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Episode #288 The First Five Minutes Matter · The Puppy Training Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we're talking about why the first five minutes of an interaction with your puppy can make such a big difference, and how a little intentional planning can help set your puppy up for success.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast, the show designed to help you raise a confident, well-behaved puppy using positive practical training methods.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll explore real-life training strategies, break down common puppy challenges, and give you clear, step-by-step guidance you can start using right away.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're dealing with potty training, biting, jumping, or just want to build a stronger bond with your pupp as their handler, you're in the right place.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hi you guys, thanks for listening.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you're here today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you're having a good week.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to school.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, fall.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Here comes fall.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm super excited about that because that means our temperatures are dropping a little bit.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I took the dogs on a walk this morning.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I can just feel a little bit of cool in the air, which makes me really happy.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And just looking around today, I'm like the plants are happier.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Everything's happier.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Our mountains look happier.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Everything just looks like a little bit of a reprieve.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: We all just got like a fresh breath of air.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, today we are talking about five minutes.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So different five minutes, and we'll get into all of that.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: But have you ever just kind of noticed your puppy seems to have a harder time settling into something than at other times?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then sometimes things just go beautifully.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you walk through the front door and suddenly your puppy is jumping and barking, grabbing your clothes, or racing around the house, or a guest comes over and your puppy immediately loses their mind.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Bella has a hard time with this.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: She really struggles with strangers.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Or you open the crate and your puppy launches out like a rocket.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you clip the leash on and you step outside and then suddenly your dog's mind is gone and they're just off on the bird or the cat or the bush or whatever the wind is blowing, right?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what if I told you that the first few minutes of these interactions can actually have a really big impact on what happens next?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So today we're talking about the first five minutes and how they matter.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this idea is simple, but how you begin an interaction often influences the behavior that follows.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So how you begin something is going to influence the behavior that follows.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean your puppy is going to have a perfect five minutes and suddenly become perfectly behaved the rest of the day, but those first few moments will give you a chance to establish your puppy's emotional state, expectations, and behaviors that you want your puppy to practice.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just look at some common situations.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, let's talk about coming home.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with something that happens every single day, right?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: So this coming home thing.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: You walk through the door and your puppy is super excited to see you.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I love that.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell your dog smiling at you when you get home?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: I actually thought this this morning when I got back from the gym how happy my dogs look to see me and how nice that is, that somebody's super happy to see you when you walk through the door.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now we want our dogs to be happy to see us.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: We like that, right?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: But we don't necessarily want the first thing our puppy learns is when my person comes home, I should jump and bark and spin and grab their clothes and demand attention.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you like that.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, let's think about what do I want those first five minutes to look like?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I walk through the door.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: My puppy might be excited.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to punish that.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: But instead, I can give my puppy a chance to make a good choice.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to calmly enter the house, put my things down, I'm going to wait for their forepaws to be on the floor.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I ask for a sit or a down.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: I have a back bench in my back hallway, and I just, you know, Bella just jumps up there and lays down on it.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we've just trained her to do.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then I greet my puppy.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm now teaching my puppy, people coming home is exciting, but excitement doesn't mean chaos.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So here's a point, an important point.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to completely ignore your puppy.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Some people hear things like, well, ignore your dog when you come home, and they think that they need to just walk past your puppy for 10 minutes without looking at them.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to do that.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I do want you to be careful how you give attention.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, calm attention can reinforce calm behavior.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So if your puppy jumps, don't immediately just push them away, talk excitedly, or turn it into a wrestling match.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Simply wait for those paws to come down.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Once the paws are on the floor, then reward the behavior you want.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's a sit, maybe it's simply standing calmly, maybe it's looking at you without jumping.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And those first five minutes can become a little training opportunity.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I actually would suggest, if we stick to this and the jumping's always happening, I would suggest creating a barrier when you come home.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So whether that's a baby gait or an exercise pen, something, so that when you first walk in the door, your puppy's behind a barrier.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: They can't actually get to you.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you're waiting for them to calm down and put their paws on the floor, they're not actually jumping on you.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: We teach you all about that in our program.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's talk about the next one: guests arriving.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a big challenge for a lot of puppies because the arrival of a guest creates a perfect storm for either excitement or stress.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's a knock on the door, the door opens, something new happens, a new person, a new smell, there's movement, there's talking.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And our puppy is suddenly thinking, this is amazing.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's the most exciting thing or scary thing that's ever happened today, right?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And our puppy starts reacting.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of waiting for my puppy to explode and then trying to fix it, I want you to prepare for the first five minutes.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: So before my guest arrives, think about what do I want my puppy to be doing when that person comes?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So this is again where we can use some management.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe your puppy's behind a baby gate.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're in an exercise pen.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're tethered to a leash with and you have that leash.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're on their bed practicing that go-to-bed behavior that we teach you how to do in our intermediate course.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Management, you guys, is not cheating.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Management is allowing your puppy to succeed while they're still learning.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we pair it with the training.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: My guest comes in.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to let the initial excitement happen without immediately giving my puppy access to the person.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'm going to reward their calm behavior.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if my puppy sits, I pay them.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: If my puppy has four paws on the floor, I pay them.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: If my puppy looks at the guest and then looks back at me, I love that.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love that they're giving me the attention, uh, pay them.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then when your puppy is ready, we can allow a greeting, but we're slowing that process down.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of it just being chaos, we're slowing it down.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And slowing it down is going to help our puppy be more successful.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a really important concept.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Access to the guest is actually the reward for our dog's calm behavior.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of, you're so excited, I'm going to let you rush over and jump on the person.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: We can teach you're calm.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So now you get to say hello.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, not every greeting needs to happen immediately.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the best thing you can do is let your puppy watch the guest from a distance for a few minutes.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: It might take two, three, four minutes for your that initial excitement just to kind of wash away.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, your puppy doesn't have to greet every person who walks through the door.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually a wonderful skill for a dog to learn.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's talk about another one where you can use five minutes.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Getting out of the crate.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is another situation where the first few seconds can establish a pattern.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if I walk over to the crate and my puppy's jumping and they're so excited and they're turning around in circles and they're barking and they just want out, if I open that door and let them out, they learn that all of that stuff worked.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: But we can teach them that the crate door opening doesn't automatically mean go.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: It means, and the crate door doesn't even open until I am calm, right?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we can open the door.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to pause.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: If your puppy waits even for a second, I want you to reward that and then release your puppy.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, once they're out, immediately give them something productive to do.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we have an idea before we go to the door, before we open the gate or the door and let our puppy out.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know what's going to happen next.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe it's going potty outside.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really good option.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I would choose that one.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's finding a few pieces of food.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's going to their mat.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's beginning a training session.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is we want a predictable pattern.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: So crate opens, calm behavior, and then we go on to the next activity.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And this can be especially helpful when your puppy has been resting for a while.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I like to just kind of watch my puppy inside the crate.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I go to open the door.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: If they try to bolt out, I just quickly shut the door again.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: They back off, they wait.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: I count, I like to start to open the door, count to one, two, three, add some food rewards in there as needed to build out that duration.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Once they're calmly waiting, you say, okay, and they can come out of that crate.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then as soon as they come out, we go right into a structured activity, like we talked about.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: That way there's not all of the crazy chaos.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's we waited calmly, the door opened, we came out, structure.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's talk about going on a walk.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Walks are awesome.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I know as soon as you open that door and your dog can smell all the outside smells and hear all the things and see the movement because there's a lot of movement outside.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: It can get kind of wild.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we grab the leash, your puppy sees it, even just that part.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like they see the leash.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, they know what's happening.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: They get excited, they start spinning and jumping, and they pull towards the door, and you step outside, and immediately we're being dragged down the sidewalk.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: We really don't want that to happen.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: So the walk is going to begin before we ever leave the house.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: The leash is going to come out.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: What does your puppy do?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Can they sit for it to be put on?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Can they stand calmly and look at you?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: We want nice calm behavior before the leash goes on.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just adding a little extra time into these routines, you guys.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just rushing, let's hurry and put the leash on, let's hurry and go outside on our walk.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's stepping back, taking a few seconds of time to let your puppy take a breath.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, they're sitting, let's put the leash on, or they're laying down.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you might need to, you know, as they sit or lay down, reward them.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Put a little food scatter if you need to, give them, get them busy doing something so that it's a little more structured and calm.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to put on the leash.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we open the door and just launch through it, let's get our dogs to pause and wait at the door.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we can ask for a sit, we can ask for a down, we can just have them standing but calmly waiting.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And the same thing like you did with the crate door, as I go to open the outside door, they don't just get to bolt out.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, with that door wide open, I want to teach my dog, they just wait until I say, okay, let's go.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then we go through the doorway.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now we can help you with all of this if you have any questions about doorways, but just doing this little setup before that leash walk is really helpful.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Once you first get outside, don't just start off down the sidewalk.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would spend a few minutes outside letting your dog sniff just the general area right outside the door.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you can just stand there anytime they look at you, pay them.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime they do a calm behavior, a calm, um, like a sit, a down, a standing calmly, reward them.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let them sniff the radius of the leash and kind of get some of that excitement out.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Sniffing is going to help relax them.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Once they're checking in with you without walking, then we can start walking.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's take this idea beyond just those specific situations.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about any new interaction with your puppy.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've introduced a new toy or you're taking your puppy into a new room.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're meeting someone new or you're beginning a grooming session.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime that something is happening, I want you to ask yourself, what behavior do I want my puppy practicing during the first five minutes?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a really great question because instead of reacting to whatever your puppy does, you're becoming proactive.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Remember that calm behavior is a skill.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: We can't always expect a puppy to automatically know how to calm themselves, especially in exciting situations.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if we wait until our puppy is completely out of control before we begin teaching calm behavior, we're making the job much harder because they're learning patterns of behavior.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So instead, look for those tiny moments of calm.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy pauses, reward.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy looks at you, reward.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy puts four paws on the floor, reward.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy sits instead of jumps, make sure you reward that.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Those little moments are going to add up, and eventually your puppy begins to understand this is how I behave when exciting things happen.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what if the first five minutes go badly?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to listen to this episode and think, oh no, I ruined everything because my puppy jumped when I came home today.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: The first five minutes do matter, but they're not magic.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy is going to have messy moments.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're going to jump, bark, pull, they're going to get overly excited.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're puppies.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: But if things go sideways, just simply pause and reset.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you step back inside.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you give your puppy some space.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you use your pen or baby gate and involve more management.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you ask for a simple behavior that your puppy can do easily, not a hard one.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then try again.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Training isn't about creating a perfect interaction every single time.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's about creating more opportunities for success than failure.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to set our puppies up for success.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm going to give you a little homework.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to choose one of those situations.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: So coming home, guests arriving, getting out of the crate, starting a walk.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to create a simple five-minute routine.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just say we choose coming home.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Your routine might be step one, I walk in calmly.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Step two, put my things down.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Step three, wait for four paws on the floor.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Step four, reward calm behavior.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then five, give your puppy appropriate attention and then begin the next activity.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't need to be complicated.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: You're simply being intentional about how the interaction begins.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And once you've practiced one situation, then move on to another.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And over time, your puppy is going to begin to recognize these routines.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: The crate opening doesn't mean a rocket launch.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: The door opening doesn't mean chaos.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: A guest arriving doesn't mean jumping.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: The leash coming out doesn't mean pulling.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, your puppy's going to learn when this happens.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what I do.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're looking for.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, you guys are awesome.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: You guys are doing the hard work.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy for me to tell you what to do.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now you guys have to go and implement it and do it, but I believe in you.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can do this.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppies are going to thank you for it.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Happy training.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in today.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a training tip.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're enjoying the show, leaving a quick review really helps other handlers find us.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: For more training resources, tips, and support, visit me, Amy Jensen, at baxterembella.com.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, happy training.