Q&A: Stop Behaviors When You’re Not Home, Focus Around Distractions, and Why Smart Dogs Still Act “Crazy”

00:00 — Kati introduces the podcast’s direct approach to dog training and behavior.

Speaker 1: <silence> 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 Doc training in Biddeford, Maine. We specialize in eco training, both for off-leash obedience and behavior modification. So helping people stop all those crazy unwanted behaviors like jumping and barking and leash pulling to more serious stuff like resource guarding, leash reactivity, separation issues, all that business. And we do puppy training too. So that's who we are and what we do. And this podcast is our way of sharing everything we see and everything we do and everything we talk about with you guys.

Speaker 1: So getting that information out there, um, is really, really important to us. It's so hard to find this information because the internet's full of garbage, um, and just lies and baloney. So, uh, we're really passionate about getting this information out there for those who are looking for it, and we figure if this is what we're doing day in and day out and what we're talking about with people, um, then there's probably lots of other people out there that would like to, um, to know this stuff too.

Speaker 1: So, so that's what we're doing here. I love doing these kinds of episodes. I think I wanna do more of these, uh, where it's more of a q and a kind of format. And although I don't really have, um, I don't really have a way right now, uh, at least not a good way, um, a process to accept specific questions from people, um, and answer them. I mean, I can, I'm always happy if someone sends me a question through social media or email and they want me to address it on podcast. Um, I probably will, assuming that it's a topic I think other people are gonna be interested in, in hearing about.

Speaker 1: Um, but instead what we've done is Joyce and I kind of sat down and we thought of some of the more common questions that we get from people we talk to both in our personal lives and at work.

Speaker 1: Um, and these are kind of broad spectrum questions that we get, um, from people that either have never trained a dog or, um, they've never done a formal training program or they're just not sure what to expect because it's been a long time. And so there's a lot of great questions around, especially some of the preconceived notions I think people have about training. Um, and, you know, especially people that have only done like the group format training at like a Petco or a PetSmart, you know, and it's all cookies and you're in a big group.

Speaker 1: Um, and I think quite a few people actually fall into that bucket. And so if you actually need more than that, which everybody does <laugh> for the record, um, people just aren't quite sure about getting from A to B and what that looks like and how do you do it.

Speaker 1: So these are some great questions, um, that we find ourselves answering, uh, frequently. So number one, how long does it really take to train the dog? That is such a fantastic question, and I love answering this question because I think most people's idea of how long it really takes to train the dog is way, way off, guys. So I think, you know, and I mean, the truth is it's not really a black and white answer, right? And we kind of say like, training is always happening and training is kind of forever, and those things are true, right?

04:00 — Training commands can be taught quickly, but accountability must continue.

Speaker 1: Especially like accountability needs to be forever. If it's not, your dog will know that. But how long does it really take to like teach your dog the things they need to know, like the commands you want them to know and to teach them that it's not negotiable and all that stuff?

Speaker 1: Well, if you're as efficient as we are, you can do it in a couple of weeks, right? Now, here's the thing, most people aren't dog trainers. Um, so naturally most people don't have thousands of hours of practice teaching dogs this stuff. And so they're not gonna be as effective and they're not gonna be as efficient, but that doesn't mean that they can't do it, right? You guys, I'm sure you've taught your dog things, people can do it. Um, most of the time it's just that they're missing an ingredient. And what happens is they try to substitute or that ingredient, um, time, patience, repetition, um, and it just won't work.

Speaker 1: There, there is no substitute for the accountability piece, which is the ingredient that's missing. And so what we see, especially people that are going to trainers that use a purely positive ideology, uh, which again, garbage, uh, what they're doing is, yes, they might be good at helping you teach your dog to do certain behaviors, but you're missing an ingredient.

Speaker 1: And so then they just tell you, keep working on it, right? And you, we meet people that have been working on it for years and they're not there. And that's because more repetition, more patience, more time isn't the answer. You're missing an ingredient. Um, so if you have that ingredient that time, now those weeks, months, even years in some cases is now days and weeks, right? And yes, your dog still might need help sometimes, yes, your dog's still gonna need rehearsal. Like they're not gonna be perfect. But I mean, you can teach your dog the concepts that you want them to learn in a very, very short period of time, and you don't have to spend all day on it during that time either.

Speaker 1: That's, I think this blows people's minds when they hear like how long it really takes. So you can, let's say teaching obedience behaviors, right?

Speaker 1: Teaching your dog to sit, teaching your dog to come back when called teaching your dog to go and lay on their place bed and stay there. These are things you can teach your dog. If you've got 10 minutes, preferably a couple times a day, it's a very small time investment, okay? You have 24 hours in a day and we only need 20 minutes of it. And if you're doing that right, and you can do it even less time, right? But then it will take you longer overall to finish what you're doing. Obviously the more time you can put in during the day, the quicker you can reach the finish line, but it doesn't have to be a huge time investment.

Speaker 1: So we go with that standard, like let's say 20 minutes a day. You'd be amazed what you can accomplish in a few weeks. You can teach your dog all of the commands you want to teach them.

Speaker 1: And then once you've done that, all you have to do is add that accountability piece. And I'm not gonna go into detail on how to do that today, um, but do your research, watch the videos. We have lots of great videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, um, teach your dog the concepts, add the accountability. Then the bigger piece I wanted to talk about is the behavioral piece. So if your dog does stuff you don't like that you wanna eliminate, you can't carve out time to work on that, guys. That's something that needs to be addressed in real time, 24 hours a day, right?

Speaker 1: So the real training with behavior takes place all day every day. It's so, it's really not a time investment at all. It's just a matter of being willing to change your habits and actually respond appropriately when you see your dog doing that behavior, right?

Speaker 1: And when I say you're not covering out time, you can certainly set up those scenarios for your dog to do those behaviors and you can address them, right? But if you only address them during those times when you're setting it up, if you only address them during the times you're carving out to work on things, then it won't translate over to real life. So your dog will know the difference between when school is in session and when it's not. So that behavioral aspect where you're addressing unwanted behaviors that just needs to be all the time and you need to be consistent all the time, uh, and then that stuff will go away, right?

08:00 — Address unwanted behaviors throughout daily life, not only during scheduled training.

Speaker 1: And so this happens in a super short period of time. So, you know, we work with dogs several times a day, and at the end of two weeks, the dogs can do this stuff and they can do it around distractions and they can, um, do it with distance and they can hold duration, right? In other words, stay, we don't use that word, but it means the same thing.

Speaker 1: And they're not doing their old business of like jumping on people or pulling on the leash in a couple of weeks, right? So again, even if you're not as effective and efficient as someone that's been doing this for years, you don't need, it's not gonna take you six months. It's not gonna take you a year, not if you're actually trying, right? You really only need a few minutes a day to work on teaching your dog new behaviors, commands, rather obedient stuff that you want them to do. And then you need to learn how to add the accountability to it.

Speaker 1: And you just need to be consistent with that, right? And you need to learn how to correct their unwanted behaviors and just start doing that right away. And if you do that in a month, you're gonna have a different dog, totally different dog. Um, training your dog does not have to be a huge time investment. It has more to do with skill, like knowing how dogs learn. I think we talked a little bit about that on our last episode, right? How dogs learn and then adding the accountability piece to that at the end and knowing how to correct unwanted behaviors.

Speaker 1: And if you can do that stuff, you're gonna be golden. And it does not take long.

Speaker 1: It doesn't take months, guys. It just doesn't, or it doesn't have to, but it can. I mean, you can drag it out as long as you want to, but it doesn't have to. And I think, you know, the big thing here is like people picture you spending all day training the dog. No, you don't have to do that. Like, you literally have to spend, we like to tell people 10 minutes a couple times a day, and then, you know, once you start asking them to stay in position, it might be more than 10 minutes, right?

Speaker 1: But you don't have to stare at the dog. You're probably doing other things. Um, you know, and then taking field trips with them to practice this stuff where it's harder and that sort of thing. But, um, it's just not an all day thing. It doesn't need to be. Um, and you can still get there and you can still get there very quickly. All right, next question

Speaker 2: Next.

Speaker 1: No pretzels down. So I got pretzels with me while I do this podcast. And she thought when I said, okay, and clap my hands that it was for her to get up. So the next question, um, sort of ties in nicely to the last one, which is, I, I teach my dog obedience and he does pretty well with it. He learns quickly, but he's still a crazy maniac. Like it doesn't seem to be helping.

Speaker 1: And uh, this is something I talk about a lot too, is like, obedience will not fix your, your problems. So I'm a huge fan of teaching your dog obedience. Of course. Uh, we want that language with the dog so we can ask them to do certain behaviors and they'll know what it means. Um, however, if your dog is a little crazy overexcited, if they're jumping all over your guests, if they're, you know, God forbid nipping at people and tearing their clothes, which happens a lot, any of that stuff pulling on the leash barking, like o obedience commands just aren't gonna cut it guys.

12:00 — Obedience commands alone will not stop leash pulling, barking, or other aroused behavior.

Speaker 1: It's just not gonna cut it. So at some point you have to have the conversation with that dog, that that behavior is not okay, right? And telling them to do something that you like is not the same as telling them not to do this behavior that you don't like.

Speaker 1: Those are two separate things. They're two separate conversations and frankly, they both need to happen, right? So people that are using obedience to try to fix this crazy behavior, you're trying to wallpaper over it. So first of all, it probably won't work because your dog is gonna be in such an escalated state of mind that they're not able to do the obedient stuff. They're just not even able to do it because they're too crazy, right? So it won't work. But let's just say your dog can actually does manage to do it. Um, first of all, it's gonna be really difficult for them to hold it 'cause they're gonna continue to escalate.

Speaker 1: Um, and second of all, it never teaches your dog not to do the thing you don't like. So they're gonna do it again, either immediately, they're gonna continue to escalate, they're gonna break command and go do the thing, or the next time you're in that situation, right?

Speaker 1: So let's say you walk up to somebody to say hi, you tell your dog to sit, and even though they're kind of crazy outta their mind, they manage to do it, and you get through that interaction, the next time you go out, it's gonna be the same thing and the same thing and the same thing. And your dog's gonna sit there and escalate until eventually they just can't do it anymore. Um, and they, they do the old behavior and you have to manage them every time. So it's really important, uh, number one, the accountability piece for the obedience, right?

Speaker 1: So that's helpful, um, because then the obedience actually becomes non-negotiable, right? And just that sense of the obedience being non-negotiable, it brings that arousal down the dog knowing, hey, there's now a correction if I don't do these things I was asked to do, that keeps that arousal way down.

Speaker 1: So now you don't get oh, crazy, crazy, crazy. Um, when you're in that situation because the dog knows there's expectations, there's boundaries, there's tangible consequences, um, and it keeps that arousal down. And learning how to control arousal really is key, um, to controlling your dog's behavior. But so for that reason, um, our approach and what we recommend is the second you see your dog starting to go crazy, you should have that conversation. Like no, you're not allowed to decide to get that nutso. I'm sorry. Um, but it, it just isn't allowed, right? So it's not that you can never be excited.

Speaker 1: It's not that we don't want the dog to be happy, but too many people conflate happy and aroused and they're not the same. In fact, a lot of dogs that are getting that aroused, it's all twisted up with anxiety and discomfort. Uh, and people just miss that 'cause the tail's wagging.

Speaker 1: And so they think everything's great. Um, but you, if your dog is allowed to choose when to get that excited and to just go off that cliff on a whim, then like you'll struggle with everything forever because you have no control over their state of mind or their excitement level, right? And when they're in that state, they can't listen the same way. It's too hard. Like they hang up the phone and they don't even know you're there anymore half the time. Um, so again, kind of treat that like two different things, right? It's like, yes, we might have obedience commands that we would like them to do and we should hold them accountable for it, and that's great, but if your dog has that proclivity of just getting super stimulated and excited when they see someone or whatever the case may be, whatever the trigger is, have that conversation too where it's like, Hey, no, you're not allowed to get that excited, right?

Speaker 1: So in that case, we're marking that with a no. The second we see them start staring or whining, the ears start coming up. It's like no, followed by a correction, right? So we're having two conversations. We're having the one that says, Hey, I don't want you doing that anymore. I don't want you just seeing this thing in the environment and deciding that's something I'm gonna fixate on and get excited about and I want you to do this thing. Also, that thing is non-negotiable, right? So obedience alone is never gonna fix the crazy dog that you're dealing with, um, or those crazy behaviors.

16:00 — Dogs need separate, clear communication about what to stop and what behavior to perform.

Speaker 1: You, again, you've gotta have both conversations. So learn how to correct arousal so that it comes down. And then if you want obedience stuff in those situations, then you can ask for it, right? And again, hopefully you have the accountability piece so your dog knows it's not negotiable. Um, but just wallpapering over craziness with obedience commands, it doesn't work. And most people are just sitting there going Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, come lay down, lay down. And that's not effective. It's not helpful. It's not helping your dog grow or get better. Um, and it's also devaluing your commands.

Speaker 1: Um, your dog is learning that they're meaningless and that you're just background noise.

Speaker 3: Okay?

Speaker 1: How do I get my dog to pay attention to me around distractions? Well, that's almost the same question, to be honest, <laugh>. So, um, it's like, again, most people, they teach their dog obedience in the living room, right? And it goes swimmingly and their dog learns things really fast and they're smart as a whip and they're using all kinds of cookies, which is fine and it's great, but then you go out in public and your dog's like, oh person, oh dog oat squirrel. And suddenly you're just not important anymore because they see this novel thing that's more exciting, um, that they don't get to see or interact with all the time.

Speaker 1: And so that takes priority and that's normal, right? It's not 'cause there's anything wrong with your dog. Um, it just is what it is. And chances are it's not gonna get much better with time.

Speaker 1: Uh, it's not gonna get much better with maturation. Um, it requires intervention and it requires you to say, Hey, over here, right? So all you do, again, that accountability piece, it's usually missing for people. That's the missing ingredient. So we meet people, guys that are super, super committed to their dogs and their training and they've been working on this stuff for years sometimes. And God helped the person who did this, but I remember I have a client who had a dog with some very dangerous behaviors, really? And he had been working with a trainer who of course was in a purely positive, um, ideologue, uh, who told him that he just needed to put in more time.

Speaker 1: He had been working with his dog for four years. He had been putting in hours, hours a day. Okay? Well, I'm here to tell you, we made huge progress in one lesson.

Speaker 1: One lesson because suddenly there were just consequences, right? So that's the missing ingredient for everybody is sure, most people are using consequences, but they're only using positive consequences At some point things have to become non-negotiable, right? And arousal and fixation and that stuff needs to be disagreed with. Someone says, has to say, no, you can't do that anymore. Like, I don't want you staring at other people and pulling on the leash or getting hackles or whatever it is your dog does. You have to disagree with that. And so once you go and you practice everything, let's say if you just practice everything in your living room, that's the only place your dog will be able to do this stuff, right?

Speaker 1: Most likely. And you go out in the real world and it looks completely different. It's almost like they have amnesia and oh my god, there's a bird and there's this and there's that. And your dog is like a space case, right? And that's normal.

Speaker 1: But a little bit of repetition, right? With that exposure, a little bit of follow through and a little bit of accountability where we're gonna start introducing some consequences, right? And I'm not saying the first time you take your dog out in public, it's time to light 'em up like a Christmas tree for not doing the thing you asked. But I'm saying if you use a tool like we use the ecos that we use, we're able to introduce graduating consequences, right? So we can be like kind of low and then middle of the road, and then eventually like for a dog that's done this a million times, we can say, Hey, no more.

20:00 — Graduated e-collar levels introduce accountability without immediately overwhelming the dog.

Speaker 1: And like we can draw the line in the sand and we can provide a really meaningful consequence. Um, and it looks different for every dog. 'cause some dogs are very soft and some dogs are not.

Speaker 1: Um, but ultimately at the end of the day, your dog both needs to generalize that stuff to other environments where there are distractions, but there also has to be some accountability. And that accountability will actually be very helpful to them. 'cause dogs are helpless almost to control their impulses and they're a role arousal, they're just like victims of their own state of mind, right? And it is just kind of unbridled spiraling outta control. And you start to introduce a little bit of accountability and suddenly it's much easier for them to reel that in, right? Suddenly now there's like something physical to assist them with pulling, oops, shut that off.

Speaker 1: Suddenly there's something physical to snap them out of that and assist with pulling their attention back to where it needs to be and getting them to prioritize what we want them to prioritize. And then a little bit of practice.

Speaker 1: And it becomes easy, right? But without the accountability piece just won't happen. It just won't happen. It doesn't matter how much practice, how many reps, how many hours you put in, what you do is not gonna stick around distraction without that accountability piece. And we do want people to teach their dogs things, new behaviors, commands in a low distraction environment at home, inside. Not a lot going on. That's where you wanna teach these behaviors, but then you wanna start asking for them in places where it's a little bit harder, right? And give your dog some help.

Speaker 1: Use the leash, give them some physical guidance, give them some body language, that's fine. But again, ultimately at the end of the day, after a little rehearsal, there has to be that accountability piece where now it's not optional. And if you don't comply, there's gonna be a negative consequence for that.

Speaker 1: Um, and that generally tends to really clean things up. Um, and the next thing you know, your dog is a rock star and you can take them anywhere. Uh, right? Just usually most people are missing that ingredient. So you, you to really truly become a relevant entity, like, you know, from an an accountability perspective, you have to be providing those variety of consequences. You can't just be a Pez dispenser, okay? Is board and train really necessary? <laugh> every time I clap my hands and say, okay, pretzel thinks it's up, but she caught herself that time, <laugh> laid back down, uh, no board and train is not really necessary.

Speaker 1: Um, but it is our favorite and we'll talk about that. Um, we have customers that have done private lessons and their dogs are phenomenal, absolute rock stars, very well-rounded, um, can go anywhere and they're doing amazing. But that's pretty rare.

Speaker 1: Tho most of our clients do not fall into that category. Um, I will say most of our, our clients that do private lessons, um, they are happy and they, they do reach their personal finish line and like they get what it is that they wanted to get out of the program most of the time. Um, but it's harder, right? Because it, it depends almost entirely on their willingness and their ability to replicate what we show them in class and what we tell them they should be using for a recipe at home as far as lifestyle and general habits go.

24:00 — Board and train is optional, but professional control can produce polished results faster.

Speaker 1: Um, and we can't of course make anybody do that. And so, and, and you know, people generally don't have, again, they don't have hundreds or thousands of hours training dogs. So they don't know all the nuances and all the ins and outs of this.

Speaker 1: So naturally they're not gonna be as effective and efficient. That's okay. Like you don't have to be an expert dog trainer to, to teach your dog things. Um, so you can absolutely do this stuff through private lessons or even through DIY if you're willing to do the research and put in the time and commit to it a hundred percent, you can do it completely on your own. Um, and there's a lot of great online courses out there now too. In fact, I have one that's out there, um, that's available on our website at Diamond Canine dot com and that's D-I-A-M-O-N-D-C-A-N-I-N e.com.

Speaker 1: Um, we do have a course available called 10 Days to a great place. And it is a fantastic introduction to e-collar training. Um, so it doesn't cover everything that you need to know to teach everything. Um, because honestly I feel like that's a little overwhelming.

Speaker 1: And so this way this gives you a chance to get your hands on the eco, get comfortable with it, get your feet wet, learn the basic habits you should get into and just start teaching your dog something with it. Um, and so it's a fantastic course, um, for somebody that's curious about eco training, wants to do it, has thought about it. Or maybe you're one of those folks that has already purchased an e caller but has not taken it out of the box. 'cause I get those calls all the time. Uh, however, back to the topic at hand, which is, is board and train necessary?

Speaker 1: No, but we love it and here's why we love it so much. So in a board and train, we control everything <laugh>, right? So this whole thing about your willingness and your ability to follow the protocols, it's just not a factor, at least not in the beginning, right?

Speaker 1: It's certainly a factor when the dog goes home. Um, but while the dog is actually learning all of these new behaviors and learning to inhibit the bad behaviors that they have, none of that stuff is a problem because we control it all. So, you know, some of the common things we run into is people don't wanna use their crate or people don't wanna leave the e-collar on their dog all the time that they're out of the crate. Um, people let manners at doors around food kind of slide, um, because it's just easy to let it slide or because we weren't prepared for it or we weren't thinking about it.

Speaker 1: Like none of this stuff is an issue when we do a board and train. Some people really struggle, um, with the sequence when the dog is learning new behaviors to do step one, then step two, then step three, and they kind of do things simultaneously and then the dog doesn't actually make the association.

Speaker 1: I think we talked a little bit about that on our last episode. Um, so that can be problematic too because the dog really won't learn it if you don't do things in the right order. Um, they don't make the connections necessarily, or they make them much, much slower. And so that's why we are effective and efficient is because we do know these things and we are very well practiced at it too. Um, and the nuances of the eco training and how to use the eco and the different strategies you can use with the eco and what to watch for, um, and how the dog responds and things to try and experiment with.

Speaker 1: Like, these are things we've done so many times, we're very, very effective with it. Um, and very, very comfortable with it. And so we're able to get much further, much faster, um, and cement things quicker than most people on their own could.

Speaker 1: Um, which is fantastic. But ultimately at the end of the day, why I really love it more than any other format is because yes, we control all those factors. Yes, we get a nice polished outcome, um, because we're very effective and efficient. But also, like I said, when the dog goes home, there's still the fact that the people have to change their own habits and the people have to follow our directions or the stuff just won't stick. But it's much less of a problem with board and train. Why is that? Well, I think number one, it's a bigger investment, right?

28:00 — Training must follow the correct order so dogs form the intended associations.

Speaker 1: It costs more money to do a board and train. So people are a little more protective of that investment. Um, nobody wants to spend that kind of money and then have it not work and they're out there. People do that sometimes. Um, but it's much more rare.

Speaker 1: The other thing is, like I said, we're asking people to do things sometimes that are uncomfortable, right? We're asking them to use their kennel more and they don't want to. We're asking them to restrict their dog's freedom. We're asking them to correct their dog for getting overexcited. We're asking them to pay attention to how their dog goes through a door. And these are things that a lot of times people have a hard time just implementing that in their day-to-day life. Um, because humans, <laugh> humans are difficult, difficult species. Um, but if you do a board and train, people come to pick up their dog and they are just blown away by what they see.

Speaker 1: I mean, right off the bat, the minute they come in, they cannot believe that, like, that's their dog. Now that's not the case every time, but most of the time, um, and you know, almost everybody, um, at some point during the training session is just like, wow, I, I cannot believe, I can't believe that's my dog.

Speaker 1: And so once you have that experience and you're seeing your dog behave in a way you never thought they could and you always wished they could, once you see your dog doing things that you were sure they couldn't learn or just would never look better, boy do you become really motivated to like dig in and commit to doing whatever it takes. So board and train is great for that reason because you get to see the results first before you have to go home and change your habits. So people come in for a private lesson and I can say, yeah, go home, use the kennel a lot, put this eco on them, leave it on all the time.

Speaker 1: This is what I want you to do with it, you know? But the fact is most people go home and they, it's not for lack of trying, but they either do it for a few days and then kind of fall off 'cause they fall into their own old habits or they go home and they're just, they don't think it's that important.

Speaker 1: Like they really want their dog in their bed and not in the kennel. And they're sure that it won't really make that big of a difference. So, um, they're just gonna do things, you know, their own way. Um, which is foolish because you don't know better than we do. If you did, you wouldn't be here <laugh>, right? But again, we're dealing with humans. Um, and so they have a tendency to kind of modify things to do what makes them more comfortable, which I can understand totally. Um, but the fact is there's a price to pay for that.

Speaker 1: And you don't get the same results, right? If you don't follow the recipe, you don't get the results. Um, where if you do a board and train, you get to see all the amazing results upfront before we ask you to go home and do that stuff. And most people, once they see it, man, they really, really don't wanna mess it up.

Speaker 1: And so they're, most people are very committed to going home and doing the stuff, even if they don't like it and even if it's a little uncomfortable. Um, and the truth is, most of that stuff is temporary anyway. You're going to move away from it as time goes on. Um, but board and train is great for that reason. Um, and that's why we really recommend it. But no, you can, you can achieve whatever you decide you want to achieve with your dog, assuming that they are genetically capable of it. And you can achieve it in any format of training as long as you're willing to commit to find out how to do it right.

32:00 — Private lessons and DIY programs can work when owners commit to one coherent system.

Speaker 1: Whether it's private lessons or you're gonna DIY and you're gonna buy internet courses. Um, but I think it's really important if you're gonna do it yourself that you really have a good solid game plan from the beginning.

Speaker 1: 'cause what you don't wanna be doing is you don't wanna be jumping around from all these different YouTube trainers and watching bits and pieces of all these different videos and nothing's really cohesive and you don't really understand the core of what it is you are doing and what it is you are trying to teach and how your dog learns it. Um, and every trainer, although the principles of learning really stayed the same. Every trainer has different strategies and methods. And if you're trying to piece together different strategies and different methods and different philosophies, um, and you're kind of bouncing around and you're seeing someone who's early in the process of training and someone else who's in the middle of the process of training and someone else who's basically done and things are pretty polished and you're trying to piece this all together, you're gonna be very confused.

Speaker 1: Your dog's probably gonna be very confused. Um, so you wanna make sure that you have a good understanding of exactly what it is you're trying to do and how your dog learns that thing. Um, and it might be helpful to stick with just one or two trainers who have a very similar philosophy that use very similar strategies for you to really understand, uh, what it is you're trying to achieve and how to achieve it. Um, but board and trains our favorite, however, it is not necessary. Last but not least question is can I stop behaviors that happen when I am not home?

Speaker 1: And I love this question and yes you can, you absolutely can, but it requires doing things most people just don't wanna do. Um, and those two things that people don't wanna do is provide extremely high consequences, um, and also structure. So what you're gonna do if your dog has a behavior you don't like, when you're not home, like they get into the trash, they counter surf, whatever it is, you are going to set them up to do that behavior, do whatever it takes to entice them to do it.

Speaker 1: Step outside and you're gonna watch the right e-collar on the dog, step outside. You're gonna be watching through a window, um, or on a camera one note about the camera. It can have a delay, right? Depending on the camera. So just be aware of that and you are going to make whatever that behavior is super, super hot, right? So very high level on the e-collar for a lot of dogs, this might mean we're up at a hundred all the way at the top. Um, if you have a dog that's extremely sensitive, like they jump out of their skin at a five, at a six, that's rare, then maybe you're not at a hundred, maybe you're at a 50.

Speaker 1: Okay? Um, but most dogs are gonna be up at the top 25% of the dial. We need to make this behavior really super unpleasant, okay?

Speaker 1: And you're gonna hold that button down for a few seconds. Um, so you're gonna make it really, really hot. And that's so important 'cause I understand it's not the funnest part of training. But the problem is if you don't do that, how are you, how are you gonna make it stick? Like we need to use consequences that really stick. We need the dog under all circumstances when you are not home to say, Nope, I'm not getting in that trash can again. Nope, I'm not eating that cat food again. Nope. I'm not getting up on that table again.

Speaker 1: Um, and so if you wanna achieve that, you have to be willing to do things that are a little uncomfortable sometimes. And that means, you know, putting your remote up high and holding the button down for three, four or five seconds, well, you know what? It's a few seconds out of the whole day.

Speaker 1: Your dog will be okay, uh, and they'll be safer for it and they'll be better for it and you'll have peace of mind. Now, after you've done that, you can't just trust that it's gonna stick, okay? You need to set this up over and over again and visually see that your dog makes better choices in that situation. So there's two key components to this, okay? Making that behavior super uncomfortable, like worst four seconds of your dog's life. And do not trust your dog alone without you home until, you know, without a shadow of a doubt, they will not do that behavior again.

36:00 — The behavior must receive a strong, meaningful consequence and be tested repeatedly before unsupervised…

Speaker 1: Okay? You can't just expect that after one correction, it's gonna stick. But that's why we do wanna do such a high correction. The higher the correction guys, the more it's gonna get lodged in the brain, the more it's gonna stick there, the more solid that inhibition is gonna be.

Speaker 1: Um, and that's so important. I mean, I would say that's really important with any behavior that you wanna eliminate, but especially when we're trying to eliminate a behavior that's occurring when we're not home, right? Because the fact is, when you're not home, you're not home. So you can't quote unquote be consistent, right? You can't correct your dog for something that you're not even home to see. And so if you don't correct your dog high enough and they go, well, I'm gonna give that another try, and you're not even there to see it, what are you gonna do?

Speaker 1: Nothing. And now your behavior's just regenerated, okay? And every time too that that happens, your dog learns that just because there was a correction once doesn't mean that there will be next time, right? So they've now learned that this behavior has variable consequences instead of negative consequences consistently.

Speaker 1: So if your dog does this three times in a row, we want them to experience negative, extremely negative consequences three times in a row, right? Because if one time there isn't, they now don't have the pattern we want them to have, right? And so we want it to be a very high consequence. We want you to set it up multiple times so you can see they're making a different decision. And then even once you know they're making a different decision and they're doing great, we still want you to periodically from time to time, set it up and check it out and make sure it still looks the way it should, make sure they're not thinking about it.

Speaker 1: Make sure the behavior's not regenerating. Um, because dogs are just, they're living things guys, and they make decisions. So yeah, we can influence their decision making. A skillful person can influence their decision making very, very effectively.

Speaker 1: But there's never a guarantee, right? And some dogs, they'll test the boundary every damn day, just like a Velociraptor in Jurassic Park. They're gonna test that fence every day. <laugh>. Most dogs don't though, right? But it just depends. So we tell people, you know, you, you need to turn that level up and you need to provide a very high consequence for several seconds. That's not what most people do, okay? Most people, they provide a moderately high correction for a second or two. So what do you think happens when people do that? I'll tell you what happens.

Speaker 1: What happens is the dog might be hesitant to do the behavior the next time they put them in that position, but eventually, you know, whether it's two days later, three days later, a week later, whatever it is, the dog just does it again and the behavior just comes back, right? But it's worse than that because like I said, the dog's now learning, oh, well maybe there isn't a consequence, right? Even though I got corrected once, I didn't this time. And so now, even if you set it up again and correct them, the dog can't be sure they're gonna be corrected again.

Speaker 1: So they're more likely to test the boundary because they've learned it's a variable consequences, right? So if your dog sees a pattern of variability, they're more likely to test.

Speaker 1: And that's why it's so important that if you're trying to put something to bed, you put it to bed. But especially if it's the thing that happens when you're not home or not around, right? Because there's a much higher likelihood the dog doing that behavior again when you're not around. And we know if they do that, we're gonna end up in that boat where they're seeing variable consequences. So any behavior where there's a chance of them experiencing variable consequences, 'cause it's a thing they do. When you're not around you, you can't leave anything on the table.

Speaker 1: You and I don't mean that literally. Like if they're counter surfing, you should put things on the table <laugh>. Um, you have to really create an inhibition, right? You have to be serious about it. And so I told the story of my dog and the cat food and I made the cat bowl hot and he won't eat the cat food now when I'm home and he won't eat the cat food when I'm gone.

Speaker 1: And I have tested this many times and he's done great. So I started trusting him. I can leave him out for eight hours. He will not touch the cat food, okay? I made it too unpleasant to touch the cat food. It sucks to eat the cat food when I'm not home. That's what I taught him. However, he will eat it when my mother is there. So when she goes over to help out, um, helps to take care of things around the house and I'm not home, but she is, he'll eat it because that's the pattern that he has been given.

41:00 — Kati’s cat-food example shows how consistent consequences can change behavior when owners are absent.

Speaker 1: That is the pattern he has learned is that the cat bull is extremely hot when I'm there and it's extremely hot when he is alone. But when my mother's there, it's fine. So your dog is not stupid. <laugh> your dog's not stupid. They will learn whatever pattern you present to them to learn.

Speaker 1: So don't present variable consequences. Don't make that mistake of trusting your dog before you know you can trust them because you will screw yourself. Uh, and you'll have to continue setting them up to be sure that they understand it's going to be a consistent consequence, right? So it gets a little bit harder every time that happens. So just put it to bed from the beginning, um, and use that structure and that containment, that crate until you know you can trust them. And that's it guys. I hope you got something, uh, helpful outta this episode. Uh, I had a lot of fun doing it.

Speaker 1: We're gonna do some more q and as in the future. I thank you for joining us today and I look forward to next time.