Episodes
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn Let's dive in.
Let's talk about different personalities and dogs. This is probably one of my favorite topics because this is one of the first things one of my mentors taught me and this has really helped me see each dog as an individual. Now in every breed, you can have the four different personality types. So, what are they?
They're the same ones that apply to us people. You have your driver, which I call your company CEO. They like to make the rules. They're the fun Nazis. They want to see results. They don't care how it's done. They are not there to have fun. They are there to get shit done. That's your company CEO. Then you get your expressive or your company sales person.
These dogs are all about fun. Now I generally joke, I do not recommend this, and say you could hit this dog with a 4x2 over the head and they're not going to care as long as they get to do what they want. I fall into this category. You can do whatever you like to me. It is not going to squash me because as long as I get to do what I want, no matter how much pressure you put on me, no matter what you try and do to me is not going to work for you because I am going to find a way to do what I want and it's just going to suck to be you.
These dogs work on my nerves. I struggle with these dogs because I can see their bullshit a mile away. Now, generally, these dogs struggle with the company accountants or the analytics. So the analytical dogs are your company accountants. You do not hug your company accountant. They're all about data and information.
They are introverted. So you do not. Hug these dogs. They, they like to lie by your feet. They like to be social. They have a very small circle, whereas your expressives, like, they're friends with everybody, but you could die a slow painful death and they're not gonna care. That's your expressive. That's me. I love you, but if you disappeared, I probably might not notice.
And I'm sorry, it's not you. It's me. Um, so that's your expressive dogs. They don't care. Your analyticals form deep, meaningful relationships. They are loyal. Um, they need information. They have a very small bubble. So they have one or two really good friends, uh, the rest of the world can die a slow, painful death and they won't care.
Um, think like, more like Sheldon, engineers, accountants, these sort of people fall into the analytics. Analytical or company accountant category, and then you get your amiables. I call them the company receptionists. These dogs pretty much train themselves. They are the perfect dogs. They are so eager to please.
They just want to do everything right. But your driver or company CEO personality can squash these dogs. Um, so if you have a very dominant personality, I recommend you do not get a, um, a company receptionist type dog, an amiable dog, because you're going to squash this dog. Also, these dogs are very sensitive.
I've had a few, generally they're your golden retrievers. Um, your company salespeople are usually your labs, your company CEOs, uh, generally they can be in almost any breed, but they're very strong minded. So usually really strong Malinois, Rottweilers, uh, German shepherds, um, however, most German shepherds are your company accountants.
Your aimables is your, um, golden retrievers. And I've actually had a few who have gone in a depression when they've been rehomed. They are that sensitive. They feel things deeply. And when they, they lose their family, it's like they really, really, really struggle to cope. Now, these are generally the four personality types.
You can get multiple. Now, one thing that most people don't talk about when it comes to personality types is where you fit in a personality type quite often can change depending on the people around you. So I can fall into the company CEO personality type. I can even fall in the company receptionist personality type or the company accountant personality type, depending on the other people around me and the positions they fill.
The dog's the same. If there's a really strong person, then I am not going to, um, challenge them because I'll probably try and find ways around them being true to my personality type. Now, if you understand this and understand which of these personality types you gel with and understand that you're not a social butterfly.
So don't get a social butterfly dog because they are going to get you in embarrassing situations. If you are an introvert, don't get an extrovert. If you're an extrovert, don't get an introvert cause your life's going to be miserable because you're introverts not going to want to hang out with any one of your friends or their dogs.
Um, most people, if you're a company CEO, never, ever, ever get a, um, company receptionist or an amiable. I actually saw this team at a, Local club, and it was horrible. The poor dog went, tried to go to everyone. Like she tried to go to the judges just to get some relief from her owner. And, uh, it, uh, it sucked to watch because, um, the owner, you couldn't tell the owner anything, company CEO, and this poor dog struggled with the loveliest border collie on the planet.
And just with the wrong owner who was so domineering, this poor dog would run up to judges just to get relief from the pressure the owner put on them. So here's the thing. You need to understand where you fit and where your dog fits because there is no point if you are a company receptionist that you end up with a company CEO dog.
It's not gonna work. That dog is probably gonna kill you, so that dog is gonna make your life miserable. If you're a company accountant, do not get a company salesperson dog, that dogs who would drive you up the wall. Actually, to be fair though, despite the fact that I'm a company, um, salesperson type personality, my favorite dogs to work with now that I understand them and I've had the best success with them is your company accountants.
Because when you understand these dogs. Oh my goodness. These dogs, as soon as I get to work with them, and as soon as I realized they're safe with me, and that, um, I understand them, they just, I fit into their bubble, and they're like, oh my goodness, where have you been all my life? Oh, you have just Like it changed my life so much and they know that I've been the, uh, person that's helped the owners.
Uh, and so I can do no wrong in these dogs book for the rest of their life. They are so loyal to me because I have given them the support they needed. So, um, generally a lot of my episodes cover how to help these dogs because these dogs are the misunderstood dogs. And if you can just help. These dogs, there's a quarter of the dog population that is going to be feel so much relief if only people would understand how to help them.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'm looking forward to catching up with you in the next episode. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
How to tell if your dog is the correct weight and why is it even important? Right, I have a very easy way to tell if your dog's the correct weight but let's start with why is it even important. If you're here, you're, you probably feel like I do that our dogs don't live long enough as it is. And I would love for my dogs to live as long as possible and not just live a long life, but be as pain free as possible too.
Because I don't know about you, but I can be pretty grumpy and miserable if I'm in pain and our dogs do too. And many, uh, dogs. Behavior problems and grumpiness is actually due to pain. So if we can reduce the pain, then we're gonna have a happier, longer life with our dogs. And that is the ultimate one win, in my book anyway.
So, how do you tell if your dog is the correct weight? Right, there is a simple, easy way to tell and all you need is a hand. Right, so if your dog's rib area feels like the palm of your hand, then they're overweight. If your dog's rib area feels like your knuckles, then they're underweight. You see how the knuckles, um, there's quite a gap between the bones and the skin and it's, it's quite distinctive.
You definitely don't want that because that means your dog is too skinny. And they are actually starving. Now, when you look at the palm of your hand, you actually have to dig down to feel the bones in the palm of your hand. Um, and, um, as soon as you have to, uh, push through the skin to, to feel the bone, then your dog has got extra weight that they don't need to which can result in a shorter life down the track.
The ideal weight. For your dog to be is to feel like the back of your hand where you can easily feel the bones but it is not distinctive like the knuckles and you don't have to take down like if it was the palm of your hand so if you you should just run your finger along lightly and feel the rib bones Um, through the skin.
And so I never look at a dog's coat because many of our coated breeds like Huskies and Pomeranians, they, you, you won't know if they're over or underweight just by looking at them because they've got that thick coat. So always feel the dog's rib area to determine if your dog is the correct weight or not.
Now, there is something else, some other research that's come out that you may need to take note of and But remember every dog is different and every dog needs something different. However, that is never being overweight What um, you may want to consider is feeding your dog once a day. Dogs who are fed once a day has been shown to live longer than dogs that are fed twice or more a day.
Obviously puppies need to be fed. Um, the younger they are, the more meals they need. Five meals and then reduce to four, then reduce to three and then reduce to two. And eventually by the time they're a year old, you can reduce it to one meal a day. Um, that is ideal for dogs, um, because for us too, uh, fasting is a very effective way to, um, keep us healthy.
Another thing is to make sure that we don't overfeed our dogs or ourselves. To keep us healthy and happy for longer. Anyway, I hope you got something out of this short episode today and it helps you live a long, happy life with your amazing dog. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Missing episodes?
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
How to tell if your dog is the correct weight and why is it even important? Right, I have a very easy way to tell if your dog's the correct weight but let's start with why is it even important. If you're here, you're, you probably feel like I do that our dogs don't live long enough as it is. And I would love for my dogs to live as long as possible and not just live a long life, but be as pain free as possible too.
Because I don't know about you, but I can be pretty grumpy and miserable if I'm in pain and our dogs do too. And many, uh, dogs. Behavior problems and grumpiness is actually due to pain. So if we can reduce the pain, then we're gonna have a happier, longer life with our dogs. And that is the ultimate one win, in my book anyway.
So, how do you tell if your dog is the correct weight? Right, there is a simple, easy way to tell and all you need is a hand. Right, so if your dog's rib area feels like the palm of your hand, then they're overweight. If your dog's rib area feels like your knuckles, then they're underweight. You see how the knuckles, um, there's quite a gap between the bones and the skin and it's, it's quite distinctive.
You definitely don't want that because that means your dog is too skinny. And they are actually starving. Now, when you look at the palm of your hand, you actually have to dig down to feel the bones in the palm of your hand. Um, and, um, as soon as you have to, uh, push through the skin to, to feel the bone, then your dog has got extra weight that they don't need to which can result in a shorter life down the track.
The ideal weight. For your dog to be is to feel like the back of your hand where you can easily feel the bones but it is not distinctive like the knuckles and you don't have to take down like if it was the palm of your hand so if you you should just run your finger along lightly and feel the rib bones Um, through the skin.
And so I never look at a dog's coat because many of our coated breeds like Huskies and Pomeranians, they, you, you won't know if they're over or underweight just by looking at them because they've got that thick coat. So always feel the dog's rib area to determine if your dog is the correct weight or not.
Now, there is something else, some other research that's come out that you may need to take note of and But remember every dog is different and every dog needs something different. However, that is never being overweight What um, you may want to consider is feeding your dog once a day. Dogs who are fed once a day has been shown to live longer than dogs that are fed twice or more a day.
Obviously puppies need to be fed. Um, the younger they are, the more meals they need. Five meals and then reduce to four, then reduce to three and then reduce to two. And eventually by the time they're a year old, you can reduce it to one meal a day. Um, that is ideal for dogs, um, because for us too, uh, fasting is a very effective way to, um, keep us healthy.
Another thing is to make sure that we don't overfeed our dogs or ourselves. To keep us healthy and happy for longer. Anyway, I hope you got something out of this short episode today and it helps you live a long, happy life with your amazing dog. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn Let's dive in.
When it comes to helping difficult or challenging dogs, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is you need to love your dog in order to be able to help them. The bad news is love is not enough. What do I mean by that? What do I mean by you need to love your dog? And what do I mean by love is not enough?
All right. So before we begin, the first thing I'm going to tell you is At no point am I telling you to put your life in danger in order to put up with your dog's dangerous behavior. However, what I am saying is when you love your dog enough in order to
Try and overcome their difficult behaviors. That's where you grow as a person. That's where you grow as a trainer and that's where you'll get the results Now love is not enough because love alone can't change a dog But what love can do is love has power. Love has the power to motivate you in order to realize what you're doing currently isn't working and you need to change what you're doing.
Yes, change is difficult and until I could change what I was prepared to do, I could not help my dogs. I could not see results. I was never going to see results because I wasn't prepared to change. So, um, story time. My very first puppy was a German Shepherd called Kaz. And so she was an introvert and a future episode.
I'll tell you all about extrovert and introverted and extroverted dogs. But for the purposes of the story, you need to understand she's an introvert. So she didn't like a lot of things. She wasn't social. Her idea of the a good time was lying by your feet and playing with you. However. Not one time in those interactions did that, uh, involve hugs.
Did that involve playing with other dogs? Unless she was friends with them. That didn't involve, um, getting patted. It did not involve giving up her toy. Those things were not things she enjoyed doing. However, we could overcome many of those things if Well, if I changed what I was doing and if I was prepared to learn how to help an introverted dog, which took me a long time, it was really Kaz who motivated me to change, you see, because when I first got Kaz, I had a temper problem.
I was no good as a dog trainer or even a dog owner. I had no idea what I was doing. I'd got this puppy. I was a mental mess anyway. I'd gone through a crappy time at work and so I got this puppy and yeah, uh, proceeded to screw her up. However, one thing I did do was loving this little puppy and realizing that this puppy is not to blame for the way she turns out.
What's happening with this little puppy is My responsibility. Now you can't grow. If you have fingers pointing at the dog, because the problem with pointing a finger at the dog is that three are pointing back at you. The more you say, yeah, but my dog, the more I hear, I am not prepared to change, to help my dog.
Now I'm only telling you this because this is what I needed to see for myself in order to be able to help my dogs. Now, here's the other things that you need to, uh, that, well, where love can help you. So, love can motivate you to get help. Now, I tried getting help with Kaz, um, with her reactivity, but I was told things like, Oh, tell your dog to sit and correct her when she doesn't sit.
You don't correct her for reacting, but you correct her for not sitting. The problem was She was so freaked out by how close these other dogs were, she was uncomfortable, she didn't even, she wasn't even, she didn't even feel safe. So, that sort of feedback was not helpful for poor Kaz. These were professional trainers giving me this advice.
So, really, the problem is, Kaz was really the motivator for me to learn how to be a better dog. Trainer. Kaz is the reason I can help reactive dogs because Kaz is the reason I had to start questioning everything. I had to go right. Tried it, didn't work. In fact, made it worse. Now, let me tell you about Rosie.
So Rosie is a lovely little corgi who is very similar to Kaz in her personality. She's an introvert as well. She lives with three other dogs, you see, and her owner loved her enough to get help. Lucky for Rosie's owner, by the time they contacted me for help, I already knew how to help Rosie. I could quickly identify that Rosie was feeling overwhelmed by all, well, everything that was going on.
So Rosie's owner rang me up. She was afraid that Rosie was unhappy. And yes, Rosie was unhappy in her home. But it wasn't Her owner was afraid she had to re home Rosie because she was that unhappy, but it wasn't, she didn't need to be re homed and that was the good part. What Rosie needed was to have her space respected.
So what we did was teach Rosie she's safe in her crate, make sure that the other dogs Didn't crowd Rosie and Rosie was allowed to have space. Rosie was also told she wasn't allowed to tell the other dogs off. Especially if she entered their space and then told them off. That wasn't allowed. So this is the thing.
Now Rosie's really happy because she understands Her position in the household, she has her space respected and so she is amazing and her owner, I caught up with her this week and her owner is so happy. She was in tears thinking she had to get rid of Rosie and now Rosie is a happy dog and that. Is the power of love.
Now, the problem with that is not everyone you go to is going to be able to help you and not even I'm the right owner for a trainer for every owner. The problem when we're dealing with behavior problems is every dog is different. So here's another story. I want this to inspire you. However, I want you to know that I would have given up on this dog myself.
So this is a really, really amazing German shepherd. However, he went to the vet and The vets, he went in with an ear infection and came up with a bloodshot eye as well because the vets, uh, thought they knew what they were doing. The owners said to them, knock him out and just get it done. And instead, they didn't knock him out and end up fighting with this dog.
And then he came out with huge aggression issues. Do not mess with serious dogs. Knock them out, vets. Don't even go there. You are gonna lose and then you're creating problems for these poor owners. And that's unfair. So anyway, this is what happened with this German Shepherd. Now, he ended up biting his owner.
He bit me. Um, and that's all good and well. I knew that I made a mistake and that's the reason he bit me and I knew the owner made a mistake. That's why he bit her. However, she has spent a year working with this dog and finally she's got a breakthrough. I'm not saying it's going to be. Rosie from here on out, they are still going to struggle because he has got some serious ideas of how things need to be done.
As I said, full disclosure, I would have rehomed that dog to go to a home where he could be trained as a military working dog or a police dog would not have continued with that dog. Um, but full marks to the owner who loved her dog enough. To not only get help, and I couldn't go near this dog, she had to do it all herself with my guidance, um, and I got Charlotte Moore, um, from Perth, Australia, who is studying neuroscience, and we bounce ideas off each other all the time, I got her involved to help this team as well, and without this, the teamwork for this dog, we would not have got here. Now, personally, as I said, not a dog I would continue with, not because I don't want to save the dog, not because I want to give up on the dog, but simply because I know how quickly you can screw up with these dogs, and I'd rather send this dog to somebody who has got a better handle on these types of dogs.
So, I'm not saying you should continue with a dog who is hurting you and your family. However, I am saying to you That if you love your dog and if you are prepared to put the work in and if you are prepared to make the changes you need to make, you may be able to conquer your dog's behavior challenges.
You may learn how to change you. So that you can be the owner your dog needs to become the dog that they can be. So I hope this motivates you. I hope this helps you. I hope that this gives you the motivation to bring out that power of love. And that it helps you realize that love is not enough and you can't love a dog with challenging behaviors.
Well, because you, you just can't over mothering a dog is just as bad as being too much of a dictator. Nobody thrives in that kind of environment. Anyway, happy training. I hope this episode helps you and I'm looking forward to catching up with you in the next episode.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
What can you do to help your reactive dog? Hi, I'm Luzelle, the unconventional dog trainer. And in today's episode, we are going to talk about the three strategies I use with every reactive dog to help them. But before we get started, remember, my philosophy is every dog is different. And I cannot tell you how many dogs I screwed up because I tried to prevent issues or fix.
Issues that I thought would come up from one dog based on what I learned and had to fix 10 times from my previous dog. It wasn't until I actually learned to just take time out. See what the dog in front of me is giving me and then responding accordingly that I stopped creating issues for myself now How can you do that?
You can head on over to thedogtraininglab. com and you can grab our free resource How to become your dog's best friend. That is What I use mentally, it's my mental checklist that I've written down for you that I go through with every dog I work with so I've shared it with you so you can get to know your dog a whole lot better and just by following the getting to know Their dog's better.
A lot of owners have seen huge changes in their dog's behavior. All right, so without further ado, let's get started. So the first thing I implement with a dog is a stress detox. Why a stress detox? And I will cover what it is and exactly how to do it in a future episode. Now, I do a stress detox because I want the dog and owner to start from a relaxed point, especially a reactive dog, because usually the dog owner, if there's a reactive team going through the spiral of despair, I understand the spiral of despair, because I have been there, my friend.
It is when. You take your dog out for a walk, nothing, you've not had an incident before, or even if you've had, even if, or even if it's the first walk, you take your dog out, and then they have a big emotion and a big blow up, and so they react. That gives you a fright, not only that you're shocked and surprised and you have feelings of, Maybe shame, maybe embarrassment, maybe confusion.
And it all comes down to, you don't know what to do with this information your dog's giving you. Because it could be at something totally innocent like a child. Now, what do you do? Problem is, we don't know what to do. So, we have all these feelings of stress and fear come through us. And of course, that releases.
The hormones that our dogs can smell. And once our dogs smell the fear hormones coming through our body, that they caused, don't get me wrong, they, they caused it, but of course, they're your dog. How could they cause you stress? In their mind, they do not connect. The two that it was them that caused you those feelings to them.
They just now all of a sudden smell all those fear, um, pheromones and smells and scents. And now all of a sudden they're thinking, Oh, I must have been right. And that person or dog or whoever or whatever it was must be scary. So I was right. And so the circle of the cycle of despair starts because next time you go out.
You are going to start from a more stressed state of mind because the dog reacted and so it just continues. And then your dog reacts and then it's, Oh yes, I was right because now my owners lost it. And then you start panicking before you even start taking your dog out. And this is the problem with most reactive dogs and owners.
And I can tell you this because it's. I have been there. This is how I know. Um, so, this is why I do a stress detox. For a period of time, depending on the dog and the owner, stay home. Do things at home. Learn the part two, which is the skills. While you just completely stop walks, because no good is going to come from continuing in that stressed state.
When are you most likely to overreact or punch someone or yell at somebody? When you're stressed or when you're calm? Of course it's when you're stressed. So, first things first, we need to bring the owner and the dog's stress levels down. Secondly, while we're going through that stress detox, We need to build in the skills you guys will need because you are a team so your team needs some skills in order to, um, handle stressful situations successfully.
So during that period of the stress detox, it's not that we're not going for a walk, but keep in mind a half an hour walk is a half an hour walk, whether it's in your backyard or out and about. But during the time of the stress detox, We are going to do our exercise in the backyard or in the hallway or in the house or somewhere really calm and relaxed.
We just do not need any stress events right now. And then we will teach skills. Of course, all reactive dogs need to learn to wear a muzzle for their safety and yours. And to show if something happens, at least nothing bad will happen to your dog, because They can see that you are taking steps, um, dog control or whoever you got in trouble with can see you already taking steps to help and support your dog.
So muzzle training is definitely something that's important. And you also need to learn how to maneuver your dog, how to help them, what they need, what their critical distances are. All these sorts of things is going to fall into this period of time where you and your dog are going to learn to. Work together.
And then, of course, thirdly, you have to work on your relationship because the whole reason we're in this reactive state is usually because our dog has lost trust and faith in and on us because they reacted, we couldn't deal with it. And now they're like, Oh, my human can't deal with it. I have to deal with it.
Either that or another dog, maybe. Bailed your dog up and now they think, Oh, my human can't deal with any situations. If my best course of action is an offense rather than defense, because if I wait for my owner, they're not going to be able to do anything. So your dog is, these are the dogs that become, that go out to attack a dog after they've.
Um, had a dog in their space or even was attacked. Um, and just keep in mind, according to dog rules, the dog that enters the other dog's space is in the wrong. So, if I come over and give you a hug, I'm in the wrong if you don't like hugs. That's how it works. According to dogs. It's not the dog who or the person who doesn't like hugs That's at fault in dog world It's the person or dog who entered the other animal's space without permission They are the ones that are in the wrong whether you like it or not That's the reality of the situation.
So this is where I find that a lot of people, the attitude of, uh, all dogs should play is really not helpful for dogs because the biggest thing that dogs should learn is proper, uh, slow, soft greetings, not rushing into another dog space because that's a recipe for a dog fight. All right. So you need to work on your relationship.
Um. So we will, we usually set up small challenges so that you and your dog can overcome these. It doesn't matter that they react. It's how quickly they recover and how well you can deal with this. Because if you can learn not to dump all those stress hormones, then your dog's going to learn, Oh, my human's actually got control of the situation.
I don't actually need to worry anymore because my owner's got this. So, these are the three things I do. Just to recap, I start with a stress detox. During that stress detox, I teach my dogs the skills that we will need to work through um, their reactivity. So I will teach them basically. All the maneuvers we're going to need we'll muzzle train them and everything like that so that they can have success.
And then thirdly, I work on our relationship and I teach my dog that they can trust me, rely on me, and that I'm going to be there to protect them and take control over the situation. And that they don't need to take charge because I've got this. And that is what I do with every reactive dog. What it looks like is different for every dog because if I do the this this Specific thing with one dog that does not mean it's going to be helpful for another dog because every dog is different So go and grab the how to become your dog's best friend Um, workbook from TheDogTrainingLab.Com and get to know your dog a whole lot better so you can help them more. And I would appreciate your feedback. If you found this episode helpful at all, you can also reach out. I would be more than happy to help you and your reactive dog. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
The most common challenge dog owners have are with barking dogs. So what can you do about it? Alright, so first things first. Let's get you sort of in the mindset to understand your dog a little bit. Say you see an advertisement for a piece of jewelry. The more you look at it, do you want it more or do you want it less?
Of course you want it more. So the same with our dogs. The more they are looking outside our homes for things to bark at, the more they're gonna bark at them. We also have to keep in mind that dogs were bred to be our security systems before such a thing existed. So our Dogs were selected to bark. Um, that's what their job was.
If they didn't alert us to intruders, well then they were a useless dog. Um, uh, back in the day, people probably didn't feed these dogs and they didn't breed from these dogs because these dogs, uh, weren't going to keep them safe. And most people, um, had dogs for safety, to alert them to an intruder or a problem.
Now if you allow your dog to look out the window, look through the fence, well then they're going to look for intruders. If you don't want that, you need to block their view. Um, I had a client, a dog, the dog was called Doug, and Doug moved from a rural property into town. Lovely boy, one of the most amazing dogs I've ever met.
Uh, he was such a sweetie. Anyway, what was happening was, there was a little gap in the fence that he could see through, and he was barking at everyone walking by. And of course First thing I said is why is Doug barking? What's he barking at? Where can he see through the fence that he needs to bark at?
Block that view and when they did, his barking stopped. It can be that simple. So if your dog is sitting on the couch looking out the window, well, then you need to stop that. You need to shut the door so that they can't see out the window. You need to baby gate off the area, put something in the front, maybe frosting if the, if they're sitting at the bottom.
If you've got a full length window, maybe frost it or put something in the front so your dog can't see through. Um, Or even close the curtains. Yes, some of these measures are a little bit drastic, but you either have the conversation with your dog, and if you want to learn how to do that, I teach that in Hush the Bark at the dog training lab.
And if you don't want to constantly train your dog and help your dog, well then, you need to manage it. So, there are only two ways to deal with things. Train it, manage it. So the easiest thing to do is block off your dog's view. That has instantly stopped so many dogs from barking issues, it's not even funny.
So if you have a dog with a barking problem and it's because they're staring out the front yard, move them to the backyard. If it's because they are looking out the window, well then they are no longer allowed to look out the window. If you need to close the door to that room, um, shut the curtain, use a baby gate to block off that area where they can see, put something in front of that area.
Whatever you need to do, you need to do. Otherwise, you need to learn to have a conversation with your dog about how to stop barking. And that's what I teach you in Hush the Bark. So my dogs stop barking on thank you. Thank you is the cue I say, and then my dogs Uh, reduce their barking. You might get a few woofs still, if your dog is thinking there is a problem for them to deal with.
Um, but for most of the dogs, um, they generally go, okay, that's my cue. I'll stop now. And so, there is how I handle it. Um, I hope this has helped you, and I hope this has solved your Barking problem. If your dog is barking when you're not home, well, then you can't really address it. You're going to need something, uh, a little bit more challenging.
If you can, like, um, I had my German Shepherd would stand at the gate and bark. We blocked off the view so she couldn't look out and that stopped her barking. So if you can block off the view, then that's great. But if your dog is barking all day and you're not home and you can't block off the view, well, then you need to look at an alternative.
I'd hate to recommend off the bat a bark collar. However, for some dogs, this may be the tool that's necessary. However, I had one client come to me. because the dog was biting people touching their collar because what they did is the dog had a barking problem and what they did was just slap on a bark collar and it was a little Kelpie and this Kelpie was so distressed because she associated the bark collar with touching her collar that's when it started she she really had a challenge there and the owners couldn't Couldn't deal with it any other way because they weren't home.
So you really need to understand where it's coming from, why, what can you do about it? If you need to have your dog inside, in a kennel and run, whatever you need to do, you need to do. Quite often you can find a solution that doesn't require rehoming your dog. So hopefully this Uh, episode has helped you understand what you can do to help your dog with a barking challenge.
Anyway, happy training
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
The faster you go, the bigger the mess. Now, you may have heard that when it comes to driving to the speed limit or not speeding, but how does this relate to dog training? Hi, I'm Luzelle, the unconventional dog trainer, and in this episode we are talking about slowing down to speed up. Right, so what does that mean?
So, what do you need to know? Okay, so when it comes to working with people and animals, we have to remember that the stress hormone, cortisol, high levels of that, impairs, um, creates all sorts of problems, behavior problems, memory problems, problem solving problems. It leads to higher incidence of aggression. Um, and, uh, it leads to somebody who is not able to regulate their emotions because their, um, whole system is geared into the fight flight, um, freeze system.
They're not thinking because it's all, all, all, everything is triggered by the primal brain. If you have got high levels of cortisol, you are not getting out of primal brain. And if you want more information on this, check out Charlotte Moore. She is amazing. And she is the person who taught me all of this.
So. I highly recommend you check her out. She's a horse trainer in Perth. Um, she also helps dogs and owners and humans with their stress levels and trauma and so on and so forth. So she's brilliant. Look her up. This is the stuff you need to understand when it comes to your dog. Slowing down your speech and movement will not only help regulate your stress hormones, but it will help regulate your dog's too, because our dogs are so sensitive to our feelings and stress hormones.
Remember your dog can sniff out cancer, so if their nose is that good, then there's no question that they can smell. the hormones you are releasing. Now, I noticed this with my own dogs. If I've got a dog that got a fright or something, they absolutely stink to the other dog. Also, a dog who's unconfident, um, when I work with clients dogs and stuff, they're the ones who will pee in rivers and streams.
They won't pee out in public where other dogs can. find them or identify them because stress makes them smell weak. When you smell stressed you cannot be a relationship based leader because you Your dog won't trust you because you stink of stress and you really want to be in control so that your dog looks to you for guidance.
That they go, I don't know that I can deal with this, but my human smells like I've got it sorted. I will look to them. That's really why it's important to get your stress under control. And because our dogs are so sensitive to us, it's really important that we regulate our own emotions and learn how to do that.
So box breathing, four in, four hold, six out, or six or more out, that counts, your breath. Um, so you can help regulate your emotions a bit better. Now, these are just the tricks and so on and so forth, but there's so much more you need to do to help your dog. Because if you You're not going to trust somebody.
So like I usually do this when I explain to clients about leadership and stuff. And I say to them that, um, you need to. Pay attention to the way you speak because if you meet somebody on the train, say there was a train accident and the person goes, Oh my God, we're all gonna die! Now both my dogs looked up at that.
Then of course, um, you're not going to trust that person to get you out of here. If they say, okay, I can get you out of here, you're going to go, hell no, you just lost it. I don't trust you. If somebody comes along, say a firefighter, they don't even have to have a uniform on, it could be anybody. And they say in a calm, confident, low voice.
Hey, I can get you out of here. Follow me. Um, you're more likely to follow them. Um, even if they have to speak a little bit more firmly to you, you're still going to follow them because they appear like they've got it all together. So they're not running around like a headless chicken. They are. They truly look like they've got it under control
so, you do that by slowing down your speech, slowing down your movement, and giving the dog the information that you've got this under control. But you also need to slow down their movement. So, one step per second is perfect. So, that will really help you and your dog um, work together.
And It falls in line with leadership, it falls in line with getting their behavior better. Because stressed dogs bite. Stressed dogs. React. Stressed dogs, um, dig holes. Stressed dogs chew everything. Stressed dogs escape. Stressed dogs do all sorts of things we don't want them to do. Um, so, if you want to see less behaviour problems, you need to slow down your and your dog's movement and, um, stress levels.
Because the faster you go, the bigger the mess. Fast movement triggers adrenaline, which triggers cortisol, um, and also, uh, dopamine, high, uh, like markers, like constant reward, um, expectations and delivery, that, um, clicker training and stuff like that, that increases dopamine, which increases cortisol. So, if you don't want To increase your dog's stress, reduce those, even if it's a short period of time, and see how that affects your dog.
As I said in, um, my video to introduce this channel, it's not good or bad, it's just information. You need to test this with your dog and see how it affects your dog. And I recommend a three week stress detox. If you've got some behavior problems you're struggling with, do a three week stress detox with your dog.
I might do if you let me know in the comments that you want. Some more information on a stress detox. I'll give you that information in a future video. So I recommend you try this and I hope it helps you and your dog. And I have seen great results with this, even with some of the more. challenging dogs I've worked with.
So if you like this information, share it with a friend. If you want more information, or you need some more help, or you like or dislike this video, comment below. And if you want more of this, subscribe to this channel and don't forget to set to get the reminders of when a new episode drops. Anyway, happy training, see you in the next episode.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
Management fails, relationship based leadership saves lives. Hi, I'm Luzelle, the unconventional dog trainer, and what does that even mean? All right, so let's dive into what good leadership is. So, let's look at the qualities of good leader. So, just because somebody raises their voice and yells and screams does not make them a good leader.
I have met many people in leadership positions who never raised their voice, and yet I respect them, and I will do, I will move heaven and earth for them, because they're a good leader. And then I know people who yell and scream and I do not have the time or day for it, of day for them. In fact, basically, it means nothing that they go off their trolley.
It's just free entertainment for me. So what is good leadership really? What does it look like? Well, it's fair. It is, um, it's not that it's kind or unkind. It is Safety based. So if you feel safe with somebody, then if they grabbed you and bruised your arm to pull you out of traffic, you're not going to yell at them or get upset at them for bruising your arm.
You're going to be thankful that they pulled you out of traffic. So it's not about What you do, it's about why and how you do it. So one of the things I instill in my dogs from a very early age is the word careful. So if they go up to an electric fence or something that could fall on top of them, I say careful and my dogs I've heard that Experience has taught them that if I say careful They need to come back to me because that's where it's safe because I also don't go close to them I walk the other way and go Careful, I'm going this way because that's gonna lead to trouble.
My dogs learn that over time they can trust me. What I say is going to help them. Um, we also do a lot of things where just minor feedback from me gets me a result with my dogs. Now, Bear in mind when you have higher drive working dogs, these dogs were bred to ignore pain and any stimulus when they're in drive.
So they have got a really high pain threshold, especially if they're in drive. I knew a dog who would run the Delta, my Malinois, my first Malinois, would go through an electric fence just to get to the other side. She had an extremely high pain threshold. She also raised my pain threshold. Anyway, she was a dog that I really struggled with her because I wasn't a very good relationship based leader at that point.
I struggled a lot. I had no skills whatsoever. Over time I've become more patient. Patience is a quality of a great leader. That doesn't, patience and um, stuff doesn't mean that you're going to ignore bad behavior and stuff. It's. A good relationship based leader is understanding why your dog is doing something.
Are they stressed? Is there a basic need that needs to be met? So, are they hungry, thirsty, need to toilet? Are they, um, over excited, um, adrenalized? Or are they tired? I don't know if I've repeated any of those. But, um, you can find the, um, the list in probably one of my blog posts. Um, so these are important to understand because a good leader will not expect more of the dog than they are capable of doing.
Just like a good human leader wouldn't expect more of their staff or a teacher wouldn't expect more of their students than they're capable of. So you need to, a good relationship based leader means that. You have such a good relationship with a dog that the dog doesn't want to do the thing that you've said no to because they respect you that much.
They care and love you that much that they do not want to do anything that you don't want. And as a relationship based leader, too, you will treat your dog as kindly as possible. So, if I ask my dogs to do something, I will say, Schnewy! Sit, please. And that's how I speak to my dog. And I often get a sit, and if I don't, I just back it up.
Sit, please. Good Dog. So that's how I speak to my dogs. I don't need to yell and scream at them. I don't need to raise my voice because that's not what relationship based leadership is. Relationship based leadership is all about teamwork, working together, but The human is the one that needs to be in charge for safety's sake.
And a lot of the cues and, uh, whether you call them commands or cues, it doesn't matter what you call them, it matters how you deliver them. We get a little bit hung up on words, but what I really want to know is how those words are expressed. Hey, Schnooey! Can you sit for me, please?
Good dog. So what do you, how you're actually delivering your thing. Whether you call them a cue, you could still call them a cue and yell to your dog, sit! And whether you call it a cue or command, it's irrelevant. It's how you deliver it that matters. So how do you speak to your dog? How, but and also, does your dog listen?
Can they listen? A stressed dog Might not be able to hear you. I often explain to my clients that if you are watching TV, I don't know, a lot of husbands get accused of this, but I'm like this too. So if I'm stuck watching TV, Somebody could yell at me from here and I would not hear them because my focus is elsewhere.
Is your dog in that state of mind? Do you need to give them a bit of a tap on the shoulder to say, hey mate, um, I'm actually talking to you. Can you listen to me? And I'm like, quite often I'm like, why didn't you say you wanted me to talk back to you? I didn't actually, um, get that you were talking to me.
It's relationship based leadership recognizes that the person isn't able to hear them or understand them. And it's the leader's responsibility to make sure that the person they're working with understands them and is able to respond to them. And when they can't, well, then they make adjustments to help the employee, student, dog, uh, work with them better.
Because relationship based leadership is all about teamwork. And teamwork makes the dream work. Hey, Schneewie dog. So, does your dog like to spend time with you? This is all information. If your dog is avoiding you, then that means that you haven't really got a really good relationship based leadership. If your dog is cowering every time you speak, you haven't got relationship based leadership.
You have got a dictatorship. Relationship based leadership is not a dictatorship. It means that your dog is responding to you because they enjoy, um, spending time with you. They trust you. They know you're going to be there to keep them safe. And they want to feel safe and they know that they feel safe with you.
So that's what it is comes down to. And when you've got good relationship based leadership, you can break up a dog fight just with your voice. You can get your dog out of a tricky situation. Um, without too much drama. And that's why I say it saves lives. Because when your dog wants to do what you ask, because it's based on safety, and a relationship, eh Schneewee?
Then you're going to get far better results. And that's through experience. I've had dogs that I've done other styles of training with, and other styles of bits and pieces. I've tried every single dog training style out there. And By far, this one's given me the best relationship, the one I enjoy having with my dogs, the best results.
Um, and it's great because I can break up a dog fight just with my voice, with my dogs anyway. And my dogs respond really beautifully. Um, So yeah, I enjoy this. Anyway, I hope this has helped you. If you have any comments, share them below. If you know a friend who would benefit from this video, please share it with them.
And if you want more videos like this, um, or more episodes like this, please subscribe so you catch them. Anyway, happy training. Catch you in the next one.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Here's the link to our FREE Guide: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/products/courses/view/206
Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
In this episode, I'll be sharing with you the checklist, the mental checklist I go through with every dog I work with, because every dog is different. Hi, I'm Luzelle, the unconventional dog trainer, and you can find this workbook at thedogtraininglab. com. I think it's called how to become your dog's best friend. It is free so you can go grab it now. I will share the link below so you can do this and get to know your dog a whole lot better and get far better results and enjoy your dog a whole lot more. Because to have a friend you have to be a friend.
And how can you be a friend if you don't know your friend? Okay, so how I explain this to my clients is what kind of chocolate do you like? Do you like white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate? Now, I'm a dark chocolate girl And so if anybody gives me white chocolate I will feel like they don't know me at all.
And in fact, it's an insult. Why did they give me white chocolate? I should know better And so, if you think, if you want to call yourself your dog's best friend and so on and so forth, and your dog likes white chocolate, figuratively, because dogs can't eat chocolate, and you constantly give your dog dark chocolate, your dog will go, this human just is oblivious, they don't know me at all, like, why am I even bothering?
Because they obviously don't care about me. So you do need to pay attention to who your dog is, their likes and dislikes, their learning styles, their personal preferences, so that you can be your dog's best friend. All right, now that we've got that out of the way, I, one of the first things I go through is whether the dog is introverted or extroverted.
You cannot make an extrovert an introvert and you cannot make an introvert an extrovert, right? You need to understand this and Extroverts are the ones that should change. The introverts cannot change. And it's just rude for us extroverts to expect that they do. Now, in one of my jobs, I actually, this is, I'm an extrovert.
And so I went to give a workmate a hug and she was like, no, I don't like hugs. And I was like, what's wrong with you, you freak. Just give me a bloody hug, man. Um, so that was really rude of me because as an introvert, she's entitled. Not to like hugs and not everybody does like hugs. Now, I didn't actually realize this until my very first puppy Kaz German Shepherd, she didn't like hugs.
She actually didn't, she liked hanging out by your feet But she didn't really want any attention on her. She liked to observe and watch but she didn't She liked interacting, but that interaction didn't need to include touching. She tolerated it, but she didn't like it. She was never aggressive towards people, but she did become aggressive towards dogs, and that was all my fault.
But that's for a future episode on dog reactivity.
There was one person she really loved and that was somebody who didn't like dogs. Now, she didn't hate dogs She was never mean to the dogs, but she just didn't like them. She doesn't and that's Everybody is entitled not to like a dog. That is fine Um, so what happened was when she came to visit Kaz would go up to her and lick her This is like the only person Kaz was happy to see because this is the only person who when they visited didn't put any pressure on this poor dog. So this is where I learned all about introverted dogs and how to get the best out of them.
If that person decided to take on Kaz and to train her, Kaz would have been putty in her hands and they wouldn't have had a problem together. Because Kaz would have appreciated the fact that this person just gave her everything she needed, which was space. So now that that's out of the way, is your dog an extrovert or an introvert?
Now there are some people who, um, introverts until they're around people they know, and then they behave in an extroverted manner. That's still an introvert. Then there are people who are out on a limb and they just don't like to interact with people. At least they really know them very well and they're comfortable with them.
That's an introvert. Introverts also have one or two really good friends and the rest of the world could die a slow painful death and they wouldn't care. Now, they probably would care because a lot of them are very empathetic. Um, But that's just a way to describe them. Extroverts, on the other hand, have lots of shallow friendships.
None of them are particularly deep, and if somebody falls off the surface of the world, they're not particularly fussed. They might be upset for a couple of days, maybe a month or so, but they get over it pretty quickly. That's an extrovert. I'm an extrovert. I actually like working with introverts now that I explain them, but I find that a lot of Owners who are extroverted, if they have an introverted dog, they really don't get it and it's really hard to help them understand that this dog needs space because extroverts are inherently really selfish.
We think that the world should revolve around us and we don't have a lot of patience or we don't give introverts the support they need and we really should because it's the introverts that are struggling the most. We can get over things. They struggle. We are the ones that can change, so we are the ones who should make allowances for introverts.
Now that I'm off my soapbox, the next thing I want to know is who's in this dog's circle of trust. So if they're an introvert, they likely have a very small circle of trust. So very few people who they feel comfortable with. Now, if this dog is reactive or aggressive, my goal is to Start off with a circle of trust and slowly but gently expand it so that I can include more people in that circle of trust Most introverted dogs, once you're in that circle of trust, you can do no wrong.
So this is one of the things because I'm very respectful of introverted dogs and Usually when an introverted dog meets me, they're like, Oh my goodness. Where have you been all my life? I've never had somebody Um that's treated me as well as you have so I instantly get into this circle of trust Thank you Schnewy.
Um, if you're in this dog circle, if you're in an introverted circle of trust quite often You can do no wrong and you can do anything to this dog and this dog will be like, yep. I trust you I don't care If you're not in the dog circle of trust, you can do nothing right and you'll always be watched and this depends on your behavior.
So you need to be very conscious of what you do and how you do it. Now the other thing is, I want to know my dog's likes and dislikes because if they don't like to be touched, I need to know this so that um, I build up, I'll get into the dog circle of trust before I start trying to. Harass them and touch them because um, otherwise i'm going to break that trust and Then i'm not with some dogs once you've broken trust you can't get back into it So anyway, I hope you go and grab that workbook So that you can work through it with your dog and get to know your dog a whole lot a whole lot better There's also a few other things like personality types and that'll be for another episode and reactivity That'll be for another episode Which we touched on in this episode.
So, if you enjoyed this episode, I would appreciate if you shared it with a friend, subscribe to this channel, or comment it below, because that's all things that'll help me. I'm not interested in going viral or getting lots of views. All I'm interested in is reaching the people who want this information, and who really want a better relationship with their dog.
Anyway, happy training. Catch you next time.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
Have you ever heard your dog go, when you're trying to teach them something? Do you do that? Hi, I'm Luzelle, the unconventional dog trainer. And in this episode, we are going to talk about the sigh of discontent, what it means for you and what it means for your dog. Right. So let's get into it. I don't know about you, but have you ever had an experience where somebody was teaching you something and you made a mistake and then they went, how did that make you feel?
Afterwards, did you make more mistakes or less mistakes? Of course you made more mistakes because now you started feeling stressed because you felt the frustration of the person teaching you. Right. Keep that in mind when you're training your dog because that is actually a bit of a bullying tactic.
People do it without realizing though and it puts people in a distress. So if you go back to my video on learning styles, you will um be able to understand this a little bit better. So, because now you've got a whole bunch of extra stress hormones, you're struggling to learn. Now, the problem is when you, as if you're the trainer, and you start going, that's when your patience starts running out.
So, when I first started dog training, I realized that I had a temper problem and a patience problem. So one of the things I did was I started paying attention. Where does my training go downhill? And it was where the sigh of discontent came out. So when I started going, that's when I knew I had to stop my training.
And so I take a break and then get back to it later. So I needed Some time to process, time to think, time to think of what else I could do. And when you're a newer trainer, um, you don't really trust the process as much. So you always really struggle with, um, the concepts of, will this work? You are always struggling with a little bit of self doubt.
As you get better as a trainer, you start doubting it less, because you just know it's going to work. So you go, right. I don't care if it takes me 1 minute or 10 minutes, we are going to work through this and with the dog until their brain processes it. Now, something I noticed is that, here's the thing though, if your dog is doing the because you're being unclear with your cues and your information, you are going to wreck your relationship, just like with human training.
If. Your dog is doing that because they're getting frustrated with themselves. Now that's a good thing. That's where, um, we are getting that discomfort where learning happens. So this is where we can really utilize that because this is where the dog is getting frustrated with themselves. Now, bear in mind if your dog is getting overtired or is get.
Going from discomfort into distress, so getting really so frustrated, so chewing on the lead and stuff like that, barking, all these frustrated sort of behaviors. This is where I would consider, not always, it depends on the dog, whether I would stop the session there or whether I would continue, but it's always in the back of my mind.
Um, I would then pop the dog away or do something really calm to de stress the dog and then we could try it again. There's nothing wrong with stopping the session. I haven't found any benefit necessarily. Well, it depends on your relationship with the dog, whether you should end on a win or end when the dog is struggling.
Because you, ending when the dog is struggling could relieve that stress for the dog and ending on a win is not always necessarily a good thing, especially if your dog's enjoying the activity. If you end on a win, the dog could feel like it's, they're being punished for that. So, think about your training style, but one of the things is you must be clear on what you're doing and that it's going to work.
And a lot of the times, Now, I can persevere whether it's, um, whether I'm training for two minutes or two hours. I can, because I'm training in a calmer mindset, um, you will have a more tired dog, but some sessions require you to be able to do it for a longer period of time. Now, the other thing is, if a dog is starting to feel frustrated, just check, and I call it the toddler list, if the dog's basic, has a basic need, they need to.
meet, whether they're thirsty or hungry or tired or
over stressed or need the toilet. I think those are the five. Um, if I have repeated something, it's okay. I'm sure I'll, I'll pop it in the notes below. So make sure your dog's basic needs are met so that they're not uncomfortable. Because you know how you feel when you're busting to go to the toilet and you can't go.
That's when you start breaking pencils and getting, doing things that you shouldn't be doing. So make sure your dog's basic needs are met and make sure that your communication is clear. Make sure you're, you know, the criteria on which you need to do things. Forget the dog. If you're not doing the right thing, you're confusing your dog.
So, this is a little bit about the sigh of discontent. I like it when I get the sigh of discontent when I'm really good with my criteria. Because it tells me, now the dog is uncomfortable. Now the dog's getting frustrated with themselves. They know what to do, but they're struggling to do it. And that's a good thing.
That's where I like them to be. Because this is Where the learning happens. And then if you work through that, the next session you have is gonna, they're gonna fly through it because they're gonna remember it. Um, and because you did it calmly and working through just in discomfort, the dog, um, wants to reduce the discomfort.
So they're not going to, um, make the same mistakes. They're gonna be like, oh, okay, we're doing it this way today, and they're gonna be fine. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. video and it helped you figure out a problem you're having with your dog and your training. Um, if you know a friend who would benefit from this video, I'd appreciate it if you could share it with them.
Um, otherwise, if you leave me a comment, whether you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear it. And if you want some more tips, please subscribe to this channel and set the reminder so you get our next video. Happy training. Catch you next time.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
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Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Coburn. Let's dive in.
Have you ever struggled to get your dog to understand a concept, a training, a trick, or whatever? I have been there, my friend. Hi, I'm Luzelle, the dog trainer, and in this episode we are going to talk about thinking outside the box when it comes to training your dog. So, before we begin, did you know that a fifth of the nutrition you take in and your dog gets used up by your noggin?
And I feel we're not really utilizing all that nutrition that well, because we're constantly telling our dogs what to do. So in today's episode, I'm going to challenge you to try and do something differently. So, there are a couple of things that, uh, our dogs. There's ways that people and dogs learn that you may not.
be thinking about when you are training your dog. And one is latent learning, where the dog has to sleep on something, or the human. I don't know if you've ever gone through this, and I have, because I'm an artist in my spare time. So I've struggled with a piece of art, and then I've slept on it, and then all of a sudden, Um, I've processed what I was struggling with and come up with a solution, um, usually it's just before you fall asleep or in the morning when you're a bit groggy.
And the next time I tackled that, I could do it. So that's latent learning. And then there's vicarious learning, where you learn through watching. Now I'll tackle that one first. I've got a fun story for you on that one. My very first Malinois was a dog called Delta. She's still alive. She's now a retired military working dog.
Fabulous dog. Anyway, she's quite a bossy boots and she's very selfish and entitled. Now, I tried to get her to do some things. One of them was breed showing because we did, we dabbled in breed showing and, as well as, um, competitive obedience. And she did competitive obedience fine. She, like, would do the steer.
Um, every time she was on my left. Now I needed her to be on my left and I needed her to do run prance around like the show ring and the show ring looking straight ahead, not looking up at me so that she could show off her structure. So I took her to the show that day. Previously, we, it went terrible because most people put their dogs away between their turn.
So this time I actually decided I grabbed myself a camping chair and we were watching the show. I put her next to me in a down stay, um, at first she was not impressed with it, she wanted to chase the dogs running, and that was, she was firmly told, no, that's not what we do. I put her in a down stay next to me so she could watch the show.
It took a little while before she figured it out. Anyway, come our turn, and I just about fell off my chair, and I wasn't even sitting, because Delta pranced around that show ring like she'd done it all her life. Yep, Delta was a vicarious learner. She learned best through watching. And this came out a few months later when I tried to teach her the Test A Recall.
Now the Test A Recall here in New Zealand is where you put the dog in a Satoru Downs day and you walk around the ring and you call your dog into your Now, the problem Delta had was when she would come into each, the side that was closest to her, whether it was my right or my left. And that wasn't what I wanted.
So, I decided, right, we had some success with this, with the breed show, why don't I try it? I put her in a down stay and did the exercise with my German Shepherd, Kaz, and it was like Delta was like, why didn't you tell me that's what you wanted in the first place? Cause she did it perfectly from that day forward because Delta learned best through watching.
So this is something that you can try with your dog. Do you need to make them watch other dogs perform the exercises so that they understand what's required from them? All right, so that's vicarious learning and I use that now a lot in my training. I let a dog watch other dogs and I've, I've had some really good success with it.
It's not something that every dog, that helps every dog, um, but this is definitely one of those things that can get you over a hump if you need to. The other one is latent learning. So I have found that sometimes I really struggle to get a concept and I need to sleep on it. I am definitely a huge latent learner.
And I found that the same with many dogs. Um, I can't actually think of an example, I have got many, but I can't think of one now of one of my dogs who did, um, this. But quite often if my dog is struggling with a concept. I will go, you know what? This is not us today. I will go do something else. I won't, I won't finish upset or anything like that because I've learned that.
You know what? We can try again another day, and maybe they'll have a chance to sleep on it. Think and process, and get it right the next time. This is particularly valuable for something like tracking. So, I used to find tracking very frustrating. I haven't tried it in ages, so, um, it's But I do know that that's where a lot of dogs need to think and process things.
Because you get, you run one track and then the dogs generally, especially if it's been a really long track, too tired to run another track, they need a day or so to think and process so that they can run better the next time. Now, another thing I wanted to cover is, I feel that we have our dogs in a too stressed state quite often.
If we keep in mind that cortisol, or the bad stress hormones, you always need a little bit of all the hormones, um, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing. So, too much cortisol in a dog's system is, and human's system, is going to interfere with thinking and processing. So, I remember when I was highly stressed, I couldn't problem solve to save my life and, um, I also had a lot of problems with memory.
So if we keep dogs in a high stress state, then we are going to have more problems with thinking and problem solving. Um, so they're going to struggle to get the concepts we're trying to teach. Um, so one of the things we need to do is work our dogs in a lower stressed state. Um, Especially when they're learning a new concept.
So keep in mind that highly adrenalized and dopamine based training, so markers, clickers, toy play, that sort of stuff, really increases the cortisol levels. So you need to be aware that if your dog is struggling with learning and memory, maybe bringing down their stress hormones is really going to help them problem solve and process.
And this is super important to try and keep in mind when you're training your dog because you will If you try this way, so I do a lot of calm based training, I get the dog when they're uncomfortable, because learning is uncomfortable for us and our dogs, that's why so many people struggle with it, that's where you get your stress eating, because you're trying, you're uncomfortable, so you're doing something to deal with that discomfort, instead of just learning to be comfortable with the discomfort and getting working through it.
And the same with our dogs. We need to teach them to work through that discomfort and not avoid it. And if we use adrenaline and dopamine based training, um, to cope with it, we're falling into pattern style training. And that is usually, um, what's needed because we can't. use because her dog's memory and thinking ability is impaired.
So try these things. I hope one of these tips helps you with your dog and helps you problem solve some of the challenges you're having. Um, happy training. _Um, _please, if you know somebody who could benefit from this video, share it with them. Please leave us a comment below. If you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And if you'd like to hear more. Subscribe to this channel and I'm hoping to share a lot more tips and tricks and hacks and Insights with you in the future. Happy training
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
For more resources, check out https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
If you'd like to see the videos, check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theunconventionaldogtrainer
