Latest / All Things Dawg Podcast / Becoming a Dog Trainer Episode #10

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Becoming a Dog Trainer Episode #10 · All Things Dawg Podcast

0:00
David Harris with All Things Dog. And
0:02
we've got a great episode coming up
0:04
where we're going to interview one of
0:06
our trainers that came to us through a
0:08
very unique process. I think you're
0:09
going to love it. So, check out this
0:11
episode coming up.
0:16
My [music] whole reasoning behind
0:18
wanting a well-trained dog is to be able
0:21
to give that dog a better life. [music]
0:23
I've trained dogs for the public for
0:24
decades before I became famous. We're
0:27
[music] developing family personal
0:29
protection dogs.
0:32
My passion, [music] my love is educating
0:35
the public. I want people to get the
0:37
most out of their dog. I have four
0:40
decades of experience [music] and now
0:41
I'm here to give you practical advice on
0:44
all things dog.
0:51
[music] Bow.
0:55
Welcome back to another episode of the
0:57
All Things Dog podcast where we talk
0:59
about all things dog. But today we got a
1:01
rare opportunity to talk to one of our
1:04
most elusive trainers that works for us
1:06
here at Protection Dog Sales. And I say
1:08
elusive sort of tongue and cheek because
1:10
she doesn't like to get behind the
1:12
camera. She doesn't want to talk into a
1:13
microphone. Recently, she did a video
1:16
for us when we took the dogs down to the
1:18
pool and she recorded for that video.
1:21
And uh I ran it through the computer to
1:24
try to get the text and the computer
1:26
went does not compute. Okay. He could
1:28
not understand what it was she was
1:30
saying. So a big round of applause for
1:33
Jessica Seismore who does not want to be
1:36
behind this camera. She does not want to
1:38
be talking on this podcast. But the
1:40
reason I wanted to interview her is
1:42
because of her unique way about becoming
1:46
a professional dog trainer. And don't
1:48
doubt that she is indeed a professional
1:49
dog trainer. She has worked very hard,
1:51
very diligently. She's went through our
1:53
apprenticeship program. She's studied
1:56
hard. She's worked hard. She's made a
1:58
lot of mistakes and learned from them.
2:00
But I just think it's it's unique
2:02
because she came into this howled.
2:05
>> I stumbled into this adventure.
2:07
>> I'd say she got drugged kicking and
2:10
screaming more into this adventure. She
2:11
didn't want to do it, but we needed
2:14
puppy raisers for our program. And her
2:17
family was helping us do some puppy
2:19
raising and they wanted her help and it
2:22
seemed to be a good thing for your
2:24
children as well. They all enjoyed the
2:26
process of helping raise puppies. So,
2:30
Jess became a standout pretty quickly
2:32
and we started recruiting her to do
2:34
more. So, one of the things I wanted to
2:37
ask you about was what were some of the
2:40
things that surprised you the most as
2:42
you started learning about dog training?
2:45
>> Well, I think uh here specifically what
2:48
really stood out to me was as much
2:50
educational material as I was given um
2:53
from the educational videos um to the
2:56
hands-on lessons uh weekly with my
2:58
puppy. Not only were my kids welcome to
3:02
come with me, which was very beneficial,
3:05
um I was learning about all of the well
3:08
all of the ins and outs of each behavior
3:11
and trick uh all the way up through
3:13
protection work um puppy classes on up
3:16
to the young adults. Um it was very
3:18
hands-on
3:20
um and interactive every week,
3:23
>> right? Yeah. So puppy raising, you know,
3:25
is it's the best way to get your feet
3:28
wet. A lot of people ask me, "How do I
3:30
become a dog trainer?" And I always say,
3:32
"Bolunteer at the shelters, you know,
3:35
get your feet wet." But next step, once
3:38
you've decided, you've gone to the
3:39
shelters, you've cleaned poop, you've
3:43
dealt with aggressive dogs, and you've
3:45
had to see all the downsides of dogs not
3:47
getting training. The next step is to
3:50
mentor. To find a mentor, someone you
3:52
can get along with, someone that has
3:54
value similar to yours. And like Jess
3:57
was saying, this protected dogs, this is
4:00
a family business. My 13 grandchildren,
4:02
they're bouncing off the walls in here.
4:04
If you watch one of our live YouTube
4:06
events, you saw where my granddaughter
4:09
unplugged the cameras and it was total
4:11
chaos at six minutes in. You know, we're
4:14
a family business and we love the fact
4:16
that our dogs are exposed to children.
4:19
But, you know, once again, through that
4:21
process, you you're starting to learn
4:23
about the psychology of dogs, why dogs
4:26
do what they do, why they don't do what
4:28
they do.
4:29
>> And my superpower here at Protection Dog
4:32
Sales is educational material. We've
4:34
created a website specifically for our
4:38
foster families. It's called PDS
4:41
Academy, Puppy Razor Academy, and
4:44
there's well over a hundred educational
4:46
videos in there that talks about every
4:48
subject imaginable. And then our master
4:51
lead trainer, Daniel Cravens, last year,
4:53
he created a app that has video on every
4:58
possible little trick and trivial thing
5:01
that you might want to teach your dogs
5:02
to make it very easy for the foster
5:04
families to find that information. Okay,
5:07
>> but I want to dig in a little deeper.
5:09
What are things that you before you
5:12
became a dog trainer thought about
5:14
training dogs that you don't think now?
5:18
>> Um, I don't know. I think I it always
5:21
looked a lot easier.
5:24
>> I mean, it from the outside in. I mean,
5:27
it looked easy. Knew nothing about it.
5:30
Did not understand the process. Um, and
5:32
then once I got got in there and got to
5:35
work with it, um, I I really enjoy it.
5:39
It is easier than [laughter] I thought.
5:42
Um, [clears throat]
5:42
>> yeah, once you know how to do something,
5:44
like if you're trying to tune a
5:46
carburetor on a car and you don't know
5:48
how to do it and you have a wrench in
5:50
your hand, you're likely to beat the
5:51
carburetor to death because you're
5:53
frustrated. You don't know at all what
5:56
you're doing. And and it's very
5:57
frustrating. And that's what happens
5:59
with a lot of pet dog owners is they get
6:01
very frustrated and they blame the dog.
6:04
Did you have pet dogs growing up?
6:06
>> I had one pet dog in my life.
6:09
>> Okay. Did I say her journey to becoming
6:11
a dog trainer was unique? She had one
6:14
dog. What kind of dog was it?
6:16
>> Um it was a yellow lab.
6:18
>> Yellow lab. Old Yeller.
6:20
>> Yes.
6:20
>> Did you watch the movie Old Yeller?
6:22
>> I did and I cried.
6:23
>> You cried. Everybody cries when they
6:25
watch Old Yeller. If you haven't watched
6:26
Old Yeller, you got to go watch it cuz
6:29
it's a classic.
6:30
>> Yeah. Before I knew it, I was walking
6:32
her on leash and doing things that I
6:34
would normally do with a pet dog. Don't
6:37
really remember teaching anything, but
6:39
it was a it was an easy dog to work
6:40
with. And coming into this environment,
6:43
um, getting handed my first dog uh, in
6:47
2019, her name was Violet. She was a
6:50
German Shepherd. I learned a lot. Um, it
6:54
was nothing like what I thought it was
6:55
going to be like. Um, thankfully I had
6:58
the educational material and the
7:00
hands-on lessons. Um, without it I I
7:04
think it would have gone very bad,
7:06
>> right?
7:06
>> But no, it was great.
7:07
>> So, a big takeaway there is if you're
7:10
looking for a trainer, what what's going
7:12
to be really important if you got a dog
7:14
and you're looking for a trainer, you
7:16
got to find a trainer that will support
7:18
you, not just tell you what to do. One
7:21
of the things that Jess probably takes
7:24
for granted because she doesn't have a
7:25
lot of perspective is most trainers just
7:27
tell you what to do.
7:29
>> We tell you why. We help you understand
7:32
why it's important. Like feeding. You
7:35
know, most people have a dog, they put
7:37
down a bowl of food and the puppy eats
7:39
it. They give it a couple hundred toys.
7:41
They pet it 24 hours a day, seven days a
7:44
week. And then they call me and go, "My
7:47
dog won't come. He won't stay with me.
7:50
We go to the park, he runs away. They're
7:52
mortified that the dog won't stay with
7:54
them. Why does my dog not love me? I'm
7:56
giving it everything it wants. Toys,
7:59
chews, treats, unlimited attention.
8:02
Well, we don't do that.
8:03
>> No,
8:04
>> we do not want our dogs to become
8:07
in a love fest with a bowl and we want
8:10
them to have a love fest with us to look
8:12
to us for direction. So, we're
8:15
controlling the food. We're teaching the
8:17
dog to earn the food and we're building
8:19
a relationship of mutual respect between
8:22
the dog and us. There's two ways to
8:24
lead, guys. One way is through force and
8:28
the other is through compliance. So,
8:31
we're absolutely uh teaching this dog
8:34
that if they look to us for direction,
8:37
pay attention to what we want, they're
8:38
going to get what they want. Okay? Some
8:40
people call it bribery. I think it could
8:43
be a little bit of bribery, and that's
8:44
not a bad thing. In the beginning, we
8:46
have to get the dog to do the behavior
8:48
for the very first time. So, whatever it
8:50
takes. If I have to get out on the
8:51
ground with two hands full of food, act
8:53
like a fool to get the dog to do the
8:54
behavior for the first time, I'm okay
8:56
with that. I don't mind doing it because
8:58
I want the dog to understand if you do
9:00
this behavior. There's a payoff. Okay?
9:02
In previous podcast, we talked a little
9:04
about the clicker training and shaping.
9:07
It's a big part of what we do here
9:09
because we're teaching, not training.
9:11
And most people don't even know that
9:12
there's a difference between teaching
9:15
and training. When you were raising your
9:17
Labrador, what was her name? Old Yeller.
9:20
>> Toby.
9:20
>> Toby. Was Toby a boy or a girl?
9:22
>> Girl.
9:23
>> Toby was a girl. That's kind of a butch
9:25
name for a girl Labrador. [laughter]
9:28
>> She came from the Humane Society.
9:29
>> Well, of course she did. That's where
9:31
most Labradors live is their the most
9:34
popular breed in the world. used to be
9:37
German shepherds and then it was poodles
9:40
and now it's Labradors because they're
9:42
very very very popular and that leads
9:44
them to wind up in the shelter a lot
9:46
from bad behavior. Not because they're
9:48
bad dogs, but because they weren't
9:49
raised well. So that happens a lot. So
9:52
you got Toby from the shelter. How old
9:54
was she?
9:54
>> She was about eight months old.
9:56
>> Eight months old. That's good age
9:57
because at 8 months you kind of see what
9:59
you're going to get. Okay, puppies, you
10:02
really don't know what you're going to
10:03
get. That's why it's important to look
10:05
at pedigrees. Look at mom. Look at dad.
10:07
What a novel ideal. If you're going to
10:08
buy a puppy, look at mom. Look at dad.
10:10
But most people don't do that. I've been
10:13
helping people with their dogs for close
10:15
to 40 years now. And I asked them all,
10:17
"What made you pick this dog?" Okay. And
10:21
the answer is it was the biggest puppy
10:23
in the litter. It was the littlest puppy
10:25
in the litter. It was the only puppy in
10:28
the litter. So, what made you pick Toby?
10:31
>> She was very sweet. she just came over
10:33
and jumped into our laps and um wanted
10:37
to just be a Velcro dog uh amongst the
10:40
four or five that we looked at
10:42
>> and she was willing to go with us and be
10:45
with us whereas the other dogs were very
10:47
unsure.
10:47
>> Right? So, what that'll tell you if you
10:50
know anything about uh dog psychology is
10:52
this dog was pretty well raised as a
10:54
puppy. somebody had played with her,
10:57
somebody had fed her, somebody had, you
10:59
know, taught her to trust people and to
11:01
look to people for directions because it
11:03
doesn't come innately to all breeds.
11:05
Now, Labradors are very good at making
11:07
eye contact similar to German Shepherds.
11:10
When I breed German Shepherds, our proof
11:12
and putting bloodlines, these puppies
11:14
come out of the womb, 10 days later,
11:16
their eyes open and they are making eye
11:19
contact. As soon as they could see you,
11:21
they're looking at you. Okay? And people
11:24
remark all the time, it's amazing the
11:26
focus these puppies have. Genetics
11:28
matters. They were bred for that.
11:29
Labradors are bred to look to people for
11:31
direction. They don't just run out and
11:33
get birds random willy-nilly. They're
11:36
not pointers. They're not hunting for
11:37
birds randomly. They're retrieving, thus
11:41
the name, retriever.
11:43
>> The bird you point out and say, "Go
11:46
get." Okay? There can be three birds
11:49
laying on the ground. One over here, one
11:50
over here, and one over here. And the
11:52
dog won't just go randomly get them.
11:54
He'll go get the one you tell them to
11:56
get. So that comes from that innate look
11:58
at people, do what people want,
12:01
>> eye contact. So Toby's got eye contact.
12:04
She's smart. She gets in your face and
12:07
goes, "I love you, man." Okay. Uh years
12:11
and years ago, I ran an organization
12:12
called the Ark, Animal Rescue Kennel. So
12:15
we would take adoptable dogs out of
12:18
shelters, kill shelters, and we would
12:20
bring them in and we would train them to
12:23
be good citizens and find homes. And one
12:26
of the very, very first things I taught
12:27
those dogs was to make eye contact for
12:30
people. You know how I did that?
12:33
>> Food.
12:34
>> Where was the food?
12:35
>> In your mouth.
12:35
>> In my mouth. I would put food in my
12:38
mouth and make a little funny noises.
12:40
Here, puppy puppy. They'd look up at my
12:43
mouth and food would come flying out.
12:44
And pretty quickly those dogs would look
12:47
you in the eye. Maybe they did that to
12:49
Toby. Maybe somebody in the shelter was
12:51
smart enough to go, "These people are
12:52
gonna come and they're going to be
12:54
suckered into thinking Toby loves them
12:55
because she's looking them right in the
12:57
eyeball and hoping food flies out of
12:59
their mouth." But when I would take dogs
13:01
to adoption events that we had developed
13:03
through the Ark,
13:05
>> the dogs would make eye contact with
13:07
people immediately. And here's some
13:09
science behind that, guys. When a dog
13:12
looks you in the eye, your brain dumps
13:15
oxytocin, the love hormone. Okay? It's
13:19
the same thing that happens when you see
13:20
your baby for the first time. That
13:22
hormone hits your brain and you go, "Oh
13:25
my god, I love this is the beautiful,
13:27
most beautiful baby." And the other
13:29
people are going, "That is the ugliest
13:30
baby I ever saw. Are you sure you're
13:32
taking that thing home?" So having that
13:35
oxytocin blood into your brain helps
13:38
make that bond. Yeah.
13:39
>> And it works both ways. When a dog makes
13:41
eye contact with a human, their brain
13:43
gets oxytocin as well. So, it's a BOF
13:46
feedback loop and it helps the bonding
13:49
process. And a lot of people don't think
13:51
it's important to teach the dog to make
13:52
eye contact. Now, you know, it's
13:55
important for the dog to make eye
13:57
contact for that reason, not just he's
14:00
going to learn. And I talk about this a
14:03
lot when we're talking about training.
14:04
It doesn't matter how smart a dog is if
14:07
they're looking out the window while
14:09
you're trying to train them, right? You
14:10
homeschooled some kids, right?
14:12
>> I did.
14:12
>> Were they smart?
14:14
>> They are.
14:14
>> Did they learn when they were paying
14:16
attention or when they were looking out
14:18
the window?
14:19
>> Oh, full focus.
14:20
>> They got to have focus. And there's got
14:21
to be a motivation to do that. And
14:23
sometimes you have to control things
14:25
that they want, their food, their toys,
14:27
attention. Okay. And they have to be an
14:29
avoidance of things they don't want.
14:31
[clears throat] Okay? which is some form
14:33
of discipline depending on the child or
14:35
the dog that we're talking about. But
14:37
eye contact's important. It doesn't
14:39
matter how smart little Billy is. If
14:41
he's looking out the window during
14:44
class, he's not learning. Okay? So, same
14:47
goes for dogs. Eye contact is critical.
14:49
So, you get Toby, you take her home, she
14:52
dragging you around the neighborhood.
14:54
>> Was she dragging you?
14:56
>> Uh, most of the time.
14:57
>> Most of the time. Why would I know that?
14:59
[laughter] Okay. Because that's what
15:01
dogs do.
15:03
>> A dog is a mammal. All mammals resist
15:06
tension. The more you pull on them, the
15:08
more they pull on you.
15:09
>> It's just that BOF feedback loop again.
15:11
You pull them, they pull you. It's a
15:14
very vicious cycle. Most people don't
15:15
know how to deal with that. It's one of
15:17
the very first things you learned in
15:18
basic obedience was
15:21
keep the leash loose. Right. Yes.
15:23
>> Okay. At one point, I don't know if you
15:24
can see that poster behind, but when
15:26
that poster showed up here, which I did
15:28
not order. I'm very vain, but I'm not
15:30
vain enough to order a poster of my own
15:32
big ugly face. When this poster showed
15:35
up from a friend who was promoting a
15:37
product, I put loose leash in a little
15:41
bubble coming out of my mouth because I
15:42
want to remind everybody how important
15:44
it is to have a loose leash. So, Toby's
15:47
pulling you around. Where'd you go with
15:48
Toby?
15:49
>> We just walked through the neighborhood
15:50
on the sidewalks. um took her um to the
15:53
parks, just took her everywhere that we
15:55
went. Um had to use cheese.
15:58
>> Had to use cheese to get her to stay
15:59
with you.
16:00
>> Cheese.
16:00
>> Not pull you down.
16:01
>> Right. [laughter]
16:02
>> That was pretty smart. How old were you?
16:05
>> I was about 13.
16:07
>> Yep. Perfect. Did you think Toby would
16:09
protect you while you're out on the
16:10
walks or you just wanted to show her
16:12
off?
16:13
>> No.
16:13
>> So, you lived in a safe
16:14
>> just my companion.
16:15
>> It's your old buddy. That's good to have
16:17
a good Labrador buddy and stuff. So,
16:19
let's get back to your journey to to dog
16:22
training. So, you had this experience
16:24
with Toby.
16:24
>> I did.
16:25
>> And then poof, you show up here to
16:28
become a puppy razor and you're starting
16:29
to get this education.
16:31
>> Okay.
16:31
>> Yeah.
16:32
>> Well, what's what are some of the first
16:34
things that just went what when you can
16:36
do that? What blew your mind?
16:38
>> The very very first thing was head up,
16:41
butt down,
16:42
>> right?
16:43
>> Um just getting it Yeah. getting your
16:46
dog to sit.
16:47
>> That's a very simple tenant. And if the
16:48
head goes up, the butt goes down. I have
16:50
this song that we sing around here. The
16:52
headbones connected to the butt bone.
16:55
Okay? So that is predicated off
16:58
something that's called targeting. So we
17:00
teach our puppies to touch their nose to
17:04
your hand. Okay? So when they touch
17:06
their nose to your hand, that puts you
17:08
in control of the nose. Yes.
17:10
>> And if the nose follows the hand, the
17:12
hand goes up, butt goes down. There's
17:14
very simple things that people just
17:16
don't know. I have read close to a
17:19
hundred dog training books. Never heard
17:22
that. Okay. I've showed so many people
17:24
how to teach a dog to shake in 20
17:28
seconds or less. They've been trying for
17:30
months and they just don't get it. And I
17:32
show them a very simple technique and
17:34
whamo, that puppy's shaking hands and
17:37
they're like, "What?" You know, that
17:38
that makes sense. Why didn't anybody
17:40
teach that? So, that's one of the things
17:42
we got going on here. And one of the
17:44
things we want to share with you guys is
17:46
how to get simple, fun behaviors. If you
17:48
have a dog that comes when it's called,
17:50
doesn't pull you on the leash, knows
17:53
some tricks, you're going to show that
17:55
dog off to your friends and your family,
17:57
you're going to interact with that dog
17:59
more.
18:00
And the more you interact with it, guess
18:02
what happens? It gets better.
18:04
>> Gets better.
18:04
>> And the better it behaves, what do you
18:06
do?
18:07
>> The more you interact, the more you'll
18:09
love it. The You'll show it off. You'll
18:12
show it off. And showing off that dog is
18:14
trainy.
18:14
>> I happened to be out in this parking lot
18:16
years ago showing off one of my German
18:18
shepherds and she was doing all these
18:19
tricks and just killing it and having a
18:22
great time. I'm having a great time and
18:23
this guy walked over and mean mugged me.
18:25
He's like, "You're just showing off.
18:28
You're you're some kind of narcissist
18:30
showing off." And I went, "Duh. If you
18:33
had a dog like this, you wouldn't show
18:34
it off. Of course you would." He was
18:36
just jealous that his dog wouldn't even
18:38
come when he called it. Okay. So, we
18:41
love it when dogs learn tricks. Learn to
18:44
manipulate humans. Come on. Give me the
18:46
treat. Give me the cheese. Jess, the dog
18:50
had figured out how to manipulate. And
18:52
sometimes they'll do bad behaviors to
18:54
get rewards,
18:55
>> right? You know, so if you had to think
18:58
back, the Toby was probably playing you
19:01
a little bit. If I pull,
19:03
>> I get the cheese. Instead of if I don't
19:06
pull, I get the cheese. Yeah.
19:07
>> Right. If you had to do it all over
19:08
again, you'd do it differently, right?
19:10
>> Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Getting off the
19:12
furniture. Yeah.
19:13
>> That sort of a thing. Yeah. Absolutely.
19:15
>> Yep. So, you know, once again, the
19:17
podcast, All Things Dog, we're trying to
19:19
help people understand how to
19:21
communicate with their dog, how to set
19:23
them up to be successful because the
19:26
better the dog's behaves, the better its
19:29
life is going to be and the better the
19:31
owner's life's going to be because
19:33
you're doing more. You know, I I I know
19:36
people who never take their dog anywhere
19:38
because they can't they can't get out in
19:40
public with it. It's not sociable. And
19:43
it's sad. The dog's life is so limited.
19:46
I trained a dog for a lady. She had a
19:48
boxer and she was 85 years old. And she
19:52
had a boxer that weighed about 90
19:55
pounds. And guess where it lived? Tied
19:58
to the door knob of the back of her
20:01
house. and she could let it in the house
20:05
to eat because it was tied to the
20:08
doorork knob and it couldn't get more
20:09
than a few feet away from the door. And
20:12
then she would open the door and it'd go
20:14
outside and that was it. That's where
20:16
the dog lived tied to the doorork knob.
20:18
It had about a six foot range on both
20:20
sides of that door and that's its life
20:22
because she was frail. She couldn't
20:25
manage to the dog pulling it could knock
20:27
her down, break a hip. She loved that
20:30
dog. She would have loved nothing more
20:32
than to be able to walk the dog around
20:34
the neighborhood, show it to her friends
20:36
and family, but that vicious cycle got
20:39
started because it was a big
20:41
rambunctious puppy and she didn't know
20:42
how. It wasn't a lack of I want to, I
20:46
didn't know how. And it happens a lot. I
20:48
coined a phrase many, many years ago
20:50
when I was in rescue called the
20:53
euthanasia cycle. And most people don't
20:56
know this, but a large percentage of the
20:59
dog population every year that dies
21:02
doesn't die from cancer. They don't die
21:04
from heart disease. They don't even die
21:06
from old age. They die from a peaceful
21:10
death. That's what euthanasia means. I'm
21:12
not sure what peaceful about death. I
21:14
haven't ever done it, so I don't know.
21:17
>> But I would rather be alive. I think
21:19
being alive is better than being dead.
21:21
But a huge percentage of dogs in the
21:23
United States are euthanized every year
21:25
because of behavioral problems. People
21:28
will say, "Oh, I I can't afford it
21:31
anymore." Oh, I got to move, or it's
21:33
allergic to my child, or they'll make up
21:35
a hundred excuses. They won't say, "I
21:38
can't stand its behavior. That's too
21:40
mean, right?"
21:41
>> So, they'll make up all kinds of excuses
21:43
and dump that dog into the shelter
21:45
systems, which is already overloaded.
21:47
Now, that's terrible, right? To do that.
21:50
You know what's worse than that?
21:52
>> What's worse than that?
21:54
>> Speak up.
21:54
>> Oh, what's worse than that?
21:56
>> What's worse than that is they get
21:58
another one and the cycle continues.
22:02
They don't blame themselves and the lack
22:04
of training and the lack of education on
22:06
their part or maybe it was just lack of
22:08
effort. They blame the dog. And that's
22:11
my pet peeve when people blame the dog
22:13
for its behavior and not their role in
22:15
that. So that's what you're learning
22:17
here as you're becoming, you know, more
22:20
sophisticated with your training.
22:22
Typically, it's not the dog's fault. The
22:24
communication problem is at the core of
22:28
why this dog is behaving that way. It
22:30
thinks that's what it's supposed to do.
22:32
That's how I get attention. And it can
22:34
be insidious. It can be a very, very
22:36
vicious cycle. So the euthanasis,
22:39
euthanasia cycle work that way. And I've
22:42
seen white collar educated people do
22:46
this four and five times. They get a
22:49
puppy because it's cute. They impulse
22:51
buy a puppy cuz the kids want it. They
22:53
bring it home. It's cute. Two or three
22:56
days go by, it's peeing in the house.
22:58
It's pooping in the house. It's tearing
23:00
up the couch. It's scratching the kids.
23:03
>> They try to train it, but they don't
23:05
know how.
23:07
Gone to the shelter. They're never going
23:09
to get a dog again. six months later
23:12
they get another dog and it happens over
23:15
and over and I know it happens because I
23:16
interview people when I go to train
23:18
their dogs tell me about your experience
23:20
with dogs and they will tell me this is
23:22
our fifth dog and we finally realized we
23:26
must be the problem.
23:27
>> Okay. So, you know, as you evolve in in
23:32
your dog training skills, you're
23:33
learning that
23:35
mostly it's a human error that's causing
23:38
the problem. Yes. Okay. And it's not an
23:42
inherent problem with the dogs. Now,
23:44
there are genetic tendencies. Terriers
23:46
bark. You know, hound dogs sniff the
23:48
ground and run.
23:50
>> You know, they all have these different
23:51
tendencies. Labradors are destructive.
23:54
Was Toby destructive? She liked to chew
23:56
things.
23:56
>> No.
23:57
>> No. She was too sweet to chew things.
23:59
She was the perfect little dog. Imagine
24:01
if you'd had a really really bad
24:03
experience with Toby, you may have not
24:04
have become a dog trainer. Did you ever
24:06
think about that?
24:07
>> No.
24:07
>> Yeah. I have to think about everything
24:09
around here.
24:11
>> Okay. So, because you had a good
24:13
experience,
24:15
you know, you were open ever so slightly
24:17
to the idea.
24:18
>> I was.
24:19
>> Okay. So, if you haven't figured it out,
24:21
we had to drag Jess kicking and
24:23
screaming into the dog training world.
24:25
But I saw the innate talent. She has
24:28
worked hard to master these things
24:31
because as Jenny will say, Jenny Vocalo
24:34
Hebrew Harris will say,
24:37
dog training doesn't come natural. It's
24:39
not something that you're born with a
24:42
natural ability to do this thing. You
24:44
have to study it. You have to learn it.
24:46
You have to understand your strengths.
24:47
You have to understand your weaknesses.
24:48
There's things that Daniel here can do
24:51
better than you, right?
24:52
>> Oh, absolutely.
24:53
>> And there's things that you do better
24:55
than I do. Okay.
24:56
>> We'll see. We'll see [laughter]
24:58
much confidence she has. I'm going to
25:00
bring it out in her whether she believes
25:02
in herself or not. So, you know, it's
25:04
again unique opportunity to talk someone
25:07
who came into dog training kind of
25:10
timid, not wanting to be involved, not
25:13
believing in herself and having great
25:16
success because you had good mentors.
25:18
You had people that believed in you and
25:20
were willing to help you. And that's the
25:22
point of this today's podcast is if you
25:25
have a dog and you want it to do better,
25:27
find somebody to help you interview
25:29
hundred people if you have to reach out
25:31
to us here at All Things Dog. Send us a
25:34
message and say, "Will you help me vet a
25:37
dog trainer in my area because we're in
25:39
Frankfurt, Kentucky, although we get
25:41
dogs sent to us from all over the
25:43
country. Oddly enough, most likely you
25:47
can't afford to send your dog to
25:48
Kentucky for training. But you might.
25:50
And if you do, we'll do a great job with
25:52
your dog and we'll help you. But if you
25:54
can't, we'll help you find a a trainer
25:58
in your area that has the right methods
26:01
to fit. And I can look at a website, a
26:03
Facebook post, and within five minutes
26:07
go, "Yep," or, "Nope, don't go to that
26:10
person." Because they're stuck in some
26:13
methodology that they learned from
26:14
somebody who learned it from somebody.
26:16
and they try to fit every dog into that
26:18
same model and it doesn't work. Dogs are
26:22
like children. Some of them you can yell
26:24
at them and they'll try harder. Some of
26:25
you yell at them, they'll shut down.
26:27
Jess does not do good when you yell at
26:29
her. Okay? So, everybody's different.
26:33
Jenny, she does great when you yell at
26:35
her. She yells back at you and threatens
26:37
you your life. So, you will learn from
26:40
yelling at her. So once again, dog
26:44
training is an art.
26:46
It has to be learned. It has to be
26:49
developed. It has to be cherished. But
26:51
the benefits are simple. You have a
26:53
pretty amazing dog right now, don't you?
26:55
>> I think I do.
26:56
>> Yeah. Tell us about her.
26:58
>> Touche or Kaylee?
27:00
>> Kay. Touch in in in
27:02
>> They're both amazing.
27:03
>> Touche is a puppy. Kaylee is five years
27:06
old.
27:06
>> Kaylee is five years old.
27:07
>> And you helped develop her from a puppy.
27:09
>> I did. And there's tremendous video
27:11
showing this dog's development and where
27:14
she's at now in her life. She's part of
27:16
our breeding program here at Protection
27:18
Dog Sales. So, all of our breed stock
27:22
live in homes. So, we recruited Jess to
27:25
help us raise this puppy giant Snowzer,
27:29
health tested it, titled it in
27:32
competition,
27:34
found her a boyfriend on the internet,
27:36
and they met and they hit off
27:37
immediately and had a big old pile of
27:40
puppies. So,
27:43
>> she lives with Jess full-time and
27:46
>> she's your protector and your best buddy
27:48
and she's there in the middle of the
27:49
night to talk to you.
27:50
>> That's true. She is my companion. She
27:52
does go everywhere. Taking the kids to
27:54
the library, to the grocery. She stands
27:56
with me while I get gas. Um, she she
28:00
rides everywhere. Uh, she's been kaying.
28:03
She's been on vacation with us. She's
28:06
gone everywhere. But she's also my uh my
28:09
my defender. She's my protection. Uh
28:11
she'll sit with me in the car um when
28:13
I'm in a parking lot at night. Um going
28:16
to the ATM. She's definitely been there
28:19
with my kids when they want to go for
28:20
bike rides. um sitting at the bench um
28:23
out getting something to eat or
28:25
something to drink, she's just there
28:26
tucked under the table. Um she's she's
28:30
definitely a wonderful companion and
28:32
protector.
28:33
>> And how did that all happen?
28:35
>> Training
28:36
>> training
28:36
>> training training training. I say this a
28:39
lot, guys. Training saves lives.
28:41
>> This woman might not even be sitting
28:42
here had she not had this giant snower.
28:45
We don't know. It's what we call the
28:47
invisible shield. She's sitting at that
28:49
bench eating her sandwich. And I mean,
28:52
when you watch her eat, it's pretty
28:53
crazy. Like, she's eating that sandwich.
28:56
She's not paying attention. There could
28:57
be a bad guy in the bushes over here.
28:59
She's oblivious, but the dog wasn't. And
29:02
the guy said, "I'm not messing with that
29:04
big black dog. I think I can take this
29:06
little gal, but I'm not messing with
29:08
this big black giant snower." So,
29:13
>> dogs save people's lives just by being
29:15
part of your life. I've got a customer
29:17
that came here for training with his
29:19
dog. He was well over 150 pounds
29:22
overweight. And just by having this
29:25
wonderful trained dog who he was proud
29:27
of, so proud of because of all the
29:30
tricks and all the behaviors and
29:31
everything that this dog could do, he
29:34
started walking, taking the dog around
29:35
the neighborhood and showing it off to
29:37
his friends and taking it to, you know,
29:39
where he used to work before he retired.
29:41
and
29:41
>> he started shedding pounds and he's
29:44
healthier because he had this amazing
29:47
dog in his life. So training saves
29:49
lives. It enhances the dog's life. It
29:52
enhances people's lives.
29:54
>> And we can't thank you enough for taking
29:56
the time to learn about training. It
29:58
wasn't easy. There was some ups. There's
30:00
been some downs. There's been some
30:01
crying, some nashing of teeth. Sure.
30:04
>> There's been some failures. And there's
30:05
been a lot of successes. So good stuff.
30:09
What do you want to say to people out
30:11
there that think they're thinking about
30:12
getting a dog trained?
30:14
>> If they're thinking about getting a dog
30:15
trained, uh, definitely do your
30:17
homework, do some research, reach out to
30:19
someone you trust like David Harris. Um,
30:22
I think if you're I think the the best
30:25
thing is you are interested in getting
30:27
training, that's the first step. Um, I
30:30
think having everyone involved, everyone
30:32
on board um, in the training process is
30:35
very important. Um, and I think getting
30:39
the right dog for you and your needs is
30:42
um a a really really important part.
30:44
>> Yeah, it's amazing. Part of the journey
30:46
is if you can pick the puppy, but most
30:49
people have already got the dog before
30:50
they even think about training. Okay.
30:53
But if you have that opportunity to pick
30:55
the right dog for you, that is the best
30:58
money you'll ever spend. There's a great
31:00
book called The Perfect Puppy. The
31:02
authors are Hart, H A R T, and Hart.
31:05
their veterinarians. What I love about
31:07
this dog training book, The Perfect
31:09
Puppy, is it's not biased. It wasn't
31:12
written by a veterinarian. It wasn't
31:15
written by a groomer. It wasn't written,
31:18
worst of all, by a breeder. It was
31:21
written from the perspective of all
31:24
those professions. They interviewed
31:26
veterinarians, groomers, dog trainers,
31:30
dog walkers, and then they put all that
31:32
data into a computer and let it sort out
31:36
things like territorial barking,
31:39
digging, ease of training, ease of house
31:42
breaking, and they look at about 50 of
31:44
the most popular breeds. So, it's a
31:46
great place to start to get accurate
31:49
information about what you're getting
31:50
yourself into. Okay, so that's a great
31:54
point. Find a good trainer, find a good
31:57
mentor, ask a lot of questions. If
32:00
you've already got the little monster
32:01
and you got behavioral problems, you're
32:03
going to need to reach out and let us
32:05
help you find the right trainer. Maybe
32:08
it's us, maybe it's not. We're not here
32:10
promoting our business. All Things Dog
32:13
is designed to give back to the
32:14
community. Protection Dog Sales is a
32:16
very lucrative business that has made a
32:19
a good living for all of us here and we
32:22
feel impelled to give back to the dog
32:24
community specifically to give back to
32:26
dogs. We want dogs to have better lives
32:28
because we love dogs. Okay, so that's a
32:32
little bit more from Jess the Wonder
32:34
Trainer. She didn't puke. So, we're
32:36
really happy we don't have to clean up
32:38
the floors in here cuz she was
32:40
threatening to puke when I drew her up
32:42
in to do this podcast and she didn't
32:44
puke. Are you glad you did it?
32:47
>> Yeah.
32:49
>> Well, that says it all. David Harris
32:51
wins again. She didn't want to do it,
32:53
guys. Check out our next episode that's
32:56
coming up. We're going to be answering
32:57
questions. We're going to be doing a lot
32:59
of fun stuff and you're going to love
33:01
it.
33:04
>> You've been watching or listening to the
33:06
All Things Dog podcast hosted by master
33:09
[music] dog trainer and CEO David
33:11
Harris. You can visit David's company
33:13
website at protectiondogsales.com
33:16
or follow [music] him on social media by
33:18
searching David Harris Protection Dog
33:20
Sales where you [music] will find tens
33:22
of thousands of videos both educational
33:25
and entertaining.
33:27
>> Bow Wow.
33:30
[music]