The “Not To Do” List- 5 Common Strategies You Can Do Without

00:00 — Kati Peppe introduces Off Leash and Unfiltered and asks listeners to subscribe.

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

Hey everybody, this is your host, Kati Peppe. Before we jump in, I just wanted to take a quick second and remind you to hit the subscribe button because that helps us so, so, so much. We appreciate every subscribe and follow, and we have so much valuable information we wanna share with you. So we don't want you to miss an episode. Without further ado, let's jump in. Hey, how's everybody doing today? Thanks for being here on this fantastic Friday. I know you guys love Friday. Everybody does, except like I said, me. 'Cause every day is kind of the same around here.

Um, we're gonna be hiring and so that's some news. Um, it's not really news to me. I've planned on hiring someone else for a while, <laugh>, but, um, haven't really publicly announced that, haven't made a post yet. In typical Kati fashion, I'm just way behind on doing the things I need to do.

So I plan on doing that today. I am gonna make a post. Uh, we need to hire a second person. Nothing, nothing's happening to Joyce. Don't get any ideas in your head. Um, I wouldn't let her get away <laugh>, but we need more help, um, especially if we are, um, ever going to expand the services we offer. So we're looking for, looking for somebody to bring on board. If you know anybody that might be a good fit, it's not gonna be a lot of hours, at least not to start with. Um, but it could be down the road and we are hoping to find somebody, uh, with some experience, with some training experience, or at the very least, a lot of dog handling experience.

Um, but, you know, training experience is even better. So yeah, that's my big piece of news for the day. And so with that, we're gonna jump in two, I I'm always talking about the things I recommend and like the things you should do.

Let's talk about five sort of miscellaneous things that I don't recommend. So this is kind of an interesting list because it kind of gets away from the stuff I'm always talking about, like the big things, the staples, um, the fundamentals. And it sort of focuses more on some of the more random things that are very, very common. Like these are things that you hear everybody say they're doing, not everybody, but you hear a lot of people say they're doing, um, because they think it's a good thing and that it's gonna help them in some way.

Um, but sometimes it backfires <laugh> and it's not always helpful. So let's talk about five things I do not recommend you do. Um, if you have a new dog, if you have a puppy, these aren't things I would do. So number five, I do not recommend that you tether your dog or puppy to you.

03:00 — Kati contrasts crate and playpen structure with tethering a puppy directly to its owner.

So this is really common, and I talk about structure all the time. When I say structure, I mean mainly using a crate and maybe sometimes a playpen, and working that into your day too. Um, but using your crate a ton and not giving your puppy lots of freedom. But lots of people will tether their dog or their puppy directly to them, so that way, you know, they're quote unquote watching the puppy, right? But it's not just about watching the puppy, it's about developing coping skills and learning to be okay by themselves. And they don't get any of that if they're tethered to you.

So, you know, it's funny because a lot of people come to us complaining that their dog follows them around all the time and it's always under their feet and is their shadow and follows them to the toilet. And so it's like, why <laugh>?

If you got, if you get a new dog or puppy, like why would you tie them to you and literally teach them to do that? So I'm all for nurturing the following instinct with a puppy when you have them out, which shouldn't be all the time, but like bringing your puppy outside and teaching them to kind of engage with you, right? Even though there's all these new sights and smells and distractions and there's birds and there's squirrels and there's dandelions, teaching your, like, doing stuff with your puppy, lots of food work, teaching them to engage with you, teaching them to naturally be curious about you and follow you around, that's great.

But like literally tying your, your puppy or your dog to you. So all day when you go to the kitchen, you make a sandwich, you go to the bathroom, you go watch a show, you, whatever you're doing, like the puppy has to follow you everywhere.

I do not think that's a good idea for so many reasons. Um, number one, they're not developing the coping skills that way. Number two, they are learning to be your shadow. Number three, you're not actually paying attention to the dog. Um, it's sort of a mindless way of almost like avoiding your responsibility to the dog in some weird way. But um, but yeah, they're just tied right to you and it's ick <laugh>, it's ick, right? They're not actually learning, they're not getting anything productive out of that. Um, but it's kind of like a way for you to be like, oh yeah, you know, like, I pay attention to my dog all the time.

You're not really, they're just kind of tethered at your hip and it's, it's not productive in any way. You're not really getting anything outta that. So I, I don't think that's a great idea.

Uh, so that's number five. Number four, letting them sort it out. So if you have multiple dogs, please don't let them sort it out, okay? I mean, if they have moments, uh, disagreements, scuffles, skirmishes, anything like that, you probably don't wanna let them sort it out. So I'm not saying your dogs can never kind of tell each other off a little bit, that's normal, not necessarily a big deal, but it can be. And I hear that a lot. They're like, oh, well, they figured it out, they sorted it out. So-and-so lets them know, blah, blah, blah.

And it's like, okay, well, here's how I kind of discern like what's okay, what's not okay is first of all, what's happening, right? What is the dog doing that's eliciting that reaction from the other dog? So if you have one dog, and quite often it's a puppy, right?

'Cause puppies are so annoying, they just are, right? It's not their fault. They're puppies. And a lot of dogs don't like that. If you have a dog or puppy that is just totally hounding the other dog or dogs in the house, they're jumping on them, they're following them all over the place. They're trying to take their food or their toys or their bones. Um, that's not okay. They're pestering them to play constantly even though they don't want to. They're chewing on their tail, they're jumping on their backs. That's not okay. Even if your dog is tolerating it, that's not okay.

07:00 — Kati describes gradually integrating Niblet with Boo through brief, supervised interactions and limited freedom.

So when I got my pug Niblet, he would do that to Boo, right? And I gave him very little freedom because you hear me talk about that all the time and lots of structure and stuff, right? But when I did take him out, because I would start to integrate them slowly, not at first, right? But after a week or two or something, I started, okay, let's take him out for a few minutes. Like we go out to go potty, I see him potty, we come in, I watch him for a few minutes, I play with him a little bit.

I let him be in the kitchen with me and Boo for, you know, five, 10 minutes, not a long time. And he would, if Boo was laying down, he'd go over there, he'd jump on him, he'd be in his face and I would have to advocate for him and go over there and say, no, you can't do that.

And if he wasn't getting the picture, then he would go on a leash or back in the kennel. And if I hadn't done that, he probably would've gotten his head taken off at some point. Boo was putting up with it just fine, but I'm no fool, he's not gonna put up with it forever, right? So the problem is people just assume because their dog is not exhibiting anything serious, because they haven't growled, they haven't snapped, then obviously they're fine with it and it's like, no, that doesn't mean they're fine with it. And why wait until you see it to do something about it?

That's just silly, right? It's like saying, saying, well, my car is running fine. So it obviously doesn't need an oil change. This is a good one 'cause I'm way overdue for an oil oil change. Um, it's like, no, you do need your oil changes 'cause you don't have a problem yet, right? You will almost certainly if you don't do what needs to be done. It's the same idea. Don't wait until it's too late, guys. That's what everybody does with their dogs in like every aspect, in every regard. It's like if it's outta sight, it's outta mind.

If they don't see a problem, there just isn't one. And that's just not how it works. People wait until the dog growls, wait until the dog lunges, wait until the dog bites and then it's a problem. And then, oh my God, it's outta the blue. It came outta nowhere.

No, you need to be more proactive. You need to respect your dog as a dog. You all these things, just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean it's not an issue. And it's your responsibility to make sure your dogs forge a cordial, respectful relationship with each other and letting one treat the other one like crap, right? Even if it's 'cause he is a puppy and he is innocent enough, that is not gonna result in, that's not conducive to a healthy, stable relationship. A peaceful relationship, which is what you want. So you need to take responsibility for that and be proactive.

10:00 — Kati distinguishes occasional, respected growls from excessive reactions around resources or resting spaces.

Just letting your dog sort it out is a poor idea. Now you get your dogs integrated together and they're doing fine and every once in a while there's like a little bit of a growl. If a dog comes too close when they have a bone or bothers them when they're sleeping, is that a big deal?

No, not necessarily. As long as it's respected by the other dog and it's not something that's happening repeatedly and it's not over the top, then you probably don't have a problem, right? But if one dog has a resource and the other dog walks in the room and the dog with the resource just absolutely explodes, is way over the top, that is a problem, right? A little communication is fine, but like the over-the-top, I kill you. That is not fine <laugh>. And vice versa. If a dog has a resource and your other dog just runs right up to them and sticks their face in there and is like, hey, I'm gonna see if you're gonna let me take this away from you.

Even if they do let them, that's not okay. Your dog's learning to be an asshole.

It's your job to do something about that. So when we let dogs sort things out themselves, the problem is that relationship will evolve over time and things very well could escalate again. Just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean it won't happen. That is the biggest mistake folks make. And the way dogs sort things out, guys, is not pretty. They're not worried about jail time and they're not thinking about how much they would miss their buddy. Dogs don't do that. They don't have that. I'm talk more about that in my next episode. Um, people, oh no, they love each other.

No, they dogs. They enjoy each other's company. Sure. Your dog doesn't have the ability to think about, oh, I would never hurt you. I love you, I would miss you. They don't have that, right? They can be buddy-buddy one second and I'll kill you the next second.

So the best thing you can do is not let your dogs sort things out themselves. Be proactive. Number three, redirection. Redirection. I hate redirection because it's basically a reward. <laugh> I talked about this a little bit in my last episode, um, with puppies, 'cause it's real common with puppies, but with all dogs, it's rather we're talking the most common one, especially with puppies, right? Is you have a puppy that's chewing on you, using you as a, a toy, teething on you, having or, or just maybe they're really drivey and they like sort of tearing at your clothes, and people go, oh, I redirected him with a toy, I redirected him with a bone.

13:00 — Kati argues that giving toys after mouthing can establish a pattern of chewing followed…

It's like, okay, but you can see the conversation that's missing there. And you can see, don't forget how dogs learn, guys. They learn through associations. So what you always wanna think about: what association, what sequence, what pattern am I creating with my dog? Is the pattern…

My dog rips at my clothes or chews on my arm and then I hand him a toy and then I hand him a bone. So stop this whole redirection and teaching him an alternative behavior and getting him to chew on this instead of that. You're doing what humans do and way overcomplicating it. And in the end, probably doing something counterproductive because the pattern that you're creating is dog chews on you. Dog gets a reward. There's not any other way to see that. That is exactly what you're doing. And that's why we don't do that.

And really it's the same in other contexts too. If you have a dog that is, um, reactive and they're reacting to triggers, other dogs, people, and you think that redirecting them, redirecting their attention with food or toys is going to help that, it's probably not. And you end up creating a cycle of dog targets, escalates, then engages with you for whatever the thing is you have, and then goes back to targeting and escalating.

Um, and they almost learn—not almost, they do sometimes learn, right? This is the pattern and they get more amped up, more escalate, right? 'Cause food, toys, that just introduces more escalation, more arousal, more excitement. And it almost becomes this fun game now to become reactive, right? So from our perspective, again, we're overcomplicating it. We're thinking about, oh, I'm getting their attention back on me. This is a good thing and I'm rewarding that. But again, you're, you're not looking at the big picture. Simplify it. What's the pattern I'm creating? Because you're only looking at one little piece of the pattern, which is your dog turns their attention to you and you give them something.

But that's not the whole pattern, that's just a little piece of it. So you're creating a cycle because the pattern actually starts with, I see, I target, I escalate and then I turn to you. I get something. So you can't just lop off that half of the pattern because it's convenient, <laugh>.

16:00 — Kati acknowledges skillful redirection can sometimes help but generally advises listeners against relying on…

Um, so most of the time that doesn't really work out. So redirection, not great in most cases, right? I think skillfully there are some times it might be helpful. I generally don't recommend people do it because unless you really know what you're doing, um, it can bite you in the ass. And I think in most of these cases it's unnecessary or even counterproductive. So I just wouldn't worry about it. I wouldn't use that as a tactic if it was me, uh, in just about any situation. <laugh> So, all right, guys. Number two, pee pads. I don't like pee pads, I hate them.

I don't recommend them almost ever. I suppose they're, they have their place. Most things do. Most things even that I hate have their place, right? I think flexi leads have their place. Um, I don't like 'em. I don't use 'em. I think there are contexts in which you could use them and they could be helpful.

Um, but I don't do it. But we're not here to talk about flexi leads. We're here to talk about pee pads. Uh, same thing. I think, you know, if you're doing like a playpen thing a little bit of the time during the day and you wanna put pee pads in there, like maybe like just in case there's an accident, like maybe that's fine. But most people are using pee pads to teach their dogs to go to the bathroom in a particular spot. And while that kind of sounds like it makes sense, it doesn't because that spot is in your house <laugh>.

So, um, you're literally teaching your dog to go to the bathroom inside. And I think that's a huge mistake. I think it just makes it harder to teach them to go outside. It's almost like having to housebreak them twice, right? You have to go through the trouble of teaching them to go on the pee pads and then you still have to go through the trouble of teaching them to go outside.

So the pee pads go away. Um, and the thing is, again, you wanna think about the neural connections that are being made. Even if your dog is learning to go on the pads and doing well with that, they're still peeing in your house and that's becoming normal. You are normalizing peeing and pooping in your house. We obviously see this a lot with small dogs, um, and people that live on like second, third, and fourth floor apartments. Uh, because, you know, and I, I get it, like they have an additional challenge for sure with housebreaking. Um, and, and in those contexts maybe there is some room, some benefit to using them sometimes, right?

But I would recommend if there's any way to avoid that, to avoid it and to really go out of your way to just use a very high level of structure. Use your kennel a ton, bring your puppy out super frequently.

19:00 — Kati discourages relying on puppies to signal bathroom needs and announces subscriber-only premium content.

Don't rely on your puppy to tell you when they need to go out. Guys, everybody does that. Don't do that. It's a tall order. Love the show? Well, I have great news. We are offering an inexpensive subscription to our new premium content. This is content that isn't available to the general public. We make it just for our subscribers. We're gonna cover a variety of new topics in these episodes and I think it's gonna be a ton of fun. So you can jump right down into the show notes to get that website address and then skip over there and sign up for this premium content.

Just wanted to take a second to let you guys know about that. Thank you so much for your support. And now on with the show. I assure you as your dog gets older, they'll learn to like go to the door or whatever to tell you they need to go, but it really isn't necessary, right? Unless your dog has a problem, like they have an infection or they're sick, they have diarrhea, something like that. Your dog doesn't really have to tell you they need to go out as long as you're letting them out often, right?

Um, so my older dog now, like he, if he really needs to go, he'll tell me. He'll go to the door. He might whine a little bit. Um, Niblet's not gonna tell me. Niblet's an idiot. <laugh> And that's fine. He's still not having accidents in the house because I let him out every couple of hours and he goes to the bathroom, right? And, you know, if I'm not gonna do that or I'm not home, he's in his kennel. We still use a lot of kennel, we use a lot of place, we use a lot of structure.

Um, and he doesn't have to tell me he needs to go out 'cause we're just gonna go out every so often, you know? And if I don't let him out for some reason for a few hours, oh well, like he can hold it. And I think sometimes dogs don't learn to hold it because we never make them.

I've met those dogs. It's like if you don't let 'em out every 20 minutes, they're going on the floor because they've never even had to hold two drops of urine before. So tall order to ask your puppy to tell you when they need to go out. Um, first of all, if their nerves aren't even done developing, they probably don't even know when they need to go out, right? And so if they're just in your house moving around, they're just gonna go because they don't even necessarily know until they're going <laugh>. So tall, tall order, use your kennel.

Um, try not to use pee pads. I don't think it's helpful in most cases unless you want to train your dog to go potty inside. Some people do, especially with small dogs, like I said, and especially if they're up on third or fourth floor or something like that.

Um, but you wanna look at the big picture. Um, you know, what if you move? What if you end up rehoming the dog for some reason? <laugh>. What if you end up rehoming the dog because they're shitting all over your house? Now, <laugh>. Um, but, you know, I meet a lot of older folks that have taught their dogs to go to the bathroom inside and then, you know, they end up unwell or in a nursing home or pass away or something. And then this dog has to go live with someone else. And they've never had to go outside, they've never had to hold it.

They just go. Um, 'cause that's what they've always done. And I don't think it's the best, right? Of course, everyone, it's a free country. Everyone can train their dog how they want and live with their dog how they want. Um, but I think it's worth knowing if your plan isn't to have a dog that just goes to the bathroom inside, pee pads aren't your best friend.

Uh, number one, here's a good one. Oh, we always stick our hand in his bowl and take his food away and pet him while he's eating. Yeah, I don't recommend that. Sorry to say, um, I think nine outta 10 people that <laugh> call me for a phone consultation or come here to drop their dog off or do a lesson, they tell me they do that with their dog. Um, and you know what? It might not matter, right? So I'm not saying, oh, if you do that, it's gonna cause you a problem. I don't say that about too many things.

23:00 — Kati argues that putting hands in food bowls does not prevent guarding and may…

Um, but it could. But here's the thing, whether it causes a problem or not, it really isn't preventing anything. It, it truly isn't. Guys, like sticking your hand in your dog's bowl, I get that. Yes, it could be normalizing it, but that doesn't necessarily really matter.

'Cause here's the thing, if we're talking about a puppy, your puppy hasn't moved through adolescence into maturity yet. They haven't gone through that maturation process where things change. So you might actually just be normalizing something annoying, right? And then as your puppy gets older, they decide, especially if you haven't put the relationship into place, like we talk about, they decide they don't wanna put up with that annoyance anymore. So it's every bit as likely to happen. Um, even though you've been doing that since they were little, um, it's not any less likely to happen. Um, the best thing you can do is get your relationship in place with your dog.

We have episodes on that. Go back and listen to those things. Listen to the, uh, prevention series, resource guarding. Listen to the critical things you should be doing with your puppy. Listen to those episodes.

Um, sticking your hand in your dog's bowl is just being kind of a dick <laugh>, in my opinion. Like, you're just irritating your dog. Um, and it doesn't, it doesn't prevent anything because resource guarding really is naturally a thing that comes from within. Um, genetically, it's a natural instinctual behavior. You're not going to prevent instincts by just sticking your hand in there. This is not gonna happen. Like, if your dog is wired to resource guard, they're going to, even if you've been sticking your hand in their bowl, uh, just my opinion, um, just what I've seen, right?

So, uh, I wouldn't do that. Pet your dog when they're eating. I kind of feel the same way. Not necessarily a terrible idea to just give 'em a brush here and there, but I, I really don't believe you're gonna prevent anything that way. You, and, you know, it could be argued that you might be more likely to prevent it by just leaving the dog the hell alone, right?

So they know, hey, nobody bothers me when I eat. I don't have to worry about being bothered when I eat. Um, but here's the thing, if you want to do something like that to teach your dog it's okay, to normalize it, to make it a good thing when you're near the food. The only thing I might recommend, um, especially when your dog is little and is a puppy, um, but anytime really, unless you have a, a dog that's already resource guarding, then this is not the protocol for you. Um, but you have a dog that's not guarding resources right now.

26:00 — Kati suggests adding something high-value to the food bowl and walking away to build…

You could just walk up to the food bowl, throw in something high-value and walk away. That might be all right, right? Because dog starts to learn, hey, somebody approaches my food bowl. Maybe I start to feel a little bit of tension just naturally. Like, why is someone walking up to my food bowl, right? Because in a dog world, if another dog walks up to your food bowl, they want it. And so there's no reason for your dog to think you're any different. Um, but for them to start to set the pattern, oh, somebody walks up to my food bowl and then they just throw something in that's really nice and they walk away.

Um, I, I don't think that's a terrible idea. I wouldn't do it a ton, right? But it's not a bad idea to do some of those, um, especially when your dog is younger. I think that's fine. And, you know, I hear a lot, well, you know, just in case there's ever kids around, I wanna teach my dog. Like, someone might come up and grab your food. Why the fuck would you put your dog in a position where some kid's gonna come up and put their hand in his food bowl or take his food away? Shame on you.

Like, come on, guys, do better, do better. So yes, absolutely teach your dog to make good decisions, create some positive associations, but for the love of God, do not put your dog in a situation where he is just out in the middle of a room eating his food and there's kids running around. No, just, no, it's, it's not, it's not okay. And yes, I get that some dogs are totally fine with that. Um, and good, you know what, that's working for you. Great. It's not a thing I would ever do with any dog, no matter how big, how small, how sweet, how social, how gentle.

I wouldn't do it. I would never intentionally put my dog in a situation where he's eating a meal and some kid might walk over and do it.

Not going to happen. So I think we need to take a little bit more responsibility. We're putting so much responsibility on the dog. Like, our dog isn't even supposed to be a dog anymore. We're supposed—not, not even that. We're supposed to be able to trust our dog to not act like a dog in every situation that could occur. And it's ridiculous, guys. It's unrealistic and it's lazy. It's, it's like you want a, a magic button in that case, right? It's like, oh, I want my dog to just be like an inanimate object, like a teddy bear.

Like, to have no instincts at all. Like, ooh, um, <laugh>. It's just not, it's not normal or, or realistic.

And yeah, I get a lot of dogs are really good and have no problem, but most dogs are going to be dogs, right? In at least some context. Like very few dogs are just going to be perfect in every context, right? Like, oh, this dog is just totally fine with like strangers coming into his space, like going to the vet and being poked with needles. And, and he is also totally fine with like kids coming up and sticking their hand in the food bowl and strangers coming up and, and petting him on the head. And um, you know, me going over and grabbing a bone out of his mouth, strangers just walking through the door.

And it's like, dogs are, dogs are dogs. And yes, you can absolutely teach them to make better choices. That's why I have a job. That's what we do. And I a hundred percent think you should do that in every context possible. You should try to train your dog to make the best possible choices. Totally, absolutely recommend that. But you also, right? We attack it from both ends. Should not put your dog in silly situations on purpose.

30:00 — Kati recommends kennel feeding, especially around visitors, rather than exposing dogs to unnecessary mealtime…

Take some accountability and say, you know what? My dog is still a dog. We're gonna feed him in his kennel. Especially if you've got people over your house or you are in their house. Don't put your dog in situations that aren't necessary and carry risk, right? The training is really there and it looks different for everybody, right? And you're gonna train to different levels depending on you and your ability and your dog and your dog's abilities. And they're all different. So I don't know you, I don't know your dog, right? But the training is there so that you can have a way to live with your dog and live the best possible life, the fullest possible life, and the safest possible life all at once.

The training isn't there so that you never have to think about anything. That's not what the training is for at all. It just gives you way more skills, knowledge, and tools. It enhances communication between you and your dog. It gives you a way to hold your dog accountable, right? All these things. So you now have way more control with way less management. But that doesn't mean you just set it and forget it. No way, man.

So sticking your hand in your dog's bowl, in my opinion, I would just say it's pointless. <laugh> That's what I would say. I would say it's pointless at best. Um, there are other things you can do that might be a good idea. Um, but that one I don't recommend. Hey guys, thanks for joining us today. I really hope you enjoyed the show. If there's a specific topic you'd like to hear discussed, you can send that to me directly via email or fan mail. Just jump down into the show notes. That information will be there for you.

I really look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for supporting the show and I look forward to next time.