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Your dog is home from training, what's next?
35 Plays1 year ago
This episode is for those of you who have or will bring your dog to training and to have expectations and guidance for after!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Hey guys, welcome to the One with Dogs podcast. I'm Jacob Poppe. I'm Liz Poppe. We're here to tell you about your dog.
Key Post-Training Period
00:00:15
Speaker
Today's episode is your dog just got back from aborting training. What now? This is the most important time with your dog because this is the make it or break it time. If you don't go home and follow the instructions of your dog trainer, you just spent
00:00:35
Speaker
upwards of three, four, five, six thousand dollars for a fancy trip for your dog. So your dog trainer better spend some time with you and also giving you guide and training throughout the training to set you up for success.
Importance of Daily Reports
00:00:55
Speaker
Liz, we do this every day? Every day, every day. We from start to finish up
00:01:00
Speaker
a dog in a boarding train, we send daily reports. And so that includes videos, pictures, and training information. Day one for us is always so important. And then throughout, there's just snippets of information, which is so important to keep up with. Yeah. And whether it's also another trainer, they spent
00:01:30
Speaker
hours coming up with what to give you guys. It's not like we woke up today. This is information you need. We've been thinking about it for a long, long time. And we've developed it and found what's successful for you guys to be successful. It's not just made up pie in the sky, we think this might work.
00:01:54
Speaker
This is what's worked for every single time we've had a successful case.
Challenges in Training Consistency
00:02:00
Speaker
I find it really truthful to say the times that we don't see success is when A, there was a lack of follow through from one person in the family or multiple people in the family not being on the same page and or a disinterested
00:02:22
Speaker
owner at the turnover. You want to be paying attention. I think the worst thing that an owner of a dog can do is not listen, you know, getting stuck on the phone or, you know, kind of working, you know, being at work when they're not, you know, when they're with us, they shouldn't be taking work calls, you know, being just engaged, just listening to your trainer because your trainer has
00:02:47
Speaker
all of the advice, all of the training knowledge at their fingertips. And as an owner of a dog, dog owner, you're not a trainer. And we as trainers are here to fill up your training backpack or, you know, toolbox, if you will.
00:03:09
Speaker
Um, with, you know, and even that, like it's so important. A lot of people don't know when to treat and when to reward. So those are things that you're going to learn from your trainer.
00:03:19
Speaker
Definitely, you know, number one, people who aren't doing the same things as, you know, other people in the family, you know, as a husband and wife, we have to be consistent.
Ensuring Consistent Family Effort
00:03:30
Speaker
And that goes for every family, husband and wife, you know, couple partners at home with their dogs, you have to be consistent, follow the instructions.
00:03:42
Speaker
And don't get mad at each other. Like if I'm upset with Jacob because he did something that was consistent with what I would be doing with my dogs or what a trainer told us or something in that regard, I'm not going to yell at him. I'm just going to say, Hey, like trainer. And I always tell my clients, tell them trainer Liz said, you know, make me the bad guy because that's, that's our job
Using Trainer Tools Effectively
00:04:06
Speaker
as trainers. Yeah. Hold each other accountable. Um, another big thing is.
00:04:11
Speaker
Use the tools they gave you. Worst thing we always see is a dog is now struggling at home pulling on a leash. Would you believe it? They're back on a harness and a flexi, which were not what we gave them to use. There's no, I had no ill will want to walk your dog or train your dog with harness and a flexi if it works. If it's not working, what do we do?
00:04:40
Speaker
So if I gave you a wrong, I gave you an e-collar, I gave you a slip lead, I gave you a flat collar, use that. Not some maple for what you want to work. It's got to be what has worked. If you saw me for two weeks walk your dog in a perfect heel using something, that's what you can be using. I'm not training them this way for you to go home.
00:05:04
Speaker
and use a completely different system. So that's why you make sure you align with your trainer to begin with. If you want to use a harness, there's trainers out there who will train your dog in a harness. We don't believe in it.
00:05:22
Speaker
So no ill will pass out what we train your dog on. Align with belief system method and what the best tool is going to be for your dog with your trainer before you do training to make sure that you're a good fit and understand that after training, the tools that your trainer gave you are the tools that you're going to use at home.
00:05:46
Speaker
Um, and don't fall short, you know, don't just throw them in the closet somewhere, drawer somewhere. No, I hear all the time. Oh, I did training and it didn't work. Well, awesome. Well, tell me about training and tail, you know, and they.
00:06:00
Speaker
Time and time again, I hear it, you know, hey, you know, the trainer gave you this, but I just didn't use
Phasing Out Training Tools
00:06:06
Speaker
it. It's like, why? You know, if you've spent time and money on training your dog, why are you wasting it by not using the tools that got you and your dog where you are now? And then you just don't use it. That just seems very counter-productive. Yes. And then on top of that, it's also confusing to your dog. And that's where you're going to see behavior.
00:06:30
Speaker
regression, really. And don't, if you are using tools, don't be afraid to take your time using them. What I'm trying to say is don't rush off the tool. Um, I think the number one question we get is when do we stop using this? When your dog listens perfectly every time, like, and then, and then still maybe sometimes after that, um, you know,
00:06:55
Speaker
Our business has got a pretty big right up from a client whose dog does not need any of the tools when she goes walking with the dog. So if he walks through a perfect deal every day and all day, but you know, the one time, you know, a dog got loose, she had those tools, so she could direct her dog, who was a little dog-grafted, to get behind her and like, she had to actually use the tool to, you know, tell her dog to stay. So, you know, she didn't start a fight.
00:07:25
Speaker
You know, and that client followed the directions on a walk. She might not use the problem or the e-collar once, but it's there just in case. And sometimes, you know, like that's enough of a reason to have the tool on because just in case. So you have to make sure, um, you're not just abandoning, abandoning a tool.
00:07:54
Speaker
because that's what makes you feel better. Make sure it's the right thing for the dog. Time and time again,
Dealing with Training Setbacks
00:08:00
Speaker
we do what makes us feel better in place of what's right for that dog. So, you know, and speak with your trainer. Hey, I'm ready to graduate. What do you think? If your trainer does not have that kind of communication with you, get a new trainer. Yeah.
00:08:20
Speaker
you should have a lifetime communication with your trainer. They should be able to help you get to the next step.
00:08:28
Speaker
If the next step is, hey, we're, we're doing well with X, Y, and Z. Um, you know, I feel that my dog is doing really well and I think, you know, she or he is responding very well without tools. When can I graduate the tools? Do you, can you meet with me? Can you see and re, you know, evaluate my dog to see where we're at and what, or, or she's not ready. And I'm trying to get my dog to graduate tools and I've tried and so I'm kind of
00:08:58
Speaker
trying and then getting back to where we were, trying and getting back to where we were, how do I take that step to really do that? Am I doing it right? And how do I take that step forward without needing eventually to take two steps back? Which again, if you made this step forward and it's a bit of a mistake, don't feel bad about going backwards. We have time and time and time again, even with our own personal dogs had to go backwards and start over. We got to pause it.
00:09:29
Speaker
So after you have made it so far, don't be afraid to come back and restart sometimes. We have restarted plenty of times with our own personal dogs where, you know, hey, they were doing great. They're doing great. They're doing great. Dang it. You know, where we got lazy slash too busy and we've had to do multiple bootcamps with our own personal dogs in the sense of like,
00:09:58
Speaker
And a bootcamp for us is like a day or two of like really focusing on what's important and what we need to work on. And then you see those mini breakthroughs and you're back on track. I think people get lost in, I have a trained dog. Why are you doing this? Because me and Liz didn't raise your dog. Your trainer didn't raise your dog. So you really have to do the extra work
Training as an Ongoing Journey
00:10:27
Speaker
Because you have that history with your dog of this is what we've done. And this is where I've always gotten away with this, with this person. And, you know, you, you'll find that, you know, you could drop them back off with me for a day and I'm going to give you a report. They're doing great. Right. Where exactly where we had them. I love you. You've done great. And you might be like, what? Um, but I promise you.
00:10:56
Speaker
they're pushing your button because you raised them, they love you. There's that like psychological thing with children and their moms or kids act out worse with their moms because they feel safe. Similar but different in the sense of like
00:11:13
Speaker
They just know they can push your buttons and who's training who, right? So make sure you're setting the boundaries, you're setting the lines, and don't be afraid to go back. And sometimes that means all the way going back to putting a leash in the house.
Community Support in Training
00:11:28
Speaker
Don't be afraid to go backwards. And if you use a board and train as a starting point instead of the finish line, the world is your oyster.
00:11:41
Speaker
If you start, if you think training is done, the second I hand you back at your dog, you are going to struggle. Um, it's not. If you, you might struggle, it's you will struggle because.
00:11:57
Speaker
you are such a big part of your dog's life. So you have to make sure you're doing the same things that we did to be successful. And sometimes, you know, we might give you some guidance like, well, I guess you have to pivot a little bit, but it will never be that far off that we did. Also, I really want to encourage you
00:12:20
Speaker
to talk to people. We have a basic community, and I want more and more of you guys noticing things and successes and failures because you're not alone. We all struggle with dogs every day of our lives. We speak another language, all sorts of things. So don't be afraid to talk to other people about where you're at with your dog. I think it's a very big bonding thing with people.
00:12:50
Speaker
We have, we have so many friends because of dogs and just having great conversations. Um, and there's certain things that we do intentionally with our clients, you know, we do summer group lessons and it's, it's basically like a refresher course part of, you know, finishing a program with us that you get to, you know, get into, um, have access to the trainers, which would be us and, you know, another trainer that we have.
00:13:18
Speaker
and other trained dogs and other trained owners.
Continuous Learning and Engagement
00:13:22
Speaker
So it's a great way to make friends and then also share good and bad advice and things like that. So definitely utilizing friendships with people, our Facebook group with our clients, I definitely think it's a very
00:13:41
Speaker
Um, utilized way, you know, it can be really, um, great, like meet up with people, um, spend time with them, go on walks together. If you live in each other's neighborhoods, that kind of thing. Yeah. And coming this spring, 2024, uh, Ellie's Great Lakes Dog Training will be bringing back our semi-monthly. Pack walks. Pack walks. Uh, to get on a, at least somewhat monthly-ish pattern of
00:14:10
Speaker
you know, hanging out with all of our graduates as much as possible. You know, utilize, utilize other people and other trained dogs, you know, a pack that's, you know, kind of the head in the right direction. So, you know, if we're all around each other,
00:14:30
Speaker
You know, Liz and I hiring new trainers improved us tenfold, right? Like new ideas, new people, new blood, new energy. Um, so, you know, you might've been like, Jacob, let's check it out five years ago. I'm good. Then you might hang out with someone who just trained recently. Are they a train?
00:15:00
Speaker
They've gotten more from me recently. So, you know, you've been around, get around. Definitely. Refresh yourself. It's, you know, not just your dog being refreshed now and being like, Oh my gosh, my dog is so good. I don't need it. Look, you need it.
Preventing Regression with Consistency
00:15:20
Speaker
You could benefit from it. It's new translation and things are up to you.
00:15:26
Speaker
What works with one dog doesn't work with every dog. So there's different techniques, different things. So stay updated. Stay updated. Great point. We're constantly listening to new podcasts, creating podcasts, watching trainers, trying to get seminars.
00:15:50
Speaker
that are under schedule, sometimes it's difficult. But nonetheless, we're hands-on with the dogs, hands-on new dogs. And I would like to say that we've met with some recently, like, some former clients who have gotten second dogs, didn't need to hire us after. They wanted to, but they were like, with what you're talking, I trained my second dog.
00:16:18
Speaker
So, you know, you can do this stuff on your own and you can be an add-on, meet-up to support you in other ways. But you don't need a dog trainer. When you have the hows and the whys and you know how to execute it, some people just... Or have the time, yeah. Patience time.
00:16:43
Speaker
If you don't have some of those things, then use the trainer as a resource. Use other trainers in your area if you're listening to this and don't know us. Yeah, if you don't live in the Great Lakes area, we can help you find a trainer too. We know trainers around the world. Definitely. If you need help, email us.
Reinforcing Good Behavior
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah. Cool.
00:17:12
Speaker
Another big thing is finish what you start. You know, if you're going out the door and you're letting your dog out and you ask them to sit, follow through. You know, I think sometimes we start to get complacent, like, well, they don't say it, so I'll let it slide this time. It's like, no, no, no, no. You said sit.
00:17:35
Speaker
Follow through, make that dog sit. Because what happens in a week after you've slipped up three or four times, then they're just like back at whining at the door or giving pressure to that door. And again, you just slide backwards. So, you know, you'll hear me say this during a turnover. If you've done one with me is, you know, we treat these dogs like they're perfect. So that way if we miss perfect and we're still great, you know, I see so many people aim for good.
00:18:06
Speaker
Right. And young trainers, we had to get them out of this mindset of like, Oh, they're good. They did it once. They've done it. They're good. It's like, no, no, no. Like we do it until a dog can't get it wrong. A and B we hold them accountable. They don't get it wrong. So that way if we miss, we miss very small, aim small, miss small.
Balancing Praise and Correction
00:18:29
Speaker
Um, I think there's nothing, there's no benefit for having
00:18:36
Speaker
very large boundaries. Um, your dogs do not do well with large boundaries of, of information. I'm not saying like a big backyard. I'm saying like, uh, I have an example when Jacob sends me to the grocery store and gives me a very, uh, well, first of all, if he says, Hey, go to the grocery store, get dinner. Oh no, no, no. Very confused list.
00:19:06
Speaker
No, we don't do that. I need like very concise, you know, if he says like steak, potatoes, onions, you know, sure, sure. Most people could do that. Most people, but I'm not most people because I get it wrong. So if, if I'm going either just, you know, decision paralysis. So for me, it's like, you know, I need to know what type of steak cause I might go and look
00:19:32
Speaker
and grab the wrong thing. I might grab a roast on accident. I've done that. Or thin, thin, thin cut steak. Yeah. Just not, you know, not right. So thin that you can cook it for less than a minute on both sides and it's well done. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's like for maybe, you know, quesadilla or whatever, you know, it's just not the right thing. And so, you know, you want to be precise with the boundaries that you do set with your dog.
00:20:00
Speaker
And that's the example that I like to give. That's a great example. I think the fairest thing we can do is give very clear instructions to our dogs with very clear understandings of yes and no. And that's going to give me back to the thing that we always see is that especially the people that came to us weary about tools, they tend to forget to praise.
00:20:29
Speaker
yes good boy good girl is such a powerful tool a tree here a well-timed tree is such a powerful tool that if you use it correctly
00:20:42
Speaker
You know, like it's going to fix some of your mistakes on, on the correction side. Cause you're going to miss a correction here or you're going to overcorrect there. But if you praise, right, if you hit the right rewards, it overcomes a lot of those times or you made a mistake on a correction here, a correction there. So, you know, do not be afraid. Like let's set to pull those streets out, reward your dog. Um,
00:21:07
Speaker
I don't know how many times you guys said, did you say, did you say yes to your dog? Did you tell them that it was good? And they're like, oh, I don't know. It's like, you want, like, and you, most of the times the same people who come in praising wrong, they come in and we had to correct, like, they're like praising the dog and while they're reacting or jumping and they're like, yes, you know, like, oh, so getting calm and petting the dog while they're in this bad mood or doing this thing we hate.
00:21:35
Speaker
We accidentally praise it. So, you know, praise is such a powerful tool and it can be so abused. Definitely. Not doing it enough, doing it at the wrong times, doing it too much. So we definitely want to balance our yes and no. You know, it's just like with kids, if everything's no, you know,
00:22:00
Speaker
well, why would I act with it if everything is no, and maybe everything is no, but there's not a consequence, right? That's one thing. And then also if everything is no, if I get trouble for everything, but I don't get rewarded, why do I want to, like, what's my motivation here? Yeah, we always use that demonstration of a kid with a drawing on the wall. If they're just drawing one spot and you just say no,
00:22:28
Speaker
and you don't tell them what to do next, they're just gonna go to a different part of the wall and draw. They're just gonna think, oh, that was a bad spot. They're not gonna know, hey, I'm not supposed to be drawing on that spot, or what am I supposed to draw on? But if you had, you know, come here, sit down, here's a piece of paper with your favorite cartoon character on it, draw all over that. Good to go. It'll be like, oh, I love this. And then when they do that and they get a foot roll up, they're gonna be so nappy.
00:22:59
Speaker
And it's so funny because that comes easily to most parents. I would say, I've always seen parents say no and tell their kids what they're supposed to do. Hey, the coloring book's at the table. And those are ways that you need to think about when you're working with your dog. I love it. I see how many people give human stuff to dogs the wrong way. But if we raised our dogs, like we raised our children,
00:23:28
Speaker
actually raise our children. Uh, and then I think we would all be in a better place. You know, I was told no. I give like, when we talk about like off the dangerous things, ie jumping on a counter stove, running in the street, you know, barking aggressively. I always bring up like the time my mom kind of smacked me when I was reaching and I almost grabbed a pot of chili when I was really young. Yeah. Did it suck to get smacked by my mom? Sure.
00:23:57
Speaker
But is it a lot better than work degree burns all over my body? Absolutely. And probably saved us a lot of money, both in food and in medical bills. So sometimes we have to make sure we're following through. It comes back to follow through. I just got done with the lesson before I came to shoot this. And we're talking about
00:24:26
Speaker
Oh, I didn't catch that. I didn't catch that in the moment. I can't really do anything about it. Correct. If we don't see something with a dog, we can't really correct it. You know, don't walk in. There's pee on the floor and broken nose on it. Nope. Dog doesn't know what. Like, why are you doing this to me? So gross. Uh, instead we're going to set up that situation again, right? I like jumping on the counter, uh, barking at the fence. We're going to give him the opportunity to make a mistake again.
00:24:53
Speaker
And then we'll correct in that moment. I think that's so important to say like, you have to catch your dog in the moment.
Communication with Trainers
00:25:02
Speaker
We're really getting off topic here, but I like, I like where we're going. I like where we're going. We're getting a lot of topics that Jake and I like to talk about.
00:25:09
Speaker
a lot very frequently to our clients to lessons. And I mean, this is what this podcast is for is, is really for us to establish a way for people to get as much information as possible. So while it might not be our plan. Yeah, it's the plan. It also helps that like, you know, when we see a problem that we're dealing with currently, it's awesome. You know, some of the stuff that
00:25:37
Speaker
was getting brought up is because we have a dog back that we trained a long time ago. And he's gotten very far off from where he was, just giving up issues that weren't there. And it's because they've not done a single thing that we taught them. And they're all over the place with where this dog should be.
00:26:04
Speaker
for no reason other than that's what they wanted to do. Which is fine if they weren't struggling. Yeah. Y'all do what you want to do with your dogs if you don't struggle. Right. If you're struggling, follow what we say. Bring it back in. Bring it back in. So definitely follow your instructions. Get with your trainer updates. Keep yourself updated. Do refreshers. Those are ways that you can combat
00:26:33
Speaker
being in a place that you don't want to be. Tell your trainer the truth when they ask you how you're doing. Because if I say how's he doing, you say good. And then I see you walking your dog and it's pulling you. And it's not good. Yeah. We got to be open and honest. You know, I have a lot of clients that update us and you know, I love good updates, but we invite bad updates. Hey, this is what's going on. I struggled.
00:27:04
Speaker
But that's what we're here for. We will give you advice over the phone, text messaging, emails, whatever you need. But if that doesn't help, we'll come see you. We'll bring you in. We, you know, like, we haven't opened our policy with clients. But we'll call you out if you're not doing what we told you to do. And we've absolutely walked away from clients who didn't want to do their part. And no skin off my back. I wish them well.
00:27:34
Speaker
They're not going to get the goals that they want with their dogs, not following through. Definitely. So really, that's a good place to end it.
Maintaining Consistent Training
00:27:45
Speaker
Guys, thank you so much for listening to us banter back and forth. And if you hear some craziness going on, we're hosting a party at our house right now.
00:27:56
Speaker
we're not involved in it, but we're hosting. So you might hear some kids screaming, kids crying. It's a beautiful home. So we have a lot of people coming over. And every time you'll probably hear some people and that's all right. Definitely. Um, you know, first episode, we just wanted to kind of, uh, start really just start. So, and this,
00:28:22
Speaker
If you haven't realized, this one is really for our clients, but it should work for anyone who's done a board and train with anyone. These are all facts. Follow the instructions given. Finish what you started. Start here. Keep going. You are now your dog's trainer. Carry the torch. And then we'll see you guys for the next episode. Please follow, like, subscribe, share.
00:28:51
Speaker
do everything right let's let's make us famous and comment comment ideas of what you want to hear we would love to just have a general idea of what you guys want to hear our listeners we want to bring what you want to hear to your ears so that was so cheesy but it was so true please you know subscribe but definitely comment
00:29:18
Speaker
Send us messages if you are looking for you know going through it. So definitely do all of that