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Dog Training Today: #126 Addressing Multiple Dog Behavior Issues: A Deep Dive into Virtual Consultations and Behavior Modification Techniques

• Will Bangura, M.S., CDBC, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, FFCP is a World Renowned Dog Behaviorist, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Certified Professional Dog Trainer, and a Fear Free Certified Professional with over 36 years of experience with the most difficult of

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Are you curious about how to handle a dog with multiple behavior issues? We're diving into the nitty-gritty of virtual dog consultations in this episode. We'll tackle a fascinating case of a 10-month-old dog exhibiting a multitude of issues - car anxiety, fear of the kennel, leash trouble, and potty training issues. This little guy's problems are largely linked to his new leash-and-home experiences, making for an extremely insightful conversation.

We'll also be shedding light on identifying the triggers causing the pooch's emotional distress. Our discussion will range from his fear of being picked up to noise sensitivity. We'll share with you unique training methods, including the use of chicken paste as a high-value food reward and conditioning a puppy to a clicker. Also on our docket are techniques to create a positive association with the leash and practical potty training tips.

In our deep dive into dog behavior and training, we'll also guide you on how to approach leash training for a fearful dog and the significance of desensitization. We'll teach you how to comfortably transition a puppy from an indoor to an outdoor environment. You'll learn how to train a dog to willingly enter and stay in the kennel, as well as how to condition behaviors related to being picked up. We'll also address how to manage triggers causing a dog's emotional distress and explain the difference between potty training and marking. By the end of this episode, you'll be armed with valuable knowledge to understand your dog better and address their behavior effectively. All this and more, right here in this comprehensive episode. Join us!

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Speaker 1:

Many times people ask me what actually happens when you do a virtual consultation with somebody. Recently I was doing a consultation with somebody that is fostering a dog that's 10 months old and they've got lots of issues. Hold on, don't go anywhere. We're going to get right into it now.

Speaker 2:

I'm impressed by wolves with canine DNA and his blood. Having trained more than 24,000 vets helping you and your fur babies thrive, Live in studio. It's Pet Talk today, with Will Bangura answering your pet behavior and training questions. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host and favorite pet behavior expert, Will Bangura.

Speaker 1:

Good day pet lovers. I'm Will Bangura. It's Monday, november 13th, and this is a special audio episode podcast of dog training. Today, as I said before, we went into the opener.

Speaker 1:

Oftentimes people are asking me what is it like when you do a virtual consultation? How can you help people if you're not right there with them working with their dog? What I always tell people is that, hey, listen, you're the person that needs to be trained, it's not the dog. You're the one that needs to be trained, you're the one that has the commitment to the dog and you know figure, the dog's going to live 10, 15 years. That's a long commitment.

Speaker 1:

Some of the things that is really important is that not only do you need to be the one training your dog, but dogs make mistakes, and do you know what to do when the dog makes a mistake? Because they're going to make a mistake. Every animal makes a mistake. I make one every day, whether I want to or not. I just hope that I get it out of the way early. All right, I don't want to do any more talking. Let's get right into the consultation. Okay, brittany, so I want to find out a little bit about why you contacted me and what's going on, so kind of give me the big picture.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so we actually are technically, I guess, fostering this dog that a friend had gotten and they were going to take him to a shelter and I'm sure you're aware a lot of our shelters right now are super full and they're just putting dogs down left and right so we decided that we would take him in. She explained him to be a really good dog. However, we've had a lot of issues in the last few days that we've had him.

Speaker 1:

What are some of the issues that you're dealing with?

Speaker 4:

He seems to have. I don't think he's ever been on a leash. He's almost one years old. Whenever we put the lease on him, he just he will not walk on the leash at all. He seems to have really bad anxiety in the car. He just fakes uncontrollably. They said he was potty trained. He's definitely not potty trained. He's marking a lot in the house. He's terrified of the kennel. I'll throw high value reward treats in there and we have to pick him up and he just kind of freezes Like when we stick him in he will not move.

Speaker 1:

So we've got a dog that has car anxiety, fear of the kennel and potty training issues.

Speaker 4:

And trouble on the leash.

Speaker 1:

And trouble on the leash. Are there any other problems?

Speaker 4:

That is all that we've noticed so far. He's very affectionate. He wants our attention all the time. He's really good with our other dog, he's great with my 10 month olds, great with strangers that come into the house. So, yeah, I think those are. Those are it so far?

Speaker 1:

Okay, so he's been good with dogs and other people. All right, because initially, when you contacted me, you said he's afraid of everything.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, everything except people, dogs and kids Pretty much.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what are some of the triggers that you found that he's afraid of? Now, you mentioned fear of the kennel, you mentioned car anxiety, issues with the leash, but what other things is he afraid of?

Speaker 4:

I feel like some loud noises. I've dropped something and he kind of jumped. We've only had him a few days, so I haven't. No, I mean he's good outside. When I close the gate or the door, he gets a little spooked by that. We just put our Christmas tree up. He doesn't seem to be fearful of that. Yeah, I think that's all I can think of.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So there's a couple of different things. We may have a dog that in some cases dogs have fears and it takes a specific trigger for them to start having emotional upset. And then there are some dogs that have anxiety disorders. They're yeah, they're afraid of triggers. But if you were to take away all the triggers, the dog that has an anxiety disorder is still showing emotional distress when there aren't any triggers. So with this foster dog or this rescue dog, would you say that the dog is always anxious, or is this a dog that needs to have a trigger in order for him to get into that emotional state?

Speaker 4:

That's a good question. I'm really not quite sure yet. I haven't spent enough time with him. I think I hope he doesn't have, you know, just triggers to everything we did one day. I've mentioned. We took him to the park a couple of days ago and put him in a wagon because he won't walk on the leash, and he just shook the entire time in the wagon too. I'm hoping it's just triggers or just because it's a new environment and he's, you know, been passed around a couple of times.

Speaker 1:

Well, it sounds like we've got a few things. So you know, being in that buggy and he was shaking, have you noticed him shaking, trembling, with any other triggers?

Speaker 4:

Just in the car and the wagon.

Speaker 1:

In the wagon, okay.

Speaker 4:

So yeah, I guess moving things and he also. He doesn't love being picked up, he doesn't shake, but you can tell he doesn't like it.

Speaker 1:

What does he do when you pick him up?

Speaker 4:

He tries to jump down.

Speaker 1:

Okay. Does he have touch sensitivity? If you weren't picking him up?

Speaker 4:

No, he loves to be touched. He's constantly trying to sit in our lap and like nudging at our hands to pet him. He's a very affectionate dog.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and when you got, I mean you say he's very affectionate. So if it's just you and your husband hanging out, what is the dog doing?

Speaker 4:

He wants to sit in our lap.

Speaker 1:

Sit in your lap so he's not like fearful at that point.

Speaker 4:

No.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so it sounds like if there's not a trigger, the dog is calm and relaxed or kind of normal. But there are so far. How long have you had him?

Speaker 4:

We got him on the evening of the ninth and it's the 13th. Okay, so you got him on the evening of the ninth.

Speaker 1:

It's about four days and let's make a comprehensive list of the things that you've noted in the last four days that have caused this dog emotional upset. Now let's go through the ones we already have. We got the car, got the wagon, we've got the kennel, we've got the leash, we've got being picked up. What else have you noticed? The car Got the car, the wagon, the kennel, the leash, and being picked up.

Speaker 4:

That is all that I've noticed so far.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what kind of noise sensitivities if there are any does the dog have?

Speaker 4:

So if our dog starts crying or barking, he'll start. So we haven't heard him bark yet In the last four days. He's not barked. He does whine, though. So he whines when our other dog whines or barks.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I can't remember what it is that I dropped, but I dropped something in the kitchen and that kind of spooked him and he jumped back and let me ask you this, and I don't want you to forget what else he was spooked about, but I want to interrupt you here when he was spooked, how did you know he was spooked Meaning? Basically, I want you to describe outward behavior, and how long did he stay upset or did he recover quickly?

Speaker 4:

He recovered very quickly. He just kind of jumped back and then came right up to what it was that had fallen.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I don't necessarily consider that a problem, because I think if we're not expecting something, it's easy to get startled with a noise. What we would really look at is how sensitive, what's the reaction of that dog when it's startled? How severe or intense is it, and then how long does it last?

Speaker 4:

Okay, okay. So then, yeah, then I would just say yeah, because even the whining, when our other dog whines, he stops as soon as our other dog stops. So I guess maybe not a ton of sound triggers, okay.

Speaker 1:

And when you were, you mentioned that he's got you know fear of the crate. What have you done? How have you identified that there's fear of the crate?

Speaker 4:

So we opened up the kennel. We tried feeding him in the crate so that way he could kind of get used to it with the door open of course. Yeah, We've thrown some treats in there. He will not go in. So we've gotten to a point where I've taken some of the food from his bowl and kind of given like a trail leading up to the kennel. So a little bit of food on the floor. Does that make sense? Yep.

Speaker 4:

And he'll. He's starting to eat in the kennel with his body outside. So just his head. Yeah, Treats, he will not go in. And when we try to put him in the kennel you kind of like breezes up and won't move his legs. And then when we put him in the kennel he just kind of stands still and doesn't move.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what kind of kennel is this? Is this a plastic type kennel? Is it a metal kennel?

Speaker 4:

It's metal.

Speaker 1:

Okay, it's metal, so it's not covered, or anything like that.

Speaker 4:

No, there is a dog bed in it, though, because when we initially put him in there without the dog bed. He was like flipping around.

Speaker 1:

When there was no dog bed in there.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, just that crate bottom.

Speaker 1:

Got it Okay when you did put him in the kennel. I mean, you said he was flipping around. What kind of behavior displays? Cause I heard just a little while ago that you put him in the kennel and he froze.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, he didn't make, he didn't bark, he didn't whine, he like did not make a sound. He just kind of was like frozen when he was flipping around. That's kind of when I put him in and he we didn't leave him in it very long because I don't want the kennel to be a fearful place for him. Sure. So and there hasn't been a situation where we need to kennel him, so we've been kind of taking that slowly.

Speaker 1:

Okay, no-transcript. What would you say is your biggest concern right now?

Speaker 4:

Biggest concern Probably the trouble on the leash and the marking and the kennel training. So out of all, out of those three, Okay, I think every dog.

Speaker 1:

well, let me ask you this Well, he's marking. So I was going to say hey, how's his behavior if you were to leave him and not kennel him? Do you know whether or not, if, let's say, you did not kennel the dog and you left Would there be separation anxiety?

Speaker 4:

I'm not sure. He seems to be really attached to our one dog, so I think that he would be okay with Kona. What I heard from the person that we took him from was that before them he was an outdoor dog, so he was just outside with two other dogs and that was the extent. So I don't think he's had much human interaction in his life. Okay, so you live in a home, correct?

Speaker 1:

Yes, and you've got a backyard correct. All right, I'm going to encourage you to start doing some things to get your dog comfortable With the crate, but I'm going to encourage you to start doing it outside in the backyard first, because you told me this dog was an outside dog.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so yeah, you should be a little more comfortable outside, Okay, and what I want you to do is I want you to get some. This is a little bit more comfortable. What I want you to do is I want you to get some. Does he have any food allergies?

Speaker 4:

Not that I know.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So there's a couple of things that I want to do. First of all, I think it's really important when we're communicating with the dog, that it's very clear and they understand what it is we want them to do and that they understand that the thing that we want them to do, or that there are certain things that bring about reinforcers, that bring about rewards Okay, and part of that being able to make that really clear is starting with using markers and training, and the best thing when you have a dog that has some fears is to use a clicker as a marker. Now you told me that this dog, if it hears a sound and it gets scared, it recovers quickly. Okay, so what I want you to do, I want you to get a clicker and don't get that square kind of box, kind of a rectangle. Don't get that little rectangle, one that's got the metal thing that you push down, the little box clicker. Go get one you know on, let's say, amazon or something like that. That's plastic, that has a plastic button. That'll be quieter.

Speaker 4:

Perfect Yep, I'm familiar with those.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So what I want you to do is I want you to get some canned chicken and I want you to click and give your dog just a little bit of that. Actually, no, we're going to do something different. So I want you to take canned chicken, I want you to put it in a blender and I want you to make a paste that we can put in a squeeze bottle. If we were to take that bottle and turn it upside down, I don't want stuff dripping out of there. I want it that you have to squeeze it, but I don't want it so thick that it's hard for you to squeeze. Okay, so?

Speaker 4:

when you say squeeze bottle, do you mean like one of those, like kind of original, like ketchup bottles?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that has like a nozzle on it.

Speaker 4:

Yep Perfect.

Speaker 1:

Okay, now what I want you to begin to do is you're going to click. Well, the first thing, before you even condition the dog to the clicker, I want to make sure that he likes our high value food reward. And what we're going to use for that high value food reward is going to be this chicken paste, because this dog is going to need a lot of reinforcement number one for a lot of things because we have a lot of fears. Okay, so we're going to need to reinforce calm, relaxed, confident behavior anytime that occurs, and we don't want the dog to just get completely full, and so if we're using chicken paste, all we need is enough that the dog can taste it and it's yummy, and this way the dog gets a lot less and we're not filling the dog up as much, because if they get full, well, now we don't have a reinforcer.

Speaker 1:

It's only a reinforcer if they're hungry right. Yep.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, now the first small dog too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and so the first thing that I'm going to want you to do after you make that chicken paste is I'm going to want you to squeeze a line of that chicken paste on your on the palm of your hand Okay, okay, and let the puppy lick on that. And hopefully the puppy will lick. And then what I want you to do is I want you to put another line after he licks that line. Put another, squeeze another line on your palm, but when you finish squeezing that line, keep the nozzle of the squeeze bottle at the end of the line. As your dog is licking that chicken paste on your palm that you squeezed into a line, eventually he gets to the nozzle. Right before he gets to the nozzle, I want you to start squeezing slowly. What I'm wanting?

Speaker 4:

Slowly.

Speaker 1:

I want you to squeeze slowly. Once he gets to the nozzle, I want you to squeeze slowly. What I'm hoping is that he's going to start licking your palm and the nozzle as it's coming out. Some dogs are a little nervous about this nozzle, so that's why I say squeeze a line on your palm, leave the nozzle at the end of the line. Your dog licks your palm. Then do another line and then, as the dog licks your palm, licks that line as it gets close to the nozzle. Just start squeezing a little bit. See if he starts licking right where the nozzle is on your palm. Once you've got that, he likes it. Everything's good.

Speaker 1:

Now you're going to start conditioning a marker and you're going to use one of these clickers. I'm going to have you get the plastic kind, so it's going to be quieter. And in order to condition the clicker, all you're going to do is 30 times in a row, you're going to give a click, you're going to give a tiny bit of that chicken paste. Then, when your dog's done eating that little bit of chicken paste, you're going to click again, give more chicken paste, but just a little. So it's click treat, click treat, click treat, but in this case it's that chicken paste. That's the treat.

Speaker 4:

Perfect. So he associates the click with the reward.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, and I'm going to have you do that 30 times in a row, do that when he's hungry and do that for about three days and then on day four, when you know your dog's hungry and he's awake and he's near you but he doesn't think you're playing this click treat game, I want you to arbitrarily click the clicker. We want your dog to come running to you for chicken paste. If when your dog hears that clicker on day four it doesn't run to you for chicken paste and the dog loved the chicken paste and you've been conditioning that clicker for three days your dog's not getting it. So either your timing is off and the sequence is important. Don't do anything with the food, click, then the food. Really important. We're not messing with food until after the sound of the click, but as soon as the click happens, boom. We got to have that. Just a little bit of chicken paste for the dog.

Speaker 4:

Click reward.

Speaker 1:

click reward 30 times 30 times in a row, three days in a row, Then day four. You're going to test that clicker and see if it elicits the dog's brain to go. I'm getting a yummy, high value food reward. Let me run to mom If that happens. Now we know that the dog has been conditioned to the clicker. Okay, Perfect.

Speaker 4:

Now question yes, because my other two dogs are clicker trained to where, if I click, they come running for a reward. Yeah, since I have two other dogs in the home, should I do this clicker training with him, away from my other dog?

Speaker 1:

Initially yes.

Speaker 4:

Perfect, Because on day four I don't want him to come running to me because I clicked the clicker and the other dogs are also coming. You know, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell if he's coming to me because he understands.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So you'll just put those dogs up when you're doing that conditioning and then when you're doing certain training exercises in the beginning you'll just kind of put those dogs up, okay.

Speaker 4:

Perfect, easy, peasy, all right.

Speaker 1:

So let's assume we've conditioned the clicker and your dog likes the chicken paste and the dog isn't afraid of that nozzle. Okay, I want you to start capturing behaviors that the dog offers that you like that you're going to want.

Speaker 1:

For example, you're going to want the dog to sit. You may ask him to sit, you're going to want that. You may ask him to want to lie down and you may want him to learn to lie down. You may want him to come to you. You may want him to drop something that he has in his mouth. Okay, now, there are lots of behaviors that this dog is going to offer Many times throughout the day. It's going to sit on its own, it's going to lay down on its own, it's going to grab a toy or a bone or something, and then it's going to let that go. It's going to come running to you. Okay, it's going to do lots of things.

Speaker 1:

I want you to have your clicker and your squeeze bottle with you at all times. So first thing in the morning you're going to go ahead and grab that squeeze bottle and your clicker and have it with you. If it helps to have a treat pouch so you can put that squeeze bottle in there, great. Correct.

Speaker 1:

The first thing we want to do is we want to start making associations with certain behaviors, that they have value, and we're going to eventually then put those on cue or command. So every time you happen to see your dog sit on its own as it's happening, you got to do this. As it's happening, you say sit. You're not asking for it, you're just labeling behavior that your dog offers. We call that capturing. Okay, every time your dog sits, I want you to say sit, and then click and reward. Every time you click, you must reward or don't click.

Speaker 4:

Should I or can I do this when he goes to the bathroom outside as well?

Speaker 1:

Yep, every behavior that you like. Now let me add to the bathroom behavior. As he's going very, very quietly, I want you to repeat a mantra I don't care what it is, so potty, potty, potty, potty, potty, whatever you want, as soon as he starts going to the bathroom, you're going to do that. If you're too loud or excitable, you're going to interrupt him and he'll stop going. So that's why it's quiet and it's this ongoing mantra. Okay, as soon as he starts going, potty, potty, potty, potty, as soon as he finishes, you're going to click, don't click. When your dog starts going to the bathroom, He'll stop. Come to you for a treat. Now the reason we're gonna start saying potty when he goes and we're not asking for it, we're labeling it again. We're capturing. When he goes to the bathroom, we're just gonna label it potty, potty, potty, and when he finishes, we click and reward. And I don't care if we're saying potty, for when he goes pee or poop, whatever you could say, pudding, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1:

But what we wanna do is start creating an association with a cue or command and that behavior of going to the bathroom, so that down the road we can say potty, and there's a light bulb that goes off in the dog's head and he goes. Oh, I know what that is and if I do that I'm gonna get a high value reward. So your dog's gonna wanna do that, but don't ask for it yet. There's gotta be time and repetition of conditioning. Okay.

Speaker 4:

Okay, so start with the, obviously the click reward for three days.

Speaker 1:

first, yeah, you can't use the clicker until your dog understands that that click means I'm getting a treat. Okay, but now because timing is critical, you literally have about a second to get the food in the dog's mouth and so oftentimes we can't do that. Let's say, your dog's pot going to the bathroom. When you're not right on top of the dog, you might not be able to get the food to the dog when the dog stops within a second. Well, when you click the clicker, that's a signal to the dog I'm getting a food reward. So your timing, once you've got that clicker conditioned, your timing of rewards is perfect. As long as you click quickly, it buys you a few seconds to get the treat to the dog, because the dog understands that click means, hey, I'm getting a treat. So the clicker, which is a marker, is a bridge to the food, Does that?

Speaker 4:

make sense, that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

Okay now, like I said, we're gonna start capturing things. You're gonna capture the dog going to the bathroom. You're gonna label that, click and reward when the dog finishes. So when the dog comes up from a squat, you click and reward. If the dog is lifting its leg and stops, you click and reward. Obviously, we only wanna do that when it's going to the bathroom in the proper places. Okay.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

So we were talking about capturing and your dog's gonna sit many times on its own. I want you to say sit. When your dog does it, then click and reward. Your dog's gonna lay down on its own a lot. When you notice it, capture it, say down, click and reward. If your dog comes running to, you say come, and when the dog gets to, you click and reward. If your dog lies down on the ground and then your dog actually puts its head on the ground and I don't mean straight, I mean if the dog's laying on its side, got a picture of that so the dog goes and lays on its side and has its head on the ground, if that happens you're gonna say relax but click and reward. So that one, there's a difference between down and relax. Relax the dog as its head and the side of its body lying down on its side.

Speaker 4:

Okay, Got it okay, perfect.

Speaker 1:

Now any behavior you like. The dog has something in its mouth and it lets it go. Say drop, click and reward Okay. Perfect.

Speaker 1:

All right. Now one of the things because you've put the leash on the dog and the dog had a negative experience we gotta start making that leash a more positive experience just from the get go. And so one of the things I want you to do is just bring the leash out and lie it on the ground around some toys and don't do anything with the leash. Okay, but so do that for maybe two days. Let the dog just kind of explore that leash without it moving for two days.

Speaker 1:

Then, once you've got the clicker conditioned, as yeah, as once you've got the clicker conditioned, now what I want you to do after you know a day or two where the dog's just been exploring the leash, now, after the dog has had the opportunity to explore the leash for a couple of days, then what I want you to do is begin as your dog is close to you, pick up the leash just a little bit and click and reward, then set the leash on the ground and I'm gonna have you do that 10 times. You're gonna pick up the leash, click, set it on the ground, pick up the leash, click and, of course, when you click, you're gonna reward. Okay, Okay.

Speaker 1:

Don't move the leash towards the dog, just let him see. You pick it up, click and reward. The dog's gonna come to you for the reward, most likely. Okay, you set the leash on the ground, pick it up like by the clasp. Okay, so pick it up by the clasp, click reward. Set it down. Pick it up by the clasp, click reward, set it down. Okay. After you've done that for you know, maybe two days your dog should love this little game. Okay, now the next step. Does your dog have like a regular flat collar that it wears for, like ID tags? Yes.

Speaker 1:

All right. And when you walked your dog, did you have it on the leash excuse me, on a harness or on their collar? Where'd you hook the leash to?

Speaker 4:

So we were doing just like the flat everyday collar, and then we recently switched to a harness.

Speaker 1:

And he lays down both times yeah, Okay, so we're just gonna start working with the flat collar. I know a lot of people love to use a harness. I'm more into a flat collar. My contention is this if we teach the dog not to pull on the leash, then the dog's not choking with the collar and we don't need a harness.

Speaker 1:

okay, All right, so the next step you've been picking it up, clicking, rewarding, setting it down. Do that for about two days. Then you're going to pick it up, clip it to the dog's collar, click the clicker feed and then unclip the leash from the dog's collar. Then you're gonna repeat that. You're gonna go ahead, take the leash with the clasp, clasp that on the dog's collar, then click and reward, then click and reward, then take it off. Then put it on, click and reward, take it off, put it on, click and reward, take it off. Do that for about two days and again. When you do this 10 times in a row, you can do this more than once a day.

Speaker 1:

Now, if your dog starts to show stress, you need to stop and see okay, at what point did the stress start? All right, and maybe you picked up the leash, just hypothetically. You pick up the leash, click and reward. The dog's fine. You pick up the leash, you go to clasp it on the dog's collar. The dog's not okay. Well, at what point? Because the dog was okay when we picked up the leash. Did the dog get distressed when it actually got clasped onto the collar or did it start when we started moving it towards the dog? And if it started as we're moving it towards the dog, the leash moving it towards the dog's collar. At what distance did the dog begin to show distress, if that?

Speaker 1:

happens at the distance, the dog showed distress. You need to back up and do the same process, just don't go as far. So let's say that and again, this is hypothetical let's say we can pick up the leash clasp and the dog can be next to us and the dog's fine, and we click and reward, set it down, pick it up, click and reward, set it down. And let's say then we get to the point two days later we wanna start clipping the leash to the collar on the dog. We pick it up, we start moving the leash towards the dog. Let's say that when we got two inches from the dog's collar the dog started to show distress. If that's the case, then what I'm gonna do for a few days is pick up the leash, move it towards the dog's collar, but short of the distance where the dog starts to have distress and I'm gonna be clicking and rewarding. So maybe I can only get it halfway to the dog and I click and reward. But I've gotta make sure that, as I'm introducing the things that are scary to the dog, that the dog's not showing distress. If the dog is, then I need to break things down into smaller pieces and only go as far as the dog is comfortable and condition that for a while. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1:

All right, okay, let's say, though we get to the part where we can clasp the leash to the dog's collar, then what we're gonna do is we're gonna take that leash and we're going to pull. But hear me out now. Hear me out. Imagine that the leash is attached to the collar and you're moving the leash away from the collar and you're at the leash. As far as its height, it's at neck level, okay, and the leash is parallel to the ground. Are you following me?

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, before the leash gets tight, okay, it's gonna be loose. Pull it until right before it can have any tension. So there's still no tension on the leash, okay, and what you're gonna do is you're gonna give the slightest little bit of tension, click and release tension and reward. You're not pulling so hard that you're moving the dog. All we're trying to do is get the dog comfortable with the slightest little bit of leash pressure and click and reward. Now, if we're doing this and the dog gets upset, we put too much pressure on too soon. We'd have to give less pressure and click and reward for a while at that pressure, okay. Now, once the dog gets comfortable, you're not moving the dog, so the dog stationary. All you're doing is putting the slightest little bit of pressure I mean just a tiny bit and doing that over and over 10 times in a row, making sure that the dog's not displaying any stress. If it is, we need to back up a step, put it into smaller pieces and go back a step or two. All right, let's say the dog is doing fine with that little bit of pressure. Now the next thing we're gonna do is we're gonna do the exact same thing, but we're gonna add a little more pressure, all right, and maybe it's enough pressure that it actually can move the dog.

Speaker 1:

But if we move the dog in the direction that the leash is being pulled and it's parallel to the ground at your dog's neck and collar level, you only want to move the dog the slightest distance, I'm talking like a half inch or an inch. So you use that leash to move the dog about a half inch or an inch. You let go of the pressure immediately. So you move the dog, click, let go of pressure, reward, move the dog a half inch to an inch with the leash You're gonna click, release pressure and reward. So basically you're starting to show the dog. Okay, when you feel leash pressure, it's a good thing, you get a reward.

Speaker 1:

When you feel leash pressure and you move even slightly in the direction of the leash pressure, you get a reward. And when you start to move with the leash pressure, that pressure goes away. So we're teaching the dog what that leash means and what the leash pressure means and a little bit of pressure on the collar what that means. Okay, we're not using any force. We're not using any type of correction or aversive. This is not anything that's going to cause any kind of pain. But we've got a dog that's very fearful and hasn't been exposed to a lot of things, so we've got to take baby steps and with those baby steps we've got to pair very positive things with it, to start getting the dog to like the things that it's nervous with. Does that make sense?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1:

Now, as the dog gets comfortable with that, you can start giving the dog a little bit of pressure in the opposite direction to get the dog to kind of turn a little bit. So you can start teaching the dog hey, if there's a little pressure and I want you to turn, if I'm guiding you with the leash, again, we're not correcting with the leash, I'm giving you a little tug, relax, little tug, click and relax. Little tug, click and relax. And we're only trying to move the dog the tiniest amount. Once the dog realizes that that little pressure means move and it moves. And as soon as it moves the pressure goes away and it gets a reward, the dog will be a lot more amenable to being on the pressure. But any dog, when you first put a collar on, you put pressure on a leash. There's a thing called oppositional reflex. They're going to go ahead and put the brakes on and they may do what your dog did lay down, lay down.

Speaker 1:

Now, as I'm able to now use that leash with the dog, I'm just going to start moving the dog around in the house first and anytime I take a step and the dog moves with me, I'm going to click and reward Anytime I take a turn with the dog on the leash. I'm going to click and reward Anytime I might need to guide the dog with very, very, very light leash pressure. That's just a moment in time and then we relax it. If the dog takes direction from that guidance, I'm going to click and reward. Does that make sense? And I'm doing that in the house first. Okay, Okay.

Speaker 1:

Then what I'm going to do. I'm going to then move from in the house to the backyard where the dog's more comfortable, and then, when that happens and the dog's comfortable there, then I'm going to move outside, maybe in the neighborhood, on the sidewalk or something like that. Okay, Okay. All right. So that's helping the dog get used to the leash, all right.

Speaker 4:

And Perfect.

Speaker 1:

And then it seems, if everything goes right, if he's not timid and it should take about less than 10 days to get him at least be sensitized to the idea of the leash- Right and then, anytime he gets guidance from the leash and he moves, you can also start to capture the movement that he did because of the guidance on the leash and you could label that let's go, click and reward Right. Initially, you're not going to put any cue on the behavior. You're just creating the behavior, making it a positive experience, through desensitization and counter conditioning. That's what we're doing Desensitization, very gradual, very systematic, very slowly, one baby step at a time. Counter conditioning that means that the things we're asking the dog to do, when the dog's doing it, we're feeding the dog, but the dog is not in a distressed state. If the dog is upset emotionally, you have gone too far too soon. You need to break it down in smaller steps and get the dog used to that by pairing something very positive In this case this chicken paste with what the dog doesn't like. Okay, now one of the things I also want you to do.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about the kennel. So we're going to start with the kennel outside and we're going to make a little line of paste up to the kennel. Then, when that happens and the dog's going up to the kennel, then we're going to put a little line in the kennel, put a line of paste in the kennel. Let's see how far the dog's willing to go in. All right If the dog only goes in halfway. Well you know, you need to stay at that distance for a while. Don't try to get the dog going in there a little further. Just you know. Start at the beginning of the kennel, go halfway if that's where the dog goes, all right. But then little by little you're going to move the start line of that line of chicken paste further and further in the kennel. Does that make sense? Yep.

Speaker 1:

All right, so you might start with a four-inch line and it starts at the beginning of the kennel. It goes four inches in the kennel and little by little you extend that line in there. But where the dog refuses to go any further, you know, okay, that's the dog's threshold. We need to keep the dog below threshold for a while, creating more repetition of this being very positive okay, and as the dog starts having positive experiences and nothing horrible happens at that distance of going in for a while, then your dog will be more amenable down the road as you start moving that line of chicken paste further into the crate. Does that make sense?

Speaker 4:

It does yes.

Speaker 1:

All right. And as the dog is willing to go in the crate, label the behavior, kennel, label that behavior. And then what you'll be able to do is do a little, squirt a paste, dog goes in there, you say kennel. As your dog goes in there, you say kennel. Before the dog starts licking the paste you click. Now, in the beginning you're not going to be saying kennel, the dog's just going to be licking paste near the kennel. Okay, but then eventually, as the dog's willing to go into the kennel a little bit, baby steps, that's when you're going to start labeling it kennel, clicking and rewarding.

Speaker 4:

Label, click, reward, got it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and once your dog's. I don't care if your dog only goes in there two inches. You want to do that 10 times in a row every day. How many? Times, 10 times in a row every day 10 times in a row. Just think about 10 being the magic number that you know. We've got to do enough repetitions each time for learning to start to take place, and my magic number for that is 10.

Speaker 4:

Perfect. Yeah, I'm taking an expensive note right now.

Speaker 1:

My reasoning behind starting the kennel outside is because he was an outside dog. I'm hoping he's going to be more comfortable. The other thing that I would do is I would get him in the backyard and begin working with the leash outside also.

Speaker 4:

Okay, yep, that's what I've been doing, but I just put it on him and kind of let him run around, which he seems okay with. Okay, but not every situation is going to warrant me coming outside to put the leash on him. I'm going to need to put the leash on him inside to take him outside.

Speaker 1:

Right, right, and you know you can do what you've been doing. That's been okay. But start pairing chicken paste with that click and reward. So that has that behavior. That thing about you putting the leash on there needs to be something really good associated with that, really positive yeah because I've tried the.

Speaker 4:

I've tried, like the training treats and he's interested, but not nearly as interested as something more high value, Like I've done hot dogs and he really likes those. But I think the chicken paste would be good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and if he doesn't love the chicken paste, we've got to use something he loves. You could take hot dogs. You could make a paste out of hot dogs. Oh, perfect, okay, if you needed to Find what he loves, whatever he loves the most, make a paste. All right, the higher the value, the better. And you know, once he's comfortable with those things outside, then start doing them inside. But when you start doing them inside, back up a few steps. Don't start at the at the point you ended outside, back up a few steps. So let's say, for example, outside the dog was willing to go all the way, in the crate, all the way. Well, when you start doing it inside, I want you to not have the dog go all the way in. Back up a few steps and build the dog back up in the new location.

Speaker 4:

Okay, and then?

Speaker 1:

I yep, and I want you to do that with the crate in different rooms of the house.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

All right, all right, so that's going to be, you know, working on the kennel. Now let's talk about being picked up. All right, now, before you pick up the puppy, you have to reach your hands out and touch the dog. You have to put your hands I don't know if you've got one, you know, under the dog's belly and one you know, underneath the neck, but kind of grabbing the shoulders. I don't know what you're doing, but before you pick up the dog, whatever, wherever you are, right before you start to lift that should be probably as far as you go Don't lift, but do what you were doing, like touching the dog, as if you're going to lift and click and reward. Now you're going to need a helper because you're going to be touching the dog and it's hard if you got two hands doing like, hey, I'm going to pick you up to be able to click.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you go underneath or however you're going to pick up the dog, watch the dog. Does the dog get upset just with that? Because it might be. We need to go and touch less. There's a couple of things with touch. There's how firmly we're touching and there's the duration of how long we're touching, and you need to start with, just very soft touch for very short duration and you're not picking the dog up, but you're doing the grab right before you pick the dog up. Does that make sense? Yep.

Speaker 1:

Again, what are you going to do 10 times in a row Every day? Okay, now, if that's going well, then after a couple days, then still don't pick up the dog, but just put a little more pressure, as if you're picking up, so kind of like you know, as you pick up, there starts to become more pressure of your hands underneath the dog, right, just don't go all the way to a full pickup, just put a little pressure, click and reward, then put your arms out.

Speaker 4:

Should I label this behavior or would it be a behavior?

Speaker 1:

You don't need to necessarily label this behavior. Okay, if you want to, you can. But my concern is I wouldn't want to put a label on a behavior. If the dog is nervous, right. And if the dog is nervous, we've gone too far too soon. We need to back up, take smaller steps forward. So again, as you come underneath the dog, initially it's just come underneath, you might not be touching at all. Then it might be coming underneath in a very light touch for a millisecond. Then it might be coming underneath and putting a little more pressure on the dog. You're still not picking it up, but you're holding that there a little bit longer.

Speaker 4:

Okay, Because think about it Okay.

Speaker 1:

Go ahead.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

Go ahead.

Speaker 4:

I have one problem with this, and it is the fact that we live in a two-story house and all of our bedrooms are upstairs, and we've had him sleeping upstairs with us. Yeah, he refuses to walk up the stairs.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 4:

So we normally pick him up to take him up the stairs.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what's he doing when you pick him up? Because you said he doesn't like to be picked up.

Speaker 4:

He just like freezes.

Speaker 1:

He freezes.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, he just lays flat and is like like he'll either lay down and then we pick him up. He doesn't like bark or try to bite or anything aggressive.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you can just tell he's very scared, and when he comes upstairs, where is he sleeping?

Speaker 4:

Where what?

Speaker 1:

Where is he sleeping?

Speaker 4:

He sleeps in the dog bed with Kona, or he sleeps in our bed. Okay, he has no problem jumping, you know, on furniture and stuff like that, but for some reason, stairs he just won't even try it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah and yeah. The tough part is you're going straight into this big lift and you're bringing him up there. What I want you to try to do is, since you've already gone that far in the process and he's, you know, scared, see if you can just lift him up, not go anywhere. See if you can lift him up and click and reward, but don't do that till after he understands what the click is and he's getting something good. If he won't take the food when you lift him up, he's too nervous. Obviously, right, dogs, they won't eat. If they're too nervous, it's also going to let you know where your starting point is, you know. So let's say, if he was comfortable enough eating as you lift him up, well, maybe you can continue to feed as you're walking up the stairs, I don't know. But if he's comfortable enough taking the food, see how far you can go with that. Now, I wouldn't have started there, but you've already begun that process, so we need to modify what we're doing.

Speaker 1:

Now, one of the things that you might find is putting the dog on the second to the last step, and having the dog come down might be easier to start with. Okay, all right.

Speaker 1:

You can put him on that second step, see if he'll come down a little bit and I would. If he'll do that and you can take food to kind of lure him, bring that food by his nose, then bring it down by the mouth Very slowly. Start to move it where he's got to come down off of that second step. If he doesn't continue to follow the lure, don't pull. If he stops to follow, don't keep pulling that lure. Bring it right back by that nose and do it really slow, okay.

Speaker 4:

Okay, yeah.

Speaker 1:

That makes sense. If he won't do that, then start with the last step, and I would do that for a few days. Let's get him comfortable coming down a step or two. Then let's see if we can't lure him up a step and stay with that for a little bit. And then let's see if we can lure him up two steps and stay with that for a little bit and see if we can't lure him up for three steps. You've got to take little baby steps, literally as well as figuratively.

Speaker 1:

We're going to take little baby steps and it's got to be a positive experience, all right. Now I would recommend the dog, because you said that I don't know if the dog has crate anxiety or if the dog has separation anxiety or the dog has both. All right, it would be interesting to find out. If you leave and the dog sees you leave, does the dog have upset? Are you able to set up a webcam and maybe walk out and get an idea of how the dog's reacting?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, probably All right.

Speaker 1:

Because you may go ahead.

Speaker 4:

There's been times where, because again, we live in a two story house and I have a baby, we've got baby gates absolutely everywhere and I'll leave him downstairs at the bottom because he won't go upstairs and I'll close that gate and I'll walk upstairs to get something and sometimes he'll wait by the bottom of the stairs or sometimes he'll just be in the living room laying on the couch.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha.

Speaker 4:

Okay, so I think it would be probably more like barrier anxiety versus separation.

Speaker 1:

Right, but when you just have gates up, he's not that upset, is he?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

You might be able to go and use maybe an X pen and then move into the crate. While you're working on getting him comfortable with the crate, he might be comfortable in an X pen Okay.

Speaker 4:

I've got a few of those actually.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and one of the things you can do is you can begin to put him in the X pen outside first.

Speaker 4:

I've got one outside already set up.

Speaker 1:

Put him out there, click and reward, take him out of there. Bring him in there, click and reward, take him out of there. Bring him in there, click and reward, take him out of there, bring him in there. Make him wait just a little bit longer before the click and reward and little by little, add a little bit of time. I mean very slowly, add a little more time. The dog has to be in there before the click, all right. And then move that X pen around in the backyard to different areas and do it in different areas in the backyard. Then move it into the house and start doing it in the house and do that in different areas in the house.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

All right, and again short duration, big reward, little by little, very gradually adding a little more duration. Start outside, where it's going to be probably a lot easier for the dog, since it was an outside dog Okay, and it's a more open area being outside. So there's this less confining situation to get him started with that. Now make sure only good things happen when he goes in there and when he comes out nothing great is happening. Because if you like, all of a sudden he comes out and you like, oh, you did so good going in there, now he's getting a reward for being out, I want the good stuff to happen when he's in there, so when he comes out we're just kind of placid, okay.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

All right. When it comes to the car anxiety, you have to find out where that begins. Does it begin as you're going into the garage? Does it begin as you're grabbing the handle of the door? Does it begin as you bring the dog into the car? Does it begin when the car starts? Does it begin when there's movement, as in you're backing out of the car? Does it happen when you're at a particular speed? So what you need to do is find out where does the dog's upset begin, and I'm not talking about the big upset, I'm talking about the mild upset.

Speaker 4:

And probably the leash.

Speaker 1:

The leash to go into the car.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, because we put the leash on him before we take him outside. So we have to do in order to get him into the car, we have to do everything that stresses him out. We have to put the leash on, we have to pick him up and then we have to put him in the car.

Speaker 1:

So you're going to have to work on the leash and you're going to have to work on picking up first, and when he gets comfortable with that, then you can put the leash on, pick him up, put him in the car, click reward, take him out of the car, pick him up.

Speaker 4:

Okay, so the only time he sakes is when he's in the car or he's in the wagon and the shaking in the car starts before the car is even turned on. So I'm sure movement also yeah. So what if it's made just being off of the ground?

Speaker 1:

Well, he's upset with the leash, it starts there. Then he's upset with being picked up. We call that trigger stacking. First trigger leash. Second trigger picking him up. Third trigger Now he's in the car. Okay, so you've got a lot of scary things just stacking up on top of each other. You get him comfortable with the leash, then get him comfortable being picked up, then that's not going to be the anxiety starting point. Okay, and then what you should if he's comfortable with that, then you do that near the car, but you don't actually open the car door and put him in there, put the leash on, go to the car, pick him up Because he's been okay. Remember, at this point he's okay with the leash going on because you've done that work and the dog's okay with you picking him up and we're not going in the car, we're just going to the car and make sure that that's okay. Now, when you start to do this, do this in the driveway, don't do it inside the garage, where it's more confined. Have the space bigger and more open to start with.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

And then you want to get him comfortable with okay, you pick him up, you open the car door, you click and reward, you set him down, you close the door and you do that a bunch of times. Get him comfortable with that. Then take it a step further. If he's comfortable with that, pick him up, open the door, put him in the car, click, reward, take him out, Pick him up open the door, put him in the car, click, reward, take him out.

Speaker 1:

But before we did that, we were working on getting him comfortable just with the leash, and we were working on getting him comfortable just being picked up, and we started doing that outside. And when those things were going well, now we added one more component. We're going to go ahead and do that near the car, but the car is going to be like in the driveway, where we got lots of room around, okay, and you could also begin to do fun things around the car in the driveway that are completely separate from doing any training, so that fun things, good things, are happening by the car right from the get-go.

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

Then the next step might be you know, let's say we've gotten him conditioned and he's desensitized, we can get him on the leash, we can get him outside, we can pick him up, we can put him in the car. Then the next step would be just turning the key on click reward, turn the key off. Turn the key on click reward. Turn the key off. Turn the key on click reward. Turn the key off. Get him used to that. Okay, get him comfortable with that. And the next step is doing that but adding one more step putting it in reverse. And there's a little clunk and the car moves. Don't keep your foot on the brake, just go from park reverse, park reverse, park reverse. That goes well. You're clicking every time you change that gear. Then, once he's comfortable with that, then it's taking your foot off the brake, letting it go into reverse for just a short duration. You haven't even gone out of the driveway yet. Once moved a couple feet, you put the brake on click reward. Move a couple feet in reverse, put the brake on click and reward. Obviously you need a helper, one person's driving. You're communicating with the driver, you're watching the dog, making sure that we're not taking it too far before the dog is ready for it, that we are doing this in very slow, methodical, gradual, systematic steps forward. Okay. At any point the dog gets nervous. That's just communication that tells us, hey, we're moving too quick, we need to back up a little bit and create positive associations a little bit longer on that step proceeding where the dog gets nervous because we didn't do enough work there to be able to move forward a little bit. Okay. Then it's about adding more movement, then it's about adding more speed, then it's about taking slow turns, then it's about taking faster turns, then it's also about stopping, starting, stopping, starting, stopping. But that can happen in reverse, slowly to start with, okay, but again, little, tiny, tiny baby steps, all right.

Speaker 1:

Now let's say you were working on any one of these things.

Speaker 1:

Let's say you're working on trying to pick them up and you have spent two months attempting to pick them up and you're not getting anywhere. All you can do is put your hands underneath the dog and put a tiny bit of pressure, but my God, we can't even get the dogs feet up off the ground without the dog getting upset. That might be an indication that you might need to consult with a veterinary, behaviorist or a veterinarian and you may need to use some behavior medicine in conjunction with the behavior modification. Because if we can't make things, if we can't bring the stressors down to the absolute lowest level to begin, we're not going to get anywhere. There are some dogs that they react so much, it's so severe for them, that they're going to need some medication to kind of take that edge off so that we can actually do the work. But my rule of thumb is hey, if we're doing everything right and we've been doing it for two months and we're really not getting anywhere, well that's when we need to maybe talk to the veterinarian.

Speaker 4:

All right, I think I'm going to video document some of this too, so that way I can hopefully see his progress.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and that's something that is good to be able to share with me. And if you have questions about something, something's not going right. But the thing is most people they go too far too soon, they're not taking it slow enough for the dog and I know it can be frustrating because we want to have a normal life. We don't want to have to take these little baby steps, we want to just make it happen.

Speaker 1:

All right, but oftentimes we've got to take these little baby steps if we want to make progress. And us pushing the dog too far, too soon, that actually backfires on us and it ends up taking us longer than if we were to take these little baby steps. But a lot of time we think, okay, if I got to take these little baby steps, boy, this is going to take forever. Yeah, but you're moving forward. You do it the other way. You're not moving forward, you're stuck or you're moving backwards. Does that make sense?

Speaker 4:

Alright, so I do have just a quick question. Yeah, regarding the potty training. So I understand, you know the basics of potty training, but what is the difference between, if there is any at all a difference between the dog urinating or getting in the house and marking?

Speaker 1:

Well, sometimes, you know, here's the thing they can be marking and they can be urinating, and if it's a boy dog and even some girl dogs, lift their legs. Okay, lifting a leg doesn't necessarily mean marking. Okay, now, what I would consider marking is if your dog went from spot to spot, you know, started hitting a bunch of different things, but let's say that your dog had, you know, one or two areas where it's going to the bathroom, then that might be more just potty training. But here's the thing that I always say about potty training, which applies to marking Potty training is about teaching the dog that we don't go to the bathroom in the house and that we don't. We don't leave urine in the house, we don't leave feces in the house, we don't even begin to put urine and feces in the house. Okay, so you know one of the things you need to have your eyes on him at all times and if he has an accident, very calmly, without doing any punishment, you just need to get him outside, see if he'll finish and hopefully, by you know, you're also doing the other things that we talked about by making going to the bathroom more valuable, because there gets a click and a reward every time the dog goes outside. All right, inside, inside, we got to make sure that when it happens, we get the dog out. We need to clean it up, make sure we're using a really good product that gets rid of the smell at the dog sense of smell, and a lot of times we need a black light to make sure that it doesn't light up anymore. If it doesn't light up, then we know we got it all. Okay.

Speaker 1:

But keeping a journal and writing down what time the dog drinks, what time the dog eats, what time the dog pees, what time the dog poops, whether it's inside, whether it's outside, doing that for about a week and feeding on a very strict schedule, putting water down on a strict schedule, you can then begin to see the pattern how long after my dog drinks is my dog usually urinating, whether it's an accident or outside. How long after my dog eats is my dog typically defecating, whether it's inside or outside. And if you get a week to 10 days of data writing all of that down, you should start seeing patterns when your dog needs to go out to pee, when your dog needs to go out to poop, and what that does is it allows you to be more efficient by hey, everybody's got a smartphone, set the timer to go off before the dog typically would need to go. Then we get the dog outside and we stay out there for five minutes unless the dog is distracted. We want five minutes of undistracted time before we go back in.

Speaker 1:

If the dog does nothing, then when we go in we need to keep our eye on the dog for about 15 minutes. We get the dog back out again because, you know, our data is saying hey, look, and again, this is hypothetical the dog drank 30 minutes ago and every time the dog drinks it seems about 35, 40, 45 minutes after the dog is peeing, whether he's having an accident or outside. Therefore, I'm going to set my alarm a little bit before the time duration where the dog's typically going to pee or poop after drinking or eating, so that I can hopefully get the dog outside and positively reinforce the right behavior and avoid having accidents. Perfect.

Speaker 4:

All right, Now I can do all that.

Speaker 1:

The key is keeping that journal so that you can have a lot of success, so that you can have a lot of success.

Speaker 1:

Okay, you know, some people will teach their dog to bark on command to speak, and then as they get to the door to let the dog out, they'll say speak, dog barks, they let them out. And they do that every time they go out, when they're going out to go to the bathroom. And then eventually the dog learns when it needs to go to the bathroom it goes to the door and it barks and then that's your alert it's got to go to the bathroom. Does that make sense?

Speaker 4:

I like that yes.

Speaker 1:

But you got to teach a dog to speak. Your dog, you said, isn't really barking yet which? It should have, you know. They typically find their voice and start barking alert barking getting a little territorial, a little bit suspicious between six to nine months of age, and I think your dog's about 10 months, right.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, and I've heard that his breed is a very vocal breed.

Speaker 1:

Well, if he's got a little bit of schnauzer in there, absolutely, they tend to bark like crazy. I joke about my schnauzers. They say hey, they should have called the breed bark, because that's how much they like to bark.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and you know one of the things I did with them, because I don't like excessive barking, but I didn't want to have to punish them for barking. It doesn't work anyway, just suppresses behavior. I would let them bark and after about two seconds, three seconds of barking, I call them to me and they know how to come to me. They come running to me.

Speaker 1:

I make a huge deal, click Boom, they get a reward. Now they may leave me and go right back to where they were and they start barking. But after they bark two or three times, I call them back to me and they come back to me and I reward them. So I want to be able to interrupt that behavior and have them do something else. They can't be running to me and barking at that thing at the same time and reward the behavior of coming to me. Now what happens most of the time not every time, because I've done that so much they'll bark two or three times and they come running to me automatically, because I created a pattern over and over, and over and over and over. And they know, hey, I bark a couple of times, they come running to dad, I get a reward. But what would have been barking and barking, and barking, and barking, and barking, and barking and barking? Now it's like a little game. They bark three times, they come running to me, they get rewarded. Does that make sense?

Speaker 4:

So it's like a routine for them.

Speaker 1:

It's a big time routine for them, but it has helped to diminish the barking immensely. Now what else?

Speaker 4:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

Anything. Is there anything else going on?

Speaker 4:

So far. Just from what I've noticed in the past few days, that seems. I'm sure that's not it, because doesn't it take a few weeks for a dog to even get comfortable?

Speaker 1:

I always say it takes two to three months before they get completely comfortable.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so as of right now, just for the past four days, those are the only concerns, actually, that we have.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, just remember, take things slow, take it in baby steps. Always pair something really positive, you know, with what you're doing, and when we, before we end, I'll have you stay on the line, and what I'm going to do is I want to send you my book on potty training. Oh, perfect, okay, all right, if there's nothing else, then I think we're going to go ahead and end here. We're going to need to follow up, so I want you to make sure that you keep notes every day about what's going on with you and your dog and the training. Anytime there is a problem, anytime something's not working right, I need you to get in touch with me so that I can help you. If it's not working out right, you stop doing what you're doing and then we need to regroup, find out what's going on, where's the breakdown, and come up with that workaround.

Speaker 4:

Okay, All right, that's good. All right.

Speaker 1:

Cool, all right. Well, thanks for doing this, and I know we're going to be talking soon. That probably you know. If things are going well and you're not having issues, then we need to talk in about two weeks, okay.

Speaker 4:

Two weeks, you got it.

Speaker 1:

But if you're having problems, the first moment you're having problems, I want you to get in touch with me, okay.

Speaker 4:

Okay, awesome, perfect, and I'll do some video documentation as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, do that and do me a favor. Shoot me a text with your address so that I can get that potty training book out to you.

Speaker 4:

Perfect, thank you.

Speaker 1:

All right, anything else I can help you with right now?

Speaker 4:

No, thank you so much. I got tons of notes. This information is extremely helpful and I hope it works.

Speaker 1:

Well, it'll work, if you work it. Yeah, it will work.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I know it's more about training the owner.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and the thing about it is is that we tend to get greedy and want to go all the way to the end, instead of saying, hey, my dog's nervous, where's my dog nervous? Don't go so far that the dog is nervous. Build up all the steps to, or right before, that point where the dog gets nervous and make that incredibly positive by having high value food, rewards or something the dog absolutely loves. Okay, some dogs are incredibly toy obsessed and some dogs are so obsessed with toys that you can get that toy out and bring them around the things that they're afraid of and it's as if they don't even exist. Now, not every dog's like that, but most dogs.

Speaker 1:

Food is going to be the reinforcer. Some dogs it might be toys. The problem with toys it can be a great reinforcer if a dog is crazy for the toy. The downside with the toy is that they got to keep giving it back to you and there's that you can't just like feed, feed, feed, feed, feed, feed, feed. You'd have to. There's always that break by. They get the toy, I need it back. Now. They get the toy, I need it back. So that's the only downside to toys as reinforcers. But for some dogs. The toy is a bigger deal.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, he's got my food motivated.

Speaker 1:

Well then, yeah, that's perfect. And then here's the thing you know, there might be times where you know you may need to decrease what his regular meals are because you're doing a lot of this work and the dogs getting you know other sources of nutrition through that squeeze bottle. A we don't want the dog getting fat and heavy. B we want the dog to be hungry so that the dogs motivated to do the work and sessions need to be short. You know, if it's so long that there's, it no longer is fun. You know, and that could mean, hey, I got two fulls and the food's not fun anymore either. You want to stop and keep your dog hungry. That makes sense. Okay, I hear a baby. Did somebody wake up? Yep.

Speaker 4:

She is. Why not I'm?

Speaker 1:

going to let you go because you've got another little one to train right now. Okay, but do me a favor and send me a text message with your address so I can get that book to you and then, if everything's going okay, let's talk in about two weeks. If you're having a problem between now and then, make sure you get in touch with me right away, okay.

Speaker 4:

All right, sounds good. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

No worries, I enjoyed doing this. Thank you.

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Will Bangura M.S.,CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, FFCP

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