? Head on a swivel, big eyes, can't keep their butt on the round on the ground, can't sit, can't lay down. They're always in your space. They're climbing your legs. They're sitting on your feet, they're leaning into you. They're stress panting in any situation that's new to them at all. They're whining incessantly and intensely.

21:00 — The combined red flags include intense whining, stress panting, constant contact, inability to settle,…

Speaker 1: Maybe they're even barking, right? So those are the red flags guys. If you're dog does any of those things, you've got some work to do. So, and you can find lots of great training videos on my Facebook and Instagram as well as YouTube, uh, Diamond Canine dog training.

Speaker 1: We post a lot of videos of the training that we do, a lot of informational videos on eco training. Uh, we also have a course for sale to get started on eco training. If you wanna do that, that is available on our website, www dot Diamond Canine, that's C-A-N-I-N e.com. Um, and you can find the 10 days to a great place. Fantastic course. Super thorough. Um, we'll get you started on eco training. Get your dog conditioned to the eco so they understand it, um, and get a solid place. Command teaches you how to teach that to your dog, start to finish.

Speaker 1: Um, so you can go from a dog like I was just talking about. You can go from a really anxious dog who's whining and stress panting and, and doing all these things, um, who can just lay on place for an hour, two hours, three hours, and just completely chill.

Speaker 1: And for the record, place is one of the biggest things I recommend for these dogs. Obviously there's more to their rehab than that. Um, but it is a really, really valuable tool, um, to help improve your dog's state of mind and teach them how to shut things off and be less triggered by environmentals and that sort of thing. So it's a great idea to do that. But, um, whatever you do, go after it. Uh, hopefully you'll follow some of our stuff so you can, uh, make some headway with your dogs. Red flags if they have any of these red flags.

Speaker 1: All right guys, that's it for today. Thanks for listening, and I look forward to next time.