Is Your Dog Extremely “Sensitive” or “Dramatic”? Here’s What It Means.

00:00 — Kati introduces the podcast and its focus on e-collar training for reliable off-leash listening.

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

Speaker 1: Hey, this is your host, Kati Peppe, owner of Diamond Canine Dog Training in Biddeford, Maine. For those of you that are new here, we specialize in e-collar training. So we help dogs listen off leash and around distractions. Or if your dog's being an absolute total jerk, well, we can help with that too. We do it all and we do puppy training too. This podcast is just my way of sharing. Well, everything with you guys, the good, the bad, the ugly. And I will always be honest about how to fix the problems you might be dealing with with your dog.

Speaker 1: So we're not your average super floofy dog training podcast. We are real and honest around here. What you can do is hit subscribe, hit subscribe so that you don't miss an episode, and so that you can help support the podcast. Every subscribe or follow helps us so, so, so much so I can keep putting out this content. We appreciate you and without further ado, let's jump in.

Speaker 1: Hey guys, thanks for being here. We have a more s sciencey kind of episode for you today and real world examples. So we've been working with a pair of puppies, uh, litter mate, puppies and both female, oh my God, which is for the record, like the worst combination <laugh> you can possibly have <laugh>. So I mean, take it with a grain of salt, right? It might be fine, but, well, I mean the fact is it's, it's really not, which is why they called <laugh> because things are not fine. So the reason we say that this is a difficult combination is number one, just having two puppies is really, really hard.

Speaker 1: Um, you know, having multi dog household, you know, that can be difficult anyway, but especially just puppies. Some, and don't get me wrong, some puppies are like super easy, right? But a lot of them aren't, and a lot of them are just a lot of work.

Speaker 1: Like they have to potty more, they don't understand anything. They're getting into everything. So puppies can be really hard work, you know, getting up in the night like you have an infant and then if you have two, it's like, ugh, doubly hard, right? And then if you have litter mates, sometimes all the normal puppy stuff is just kind of exacerbated. Uh, they've been together since birth. Sometimes the litter mate tends to kind of take, uh, precedence over everything else in the environment over their owners, their handlers. There's just a lot more familiarity and gravity on that relationship with the sibling.

Speaker 1: Uh, that's what we see sometimes. Anyway, again, like not always, so like there's this thing called litter mate syndrome and it's like, is it a thing? You know, I don't know. I do think we see more issues with dogs that are litter mates.

Speaker 1: Um, but I don't think it's necessary, you know, to put a label on it so to speak. It's like you could see these same issues with any dogs, even if they're not litter mates, but you are kind of setting yourself up for I think, a higher risk of issues for a variety of reasons if you get two litter mates. And so it's not generally recommended <laugh>, right? But once folks have already gone and done the deed and they've already adopted 'em and brought them home, it is what it is. Uh, so we're gonna help 'em if they need help.

Speaker 1: And so in this situation, we've got two litter mates and then they're both female, which is another thing we don't love. Um, and you know, the other thing about having two siblings too is there just tends to be more rivalry, right? And I mean, you can relate to that, right?

04:00 — Sibling dogs may experience more rivalry, similar to human siblings who fight more with…

Speaker 1: Even with humans, we tend, like you take any teenage girl, right? She's gonna fight with her sister way more than her girlfriends. Um, because that's just the way it is. They live together. They're together all the time. They've been together since, you know, early childhood, since whenever, you know, the youngest was born and it's just, ugh, <laugh>, they fight. That's what they do. And dogs are, I think are no different. So you tend to get that love hate relationship. But anyway, you know, the thing about females is historically we've seen females just tend to be a little more, uh, just like with <laugh>, I hate to say this, but just like with humans a little more moody, a little more, you know, emotional quote unquote, right?

Speaker 1: Not that dogs are really emotional in the way that a person is. Um, they tend to hold onto things, uh, so be more like grudgey, right?

Speaker 1: So if they have a problem one day, I feel like they're more likely to carry that into the next day. So, so small things are more likely to become a big deal and sort of stick and start to characterize the relationship. And so, you know, if you let that carry into adolescence and maturity, then it's like you could, you know, if you have dogs that are really starting to fight, you could end up with dogs that just every time they see each other, they just wanna kill each other. Um, and that's obviously an extreme example, but it's not that uncommon, uh, when we're dealing with female siblings.

Speaker 1: So, and I mean, again, it's sometimes it's fine, right? So you're very rarely gonna hear me say, oh, it's always a good idea, or It's never a good idea. Or this is always what happens. Rarely is is that the case where, you know, we can use absolutes, but we just see a much higher rate of incidents with those things, um, in these scenarios.

Speaker 1: So I'm so, so, so glad that these people found us and that they signed up for a training program right away and got both of their girls in here to do some work. And they are amazing puppies. I love them. And I can see why they wanted both of 'em <laugh>. Uh, they're super cute you guys and they're so drivey and energetic and fun to work with. They're enthusiastic, they're smart, like they learn everything really quickly, which most puppies do. Um, but you know, not all puppies are real drive, drive and enthusiastic and motivated. So they're tons of fun.

Speaker 1: Um, and I've loved working with them, but we're doing one at a time, so it's not as overwhelming for the owners. So they're now back home with their first puppy working on things. And we have the second puppy right now and it was Birdie Birdie who just went home and now we've got tubs, uh, who's doing her program while Birdie is back home settling in with all of her new rules and skills and everything that they've learned.

Speaker 1: We did have them both here together for just a few days because I just wanted a chance to see what it was like having them both in the same household and get to observe, you know, what their like separation behaviors are. Because that was one of the major issues they were dealing with is if one was kenneled and one wasn't, or if they were on a walk and they couldn't be with each other, like playing, going after each other and doing all this monkey business, um, then it would just be like one dog screaming her foolish head off, lots of chaos.

Speaker 1: The dogs wouldn't pay attention, wouldn't listen, they couldn't tear 'em away from each other. Like it was just everything was difficult, not enjoyable. Uh, and you know, it's tubs tends to be the more vocal one. She's the one that's here now and she is super vocal.

Speaker 1: And that's kind of what I wanna talk about today. If you have a dog that we would categorize as a screamer, <laugh> as a very vocal dog, I wanna talk a little bit about why that is, what you are seeing and what to do about it. So I always feel really, really bad <laugh> for the clients we have that have these dogs that we call screamers. And trust me, it's no fun for us either because people already, a lot of folks, uh, are not into what we do. They're already judging us, you know, for using the tools we use and oh, we're so mean and oh, it's animal abuse and blah, blah, blah, blah.

08:00 — She introduces “screamers,” highly vocal dogs whose reactions can embarrass their owners.

Speaker 1: Which, you know, take it, I don't care. It doesn't matter to me so much, but um, you know, I'm not gonna lie, like it would be nice to be able to go outside and train the dogs and not get the dirty looks as <laugh> as people go by.

Speaker 1: Um, but it is what it is. It, you know, it doesn't matter. It's not gonna make any difference in what we do day to day, uh, 'cause there's a job to be done and it's what we're passionate about. So we're not gonna change that for anybody. Uh, however, you know, we do have to deal with that same thing. And you know, if, if we're going through the door with a dog and the dog is too forward and we give them a little leash correction, no big deal or even any collar correction, but some dogs respond to this even if you're not super high, right?

Speaker 1: Which it's like you should be kind of high, right? You should be high enough that you send a very clear message. I don't want you running through the door. This is important. This is something your dog needs to know.

Speaker 1: It's dangerous for your dog to just run through the door. We don't allow that here. And we're on a super busy street, we're on route one and there's constant traffic flying up and down the road. Um, and it's on your way, sort of out of town. So people tend to be going pretty fast. Now, some dogs, it, you know, it doesn't even matter where you are with your intensity of your correction, they screech, right? They let out a Yelp, a, you know, or, or a cry, a whine, a bark. You know, it sounds a little different for every dog, but it's very vocal and you know, people hear that and they look over and they give you a dirty look and everyone thinks you're abusing the dog and this and that and the other thing.

Speaker 1: And it is what it is. But I always feel really bad for our clients with dogs like that because I know that can be hard to deal with, especially when you're around friends and family and like you have to correct your dog and your dog's super vocal and you know, sometimes you're not even correcting your dog, right?

Speaker 1: Sometimes just a little bit of leash pressure. You're just giving your dog some help, you're giving them some guidance, you're helping them settle. You're literally, you're just putting the slightest little bit of pressure on that leash. And some dogs are going to screech. I had a plot hound one time, fairly big dog hunting dog, and it's like every time we turned on that e-collar, even on a four sometimes, right? And for reference, I can't feel it until it's on a 12. We're talking about a four that is whisper, whisper, guys, gentle, gentle, gentle. And she would yelp a lot of the time.

Speaker 1: Now you're never gonna convince me that that was hurting her. It absolutely was not. And just to be clear, and I'll probably state this a hundred times, that's not the point.

Speaker 1: That's not the point, okay? Because if you're going to modify behavior, then there will absolutely be times where you do have to make the dog uncomfortable. There is physical discomfort, that's okay, right? But I'm just making the point that even when it wasn't uncomfortable should still be super vocal. I mean, the neighbors must have hated us every time we tapped that button to communicate anything to her. She would do that. Um, and so that's kind of an extreme example. And we don't see a ton of those dogs, but we see them. It's not that uncommon to have dogs that are vocal when there's any kind of physical sensation.

12:00 — Kati explains that vocalizing after physical sensation does not automatically prove a dog is…

Speaker 1: So I wanna talk about that because any, I think any normal person who hasn't worked with hundreds and hundreds or thousands of dogs, any normal person is going to think, well, it obviously hurts. And guess what? No, that's not always the case. I'm not saying it can't hurt. Sure again, sometimes it does. Sometimes that is what we're doing. But even when we're not, we see a lot of vocal behavior coming from these dogs. And so what is it like, what's happening if it's not pain, right? Because we've had dogs like Bodhi, who wasn't that long ago, right?

Speaker 1: Maybe a couple months ago or something, I could poke him with my fingers, right? So I would put my middle finger and my index finger together and just give him a little poke right in the side.

Speaker 1: And he would yip, he would be very vocal about that. We could tap eco. And even if it's not high at all, he would sometimes be, not always, but he would sometimes be very vocal with that. And so what's happening, right? You could put him even on a slip lead and give him a little leash pop and he would be vocal and it's, it's really easy to just say, oh, well that just hurt the dog, right? And even if you're okay with it, even if like morally you're on board with, well, I have to make the dog uncomfortable, so it's okay.

Speaker 1: The thing is you have to understand it's not physical discomfort. That's not what you're seeing. It's not what's happening. And the reason I think it's so, so, so important to talk about this and to start to understand the difference in what you're seeing is, number one, it might change how you feel about it. Number two, it might change how you approach things.

Speaker 1: It might change how you address things in the future. It might change your, just your overall plan for your dog and how you're going to help them change their wiring to be a little bit more comfortable. Because basically what you are seeing is just the result of the dog's neurological wiring. And what that means is their nervous system operates at a higher intensity than we would consider typical. So you have this thing called the autonomic nervous system, uh, which has three pieces to it. And the one we're really focusing on right now is the sympathetic nervous system.

Speaker 1: Okay? And so the sympathetic nervous system is basically the part of the nervous system that is responsible for preparing us for fight or flight. So it controls things like your heart rate and your pupil size. Um, all, you know, all these things are breathing, all these things that prepare us to fight or flee.

Speaker 1: Now, in dogs with normal or typical sympathetic nervous systems, you get average responses to things, right? If they are presented with some kind of a trigger, something they find triggering, if the environment becomes very stressful in some way, you will see these things start to change, right? As a sympathetic nervous system kicks in and says, it's time for you to get ready for fight or flight, right? And that could be something as simple as somebody drops a pot on the floor and it bangs and it makes a loud noise. It could be a reactive dog sees another dog, it could be any of these things, right?

16:00 — The sympathetic nervous system prepares dogs for fight-or-flight by changing responses such as heart…

Speaker 1: And then eyes, ears, breathing, all this stuff happens. Uh, so the, that's the act of like arousal right? Now, if you have a dog whose sympathetic nervous system is wired such that it's in overdrive all of the time, then you get way more of that behavior, right? You get it much, much easier, much faster. It's triggered very easily. So every time the dog is vocal or jumpy, that doesn't necessarily indicate pain. It just indicates a disproportionate neurological response from the nervous system, uh, because that's how that particular dog is wired.

Speaker 1: And that's why when we're dealing with something like a dog that's really fearful and jumpy when we're dealing with a dog that's very reactive to the environment, dog reactive, human reactive. That's why it's not always as simple as just correcting the behavior. Now, you can make huge stride correcting the behavior, and with some dogs it will just fix it. But with a lot of dogs, depending on their wiring, this is something you're chipping away at for a while. This is why it's different from a dog that just jumps up on people or gets into the trash.

Speaker 1: You know, things of that nature, um, where it's just a behavior that comes to them naturally that maybe has worked out well in the past, right? I've learned I smell something good, I get into the trash, I get a yummy treat, right? That's a little bit different than my nervous system is triggered on all cylinders when I'm presented with certain environmental stimuli and triggered quickly and intensely and frequently, it's like that takes more time for it to become natural and easy for the dog to do other behaviors besides react, right? And sometimes the dogs continue to struggle forever.

Speaker 1: Not often, but sometimes, right? Sometimes you have a dog with a flight response that's just so intense, there's nothing you can do to just overcome it. You just chip away and you chip away and you chip away. And hopefully eventually you get there. But there's no telling where that ceiling is. And that's why it is so unique to the individual dog. It's so unique to the individual dog because no two dogs have the same exact wiring. So we can see similarities, we can see cases that are like other cases, and it's the same phenomenon, right?

Speaker 1: But their exact precise DNA is what determines the dog's ability to modify its behavior, right? The ability to learn, the ability to change, the ability to inhibit certain reactions is unique to the specific dog. And so with things where we see that sympathetic nervous system triggered and triggered intensely, those are the cases where we're often chipping away at this over time. And we're literally changing the brain chemistry, starting to wire something new, right? So we work very hard to inhibit the old behavior and tons of repetition, building new behavior because it's not easy because everything in the dog's, DNA, wants to

20:00 — Dogs differ in learning and inhibition, so intense fear responses may require prolonged, gradual…

Speaker 1: Manifest that old reflexive reactive behavior. And so for some dogs that can be difficult to overcome. But back to my point, which is when we're talking about dogs are very vocal, you're seeing that same thing, right? So if you have a dog with a real strong fear response, I had a dog one time who, you know, his owners just walking him from the house through the garage outside, he would look over, he would see the bicycle, and that would turn into him cowering and running. And it wasn't even a new item. This wasn't something he hadn't seen before, right?

Speaker 1: But sometimes he would look at it and it would just trigger his nervous system. Uh, and that is an example of a dog who his flighty response to sounds to sites was so intense that there just was no immediate solution and maybe no long-term solution. He definitely improved. Um, but it wasn't where a normal dog would be, not even close. So probably not a dog that I would ever trust fully off leash because the risk is too high of that nervous system response taking precedent over me and what I'm asking him to do. So it's not safe.

Speaker 1: So when we're talking about a dog who's very vocal that is coming from the same place, it's coming from the same place. So they also tend to be sometimes vocal based on things they're seeing, right? So think of if you've ever heard the term drivey, like a dog being very drivey, right? They have an intense sort of genetically generated intense desire to do something in a certain context, to chase a ball, to chase prey. Um, and this is a desirable trait in a lot of fields, uh, for working dogs, protection dogs, hunting dogs, uh, or even just agility and sports protection, sports, you know, any of that stuff.

Speaker 1: And a lot of times if you put a visual target in front of these dogs, you'll get intense, intense vocal reactions. And nobody's hurting the dog, right? No one's hurting the dog at all. And that's essentially the same thing. So the vocal nature is just the expression of the triggering of the nervous. And so sometimes it can actually be desire, it can be frustration, right? We have dogs that shriek a lot out of frustration. Tubs is one of them. If she hit the end of the leash and could not continue to go the way she wanted to go, to pull through it the way she wanted to pull through it the way she used to, she'll shriek, she'll turn around and bark at me, she'll bite the leash.

24:00 — Vocal reactions can express desire or frustration when dogs are strongly motivated by prey…

Speaker 1: Uh, a lot of dogs, if they see prey in they're prey driven, they'll be at the end of that leash straining with all of their might just shrieking at the top of their lungs. Well, it's not pain guys, right? It's desire, it's frustration, it's drive. Um, but it's obvious in that case to people what it is, right? But the second you put a prong collar on a dog or an e-collar on a dog, or even a slip lead on a dog, suddenly it's all the tool's fault. And we're, we're hurting the dog. No,

Speaker 2: I,

Speaker 1: And you will usually see this change depending on their level of arousal because that's all tied together. So the more aroused the dog is, the more exciting the situation is. The more stimuli is coming in, the more awake that nervous system is gonna be, right? And so that's why taking the full approach that we take to these dogs, to all dogs, but especially behavioral cases and reactive dogs and anxious dogs, our approach is to slow them down, calm them down, use a lot of structure, a lot of order, teaching them how to go through the world in a different way, teaching them how to bring that arousal level down.

Speaker 1: And then guess what? We have a little bit less usually of a nervous system that's just waiting there at a simmer all the time to be set off. I'm not saying it goes away, but again, this is part of that chipping away process. So if you follow us at all, you might've seen some of our work with Elvis. He's a highly, highly reactive Aussie. Yes, we're going out, we're walking by dogs, we're dressing any reactive behavior. Um, and in those moments, we're also using eco pressure to pull his attention

Speaker 1: Off the other dog, right? And just practice pulling him away, pulling him away because he needs that rehearsal. But we're also practicing lots of indirect moment. Like just laying him down out in the hallway out here, having him lie down in front of the door was incredibly hard for him. He gets intensely aroused, he winds stress pants and we're not doing anything. We're just laying in front of the door, right? But his whole makeup is on go in, drive, ready to roll, he sees a door, he wants to go through it. And so just having to lay still in front of the door, or maybe I should say behind the door, <laugh>, right?

28:00 — Training rehearses attention shifts with e-collar pressure and calm indirect exercises around distractions.

Speaker 1: And he can see outside, but we're not going incredibly difficult. And so we practice a ton of those situations because that's gonna enable us to do that. Chipping away, chipping away at that tendency to go right off a cliff, get intensely aroused, um, which then leads to frequent triggering of his nervous system, which is in overdrive, right? It's a lot. So we're working on changing that brain chemistry by rehearsing those kind of moments all day. And that's kind of the value in our program is like

Speaker 1: We're not just here to see if we can put the kibosh on the one thing that's bothering you. We'll certainly do that. We're going to address it, but we try to heal the dog from the inside out. We try to help them change their brain chemistry so they can be more comfortable. And so there's a much lower chance of regression so the owners don't have to manage the dog as constantly as long forever, hopefully, right? So we're actually making the core issue better. And it's so cool to think that you're changing the way the dog's brain is actually physically put together what neurons actually are connecting.

Speaker 1: And so when people try to attack behavior in a vacuum and they don't do all the other aspects of the program, they don't use the structure, they don't use the impulse control at doors at food, they don't use the low level stimulation to help the dog settle when things are a little bit challenging, when things are a little bit arousing to the dog, they don't take the time to put the dog into a town, maybe have him put his head down, maybe have him look away from things that he's tracking and learn to use their eco in that in-depth manner.

Speaker 1: They just let all that stuff go and they're like, Nope, I just want this one thing. They're much less likely to be successful. It's gonna be a lot more difficult. But so when we have a dog that is super, super vocal, it's the same thing, right? Time, repetition, repetition, repetition, <laugh> wiring, something different, and also being as gentle as possible with guidance and then increasing accountability, then increasing pressure, right? So we don't wanna come in, we didn't come in with our prong collar on tub and just manhandle it and yank her around. It's not what we did.

Speaker 1: She has already gotten way more comfortable with it, right? It just sets off that nervous system. And so reps guidance, gentle pressure, that will gradually increase as needed as she gets used to it, as she learns how to respond to it. As her brain starts to categorize this sensation as unimportant, no need to go into fight or flight. Some dogs never get there, but most of them get much better. Um, but it's not the fault of the pro collar. This is not a tool problem. This is a dog problem. It's the way the dog is wired.

32:00 — Kati says vocal reactivity reflects the dog’s wiring rather than being inherently caused by…

Speaker 1: And so we don't avoid it. We work through it. We build something better and new. But I think it's really important for people to have some understanding what's happening, where it's coming from, because I think it just gets in people's way. They just have in their head that the dog's vocal, it means it hurts and it's bad and they shouldn't do it. Now, first of all, just because it hurts doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, right? I've already said that. Um, there's a time and a place where we give uncomfortable corrections. It's not bad. It's actually good, it's healthy, it's necessary,

Speaker 1: Right? But just generally speaking, if you're just walking your dog, you're just giving them gentle leash communication. You're giving them guidance and like they're shrieking. I mean, you're either way off on your pressure and like you think you're being gentle, but you're yanking and cranking <laugh> or your dog is oversensitive in the sense that their nervous system is just an overdrive and you're not alone. <laugh>, there's lots of folks out there with dogs like that. And the biggest mistake you can make is to let that dictate what you do with your dog, what tools you use, um, whether or not you apply pressure, put pressure on them, let it affect your standards, right?

Speaker 1: If you let the nervous system dictate what you do, the dog never improves. They stay in this in state of, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my god, right? And everything is a big deal. Whereas if you can find as many things as possible to say, we're gonna work on that, we're gonna have exposure to that, we're gonna chip away at that, the world starts to become more comfortable one trigger at a time. I think another point that's really important to bring up is

Speaker 1: That if your dog is very vocal,

Speaker 1: That has no, you can't use that as an indicator as to whether or not you are applying the appropriate amount of pressure. So this is a really common problem that we see when people have very vocal dogs, they tend to struggle with behaviors much longer. Which could be partly because again, the dog is so deeply genetically wired to behave a certain way, to respond a certain way. But a lot of times it's because we're afraid to put more pressure on the dog. We're afraid to correct the dog more meaningfully because even when we tap low, our dog explodes with this little vocal fit, right?

Speaker 1: And German shepherds come to mind, I see it a lot with shepherds, but it could be any dog. Um, so to give you an example, um, the dog fixates on something or growls at something, and they say no, and they correct the dog, which is exactly what they should do, but maybe they correct at like a 14, right? And the dog goes, woo. And so in the person's mind, they just delivered a proper correction, but we keep seeing zero improvement because they're actually much too low. And to any normal person who isn't real familiar with all of the stuff, they think, well, obviously I corrected the dog because they were vocal.

36:00 — Corrections delivered below an effective level may repeatedly trigger the nervous system without changing…

Speaker 1: But no, you have to remember your dog's nervous system is such that it just does that. And it doesn't necessarily mean that the correction was that meaningful or that it was uncomfortable even at all,

Speaker 1: Right? Mentally they had a response, like physically they had a response, but it wasn't necessarily, um, it wasn't necessarily that that meaningful. Their nervous system just responds that way regardless because it's an overdrive. So you'll see people kick the can down the road correcting over and over again at these very low levels, and they're not actually correcting at all, is what's happening. They're just triggering that nervous system over and over again. And they think they're correcting the dog, but they're really not. Right? And that can be really challenging for people because it's hard for people when their dogs are vocal.

Speaker 1: It's hard, it's hard to separate that out from her, from feeling like you're just hurting your dog, right? You feel like you're just torturing your dog over and over and over again. When in reality we're just not able to separate what's happening between the nervous system just being easily triggered, jumpy, focal, reflexive, intense, and between a proper correction that actually is meaningful enough that it will make the brain start to choose a different behavior, right? Or at least to not do that behavior. And so people can stay stuck in that torturous limbo phase where they're torturing themselves because they have to keep correcting the dog over and over and over and over and over again, and they're not getting any,

Speaker 1: Um, they're not getting any results. They're not getting any gratification or like return on their investment because there's not really a proper correction happening. We're just setting off the nervous system, uh, because it's so sensitive. So you can see how that could be problematic, um, <laugh> for everybody involved. Like there's no benefit there to anybody when that happens. So my advice, if you have a really vocal dog and you find yourself in that situation, is you gotta be willing to just try some different things, right? So we're not asking you to turn your remote up to a hundred and ring it like a doorbell or to do it over and over again, right?

Speaker 1: It's like if something isn't working, by all means do not keep doing it a hundred percent right? But you have to be willing to try some different things and just see,

Speaker 1: Right? So maybe you need to double your level. Maybe you need to triple your level. And then the next time you're in that situation, see if it looks a little different. Did we make a change? Did the brain choose to do something else? Did they catch themselves this time halfway through? So we actually just saw that with Elvis, um, he'll react when someone suddenly appears in the environment, he still tries to do it. Um, but the last time somebody appeared, he noticed them, the ears went up, he started to bark and like mid bark, he caught himself and looked away, right?

Speaker 1: And so you should be able to see some kind of change. So if you're not seeing that, you have to be willing to try something different and stop putting so much emphasis on what the dog does in the moment. Instead, you wanna put the emphasis on what do they do next time. Because with those vocal dogs, it will trip you up and you'll stay stuck. And don't forget, this isn't just about changing the behavior that's making your life difficult, it's also about making your dog more comfortable for the rest of their life.

40:00 — Owners should evaluate what the dog does next time rather than focusing only on…

Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed today's episode. If there's a topic you'd like to hear discussed, you can send that to me directly at Kati at Diamond Canine dot com via email. So I will link to that email address in the show notes. Thanks for joining us today, guys. Thanks for supporting the podcast and I look forward to the next one.