Q&A How Do I Stop My Dog From…?

00:00 — Kati introduces a Q&A episode addressing recurring dog behaviors discussed during consultations and customer…

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

Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. Uh, today I wanna go over some q and a. So I have a few questions, um, that I've fielded either during like phone consultations or customers that are just starting a training program with me. And these are really common questions that I'm willing to bet a lot of listeners, uh, would have. So I thought maybe we would go over those, uh, and discuss what the solutions are and a really common problem that people have. I talked to somebody, um, who was starting a training program with me and one of their issues was that their dog will not stop whining in their crate.

Speaker 1: So, you know, the question is, how do I stop my dog from whining in the kennel? And one common theme that you're gonna pick up from this show if you listen regularly is we deal a lot with how to stop behaviors.

Speaker 1: So you're definitely going to see a pattern, a theme with the solution trending toward correct correction, right? So because that is literally how you stop a behavior is you have to punish the behavior. You have to tie a consequence to the behavior that is unpleasant so that the animal will stop doing that behavior. Sounds like common sense. But nowadays we don't have any of that. Uh, so you won't hear that very often. Um, but here we are still governed by common sense <laugh>. So, um, so what I told this woman, um, to stop her dog from whining in the crate, there are actually several things you can try, but because she was starting a program with me, she had an eco, a nice high-end quality eco for her dog.

Speaker 1: And so I explained to her how to stop this behavior with the eco, which I will tell you now, but I will also tell you how you can try to stop it without an eco.

Speaker 1: So there are other solutions besides ecos. Um, e-collar just happens to be really, really effective, efficient, and very practical for people. And if they're doing a training program with me, they almost always have an eco. So, so I talk a lot about that. Um, but so for this person, my answer to her was, put your dog in the crate. By the way, if your dog is not crate trained, they're not used to being in a crate, they're scared of the crate or they hate going in the crate, it doesn't matter. Just put your dog in the crate.

Speaker 1: So I'm also answering the question here about how to crate train your dog because it doesn't have to be a long drawn out process. You don't have to build it up one minute at a time. You don't have to pretend to leave the room, come back, give him a treat, none of that.

Speaker 1: Just put your dog in the kennel, right? So I have dogs come into me all the time that are not crate trained. I can't have them just running around my house. That would be chaos. My house is chaos anyway, but <laugh>, no, it's just kidding. Um, it's not that bad. Sometimes it's chaotic. Uh, but you know, it would be a mess to have dogs just running around. So they, they have to go in their kennel. It does not matter how familiar or unfamiliar they are with it. Doesn't matter how much they like it, how much they hate it, they are going in the crate period.

Speaker 1: So just put your dog in there. Okay? So if you struggle with that, I'm gonna ask you to like think about that for a minute because that's something that's gonna get in your way probably repeatedly during the training process. I say that because only one of you can be making the decisions. So I understand that there might be some things that your dog doesn't like or that make them uncomfortable, um, or that they just don't wanna do for whatever reason. But only one of you can be making decisions.

04:00 — Owners must accept responsibility for decisions instead of allowing the dog to control the…

Speaker 1: So if you follow your dog around when they pull you on the leash, or if you don't make your dog do things that they don't wanna do, then it's really clear who's making the decisions, right? So of course you're going to struggle. So, and I understand it doesn't feel good sometimes and it's not pretty, um, but it is what it is. Like you are driving the bus, you are making the decision. So you either are or you aren't. So if you're gonna give all that control up to the dog, then naturally things are gonna be a struggle.

Speaker 1: Um, even when they don't necessarily have to be, right. So if you think you can just convince your dog immediately to like to do things and want to do things and that you're never gonna have to force them to do things, you're gonna struggle. Sometimes you will have to force your dog to do things. And there's a reason we do that. And it's not to be mean, it's not to dominate them, it's none of that. It's because the dog doesn't know what's best. You do

Speaker 2: <laugh>

Speaker 1: And oftentimes it takes force, which sounds ugly, but it's not. It takes force sometimes to show the dog it's fine. And once they know it's fine, then they start doing it without a problem. So just put your dog in the crate, okay? Get them in there. It doesn't matter what you have to do, get him in then you know, if you have an eco eco's on the dog, you wanna get the dog super early in the process. So you don't wanna let your dog escalate to being totally banana pants, okay? 'cause that spells trouble. And that's always the case.

Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to correcting these sorts of behaviors that are intense, um, you wanna get them really early. You wanna get them when they just start thinking about it, right? So the second I hear that dog start to whine, I'm gonna mark that with a no and then I'm gonna follow that no with an e-collar correction. And of course the next question is always, well how high? Well, I don't know <laugh>, so I can't answer that for you. Your dog has to answer that for you. So there's nothing wrong with starting lower on your dial.

Speaker 1: Some dogs are super sensitive,

Speaker 1: Okay? But if it doesn't work, if you tap a couple times and your dog still is whining, they're going to escalate and you're gonna lose them. So you have to turn up your e-collar and try something a little higher, okay? Until you find a level where the dog goes, all right, I'm gonna settle down. And you know what a lot of them will do at that point is they'll just lay down and take a nap. But even if they don't, that's okay as long as they're quiet. So they're gonna start to experience actually being in the crate and being quiet.

Speaker 1: And the next thing you know, calmness follows and the next thing you know, sleeping follows and the next thing you know, it just becomes normal for them to go in and lay down and take a nap. Trust me, I've done it hundreds of times, okay? Yes, you'll probably have to do it more than once with some dogs, you only have to do it once with some dogs you have to do it a few times. With some dogs, you're gonna be chipping away for a while. But if you get the dog to be quiet for a period of time, then they start to experience the contrast, right?

08:00 — Some dogs require repeated corrections until they remain quiet for a meaningful period.

Speaker 1: When I'm quiet, there's no correction. When I start whining, there's a correction.

Speaker 1: And once they clearly get that contrast and they clearly see that pattern, then you wanna make sure you don't get stuck in the nag zone where you have to tap every five minutes, right? So if that's happening, then you, you probably need to go higher, maybe even much higher, so that your dog will be quiet for more than five minutes,

Speaker 1: Okay? But play with it a little bit and get, get comfortable with it. 'cause I understand a lot of people are new to this. Um, but the bottom line really here guys, is that you have to mark that behavior with a no and then correct it with an intolerable consequence, which is going to be an eco correction or something else. And we're gonna talk about the something else too, okay? And I do just wanna reiterate that you should say no first, not at the same time that you correct the dog and certainly not after. Okay?

Speaker 1: Say no first and then correct your dog. And ideally we actually teach the dog what no means before we do this. That's going to give you maximum leverage. If you've already taught your dog before you even put them in the kennel, that no is attached to an unpleasant consequence that's going to help you.

Speaker 1: Okay? So if you don't have any color, you, there are other things you can do. Okay? First of all, let's go over what not to do. So if your dog is crazy in the kennel or whines in the kennel, you don't wanna make eye contact with them. You don't wanna talk to them, you don't wanna let them out when they're whining. <laugh> sounds obvious, but people do it, um, because you know, they go crazy and they can't take it anymore, I assume, or because they just feel bad. I don't have any sympathy for those people <laugh>.

Speaker 1: So you're reinforcing bad behavior, obviously we don't wanna do that. Uh, very simple rule, even Dr. Phil will tell you that you never reward bad behavior, okay? So don't let your dog out when they're fussing. Try to get them to be quiet for at least a few seconds before you let them out.

Speaker 1: Um, but even that eye contact is a reward to your dog. Talking to them is a reward. Approaching the crate is a reward. So you don't wanna do those things when your dog is exhibiting those anxious behaviors. Okay? So the other things you can do, you can bonk the crate, which is a rolled up towel. Just say no and then throw it at the kennel. Should have elastics on it to hold it together. You can research bonker, um, because your dog is in the kennel and nothing is going to actually make contact with them. Uh, you can use other things as well.

Speaker 1: So bonkers are usually very soft. Um, they're not gonna hurt the dog, but your dog's in the crate. So if you have a particularly like confident forward or obtuse dog who doesn't care about bonking the crate, you might wanna use something like an aluminum bowl, like an aluminum dog bowl or pie plate or something that's gonna be noisier.

Speaker 1: Um, and tap the crate with that or drag it, uh, firmly along the side or the top of the crate. So it makes a lot of noise. Um, you can rattle the crate with your hands, uh, all these things. So it doesn't matter. Spray bottle is fine if that works. But most dogs, that doesn't really work long term. So it really doesn't matter guys. You can use anything as long as it's effective and it's safe, right? So obviously we're not gonna use anything that poses any real risk to the dog, okay? But things that make noise, things that fly toward the crate but aren't gonna make contact with the dog is fine.

12:00 — She discusses using e-collars, noise-making objects, or other tools based on what affects each…

Speaker 1: Eco fine anything your and your dog really is the best judge of what the most effective tool is because they'll tell you what they care about. So all dogs are different, okay?

Speaker 1: But you have to correct that. So this whole nonsense of feed your dog treats and, and build it up slowly and lots of rewards, it's nonsense. It's gonna take you forever and it might not even work. Okay? Sure, with some dogs it works just fine. But usually those are the dogs that didn't have a problem with the crate in the first place. So like if you bring home a new dog and you feel good throwing treats in there and leaving the door open and having them go in for short periods of time, fine, I'm not opposed to that.

Speaker 1: I'm just saying if you have a dog that doesn't like the kennel, you're probably not gonna fix it that way. And even if you do, it's going to take you a long time. So if you have a dog that needs to go into the crate now, then just put them in, then shut down the whining.

Speaker 1: Okay? That's it. No, they're not gonna hate the crate because of what I mentioned earlier, which is they're going to see the contrast. So that's true with all this stuff. When we're talking about correcting unwanted behaviors, your dog ties it to their behavior. They're not stupid, okay? So the first time you correct your dog in the kennel, sure they don't know if it's coming from the kennel or if it's because they're in the kennel. That becomes very clear, very fast though, because they're going to experience, Hmm, I'm quiet and there's no correction. I make noise, there's a correction, I'm quiet and there's no correction.

Speaker 1: So if you don't think your dog can figure that out, then your dog has brain damage, okay? But that's probably not the case. It's probably the human that <laugh> has the brain damage. So, um, and of course, I'm just kidding, I'm not trying to pick on people that think their dog's gonna hate the crate.

Speaker 1: 'cause I know that's what the narrative is out there and that's what a lot of sources tell you, but it just simply, just simply isn't, isn't the case. So that's how you shut down whining in the crate guys mark it with a no, correct it meaningfully. Um, but what that correction looks like is basically just dependent on the particular dog. Um, okay. And I, I promise you that will get you to a good place. Now, some dogs are super, super intense, extreme hate being confined, hate being alone or both. Um, and you know, in those cases you're probably gonna need some more help.

Speaker 1: You're probably gonna need some more guidance. It's not really that the principals are any different, but it can be a lot more difficult, it can be a lot messier. Um, and I think it helps to have a, a professional giving you their input in that case.

Speaker 1: But most dogs, you know, they fall somewhere in the middle, um, of the spectrum, uh, and you can do it. Okay? Alright. Second question I get, uh, and that I recently, I mean I've gotten this so many times, but it definitely was a recent, um, question I got on a phone consultation, or should, maybe I should say it's a complaint. I got on a phone consultation. I'm talking to the lady, she's inquiring about my training services and she tells me her dog jumps up on everybody. And I did give her some tips, um, on how to address this while she's waiting for her training program because there is kind of a wait list and you know, things like this are simple and you don't have to, you don't have to wait necessarily until your training program rolls around.

Speaker 1: Like, I'm not gonna make someone live with a a jumping dog. Um, if I can help them. So here's what I told her, there's a few ways you can correct your dog for jumping up on people and yes, you wanna correct them.

Speaker 1: Okay? So a lot of sources say teach your dog an incompatible behavior, reward them for sitting. Okay, that's great, fantastic. I'm not gonna tell you not to do that, but I'm gonna tell you that won't stop jumping <laugh>. Okay? So I'm gonna tell you, you can do that if you wanna, but I'm gonna tell you how to stop the jumping. What you do when your dog jumps, and this is very similar to the crate issue we just discussed. Or when your dog just starts to jump, you're going to mark that with a no, you're going to follow your no with a meaningful correction.

16:00 — Rewarding a dog for sitting may encourage sitting but will not independently stop jumping.

Speaker 1: Why? Because we're trying to stop a behavior. And the way you do that is by tying an uncomfortable consequence to the behavior. Okay? So again, eco, very practical, efficient, effective way to do that. So if you have one, make sure it's on the dog.

Speaker 1: Set them up with a nice exciting person coming in. The second the dog jumps starts to jump, you say no, turn your e-collar up to something you know that the dog finds uncomfortable and give him a tap or hold the button down even for a couple seconds. Um, so that there is a meaningful consequence now tied to that action, okay? Some dogs, especially if you correct really high, this is a one and done okay for a lot of dogs. It's not because dogs have to generalize things. So just because they got corrected for jumping on one person, first of all they, there's no way for them to really know for sure it was the jumping that caused it after one instance, right?

Speaker 1: Could have been anything in the environment. Dogs learn through patterns. So of course it might take more than one instance for the dog to discover what the pattern is.

Speaker 1: So you know, even if they do think, oh, it was the moment I jumped because you had really good timing with saying you're no, they don't necessarily know that they can't jump on anybody, they just know it's that person, right? So you might have to do it a few more times, try some different people. Do it in different places so you can make sure your dog knows. It doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter where it is. If I jump on people, this consequence occurs. And guess what? Your dog will stop jumping and they'll stop jumping quickly.

Speaker 1: And let me just be blunt here for a second. Not that I ever do that. Um, when I have people in my training program, I mean, jumping is a very simple behavior. You tie a consequence to it, it's very black and white, it's very straightforward and your dog will stop jumping.

Speaker 1: That's something you can do quickly. It's not something you have to work on. So when I have people sign up for my program, I have a basic, you know, eco program. It's like four sessions and um, you know, I tell people if they have a jumping dog, I tell them how to stop that on session one. If they come back on session two and they're like, well, you know, we're working on it, it's getting better, you know, okay, I can live with that. I just recap for them like, look, this is what you do. The jumping will go away, okay?

Speaker 1: Just to make sure they understand that. Then they come back for session three, session four, you know, now we're at the end of the program and they're still working on it. And there's nothing that chaps my ass really <laugh> more than that, you know? And it's not that I don't understand what's happening or where they're coming from, but it's very, very frustrating for me just because I know it doesn't have to be that way. I know how easy it is to just knock it out because I've done it hundreds of times.

Speaker 1: You're just not giving your dog the information. They're not giving their dog the information. They're not being consistent, they're not being meaningful. You know, probably sometimes the dog gets corrected, sometimes they don't, but they never really get corrected because the correction is so low that the dog doesn't really care about it. So of course they're still jumping. So it's like if you decide you're gonna stop something, stop it. If you decide you're gonna tie an uncomfortable consequence to something, then do it. So there, I just had to have my minute of like, these aren't things you need to work on.

20:00 — She criticizes continuing to “work on” jumping without consistently applying the chosen consequence.

Speaker 1: These are simple behaviors. Yes, there are some things like intense separation anxiety, intense reactivity that you might be working on for a little while and that's okay. But then there are like these really simple behaviors that are just really easy to knock out.

Speaker 1: And jumping is one of those behaviors, okay? So I can assure you if you properly mark the behavior with a no and you properly punish it with an uncomfortable consequence that the dog cares about, jumping is gonna go away very, very quickly. Okay? So you just knock that out and then you've got a dog that's so much safer and not, and so much more pleasant to have around. So then you can actually take your dog more places with you and you don't have to worry about 'em knocking down grandma and all these awful things, right?

Speaker 1: So even well-meaning dogs can be super dangerous guys. And I've gotten those phone calls, I get them all the time, broken legs, broken collarbone. Um, it is just no way, man, like this is an easy thing to knock out. There's really no excuse to have a dog that jumps on people.

Speaker 1: So you can use your e-collar, you can bonk for jumping, right? So dog jumps, you say no. And then bonk, which is rolled up, towel rubber bands on it to hold it together. You can throw it or you can hold onto it. It's not gonna hurt the dog, it's just a towel. Um, another really, really effective way to stop jumping is uh, with a prong collar correction. So hopefully you're walking your dog on a prong collar. It's the best way to talk to your dog through your leash and give your dog guidance and give your dog corrections if you need to.

Speaker 1: Um, and jumping is one of those situations where you would need to. So nice loose leash, the dog goes to jump up on somebody. You say no good firm leash, pop firm leash pop, not a little weenie. Pop good firm leash pop again, tailor your intensity to the dog.

Speaker 1: Um, but it needs to be uncomfortable, okay? And it's a split second guys, right? And then you walk away and you walk back. And when the dog does better and does not jump right because they just got corrected for it, don't do it now, but walk away and walk back. So the dog gets to make the decision over again. They make a better decision, they don't jump. Hey, good boy, good girl. Even give food. If you wanna give food, give a pat if you wanna give a pat, right? But don't get into a cycle of correction and then reward for the dog getting down.

Speaker 1: You don't wanna do that. Let the dog make one decision and then you provide one consequence. So if they jump, it's no in correction. And then if they choose not to jump the next time, then that can be good and reward.

Speaker 1: Okay? So that's it. Really simple. The jumping simple stuff. Just tie a correction to it. Same thing for the next one on the list. Same exact thing. This guy says, my dog is always barking out the window. People walking by, delivery drivers pulling in. What do you think my answer is <laugh>. So mark that with a no and tie a correction to it. I will say with this one in particular, you might find that your correction needs to be a lot more intense. Maybe not. And again, every dog is different. Um, but what you wanna keep in mind when we're talking about this stuff is that as your dog's arousal level increases their ability to notice or care about physical sensations decreases.

24:00 — Window barking may require stronger intervention because intense arousal can make barking harder to…

Speaker 1: So barking is obviously one of those things that involve a lot of arousal. Okay? So if your dog is that excited that they're actually vocalizing and barking, they might be in a state of excitement that is intense enough

Speaker 1: That it's harder to overcome. So you might need to be a lot higher on your e-collar. You might need to be a lot firmer with your leash pop, okay? But just like jumping, you can use any of those methods, but you have to tie a consequence to that barking. So mark it with a no. Again, don't say no at the same time. Say no first mark it with a no. And then follow your no with a meaningful correction. How intense, what level, whatever works, okay? But just bear in mind, you don't actually know if it works in the moment.

Speaker 1: So even if your dog stops, okay, your dog starts barking, you say no, you correct them on the e-collar or you bonk or you do whatever, okay? You don't know, even if they stop barking, you don't know if you were intense enough. So you won't know that for a little while. You have to see your dog in future situations and assess the behavioral trend before you really know if you're being effective. So if it works in the moment, that's a win. So good for you. But just keep in mind, you're not out of the woods yet, okay?

Speaker 1: Because it's a fail. If you have to do it every day forever,

Speaker 1: That's a fail. Nothing wrong with having to do something several times or work on it for a little bit, but it shouldn't go on forever. So if you have to correct your dog for something forever, then that is a fail. And I think that's one of the things people fail to know about

Speaker 1: Corrections and aversive control and punishment. They kind of think this is something they're gonna have to do all the time forever. And it's not, it's not. If you do it properly, the behaviors actually do go away, okay? And they go away fairly quickly if you're being effective most of the time. So then you don't have to do it anymore. <laugh>, right? So there'll probably never come a day where you don't have to correct your dog at all anymore. But generally speaking, if your dog has an annoying behavior, you should be able to eliminate that. Most of the time.

Speaker 1: Of course there's always exceptions, but most of the time you can just eliminate that and you can eliminate it pretty quickly, you know, that day or a few days. And then guess what? They're not gonna do it anymore. And now you can just say, Hey, good boy <laugh>, and you don't have to correct them anymore, right? So the behaviors go away and then the corrections go with it. Um, but rewarding incompatible behaviors and, and all this stuff, um, it's just not, it's just not an effective means of eliminating behavior. So save the rewards for the second half of the process when your dog actually does better and makes better choices.

27:00 — She says rewards should reinforce improved choices after corrections rather than serve as the…

Speaker 1: Okay? So most people have it backwards, so correct the whining in the crate, correct the jumping on people and correct the barking out the window. And the key pieces you wanna remember is to mark these behaviors with a no. The moment they start.

Speaker 1: Follow your no with a meaningful correction. Meaningful meaning it's meaningful to your dog, not to you, to the dog, okay? And there's a variety of corrections you can use and it doesn't matter as long as it's safe, it's not going to harm your dog. It, um, and it's effective. That's all that matters guys. And then you can absolutely reward your dogs for doing better stuff and making better choices. Um, but that's the answer to all three of those questions. And for the record, the guy that had the dog that was always barking out the window, we shut that down after one session together.

Speaker 1: And this was an e caller client, okay? And I've had people shut it down with bonkers too. We introduced his dog to the e-collar, we went through all of our first session stuff that we go through and I said, okay, you're gonna go home when your dog barks out the window, this is what you're gonna do. And you see the signs and you know when it's coming. So the second you see it coming, I want you to say no really loud and clear. And then I want you to grab your remote and I want you to turn it up really high

Speaker 1: And tap or hold the button down for a second or two. Make sure that we really get the memo across. And I think he said he had to do that twice. And this is a dog that's been barking out the window for years, okay? I think the dog's like four years old. He's been barking out the window as long as he can remember and now he just doesn't do it anymore. Now he can hear people outside, he can hear people pull in the driveway, he can see people walking by and he doesn't bark at them.

Speaker 1: So that's a win, right? Alright guys, that's it for today's episode. Um, stop wrestling with these simple behaviors. Get the tools, learn how to correct them, knock 'em out. Send me your success stories. I would love to hear your success stories. Send me your questions. Um, Facebook, Instagram, email. Visit my website www dot Diamond Canine, C-A-N-I-N e.com. My social media is usually Diamond Canine the letter K in number nine. Um, I would love to hear your success stories. Um, I'd be happy to answer your questions when I get around to it. Feel free to submit them and don't forget to hit subscribe.

30:00 — Kati closes with website and social-media information and invites listeners to submit questions and…

Speaker 1: So we can do this again real soon and I'll see you next time.