Are You Doing These Critical Things With Your Puppy?

00:00 — Kati Peppe introduces puppy training as the focus of Off Leash and Unfiltered.

Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered. Trigger warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the truth in dog training.

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I'm Kati Peppe. Today I'm thinking about puppies. So, um, I haven't talked a lot about puppies on the podcast, but it's something I do quite a bit of. I mean, primarily I am a board-and-train facility and I do e-collar programs, um, here in Southern Maine, Diamond K9 Dog Training, but I do, I do puppy stuff too. So I stopped offering private sessions for puppies a while back and I only do board-and-trains now for puppies, for adult dogs, meaning dogs that are over five, six months of age.

I do mostly board-and-train, but I still offer private sessions one day a week at the facility. Um, it's just, I don't feel like the results are really as polished with private sessions. So they're not my favorite thing, but they're still a good option for a lot of people. But anyways, that's neither here or there. With puppies, there's a reason why I stopped offering them altogether and I only do board-and-train. So let's start there 'cause there's a reason for that <laugh>. Um, and the reason is people don't like to do this stuff with their puppies, <laugh>.

So, not that they don't like to do this stuff, um, with adult dogs too. I mean, that's true, but it's not as true. So I'm very open, if you haven't gotten that about me at this point, I'm very open and transparent, um, about everything. Everything I know, everything I've learned, everything I think, everything I do, I'm very open and honest about that. It's on my website, it's on my social media, it's on my podcast. So generally, you know, when people sign their dogs up, they know exactly what they're getting. They know who I am, they know what we're doing.

Um, and so it filters out a lot of the people that just aren't interested in doing this stuff, uh, which is good and that's helpful because we have a more productive relationship and a more successful program that way. Um, none of this works, obviously, if they don't go home and do it.

So <laugh>. So, so that's a good thing. But with puppies, I haven't really found that to be the case. So we're not e-collar training young puppies most of the time. We are doing more the food work, clicker training, obedience stuff, but there is more to it than that. And I think what's happened is, is people tend to focus a lot on that with the puppy training, which is fine. There's tons of that to do, and it deserves focus, but they tend to just kind of put the blinders on with the other stuff. So, and the other stuff meaning structure, controlling things with your puppy.

03:00 — Kati emphasizes limiting premature freedom, using leashes and kennels, and selectively addressing unwanted puppy…

So not giving them freedom before they're ready, using your leash, using your kennel a ton. Nobody wants to do that <laugh>, and that's when they need to do it the most is when their dog's a puppy most of the time. Um, and correcting things.

So I'm selective about what I correct or punish with a puppy, but we do do it. And I think the absence of it is damaging. I don't think that that is the most healthy way to raise your puppy. I think it just allows bad behaviors to take root. I think it has a negative impact on your relationship because a lot of the things that you should be correcting are things that revolve around how your dog treats you and interacts with you or humans in general. So we do punish some of those behaviors, and nobody wants to do that stuff with their puppies.

Nobody wants to do the hard stuff. No one wants to restrict the freedom. No one wants to be conscious of when and how they're sharing affection. Nobody wants to keep their dog on a leash or say no to people that wanna pet them.

Nobody wants to keep the dog out of their bed <laugh> while they're developing their sense of independence and confidence. Nobody wants to, you know, bonk their puppy on the head for mouthing, these sorts of things. And so I found that private sessions just weren't that gratifying to me because we weren't really getting results. And I mean, even the obedience part, like people are on board with it, but even that, they don't really do half <laugh> half the time, right? Because like we're all busy, uh, and you know, they come to class, but then they go home and like maybe they practice it, maybe they don't.

I think in a lot of cases they practice like the day before they come back for the next class. So it's not that the dog didn't learn anything, but they didn't learn nearly as much as they could have. Uh, and behaviorally we're having minimal impact because people aren't doing, um, they're not doing the structure or the corrections or any of that.

So, um, we all know that habits are hard to change, but especially when you have a puppy that's new to you, uh, and they're really young and you know, we just want to throw them into the household and have them be part of the family and do all the fun stuff and all the snuggling, and I think it's even harder then, I mean, obviously it must be because I'm, I'm seeing a much lower percentage of people that are invested in doing the hard work with puppies. So I stopped offering the private sessions and I only do board-and-train.

06:00 — Board-and-train lets Kati implement puppy routines directly rather than relying on owners to establish…

And the reason that board-and-train I think is effective is because first of all, I take the owner outta the equation in the beginning, right? So it's just me and the puppy. So I get to do all these things with the puppy, all these wonderful things that I tell the client they should go home and do.

But it usually doesn't get done, it's getting done because the puppy's with me. So I get to give them the gift of calmness and independence, um, and coping skills by introducing them to the kennel and using it a ton, introducing them to structure, getting them into good potty habits because of the structure and telling them it's not okay when you put your teeth on me <laugh>, and I don't want you to jump on me. Um, while also doing, of course, all of the clicker and food training with all of the obedience, all of the leash work and patterning, you know, how I want you to be polite at doors and, you know, using food to get them excited when they hear their name, all these wonderful things.

Um, we're doing it all in a board-and-train. So it's very effective. And the other reason it's effective is because then when the puppy goes home, the owner gets to see the changes in the puppy, right?

So that's different. And this I think is why board-and-train is more successful in general for most of my clients, is because it's one thing for someone to say, go home and do this. And for you to say, yeah, sure, I will. Okay, Kati, sure, sure I will. I'll go home, I'll put my dog in the crate. Wink, wink, right? And it's something else to come to a go-home session and see your dog or your puppy in this case behaving so much better, <laugh>. So you get to see your dog making better choices, being a little more focused, a little more calm now.

And if we're talking about a young puppy, they're not gonna be perfect. Of course they're not. And we don't want them to be, we don't want them to be a robot. Um, but you get to see them be less frantic, less chaotic.

You get to see them not just be more polite and focused, but like engaged and enthusiastic to do things with you. Um, and not just be nutty and crazy, you know, biting the leash, jumping up on you, running away. Like you get to see a different side of them. You get to see their potential and it's exciting. So when we do these go-home sessions, people go, oh my God, look at that. And then they say, we're gonna keep doing that, right? So now I get to spend an hour or two with these folks and tell them all the wonderful stuff we did that resulted in their dog learning so much, and in a lot of cases really enjoying the learning and enjoying the training and just being more polite.

So now they're a lot more fun to be with. Um, we get to tell them all the things we did and now they're committed to going home and doing it because they've seen the results already.

So it's kind of reverse engineered, right? 'Cause if you're doing private sessions, people have to take my word for it and they just don't. It's kind of like telling you, yeah, you know, cut back your calories, you'll lose some weight. And people go, yep, sure I will. Because, you know, in the past maybe they've tried some things and it didn't work. It's like you don't know what's gonna happen until you do it. And so people are less invested in doing it, but if they see the results up front, then they're more invested in doing it.

So that's the reason that I only do board-and-train now with puppies. But so today, what I wanna do, and I've already wasted a lot of time, <laugh> talking about all that, but I just wanna tell you some of the basic things I do in a board-and-train.

I'm not gonna cover everything in detail, but these are things anybody can do, guys, you can do this stuff at home. So if you've got a new puppy or if you're thinking about getting a new puppy, um, and a in a lot of cases, a lot of the stuff too, even older dogs, but particularly I'm focused on puppies with this one. So here are some of the biggest things. First of all, if you haven't picked out a puppy yet, give that some thought. So one of the things I've noticed a lot of lately is number one, people adopting like just the totally wrong dog for them.

11:00 — Kati uses livestock guardian breeds to illustrate why breed tendencies matter when choosing a…

So breed doesn't tell you everything, but it does tell you some things. So just give a little bit of thought to that in case you get the most intense version of that breed, right? So a good example of that is livestock guardian breeds.

I've seen like a major uptick in them lately. Um, and they're not generally family dogs <laugh>. So, and I'm talking about like Great Pyrenees, um, Ks, you know, things of that nature that were bred to live outside and guard sheep. Um, those dogs, not always, but they can be very, very territorial, uh, standoffish, not super social and aggressive in ways. So, you know, if you have a livestock guardian dog and you're the type of person that likes to have a lot of people over to your house, you could have a challenge on your hands. And that's not to say that training won't help or fix that.

It might, um, but it's hard work and you're fighting nature. So it's like, if you know you're a social person and you have people over, probably don't go for a breed that is highly likely to have a problem with strangers coming in.

Um, so, so give some thought to the, the puppy you're getting and then where you're getting it as well. So, you know, whether you get it from a shelter or you get it from a breeder, give some thought to the dog's previous learning experiences. So in a shelter, you're not gonna know. They often will give you a story. It's usually a sob story. There's no way to know if it's true. I really believe most of the time it's not. Um, but if you're getting it from a breeder, get it from somebody who starts a little bit of crate training, who starts a little bit of like potty training work.

Maybe even they've started some basic commands. Maybe they started getting the puppy used to a collar and a leash. Like that's super helpful. I can't tell you how helpful it is when that stuff has been started at a super young age.

Um, giving the puppy exposure to strangers, you know, all these things instead of a breeder that just, you know, or somebody that had like a whoopsie and the dogs have been out in the barn and haven't had any interaction, haven't had any kind of training, have never had to hold their, um, you know, pee or poop at all. They just go wherever they're standing. Um, maybe they're enclosed in a small space. So, you know, they start learning these habits when they're really young and it can be extremely difficult to undo them if that's what they are accustomed to.

So for instance, if they're kind of trapped in a small space, they'll get used to laying in their own filth and they won't care. And I've met those dogs. They'll just go to the bathroom in their kennel. It doesn't matter to them. And then they'll just lay down in it, um, and that's really, really difficult, sometimes impossible, to make any headway with.

14:00 — Kati recommends kennel use to prevent unrestricted roaming, household accidents, chewing, and unsafe exploration.

So give some thought to the breed you're getting and where they're coming from. Um, but besides that, from a training perspective, it's like, use your kennel <laugh>. I know I talk about that all the time. Use your kennel. So important for a puppy. Do not give them total freedom. Do not have them running around your house doing whatever you want. Not only are they gonna get into trouble, pee on your floor, you know, potentially chew things or eat something they shouldn't. Um, so it's dangerous too. But you're also teaching them to just rehearse following impulses, which I thought was a really good point, and I've never really articulated it like that before.

But when your dog is free outside the kennel and you're not doing something with them, they're literally just following impulses. They're rehearsing it over and over and over and over. Even if those impulses are not problematic in any way, even if they don't bother you, even if they're not doing something naughty, they're still rehearsing independence, right?

So that's not all completely bad necessarily, but you don't want that to be the overwhelming majority of their day and their personality, right? So if you put your dog in the crate and then you take them out and you go straight outdoors, you're gonna pattern good potty habits, uh, and then you do something with them like train, play, go for a walk, whatever the case may be, you're not only patterning good potty habits this way, but you're patterning that when you come out of the kennel, we're gonna do something together, right? I'm gonna be working with you, training with you, playing with you, walking with you.

Um, at the very least, if I give you a toy and let you play on your own, I'm supervising and I'm giving you feedback if you need feedback so you're not on your own. So if you just take your puppy outta the kennel, right? You just have them running around your house, they're on their own.

And so depending on your dog's personality, this could evolve in a number of ways. You could end up with a dog that's just really independent and not interested in you, never listens, doesn't really respond to their name. Uh, just kind of gives you the finger when you ask for things. <laugh>. So you could have a dog that's really insecure, that's super common, and this can make that worse because they've always lived on their own, making their own decisions, following their own impulses. So those dogs that are insecure tend to get more insecure and you take them out in the world and they still feel like they're on their own because they always have been, right?

So be an active participant in your dog's life when they're out of the kennel.

Um, and then you become more relevant too. You become like the center of their world instead of just fading into the background, right? And then the obvious stuff, like it keeps them from doing things we don't like, like chewing the furniture and the shoes and peeing on the floor and, and all that. So use your crate, get into a good routine where it's like puppy goes in the crate, they take a nap. It might be for half an hour, it might be for two or three hours. Um, and then it's straight outdoors and then doing stuff with you and then back into the crate again or potty, and then back into the crate again, right?

17:00 — Use measured meal portions for training repetitions rather than relying entirely on extra treats.

Especially if they're really young. Do a potty before you put 'em back in. All right? Second piece of advice on top of the crate is, um, use their meals for training.

So instead of pumping them full of treats all day, <laugh>, um, and you can use some treats here and there's nothing wrong with that, but if you're doing a lot of repetition, which you should be when you're teaching your puppy commands and things, you're gonna use a ton of food for that. So, I mean, just a single piece of kibble at a time is fine. If your kibble pieces are real tiny, then you could do a small handful instead of a single piece. But use their meals for training. So measure either all of their food for the day out in the morning or measure out their breakfast, whatever works, and then just use that throughout the day to teach them a sit or to teach them to come when called.

Right? So this does a couple of things. Number one, you avoid pumping your dog full of treats all day.

And number two, you get them working for their food so they become really, really engaged and excited to work. Now, not all dogs, even puppies, are super food motivated. I've met them, there's plenty of them. It's totally normal if your dog's not really food driven. But if you're using their meals, chances are they're going to become more food driven over time. But if they're not, you know, you don't have to use their meals. You can use treats, you can use affection, um, and praise, obviously, and that's fine. Um, but especially with puppies, like if I can get them sort of into working for their food and, and getting excited to earn the food, then that's my strongly prefer preferred way to go.

Uh, I recommend a clicker. You don't have to use a clicker. Um, I'm not gonna go into the details of using a clicker, but it's just a marker.

When the puppy does the behavior that you were looking for, you click at that moment, and then after you click, you would feed them. So the timing of your click is important in that scenario. Um, I'll just give you a quick example. If I said "sit," I would then do whatever I had to do to get the dog to sit. I would not repeat the command, but as soon as their butt hit the floor, click, and then I would feed them. So that's an example of using a clicker, uh, which I do recommend, but use their meals for their training.

Um, and usually I'm gonna pick out, you know, one command at first anyway that we're working on that day. And we're gonna do tons and tons and tons and tons of repetition with that command. But I'm also gonna feed them for other stuff that I like.

20:00 — Reward responses to the puppy’s name, polite behavior at doors, and waiting before exiting…

So if I say their name and they look at me, I'm gonna feed them. If we go to the door and I get them to sit and be polite, I'm gonna feed them, right? If I open the kennel door and they don't rush out, I'm gonna feed them. Now, if they do try to rush out, I'm gonna quickly close the kennel door to just send the message: I don't want you to come out right now. I want you to wait for permission, right? So you can do that 2, 3, 4, 5 times in a row until the puppy finally says, "All right, what is it you want?" <laugh>

And kind of looks up at you, right? And you open the door and they're just waiting and they're looking at you like, "What?" That's when you feed. Okay? So you can use food for behavioral stuff that you like all day long, for manners that you like all day long, to really have an impact on how your dog behaves.

'Cause this will, this is a very powerful tool and it will really increase behaviors rapidly in most dogs. Um, and then the third piece to this is the correction piece. So, and unlike adult dogs where I tell them everything they do that I don't like, I'm more selective with a young puppy. So we'll get to everything. Um, but in the beginning, I'm mostly gonna address how they interact with me. So if you have a puppy that puts their teeth on you, I'm gonna say "no" right in that moment, and then I'm gonna bonk them. A bonker is a rolled-up cotton towel with an elastic on each end, and it's just a firm bonk right on the head, doesn't hurt them.

Um, obviously you want to use your, your judgment. Um, we don't want to cause any harm to the puppy, of course. Um, but you know that that shouldn't happen unless you're like the Hulk.

Uh, it doesn't need to be a firm bonk though. So it needs to be unpleasant. Like, that's important because if you're too gentle, a lot of puppies, you're just gonna desensitize them to it, guys, and they're gonna be like, "Oh, this is a game," and they're just gonna play with it. Um, so, and nothing wrong with playing with the bonker in between bonkers, of course. But when you bonk your dog, it should be unpleasant. They shouldn't like it. They should want to avoid it. That's why it works. <laugh>, okay? So don't let your puppy, um, put their teeth on you, right?

And then jumping on you might also be another one. But each puppy's an individual, of course, and they all have their own things, uh, but go after the big ones, you know? So how they treat humans, certainly using their teeth, um, if they have any like really neurotic vocalization type behaviors, you know what I mean?

If they tend to like howl and bark all the time, like that's not a comfortable state of mind either. So that's probably something I would go after. But you know, if your puppy is chewing your shoes, you know, your 11-week puppy gets ahold of your sneakers, like that's your fault. Your puppy should be supervised or they should be doing something with you or in a kennel. Um, and it's not that I think it's wrong to correct a puppy for doing that. You could and you will at some point, but it's like the first few months of your puppy learning to live in your household.

They just shouldn't be free roaming. They shouldn't even have the opportunity to do that. So that, I think, would warrant some reflection on how you're doing things. Um, if your puppy is able to get into things and then you discover that they did something, that means there's something lacking in your process because they really shouldn't be out without your eyes on them.

Are you doing something with them? Um, and so that really is like the magic of the board-and-train. Those are like the three big elements is, um, obviously I have nothing to do with puppy selection, so I don't have that piece as far as the training goes, but using that crate, tons of structure, tons of crate time, yes, your puppy should be in there even when you're home and awake. Um, no, they don't have to be in there all the time, but they should be in there most of the time, and they should certainly be in there if you're not with them.

24:00 — Kati recaps potty breaks around kennel time, meal-based training on leash, and selective corrections.

So tons of crate time and structure, right? And tie your potty training into that. So right before and right after the kennel, it's always right outside. The second part was, uh, use their meals for training. Tons and tons of food training always on a leash.

By the way, do not try to train your puppy not on a leash. That's stupid because you can't help them. You can't give them guidance, you can't show them what you want. Um, and they could just walk away, which isn't gonna teach them anything. So then you're just yelling, "Sit," and your puppy's leaving <laugh>. So on a leash, tons of food, use their, use their meals. And uh, the third piece is be selective, but correct your puppy for things. Start teaching them what "no" means. Tie "no" to a tangible consequence, uh, for the big things which are gonna vary depending on who your puppy is, but especially if they have any, uh, jumping and mouthing behaviors, which a lot of puppies do.

Super common. And yes, I know it's like, well, they're a puppy. Yeah, but it's probably not gonna go away with time. Um, and there's no way to know whether or not it will.

So if you wait it out, you just risk the behavior taking root and getting worse. Um, and not only does it become then a little bit harder to stop the behavior, a little bit more of a habit, a little bit more of a risk of being regenerated and all these things, but it's also having a negative impact on your relationship because your puppy is learning to sort of disrespect you and put their mouth on you and treat you, you know, more like a sibling than their fearless leader <laugh>, which is who you should be. You should be a calm, assertive leader who gives them feedback and direction throughout the day.

Um, not someone that they treat like they're entertainment, um, and just walk all over you. So, um, best to teach that right from a young age. So go after the big things, um, as far as your corrections go.

And then as they get older, um, branch out, give them more freedom and give them feedback about all of the other things that they might need feedback with. Like if they do pick up a shoe and chew on it, right? That would be a no and a correction. And if you're slowly introducing the free time, then you can watch them and you can address these things as they crop up, right? But like I said, when they're really young, uh, I'm more selective about what I correct, and I just mostly wanna teach them how to be polite with a human and we can get to the other stuff later.

So a lot of focus on building up behaviors like sitting, laying down, coming when called, going to place. Um, and your puppy, man, they're sponges. So you can teach them all this stuff very, very quickly.

27:00 — Kati cautions that constant petting may reinforce nervousness, overexcitement, or pushy behavior.

And the information's out there, right? I've got videos on YouTube, lots of other trainers have videos on YouTube on how to build up behaviors. Um, but like I said, the piece I think that trips a lot of people up is the structure piece. And, you know, don't pet your puppy constantly too. Like that's a big one. Like, we just wanna pet them all the time and snuggle them all the time. And I'm not saying you can't do those things, but I'm saying we do it too much. We're not mindful of what state of mind the puppy is in when we're doing that.

And so whether they're nervous, they're anxious, they're overexcited, they're being pushy, and we're just loving on 'em the whole time. And you can imagine how much that impacts their behavior and state of mind. So you're, you're potentially gonna increase all that stuff.

And by the time they get to be an adult, you go, oh my God, how did this happen? My dog is a complete chaotic mess. <laugh>, it's at the end of the leash, he's whining, he's up on his hind legs going crazy and, you know, all these things. And it's like, well, we've been rewarding it with our touch, right? We've been encouraging it with our touch and with talking to them and constantly petting. Um, so be conscious of that too. Like, dogs don't appreciate things that are just free all the time. None of us do.

For the record, <laugh>, it's true for all of us. Uh, if you just are touching your dog constantly, and I think most of us don't even realize we're doing it, they don't value it.

So be conscious of how you're sharing affection. And when you're sharing affection, be a little more strategic about it, especially when you're training. Use it for them doing a good job. Make them work for it a little bit, right? And during the course of the day, don't reward with petting every time they demand it, every time they ask for it, every time they walk up to you. Reward, reward, reward, reward. Give, give, give, give. Withhold affection. Sometimes ask for space. Sometimes don't always let your puppy just plow into your space, right? So those are all small things that can have a really big impact.

They say, well, how do I do that? It's like, well, if I sit down and the puppy comes up and puts their paws up on me, I'm gonna probably bump 'em off with my leg or my arm. So it's just a very matter-of-fact bump, right?

It's not harsh, it doesn't hurt them, but it also doesn't reward the, "Hey, just come get into my space whenever you want, and demand affection. And I'll just give you all kinds of love for it." So, and again, this might not be a problem for some dogs, but a lot of dogs, you know, by the time they get to be an adult, they have some problems. Even if they aren't major problems, even if they aren't aggression per se, it's like they're needy, they're anxious, they're over-aroused, right? They're all dealing with the stuff. And like, these are the small moments.

30:00 — Kati closes by encouraging owners to balance affection and fun with independence, boundaries, and…

So, you know, practice a little bit of balance with your puppy. It's like, yes, you can do the fun stuff, but do the hard stuff too. Yes, you can do the affection, but do the independence and give me space and respect my space too. Practice both. Okay. And I think that's it, that, that about sums it up. So I, I mean, I could go on all day here, but those are the big ones. Those are the big ones. And I think maybe I'll put together, uh, a more detailed, uh, YouTube video for those that are interested in seeing puppy raising stuff more, uh, visually and hands-on and, uh, more in detail.

So check my YouTube channel for that. Kati Peppe, Diamond K9 Dog Training. Thank you guys for listening today. I look forward to next time. And good luck with your pups.