Welcome to Pawprint Academy, your blueprint to
raising better dogs. I am Ryan, your host, alongside
my co -host, Brianna. Hi. And together we're
going to bring you real -world training insights
built on leadership, structure, and proven methods.
This shows a lot more than just teaching your
dog to sit or stay, and it's about building trust,
creating calm. and becoming the kind of leader
that your dog truly needs. So thanks for being
here with us on this journey, and let's get started.
So today is episode three, and it is the power
of consistency and why routines matter more than
just pure talent. When we talk about that, our
core idea behind this concept is that Dogs do
not need perfect training sessions. They need
consistent leadership. So reliability in those
routines builds trust a lot more and creates
those long -term results more than just like
the talent or like your special techniques. Regardless
of the way that you're going to go about your
dog training, the consistency that you add in
makes all the difference. right yep absolutely
and so today in uh episode three of paw print
academy we're gonna talk through uh what type
of consistency we're talking about right like
what what does it mean when i guess it's easy
it's a simple word consistency yeah just be consistent
but how is that applied to all the individual
tasks that go into training a dog because that
is where we get uh confused sidetracked and we
create confusion for the dog right and at the
end of the day clarity when we're training a
dog is the name of the game without clarity and
without the dog understanding what it is that
we're even trying to get them to do man you if
you don't have clarity you don't have any hope
right because that dog's just gonna look at you
they don't speak english we've said it before
we'll say it again i say it all the times and
everybody laughs and like shakes their head oh
right yeah dogs don't speak english right they
really don't yeah so you keep telling it to do
things that you never taught it and and then
we're like man this dog is is a problem it just
doesn't want to listen Yeah. It doesn't know
what magic technique. Right. Yeah. If I just
pop the leash or if I do a circle or if I use
the right collar or the right harness or the
right tool or the or or I use the right clicker,
then it's all just going to kind of fall into
place. But really, if you want to if you want
to single out one specific topic that you just
got a nail, it's just consistency. Yeah. All
right, so we're going to break that down. So
as you may have seen in previous episodes, by
the time you guys actually download this, we're
about three episodes ahead of where the podcasts
are being released. But in previous podcasts,
we usually come up with a main core idea. This
week is consistency. Then we break it down into
three major points with a couple of additional
little sub points and things thrown in. That
builds our discussion. We have our live clients
from our training company, Top Dog Training,
that are... dialed in and they're alive on the
call as we actually record this and then uh we'll
break for about 15 20 minutes at the end and
do live q a based on what we're talking about
uh so it this is like every podcast i'm sure
you've ever listened to it's a work in progress
uh but what sets ours apart and it makes ours
a little bit different is that it is recorded
live in one take uh from beginning to end with
uh our clients and then we just we throw it out
there because uh i don't think that uh there's
anything that really needs to get edited out
it's a very family friendly type of atmosphere
and the goal is to get the information out to
increase the education of anyone who wants to,
you know, embark on the journey of training their
dogs. So as we get into that major point, number
one, dogs learn through repetition, not exceptions.
Right. And so that doesn't mean dogs learn through
repetition, no exceptions. It means exceptions
to the, that consistency. are gravely hampering
your dog training. Example. You say you're training
your dog to sit and you're doing all the things
right. You're like sit and they sit and sit and
they sit. And you're just like, man, this is
going so well. This is going so well. And then
you say sit and then they go down all the way
to the ground. And you're like. Man, they're
just so obedient. It's crazy. And you reward
and then you just like move on with your day
and you're like say and sit. And then once in
a while, they're going all the way down to the
ground. You're shooting yourself in the foot.
Why? Why? I'm glad you asked. Thank you for asking.
So you're shooting yourself in the foot because
you're reinforcing something with consistency.
That is not accurate. Right. And so if you're
trying to teach the dog to sit, but sometimes
they do a different activity other than sit and
you reward that just because, man, they. They're
doing so good. They're listening, like in your
mind, like they're listening to you. They're
responding to you. They have good eye contact.
They are not barking. They're doing all the things
right. It's just that they went down a little
too low in the sit and they ended up on the ground.
But that's still not consistent. That's still
not what we're trying to train for. And so that
is an opportunity for you to simply. withhold
the reward and just be like no sit and a lot
of times they'll pop right back up into that
sit and then you can go on about your day and
you reward them and you go right on big party
lots of praise but that is the consistency that
we're talking about yeah you have to nail the
consistency and the smartest dogs are the absolute
hardest to train because they prey on us on on
the consistency game right they are always watching
they're always looking they're always deducing
in their head like oh what is he asking for what
is she asking for and when we aren't consistent
with something very simple like that we send
them the wrong message right i always go back
to like not even about a training session right
it's like consistency in everyday life like when
I deal with a dog the first thing I teach is
threshold manners it's like that's so important
like daily things throughout your life where
you're being consistent and feeding the dog at
the same time take him for a walk around the
same time or at least in the same order those
are where you're going to see the biggest like
behavioral changes in your dog right definitely
so inconsistency is going to slow down the learning
and it's going to create hesitation in the dogs
because they're not going to fully understand
what it is that you're asking so repetition is
obviously going to strengthen a habit and the
whole goal of dog training in general right is
to eventually get to where your dog is doing
those movements and those those actions automatically
that's like the the end state that we want to
get to with our dogs Right. And repetition. I
mean, people will ask us sometimes, oh, it's
like, how many times do I have them sit in a
training session? I'm like, like 40. Right. Because
you can do it so fast. Right. Yeah. I don't have
a number. I just keep on going. Right. You just
keep going until the dog understands it. And
a lot of times, like there are a lot of things
like recall that dogs do not understand right
away. And you just have to keep doing it and
doing it and doing it and doing it. And you're
like, man. I don't know how they don't get it
yet, but it doesn't matter that you don't understand
that they don't get it. It's your job to teach
them that. Right. And where I could see this
going off the rails here was like, well, they
said just do it like a hundred times. So we're
not saying do it until the dog is exhausted in
one single training session. What we're talking
about is, is the repetition that is required
to truly like. create understanding in the dog
right uh that is not the same and it's gonna
be different for every dog like i said the um
um there's a very famous um dog training company
that recommends uh they do all positive training
they recommend one minute sessions right like
i for sure don't follow that um but because because
i got i got a uh i got too many things to do
uh to do just a single minute of training and
then put the dog away for five minutes and then
do a single minute of training um or we're we're
gonna go down a rabbit hole with this but the
concept is repetition at the dog's pace where
the dog is is obviously showing comprehension
and you're not exhausting the dog. Someone could
ask, well, how do I know that I'm exhausting
the dog? Well, because the dog's not participating
anymore. Right, if they check out. Right, if
they check out, you've already missed it. Get
one more in and call it a day. Right, and next
time, cut it a little bit earlier. Because ideally,
you're ending at a high, not at a low. You want
to end every session at a high while the dog's
excited, while the dog wants to perform one more.
Yep. That way, when you get them out the next
time for the next session, they're going to be
excited. All right. Aside from that, the last
point that I had written down was allowing a
behavior can sometimes teach the dog that rules
are negotiable rather than strict. And this comes
into play. I've got some questions here. are
going to kind of play into this, but this is
where life happens is totally a real excuse.
And I, I, I feel for you. I get it. I understand
it happens to us too, even as dog trainers, but
you come home from a super long day at work and
your dog, like, you know, jumps up and then,
and then they get down and you're like, all right,
that's, that's fine. Like, good job. And you
walk into the living room and you're just super
tired and you tell them, hey, go to your place.
And they kind of walk over to it, but they're
real excited and they come up and nudge you.
And then you just pet them and you're like, yeah,
yeah, I had a rough day too. Well, there was
an opportunity for you to correct your dog and
say, no, no, you didn't go to your place. Let
me reinforce this. But instead. Because we are
tired, weak, or otherwise, it's the silver knob.
You're welcome. Brianna's over here messing with
her mic, about to rip this thing off the boom.
We're going to have technical difficulties on
our live call. So when you're super tired, you're
not in the mood to deal with this, and your dog
almost does what you say. is the prime opportunities
for you to explain to the dog non -verbally that
your commands are negotiable. And that's the
most frustrating thing because I'm right there
with you. I have done it. I still do it sometimes.
We are not perfect. We all make the mistake.
But the more mistakes that you do, the longer
it takes to train your dog. Right. They add up
for sure. So one mistake or one time of doing
that, it's not going to ruin your dog. It absolutely
doesn't. But your dog becomes a product of what
you consistently do and consistently hold them
accountable to do. Right. And it goes back to
them being opportunists, right? They look for
any kind of loophole. And whether it's just because
you're tired at the end of the day or whether...
Somebody in the house is the weak link and that
is like, yeah, whatever. I don't really care.
I don't want to participate in all this stuff
or whatever. It's just too hard. I don't have
time for it. You will see a difference in that
dog, in that household, in that behavior. Oh,
yeah, for sure. The first question, what is an
example of a client that you've seen who sabotaged
progress by being inconsistent? Not naming any
names. Right. I don't know that I would call
it sabotage anyway. Sometimes people, most of
the time. We sabotage ourselves. Right. Most
of the time, they don't even realize that they're
doing it until we're involved. And then we're
like, well, that's because you're doing that.
And they're like, oh, okay. So for me, I immediately
go to. clients coming home and being excited
to see their dog and loving them and letting
them like wrestle and do things like that. And
then guests coming over and them not wanting
to do that with the dog. With that, a lot of
times it's like, well, I'm excited to see my
dog. I want them to be excited to see me. But
that dog isn't going to differentiate you from
that other guest walking in the door. They think
somebody comes through that door and I get to
wrestle with them. And so. I think people think
that the dogs will will be OK treating guests
as such, but treating them differently. And it's
just not the case. Right. So my example is I
used to teach this big group class out at a park
and it was. Done only with clients that had already
like been through their dog had already been
through training. They had already been through
training. They all knew the right things to do.
But as soon as you. increased the amount of variables
that they were like trying to deal with i .e
uh there were other dogs there was other people
you're talking to them you're having a conversation
with them while they're walking their dogs on
a trying to put them in a strict heel or um you
know other dogs are approaching them and they're
trying to like keep their dogs engagement suddenly
as soon as the all of those variables increase
all of the consistency just went out the window
and then they were like good sit heel stay down
and it was like all of them all at the same time
and it's like well my dog's not like lunging
at that other dog but right but but you were
also using five commands to try to get your dog
to sit basically and i was like well that's not
the best and and it's okay like But you need
to understand that the more you talk, the more
your dog's just going to tune out what you're
saying as noise because it's confusing. Yep.
Yeah. How do you show owners the difference in
their dog's behavior once they stick to the rules?
I think that one's self -evident. Right. The
dog shows them. The dog shows them. I don't need
to show them anything. Typically, when we get
someone on board and they're like, okay. I'm
committed. I am going to be absolutely consistent
about this. Whatever it is, whether it's like
I'm going to make them sit at the back door before
I open the door or I'm going to make them lay
down before I open the crate door. I will not
feed them whipped cream even if they bark at
the fridge. There's so many. Whatever the consistency
thing is, they usually get that. And the dog
ends up showing them, hey. I am picking up what
you're putting down. Right. And some dogs have
more stamina than others. Keep that in mind too.
Some dogs can be incredibly persistent. I mean,
we do like decompression exercises with dogs
and some dogs in like 20 minutes are like, I'm,
I'm gonna lay down. There's nothing going on.
Some dogs it's, it's two hours. Right. And if,
if they don't think I have to move on with my
day and do something different, I do, but I don't
get to move on from that exercise because my
job is to wait for them to. to settle down what's
uh what's one daily routine that you just don't
let slide no matter what threshold manners say
it louder for the people in the back threshold
manners okay why because a dog rushing a dog
rushing through the door is one it's just rude
okay and in what world do we just let our kids
run out the front door ahead of us especially
if you live like on a like street we're obviously
like in like a cul -de -sac so it's different
but it is just one of those things where if that
dog rushes out that door without you that dog
is not going with you that dog is ahead of you
that dog is not paying any attention to you that
dog is in its own universe in its own world and
you are not in pack drive And that's the thing
is when you take your dog outside, you need to
be in pack drive with your dog. Or guess what?
Your dog doesn't care and it will run away. Right.
Because it's going to be in something else. Right.
Yeah. It's going to be in prey drive. So it's
going to be chasing something. Yeah. It's going
to be in play drive. It's going to be chasing
something. Right. It's like, let's go do something
else. Yeah. That's like the first thing we work
on a dog with when they come in is just, you
just have to sit at the door. And then when I
open it, you have to not go through it until
I'm ready to go through it with you. Yeah. And
it's so easy. Right. My thing, I mean, similar
to threshold manners, but when I get a dog out
of a crate or a kennel. Right. Yeah. If I don't
tell them, if I don't give them a break. Yeah.
Then they're not coming out. Right. Yeah. They
can be sitting, standing, you know, laying down.
It doesn't matter, but they're not coming out
until I say break. Right. And so that's also.
At the crate door is one of the first ways that
we teach like the no marker without having to
give any like corrections or anything like that
because you're just taking space away and saying,
nope, you can't come out. You have to sit down.
Right. Very, very clear in the dog's mind what
no means when it is literally limiting their
freedom. Yeah. And then. You see within minutes,
the dog's like, oh, okay, I got to sit down.
You don't have to slam anything in a dog's face
either. You can literally just hold the crate
door right where it is, and that dog is not going
to dig its way through there. Right. Anywhere
from like the Dutch Shepherd that's 80 pounds,
he has to lay down before he comes out. 100%.
And the 15 -pound little Frenchie also, you're
going to lay down before you get to come out.
She wishes she was 15 pounds. Well, she's 18.
Don't hate on her. All right. These are both
our dogs, by the way. These are both our personal
dogs. We only make fun of our dogs. Right, exactly.
So point number two, structure creates predictability
and calmness. So this is like really, really
important. So when your dog is showing signs
of anxiety. The number one thing that I talk
to people on the phone when they ask for evals
and they ask us to like come into their house
and figure out what's going on with their dog.
And they're like, I think they're anxious. And
I'm like, okay, tell me about how your day goes
and tell me about how you feed them. Tell me
about where do they sleep and how do they sleep
and tell me about this and tell me about that.
Almost always the. the dog has way more freedom
than they need and when that happens you get
anxiety because the dog lacks structure that
it just genetically craves dogs were meant to
be in packs and like whole generations previous,
right? Dogs were bred and, you know, they came
from this world where they survived in packs.
They don't need solo absolute freedom and to
make decisions. Not all dogs are capable of making
decisions. Not all dogs want to be the dog to
make the decisions. Thus, they don't challenge
the alpha male, in the pack that is making the
decisions that's how a pack like a pack dynamic
stays structured in the wild is that not every
dog actually wants to challenge the alpha not
just from a like a physical dominance perspective
but A lot of dogs just don't want to have to
make those decisions. Right. Gabe's like, I'm
not doing. Right. He doesn't want to make any
decisions. He's just like, what are we doing?
We're doing this. Yeah. Somebody tell me where
we're going. Absolutely. So dogs feel like security
when they know what's coming next. And they can't
know what's coming next if you aren't consistent.
about your schedule or your process it doesn't
have to be consistent to a t with with scheduling
right so like i'm a huge proponent of not feeding
my dog at the same time every day and that comes
from the concept that if you feed your dog at
seven o 'clock every day at 702 your dog is going
to depending on how dominant they are they're
going to be finding you yeah they're going to
be like where are you where are you and why have
i not eaten yet So I feed our dogs at different
times throughout the evening. That's not the
consistency that I'm talking about. The consistency
I'm talking about is if I ask them to do something,
I am going to hold them accountable and enforce
that they do it. And that is how they predict,
okay, he said sit. Okay, he said place. I need
to go lay down on my place. that's how they that's
how it's done yep um all right the first question
on this point how do you help families build
a realistic daily routine without going crazy
overboard with it right definitely you gotta
start small and pick like two or three things
right so mine would be start having your dog
like sit at the door it's like Teach a threshold
manner. That builds consistency. You'll see after
you practice that and make it a routine and require
it every time that when you get to a door, your
dog's going to be like, oh, I should sit down.
I'm at a door. And those are the dogs that people
look at in public and they're like, oh my gosh,
that dog sat at a door. And it's just so different.
And then I would go back to like feeding also.
Does it have to be the exact same time? No. Will
it maybe help you build consistency to kind of
start at the same time? Yeah, maybe, but it's
not a requirement by any means. I mean, we usually
pick like a time range between like 5 .30 and
7 and we'll feed our dogs somewhere between there.
But at least building a routine where they have
to go to their place, they have to sit, and then
you have to deliver the food and give them a...
release command before they get to eat dinner
instead of just dumping it in the bowl while
they're not even around and waiting for them
to meander over and and eat it at their free
will yeah and i i think that those are great
ones to start with because without changing anything
in your entire life you still have to let that
dog out and you still have to feed it yep right
those two are pretty much non -negotiable uh
across the the the dog, like pet dog, home dog
training space. And so by capitalizing on those
things that you're already, you already have
to do those things. You have to let the dog out.
You already have to feed the dog. So just take
those opportunities to start building in that
structure. Yeah. Maybe even as simple as like,
like you said, like, okay, so just because you
put the food down doesn't mean your dog gets
to eat. Maybe you give them a release word in
order to eat. Maybe you then start to require
a sit before it. Maybe you require a sit and
then a down. Maybe you require a cool trick of
some sort like a spin or an orbit or whatever.
But when it comes back to the consistency, it's
the dog then has to do it and do it the right
way in order for that to work. the dog sit and
you're wanting them to wait until you give them
a release word because you don't want them to
release themselves at every moment, that dog
goes to break without you telling it, then it's
nope. You have to be ready to block that dog,
put them back into the position and require it
again and wait. I mean, it might take three or
four or five, six, seven, eight times. Right.
So you have to like prepare yourself that the
first time that you do this, And probably the
second and third time, it's going to take a little
bit. And that's okay. You can work through it.
Right. You have to come and do it with patience
and time. Right. Patience. Patience is the hardest
thing because it's like, nope, don't do that.
I don't have time for this. Hurry up. Eat your
food. I got to go. Right. You're like a broken
record. And it is not fun in the beginning, but
you will see that the dog learns faster and is
like, well, I should go ahead and do it the first
time because last time she just kept making me
do it. And it took so long that I didn't even
remember that I wanted those snacks. Yeah. So
can you share a story where structure alone reduced
a dog's anxiety? I'm sending you that question
specifically because some people listening may
have heard about Brianna's rescue dog, Mr. Gabe.
And it's just Gabe, I know. Yeah, it is just
Gabe. I call him Mr. Gabe. Did that come with
the first name, Mr.? It's just polite. It's polite
to address people. So he was... So anxiety ridden
that he could not walk through like a doorway.
He couldn't walk through a doorway because he
could see the trim going from the ground up and
over him. And he wanted no part in that. Right.
And you have to literally either like drag, herd,
push or or just somehow distract him just in
order to go from room to room. And he. is able
now to run and play with the other dogs in the
backyard right uh he runs on a treadmill yeah
he put a ball in his mouth for the first time
i've ever seen never been taught how to play
like a dog he just doesn't know but he is learning
right and he is figuring these things out he's
able to go out in public now he goes to breweries
and he goes to coffee shops and he goes to things
and sometimes he still gets spooked and gets
scared and things uh but he he's able to do those
things um what one of the most major changes
that i saw and i'm basically just taking your
entire point here um but it was at the point
where we introduced him to a kennel or a crate
i felt like that was a defining moment where
he was like oh heck no i am not getting in that
crazy i would i would never i would rather die
right then get in that box and through patience
and food luring and getting him close to it with
the salmon with the freeze -dried salmon and
uh and getting him close to it building food
drive in him because he didn't have food drive
right right he would he would just leave his
food all day yeah But building food drive in
him and then building that response in him and
that trust in him and then basically just creating
a safer and safer and safer environment until
eventually he was like, no, no, please put me
in the crate. Like there's something scary out
here, but I know in there it's safe and it's
good. So let me go in there. And at that point,
that dog completely changed around. He's the
epitome though of like, if you don't go into
it with patience, you will lose your mind because
he's one that's like, he's just. Right. Because
he's not thinking through anything. He's reacting.
He is just, he is straight reacting out of fear,
out of anxiety, out of the pure animalistic like
thought processes that he has. Yeah. But he's
not like. participating right in this exchange
yeah he's just like constantly yeah and i think
like going back to the consistency like we went
with an e -collar on him because it gives consistent
corrections it's the same every time and he knows
what to predict when you go nope and he's like
oh okay all right i'm listening what was it again
because the music was too loud the first time
but he hears that no now and he's like what Sorry.
Okay. Right. So major point number three, consistency
builds trust between dog and owner. So trust
comes from fairness and predictability, not just
from like being the best trainer in the room.
It doesn't matter what cool tricks you have.
It doesn't matter what cool concepts you have.
What matters is that you build that consistency
and. With the consistency, your dog develops
trust in you. So dogs respect leaders, right?
And a leader is someone who stays in the front
of the pack and helps everyone else move toward
the common goal. Not just somebody who gets behind
them and pushes them forward. Sometimes... things
people dogs will require a push forward but that's
not usually where a leader stands um anyway dogs
respect leaders who respond the same way every
time this is what brianna is talking about with
an e -collar at a an extremely low setting you
can develop a communication with the dog that
is always exactly the same. That consistency
builds fairness. That fairness is highly ethical.
The concept of, I would much rather use a very
low e -stem or a vibrate function on an e -collar
than having to perfectly meter the tightness
on the leash right so one of the things with
gabe is because he darts and gets spooked and
will go into flight every chance he gets he would
a lot of times muddy the communication because
he's giving himself corrections because he's
just darting back and forth at the end of the
leash and i'm not even asking for anything at
that point right And so when you're dealing with
a scared dog like that, a lot of times there's
a lot of trainers out there that will just use
some sort of aversive to just kind of stomp out
that behavior and be like, no, don't do that.
Do this. But the problem is that he's initiating
a lot of that so skittishly and so unpredictably
that you're not really getting through with a
consistent, clear message. And so by in that
case, putting him on like a big thick flat collar
that is dulls down all of those, all of that
crazy information and keeps him from getting
his own corrections and then clearly delivering
corrections yourself, which is the, which when
we're saying corrections, we're saying at the
point where he is doing a behavior, We're delivering
communication to him that says, hey, look at
me. Hey, hey, that's not so scary. Look at me.
Give me your focus rather than whatever it is
that he's worried about. That is clear and that's
clear and concise communication. Yeah. Inconsistent
praise. And we just kind of talked about this
as a real life example, but an inconsistent correction
will for sure set your dog back. Yeah. Inconsistent
corrections where sometimes like, oh, well, my
trainer told me to just pop the leash. Okay.
Well, how much did you pop the leash? Well, I
popped the leash, but at the same time, the dog
like took off that way and did this and did that.
Like we were just talking about, right? With
the dog is constantly. changing that up for you
and you can't deliver consistency oh we need
to we need to look at that strategy right because
yeah you're gonna you're gonna end up if you're
inconsistent with corrections and rewards that's
when you're gonna lose trust from the dog like
entirely yeah absolutely so um I sound like a
broken record here. Consistency. Consistency
is the name of the game. But it really is. All
of the things that we do and everything that
we recommend, it aligns with and supports the
concept that is, is this a way you can be consistent
in your communication with your dog? If the answer
is no, it's probably not something we recommend.
That's the end of it. All right. So fair, consistent
responses give the dog confidence in its choices
by us consistently rewarding the dog. The other
side of it, right? We just talked about the fair
corrections, but the other side of it, by rewarding
the dog consistently, by nailing it, when they
do what you ask, nail it, throw a party. mark
it we talked last week about marker words and
we like we talked for almost an hour on marker
words go back if you if if you can't remember
and you don't understand like what the difference
is go back and listen to it because that marker
words give you the opportunity to mark the exact
moment that the dog's doing what you're saying
for them to do and that is what you want to reward.
By doing it and doing it consistently, man, you
are going to make so much progress so quickly.
Right. And that's why we always use the phrase
like, yes, predicts a reward. Right. No, predicts
a correction. Correct. Because you can then see
a dog responding to those words before you even
have to get to anything the next. That's how
you phase out corrections. Right, because it
predicts it. And so, yeah, 100%. I think I cut
you off a little bit on that one. I got too excited.
I was like, yes, exactly. That's it. That's it.
It predicts what is coming. And the dog will
inevitably learn that they will inevitably learn
that. What am I trying to say? That they will
get to. the end faster if they do it if they
like do the behavior faster so instead of them
waiting for you to get the reward out you'll
start seeing in their body language that like
they're already expecting it right because they're
like oh i know he said the marker word and so
they're like that predicts the reward i know
it's coming and they see you see it in their
body language that's how you know that you have
properly like charged that marker right and if
you're not going to at least be that consistent
your your your dog's not going to trust you it's
just right humans right if like we because we
talked about not lying to the dog right if we
can't as humans rely on someone we're not going
to trust them right so why should your dog rely
on you if you're not reliable right if you tell
me there's there's pizza in the kitchen and like
Usually there's pizza in the kitchen when you
say that, but sometimes there's not. I'm for
sure going to doubt you. Yeah. Right? It's just
simple. But we do it all the time with the marker
words. We're like, yes means I'm going to give
you a reward. And then you're like, yes, yes,
yes, yes. And then one time you're like, yes.
And then something distracts you and you don't
give them a reward. You just broke the pattern.
right you were just not consistent and i guarantee
you that dog that's like laying there with tail
wagging like yeah yeah i'm gonna get paid i'm
gonna get paid and then it's like ah what what
happened right now one time right no one works
for free around here um but your dog might not
um might not change anything just once right
or twice or three times or five times right right
because as long as you're you're building that
consistency up with the teeter -totter and it's
like in favor of you do this more than you don't
yeah you're gonna be okay but you are for sure
going to elongate the amount of time you're going
to have to work on this yeah for your dog to
figure it out it's not that like oh you were
inconsistent four times last month and so now
your dog is untrained it doesn't work that way
but the more you are consistent the faster they
will learn. Yeah. All right. So we are going
to go into listener projects. So every episode,
we come up with two projects for our listeners.
Obviously, we've got our real life clients on
the line. We'll talk to them in just a second.
But for anyone who's downloading this or listening
to it after the fact, here's the two projects
I have for today. So one is a leash walking consistency
drill. Uh, step one, right? Pick, pick one leash
rule, one leash rule for the walk, whatever it
is. Um, such as a, like the, the dog is not going
to walk in front of my leg. If they're on the
right or on the left, it's like my left leg is
going to be the, the line in the sand. They're
not going to walk in front of that and, and then
enforce it on every single walk. Even if you're
only going outside briefly. Even if you don't
leave your driveway. Right. But pick something
and pick something that's manageable for where
your dog's at. It doesn't make sense for a dog
that's a crazy polar. You've got it in a harness.
It doesn't listen at all. And then you're going
to go outside. You're not going to let it go
in front of your leg. That's unrealistic. Right.
But it could just be like. I'm going to take
my dog out. I've never done this before ever,
but I'm going to just stop intermittently. And
when the dog turns around and looks at me, I'm
going to reward it. And you just do it the entire
time. Right. That's my favorite one. I'll walk
and I'll stop walking and the dog will inevitably
get to the end of the leash eventually. And then
I just wait for them to respond to the leash
pressure and look back at me. And then I'm like,
yeah. And then I have a reward ready for him.
Yep. So depending on what you pick there, just
if the dog breaks the rule, just reset it calmly.
Just put it back like, nope, put it back where
it's supposed to be and then continue going on.
Don't make exceptions. Don't let the dog slide
through the drill. Project number two. Project
number two, feeding time routine. So pick a time.
that you want to feed the dog, right? And each
day for the week, feed them at that time. And
at that time, set it up exactly the same way.
So same mat, same bowl, same amount of food,
same type of food, whatever it is. Set it up
the exact same way and require a sit or a down
before you lower the bowl. And then... As you
lower it, I want you to use your marker word
that means good job, keep doing it. Whatever
it is you're using. We use yes as a continuation
marker. We use free as a terminal marker. If
you don't know what those mean, refer back to
our episode two. We talked about marker words.
to continue to do it all the way until you put
the bowl down. Then release the dog with your
release marker. For us, that's free. We use free,
which is a treatable release marker. We use free
because the food is the treat. The food is the
reward. They get to then eat the reward. And
I put the bowl just slightly in front of the
dog to where they have to close the distance
from wherever they are. They've got to close
that distance in order to come to me. Keep the
process identical, right? Every single time that
you do it to build that predictability. All right.
So those are the two listener projects for this
week. At this time, we are going to open it up
for questions from our live listeners. So at
this time, anybody who is listening and or dialed
in here, you can unmute and we'll work through
whoever's got a question. I'll give you a minute
to do that. Hey, Ryan. It's Heidi Clark. Hey,
Heidi. Hey, I have a question. When Maverick
has something that he shouldn't, like a remote
control or something? Just something. Yeah, just
something. Yes, just something. I got it. What
is the best way to get him to release it? Because
obviously once you go towards him, he then thinks
it's a game. Gotcha. All right. You want to take
this one? You know? All right. So there's, there's
a couple of things that we have to do. So Maverick,
right, is still sitting in his kind of like untrained
little bubble here, right? Maverick's coming
to our program here pretty soon. So we don't.
We don't have a strong recall or a strong drop
it or leave it yet that we can rely on. So what
I would recommend with him is a trade as well
as a redirect. And the way that that's going
to go down. So is there something that you can
trade him that he finds valuable? Other than
a treat or a... Right. So initially, right now,
we can still use a treat and the treat doesn't
necessarily, depending on how we do this, and
I'll talk you through it, it doesn't, we don't
just treat the dog for going and grabbing the
remote, okay? What you can do is you can go and
you can get the treats, you can get a toy, you
can get something, right? And you can make that
situation through movement, tone of voice, and
the fact that you have access to that resource
more exciting than the remote. Because it's likely
that he's grabbing that remote as a precursor
to engage with you in a way that he was looking
for attention. Or he was looking for you to start
a game. One of dog's favorite games right off
the bat is Catch Me If You Can. Every dog seems
to know how to play it. That's absolutely true.
Right. Every dog knows how to play Catch Me If
You Can and every dog loves it. Preloaded with
that game. Right. They come right from the factory
that way. So when that happens, the number one
thing is you cannot play that game. You cannot
play that game. And one of our clients was dealing
with some very sensitive items like eyeglasses
and things that were getting mangled in the process.
And it could be excruciating to be in the position
where you have to deal with this. And I understand.
However, every time that you engage with this,
exciting catch me if you can game you will reinforce
his desire to either get that item or find something
else that you also find valuable so he's looking
for what you find valuable and obviously a remote
control where there's only one of them in the
house is a very valuable item and so him identifying
that It speaks to his one opportunistic nature.
So controlling that resource and obviously trying
to size down the amount of times that he can
take off with it is important. But once he does
get it, I would get some food out and then I
would engage him in that same type of game that
is just like. Oh, well, you you basically want
to explain to him nonverbally. Oh, you think
I'm interested in that? I'm actually not. I'm
way more interested in this thing over here.
Yeah. And by doing that, what he's looking for
initially was your was your engagement. So you're
going to lower the value of that remote control.
and you're going to increase the value of whatever
it is that you have that toy that treat the food
the uh stuffed toy the whatever it is that that
he is going to then see and perceive as more
valuable and then you do a trade but he only
does this when you're not around or not looking
so what does that mean so like he just grabs
the remote when you're when you're not in the
house when you're not around correct okay if
we don't have everything put up when we're out
of his sight yeah then he'll go find something
to chew off so it's a chewing issue on the counter
with us in the house and he'll just look at it
and just walk on by Okay, so with that, I mean,
it comes down to if the dog is young enough and
we give them access to just free room, they're
going to find something, right? So I know since
he hasn't started his program, right, my general
suggestion would be like put him on place and
give them something to chew on because how old
is Maverick again? He's... 14 months right so
still like in that chewing phase and I'm sure
there's some desire there to chew so typically
I work with a dog and I will put them on place
especially if I'm leaving the room work them
through those situations and give them something
that's acceptable to chew on if they go to get
off their place bed with that item I put that
chewable item back on their place bed so that
they know that that's where it's acceptable to
have it and kind of chew on it but In those instances,
we've either, I mean, since he doesn't have the
training capabilities currently, we've got to
make sure that the items are up and out of their
reach if they're just free roaming around. And
I know that one's like a tough one because, I
mean, we don't leave any of our dogs alone in
rooms unless they're... on place and holding
that place and if they don't hold place well
because they're new to it or they're too young
then they go in a kennel if we leave the room
um just because there's so many different crazy
things that can happen when dogs just roam around
and find something that they like so once once
he gets it then and you realize it Then you can
do the strategy that I was talking about before
he gets it. You should use the strategy Brianna's
talking about. Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. Thank you.
Yeah, no problem. Anybody else have a question?
We need to I'm I'm seriously going to invest
in the the the Jeopardy music waiting for questions.
It's hard to like unmute. Right. I know it's
where someone's like desperately clicking on
their laptop right now trying to get unmuted.
All right. Well, unless anybody speaks up, I'm
going to close it out here for tonight. OK, so.
Thank you for joining us for tonight. This was
episode three of Pawprint Academy. And today
we are talking about consistency. When we, anything
that you do with your dogs, it really, really,
really comes down to what you consistently do,
how you show that baseline, like foundational
leadership in the home. With that, I'm going
to bid you guys goodnight. This is Ryan and my
co -host Brianna. Goodnight. Thank you for tuning
in and we'll see you a little further down the
road. Thanks guys for tuning in. Goodnight. Thank
you. Bye.