Top 5 Steps to Get Out of Your Rut and Create Change Now

00:00 — Kati introduces five actions for breaking the cycle of postponing dog-training progress.

Are you stuck in a rut with your dog? Do you always get to the end of the week and think, Ugh, it was a hard week, maybe next week? Well, if you do, you're not alone. We're gonna discuss the top five things you can do to actually create change this week. Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger Warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I am Kati Peppe, owner of Diamond Canine Dog Training in Biddeford, Maine. We specialize in eco training, both for off-leash obedience and reliability, as well as behavior modification. So helping people stop all those unwanted behaviors, simple things like jumping, barking, leash pulling, and more serious things like resource guarding, leash aggression, or reactivity, whatever you wanna call it. Um, separation, anxiety, all that business. So, uh, that's who we are and what we do. We also love, love in depth eco, uh, work, doing state of mind stuff with dogs that have anxiety or are nervous and fearful.

Uh, and we also do puppy training. So that's, that's what we do. And this podcast is our way of sharing everything that we do and talk about every day with you guys. Everything that we learn and that we see, um, we get to share that with you. So that's what we're doing here today.

I wanna talk about something that maybe seems a little more vague, but I think is valid for almost everybody. Don't tell anybody, but myself included, <laugh>, myself included. So for those of you that don't know, I have a, a puppy. Uh, we, we got a puppy back in March. We had a little pug puppy, he was adorable. His, his name's Niblet. Um, and he's still not very well trained. So I mean, we, we've done great with a lot of things, but, um, the training really has just been on the back burner. I'm busy training everybody else's dog.

He's learned some stuff. We've worked with him on a, a bunch of things really, um, early on, but we never really advanced it. So he's still in kindergarten despite the fact that he is now about seven months old. And, uh, what will happen is we'll work on it for a couple days and then it will just fall off again.

I get busy with work and uh, we'll go a long time before we come back to it again. So we're just, we're not really advancing it at this point. So, me too, guys, you're not alone. Uh, you know, it, life is is messy. You're human and things are chaotic, but what I don't want you to do is I don't want, want you to make the mistake of being like, well, when this happens, when that happens and things will slow down. No they won't. 'cause they just don't. That's just life. Things don't slow down, generally speaking.

03:00 — Waiting for life to slow down fails because ongoing responsibilities rarely disappear.

So that's just kind of a lie We tell ourselves, <laugh>. Um, and you know, what happens is you just get there and it's not, it's not calm. Things haven't quieted down like you expected them to, and things are still hard. They're always gonna be hard. Um, so let's talk about how we get out of our own way and get out of the rut that we can find ourselves in with our dog and our dog training.

Some people have dogs that are just perfect and there's nothing they wanna change, and that's wonderful. Good for them. Hopefully those are the people that have done our programs. <laugh> kidding. Uh, kind of kidding, right? So hopefully the people that have done our programs are in a pretty good place. Uh, but almost no one has a dog that's just perfect, right? Of course not. And so usually there's something you wanna change. And then obviously some people, there's like a lot they'd, they'd like to change, like life just isn't good. Uh, but regardless of where you are on that spectrum, it's really easy to just get stuck in a, in a rut and day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out.

And like, it just doesn't change. It doesn't get better because we're not making it better. And so how do we get outta that rut and actually create real change?

Finally. So let's talk about the top five things that we can do to actually create real change with our dogs. What needs to happen, right? Because we can take this list and we can implement it like now, right? And you know, if you do that, you're gonna get somewhere. So like that should feel good. Hopefully that makes you feel empowered. Like, I'm gonna take this and I'm gonna actually put this into action today. Maybe I'm gonna write some things down. I'm gonna stick it on my bathroom mirror or my fridge or my front door and remind myself this is what we're doing and we're gonna create some real change.

But number five, so you hear me say this a lot, sometimes I sound like a broken record when I talk about it, but restrict your dog's freedom, okay? How much really depends on the dog.

So when we do a program, our dogs don't get any freedom in our program until they're mostly trained, right? They're not perfect. We're still giving 'em feedback, but we have control. They understand the eco communication we've laid, right? So that's ideal. But at the very least, if the place that you are having problems with your dog is going to occur. So if there's a certain context in which these problems arise, that's when you need to restrict your dog's freedom, okay? At a minimum, right? So if's when you're gone that your dog has problems, you need to create them while you are gone.

If it's when people come over, then you need to create your dog when people come over, unless you are prepared to leash and give feedback, right? If you don't wanna do that, put your dog in a crate. So you have to stop giving your dog the opportunity to do the stuff that's driving you nuts.

You have to have to have to. So whatever that mental block is, you gotta get rid of that. Restrict your dog's freedom. That's probably gonna mean the crate or it might mean on a leash, right? If you're actually going to work with the dog, or it might be that you put them on place, if they know a reliable place command and they don't break it, then that's fine too. Um, but regardless of which option you choose to restrict freedom, it has to be done and it has to be done at a minimum in the context where you are having issues, right?

And it's not necessarily forever just as a reminder, but it's until you get where you are going.

So at the very least, the thing we need to do is take that opportunity for issues away from the dog and restrict that freedom crates, leash or place guys. Number four, you have to actually prioritize the training. That sounds obvious. Um, but it isn't because like I said, we get into this place where we're like, it's just been a busy week, it's just been a hard week. We had this happen, we had that happen. I got sick, or you know, and things do happen, but things happen regularly because that's just life, right? So, sure, I totally agree.

07:00 — Training must become a deliberate priority rather than something postponed during busy weeks.

If you have a genuine emergency or like you are just sick as a dog with the flu and you are just like down for the count, then it is what it is, okay? But you can't let every inconvenience get in the way of the training because if you do, the training just won't happen, right?

So, and I totally get it because we have all these responsibilities, ugh, adulting, right? All these responsibilities with the household, with work, especially if you have kids, you know, maybe you have parents that you help take care of whatever it is that you have going on. Like, and those are important priorities, right? So those are always gonna be at the top of our priority list. But what does that do to our dog training? Where does it put it on the list, right? So our dog training is always at the bottom of the list. And the only way we ever get to it is if we actually get through everything and get to the bottom of that list.

Well, guess what? That doesn't bode well <laugh> for your dog training future. Um, you have to prioritize it. And I'm not saying that you should position your dog above your sick parents or above, um, you know, helping your kid with their homework or driving them to soccer or whatever it is.

But I'm saying that we have to think outside the box a little bit because we have to bump that priority up there with those other things. And some of those other things that we can put on the back burner just for today, just for this week, whatever it is, we might need to do that, right? Or maybe we can enlist some help. Maybe you have somebody else that can drive your son to soccer while you work the dog, or maybe you can take the dog with you when you drive your son to soccer, right? So then you've got practice in the car or practice at the game, depending on what it is that you're working on, right?

Will depend on what the appropriate solution is. But if we just keep staying stuck in this rut every day where we're like, we have to do this, we have to do that, we have to do this, we have to do that.

And then at the end of the day at 10 o'clock at night, it's like, oh, it was too busy to train the dog. That will never change. 'cause your day-to-day life is not gonna get less busy. It just, I, trust me, I wish <laugh>, I wish. But generally speaking, it just doesn't really happen. Um, and so well, once you decide, you're like, yeah, I'm gonna draw a line in the sand here. I'm gonna actually sink my teeth in. We're gonna get this done. Um, do it like really commit to it. Look at what are your highest priorities that week.

Are they gonna get in the way of training the dog? And if they are, then think about that. And again, not forever, right? We're not asking someone to fill in for you as a parent forever while you train the dog. But like maybe today someone else can help you. Or like I said, maybe you can bring the dog along. Maybe that's appropriate, right? So you, you just have to look at your specific situation and your specific tasks and figure out how can I prioritize the dog training? Because if you don't, it's just not gonna happen.

There's no magic, there's no easy button. Um, but I love the idea of taking the dog along if that's an appropriate, um, thing to do. If that is, you know, depending on the context that you are needing to work with your dog, that might be a great solution.

11:00 — Kati recommends leash communication and explains why harnesses can hinder clear guidance.

Uh, number three, leash communication. This is another one I feel like I talk about quite a bit guys, if you have your dog on a harness, please take it off and burn it. <laugh>. So I never say, please do this or please do that to anybody. 'cause I hate it and I think it sounds condescending. Um, but um, in this case, like really burn the harness, you don't need it. It's kindling. Uh, if you have your dog on a flat collar or a martingale, like okay, you can keep it, but take the leash off it for now and put it on a prong collar.

And I say for now, really forever, I recommend it forever, right? So usually the flat collar, the martingale, we still leave those on and most of the time the dog has their tags on there. And those are the collars we are using when we need to tether the, the dog for any reason, especially during training, when we're teaching them to stay on place or to hold the down position, we might tie them to something.

Um, and we never do that on a prong collar. We're gonna tie that leash, um, to something secure and we're gonna hook the, uh, latch end onto their flat collar or their Martin gae. We also use the flat collar and Martin Gae as a safety backup with the prong collar. So because prong collars can theoretically just come apart, um, we always have them connected to a flat collar or a Martin Gae, please see our videos on YouTube on using a prong collar. Um, as we show you that in detail, it's very, very helpful video. Um, but so leash communication, the way you're gonna get the best leash communication is with a prong collar.

There's only two sizes of prong collar that we use. That's the 2.25 millimeter, or for large dogs, we use the three millimeter. We don't use anything bigger than that really ever.

Um, there also are micro prongs for toy breeds. I love them, but I don't always use them because a lot of the owners find it difficult to, uh, manipulate them to get them on and off. Um, just, you know, depends on your manual dexterity and, and all of that. So, so 2.25 or three millimeter, it should fit snugly. It should be at the top of the neck. Again, go watch the video on YouTube. It's a very, very helpful video. Okay? Then you need to learn how to use it, okay? And I can't go super into depth about that right now on the podcast.

Uh, but again, watch the video video. So really the big takeaways when you're working with a prong caller is that they look terrible. I swear they're not fantastic tool for leash communication. Now your dog can actually feel everything you're saying and doing through your leash, and you're going to learn to communicate with your dog through pressure and pops.

Okay? So pressure is just guidance. So when you pull the leash, the prong collar will tighten up around the neck. And what it does is it doesn't poke or prick the dog. It's not a sharp collar, but it exerts pressure on all those points evenly all the way around the neck. So if you've ever been to the Museum of Science, um, they have an exhibit where you can lay on a bed of nails and all of the nails raise or lower, um, at the same time at the same rate, which creates a rather flat surface and it doesn't hurt.

And that's much like what a prong collar is doing because it tightens all the way around the neck equally at the same time, they're also not sharp, so they're not nails. Um, but they are obviously very concentrated points of pressure. Um, but that's pretty much how it operates, is when you tighten it, when you pull on that leash and you put pressure on that leash, the prong collar will constrict and it will just exert even pressure all the way around the dog's neck.

15:00 — Pressure provides guidance while concentrated prong-collar pressure can communicate more precise information.

So it's a very different sensation from a flat collar. Um, and the dog can't choke, which is one of the best advantages to using a prong collar really. So the dog's usually more sensitive to it because it's a different sensation. So it's a, it's a novel sensation. Um, so that makes it much easier to get their attention and communicate with them, but at the same time, it's safer because they can't choke. Um, so I love, love, love these collars. Um, and so when you exert pressure, they get even pressure all the way around the neck, right?

And you don't let that pressure go, generally speaking until you get the behavior that it is that you want, right? So for instance, we teach dogs that when we exert gentle pressure straight up in the air, straight up not back, that that means we want them to put their butt on the ground, right?

So naturally the head kind of goes up when we do that, and then the butt goes down to the floor and then we lower our hand and we relax that leash and we relax the prong collar immediately when the butt hits the ground. So you start conditioning the dog to respond to that leash pressure. Very, very gentle leash pressure. Um, and it's fantastic. Or the other way you can use it is through pops, right? So if the dog jumps on somebody or starts fixating on something and you know they're gonna bark, lunge, that sort of thing, you can pop the leash.

Leash. It's usually just a little wrist action. Um, and that is more of a startle response, right? If you're very firm, it can obviously be an uncomfortable leash pop. That's okay. That's more of a correction. Um, but so this tool gives you maximum versatility, again, gives you the ability to whisper, gives you the ability to yell.

You can be very gentle, you can be very firm. You can use pressure and guidance, you can use pops. So you can use whatever you need in any situation. Love, love, love it. But now you have so much more control with your leash instead of your dog just kind of hanging out at the end of it, doing their own thing and almost being like completely, um, oblivious to the fact that you're even back there still. You now have total control and you can talk to your dog nonverbally. You can be completely quiet, right? I love that you can be silent and you can still communicate things to your dog and heavily influence their behavior.

We're going this way, we're going that way, right? You shorten your leash up and your dog will be walking right next to you, and if they pull ahead, you just pop to the back right toward the back because you're telling the dog directional information there.

18:00 — A backward leash pop communicates that the dog should stop moving ahead and remain…

I don't want you moving forward like that. I want you to stay back here with me. Um, seriously, you can fix your walk so quickly, but it takes a little practice and you gotta know how to use it. So watch the videos, uh, but highly, highly recommend. And you know, even if we're not talking about walking, even if we're just talking about being in the house, like when company comes over, now you have a tool where you can get your dog to settle or you can disagree with jumping. Um, it's just huge, huge. So much more control, so much more communication with that prong collar on there.

So absolutely, absolutely learn that, that one is huge.

Number two, here's a big one. Introduce negative consequences. <laugh>, and hey guys, reserve the food or reward for when you're teaching new behaviors. Okay? So stop being a Pez dispenser to your dog. So many times we meet people, um, and we can tell they've been attending purely positive classes, um, which by the way have their value, okay? I am not saying there's no benefit in that. You can absolutely teach your dog things and probably teach them things very quickly, um, in those sorts of classes. Um, but you can only get so far with it. And the problem is most people get stuck there, right?

So we meet them and they've got the treat pouch on and they're just shoving treats in their dog's face. Like there is no goddamn tomorrow <laugh>. So it's like every time the dog breathes, it gets food, the dog looks at them, it gets food, the dog looks some, that's something else.

It gets food <laugh>, right? The dog's quiet, it gets food, the dog barks, it gets food. Like it's just, I mean, it's a stream. Um, so put it down, put down the treats and back away <laugh>, okay? This is a stick out. Put down the treats you need at some point to let your dog graduate from kindergarten rate and just expect better behavior. But, you know, we can't go through the whole obedience process today. Um, obviously you have to go through the process of making sure your dog understands the command and they know how to do it, and you get a generalize it to different environments and around distractions and, and all that stuff.

And then once we do that, we introduce a negative consequence for not complying guys. There's no other way to make it reliable. And most people, almost everybody when we meet them is missing that ingredient.

Even the people that don't think they're missing it, they are because all they're doing as a negative consequence is yelling. And that is not a negative consequence. Number one, it's, it's just a noise. It's not an actual tangible consequence. And number two, it probably just makes your dog kind of feel like you're unstable, right? Some dogs find that very scary when people yell and it's, they think, I'm not gonna say they think, you know, because they're not human. Um, but it can definitely trigger like a defensive thing or a submissive thing like rolling over on my back.

Ah, it don't kill me. And so yelling is not our, our favorite. Um, but it's just not a negative consequence, right? So you have to learn how to actually deliver a negative consequence, whether it's a leash pop on a prong collar like we talked about a minute ago, or a bonk with a rolled up cotton towel.

Um, or an eco, which is of course our favorite because it's just so practical in most situations. But there are some situations where other forms of correction, especially the bonker, are actually much more effective and appropriate. Um, but generally speaking, in most contexts, our customers have the most success using an eco. But that constant food, constant food for stuff your dog already knows or God forbid for doing something bad. So a so many people get stuck in the cycle of their dog jumps on somebody and then they tell 'em to get down and give 'em food.

If you are doing that, don't do that. <laugh> don't do that because you're not, you're avoiding having the discussion with your dog of what not to do. You're only telling them what to do. You're only telling them what you like. You are not telling them what not to do.

And you have to have that discussion. And that requires 110%, requires negative consequences attached to that behavior that you want to go away. I'm telling you, when we meet people, everyone is missing that. And it is life changing. It's not the fun part of training, but boy does it lead to a much happier, harmonious life. A fuller life, more freedom, more inclusion, um, and it's a split second most of the time depending on what we're talking about, right? And yeah, you might have to do it a few times, but it's like so worth it, right?

23:00 — Reliable behavior requires more than positive consequences, including fair corrections when dogs understand the…

And if you do it properly, the behavior goes away and so do the corrections and you just move on to better stuff. Uh, but most people aren't doing that. And that is huge. If you really wanna see change, you can't work with only positive consequences. And by the way, as a side note, when we do this constant food thing, especially in situations where the dog's already aroused and we're talking about jumping on people or we're talking about being reactive to other dogs, all we're doing is increasing their arousal. Um, and that can really work against you and make things much more difficult, believe it or not.

So negative consequences, guys, has to be part of your recipe.

The number one thing you can do ties right into the last one, which is stop watching Zach, George <laugh>, stop watching Zach George and all of the YouTube trainers that are trying to convince you that you can fix anything with positive only rewards. Stop doing that 'cause it's going to make you crazy. How could it not? They are gas lighting you. I am so tired of it. I am so sick of these trainers talking complete nonsense about how using any kind of aversive or pain or fear or discomfort is so unnecessary. It's just crap. Stop watching that garbage.

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying don't watch things where people are using rewards. We use rewards. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not even saying stop watching trainers that only use rewards. Those trainers are limited in what they can accomplish, and that's okay.

But when you have somebody who tells you that that's all you should need, and you should never need negative consequences, and if you use them, you're bad or abusive, your trainer has no skills if they use them. When you have someone spreading that poison, you need to stop watching them. They are the reason that our customers believe there's something wrong with their dogs. And most of them believe that when they come to see us, they're like, well, it's just not working for our dog. We think our dog needs more. We think for some reason our dog's not responding to that.

It's not enough. And it's like the reason is your dog is normal.

So you will make yourself crazy spending weeks, months, years watching these folks trying to implement their ideas and failing. It's just not healthy. And there's nothing wrong with your dog. Your dog is totally normal. There's something wrong with you <laugh>. And I mean that in the nicest, kindest way, um, because I love our clients. I love our clients in a very real way. Um, they're what I've got. 'cause we don't have a lot of friends and family. Um, but when people come to us, uh, it's really important to us that they reach their goals and that they're successful.

And I, we talk about it, you know, but I can tell that like they've just been on the internet, you know, looking at these people. Then you got the guy who's trying to tell you how to stop jumping, right? And hey, they just step on the leash.

No, no enough. Stop watching these people stepping on the leash doesn't stop jumping. It just doesn't like, yeah, it'll stop it in the moment because the dog is physically restrained, <laugh>, it doesn't teach the dog not to jump. So in my opinion, that is honestly the number one thing you can do to start really creating change is get out of those toxic spaces where, um, they have a lot of money to pour into the production of their videos, but the content really should prove that there's nothing behind what they're saying because they can't show it.

They can't show it. If Zach George shows you a very well behaved dog, it was probably already very well behaved, right? Because some dogs are, some dogs are. But what I wanna see when I'm watching someone is I wanna see what the dog looked like originally. What I wanna see when I'm watching someone is I wanna see what the dog looked like before, and then I wanna see what the training process looked like and then I wanna see what that resulted in after. And if I don't see a, b, c like that in that order, excuse me, then I don't have any reason to believe that it worked, right?

I mean, that's just common sense. And then to be putting down the folks that are getting traction, that are getting results, that are helping their customers, boy that's just evil. That's just wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. People stay stuck. So get outta those toxic spaces, okay? Introduce negative consequences as part of your recipe, especially for unwanted behaviors. Guys, that's gotta happen.

29:00 — The final action plan combines restricted freedom, leash communication, prioritized training, and accountability for…

Learn your leash communication. Get a well-fitted prong collar high up on your dog's neck. Keep your leash on that. Learn how to communicate with your dog through pressure and pops, prioritize your training. Actually go the extra step instead of just saying, when I get time, when I get time. And schedule it. Make it a priority. Recruit help with things if you need help with things. And number five, restrict freedom. Okay? You gotta restrict your dog's freedom at a minimum in the context in which you are having issues. That's it for today, guys. I hope you got something outta this.

I hope you make some progress with your dogs. Thank you so much for joining us today. Please feel free to submit any questions or topics you would like covered to me at Kati at Diamond Canine dot com. That's Kati at Diamond Canine, D-I-A-M-O-N-D-C-A-N-I-N e.com. Always love to, uh, hear from people and get some new topics to discuss, um, and answer any questions you might have. Thanks again for joining us today, guys, and I look forward to next time.