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The Everyday Trainer Podcast
The Everyday Trainer Podcast
From Shelter Fears to Service Cheers, The Dog Training Chronicles
Have you ever wondered about the delicate dance of communication between humans and dogs, or the remarkable transformations that take place through thoughtful training? Join me, Meg, and four aspiring dog trainers as we recount our two-week journey immersed in the art and business of dog training. Our diverse backgrounds only add flavor to our collective story as we navigate the nuances of canine behavior, and the gratifying yet challenging task of running a successful training business.
From the trenches of dog rehabilitation, our discussion weaves through the heartwarming tales of triumph with shelter dogs overcoming their fears. Alongside my shadow students, we peel back the layers of what it means to build a connection with these animals through balanced training techniques and the use of tools like E-collars. Our conversation also takes a dive into the realm of service dog training, emphasizing the importance of early socialization, consistent instruction, and the patience it takes to prepare a dog for such an essential role.
The life of a dog trainer extends beyond the leash; it's a tapestry of personal growth, community, and the discovery of a supportive network among dog training enthusiasts. Listen as we celebrate our leaps in confidence and skill, and find out how caring for our canine clients also means looking after ourselves to prevent burnout. This episode is a tapestry of stories, insights, and heartfelt experiences for anyone who understands the profound bond between dogs and their human counterparts.
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Hello and welcome back to the Everyday Trainer podcast. My name is Meg and I am a dog trainer. On today's episode, I'm joined by my four lovely shadow students, so we're going to talk all about their experience in the program and also what brought them here. So you know the drill grab yourself a tasty drink and meet us back here. Welcome. Thanks for having me. Oh goodness, alright, I'll sit back in the chair. Alright, let's start with a few introductions of you all, so you're the chatty one.
Speaker 3:You're the designated talker of the group.
Speaker 1:So give us a little intro name where you're from.
Speaker 4:My name is Claire Daggy and I'm from Florida. I live in San Diego, so I'm kind of all over the place.
Speaker 1:Okay, you flew out here from San Diego, though, yeah. I was really cool. Good, I'm glad.
Speaker 5:My name is Shay and I am from Texas, nice.
Speaker 3:Let's hear it. I'm Bailey and I'm from Oregon, but I live in Florida.
Speaker 2:I'm Brittany and I'm from the Bay Area.
Speaker 1:So we have three California people, right, yeah, yeah, which I think is crazy and pretty cool, because you guys literally flew across the country to come here. So I'm obviously very appreciative of that. And, to kick it off, I want to kind of talk a little bit about this program and then we'll get into what brought each of you out here and kind of your experience with everything Cool, cool. We also have to mention that we have tasty drinks. So what Bailey was bartender? What did you make for us?
Speaker 3:Bailey sunrises. I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it. What is a?
Speaker 1:Bailey sunrise.
Speaker 3:A little bit tequila and pineapple juice, grenadine ice.
Speaker 1:That's cute. Is that like your party trick? Do you have a drink named after you?
Speaker 3:No, I just just today.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, Okay, Nice. So they all came out here to Orlando to do a two week shadow program and essentially what that looks like is I got an Airbnb at a cute little property and we are full operation. So all of the dogs that we typically have board and trains our daily training lessons. They got to kind of help us out with and witness how we run these dogs through a program. So when I was designing this shadow program, I really wanted to shape it around like what I wish I had when I was kind of in your guys's position. You're either a new dog trainer or you're interested in learning more about dog training, and the the world of dog training is very intimidating. Yeah, what didn't you say? It's super intimidating. And I remember like when I first started I was looking into like, okay, what sort of schools can I go to? Who can I learn from? Some of them wouldn't even allow like women which is crazy and you have to have.
Speaker 1:like all of this experience and hold the microphone closer to your face. You have to have.
Speaker 4:Like there's one college I looked into. You have to have 200 hours of dog training professionally before you can sign up. Yeah, and it's like the one that all the professional dog trainers have and I'm like, well, how can I get this certification if I'm just starting off?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 4:And how am I supposed to get those 200 hours? And it's like no one's going to hire me if I have no experience. It was very difficult. It's very intimidating.
Speaker 1:It's very intimidating, yeah, and I think like a lot of the people who are running the programs are like kind of scary men, you know, and it's.
Speaker 1:I think the world of dog training is kind of like run by these people and I really wanted to kind of be like a fun place where everybody could learn about dog training and learn the very transparent side of like running the business, because it's easy to go to a seminar and somebody just stand there and be like, okay, you know, here's a dog and here's how we do the things, like now the dog is fixed but you don't know like the day to day.
Speaker 1:So that was something that I wanted to really be transparent about in this program. So, yeah, we got a really cool Airbnb for two weeks and essentially what we did is we just loaded up all of our training dogs and brought them over to the house and walked you guys through how we work those dogs. So it's two weeks you got to see the progress of the dogs of like when they first came in versus the end of the program. So let's kind of touch on that first. What are the biggest things that you guys learned about as far as, like the dog training side of things go and getting to watch a dog progress through the program.
Speaker 3:I learned that the small things matter. It's things you probably don't even think about when you're at home with your dog every day, but it's important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like what. Give us some examples.
Speaker 3:I don't know, just the, just the small times that they don't listen to you and you're just like whatever, like I'm too tired to deal with this, but you need to deal with it. If you have bigger goals, you need to remember the bigger picture, what you want for your dog, what you want for your future. If you're working for a certain thing, even just with your own personal dog or with multiple dogs, it's important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Bailey, let's talk about your background a little bit, which I think is pretty cool, Because when you first came in here you're like I don't know why I'm here, Just because you didn't have the like traditional experience like training dogs. But I do think your experience is incredibly valuable and so many people are like in the same position as you.
Speaker 4:She also put herself down like she kept saying, like I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing but like all of us looking at her, we were like wow, she's going to be a great dog trainer because she has this experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. I feel like, yeah, talk about it, tell us.
Speaker 3:Well, that was nice, but thank you. Um well, I work at the animal shelter. I started off as a volunteer, so I see a lot of things every single day. You see a dog first come into the shelter, the other is shut down and it takes a long time for them to acclimate. Or you see a dog who came into the shelter fine, and then they just deteriorate and it's probably one of the worst things. Then you also see people surrendering their dogs because they pull on the leash just multiple reasons, like bites and stuff. Lots of bite dogs come in and it's just like I wonder if I was a fly on the wall in that situation, like could it have been stopped? Could it have been helped? So I just kind of want to be the person that's able to help these people and keep dogs out of the shelter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think a lot of people who get into dog training are in the same position as you. You know, like trained dogs don't end up in shelters, and that's kind of like why we do balanced training is because we are able to work through some more like severe behavioral issues that you know some other things might not solve. I also want to talk about your dogs, too, because I think that's very relatable right. So, like, let's get into the story of your dogs and how you got them.
Speaker 3:So like the whole story, yeah, the whole story, okay. So I have a reactive shepherd and one time I was walking him down the street and this other dog comes barreling towards us and most dogs will run away when he starts reacting because they get scared. He has that big shepherd bark, but this dog just decided he didn't care, so we kept running towards us and they got into a fight. It was a whole thing. I was rolling on the ground Fast forward. Three months later we still couldn't find his owners, so we decided to keep him. They were fine for about two years and they started fighting again. So they are still separate.
Speaker 3:My goal is to get them back together, which I really hope I can do, because I see a lot of people getting rid of their dogs for that reason and they're going to a lot of trainers that say like, oh, you should put the dogs down and all this stuff. But I want to be that person that could be like, hey, maybe we can work through this. So, yeah, and the other dog, he's extremely fearful, so he'll also teach me a lot. Every day is a learning experience. That's what I'm learning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what have you learned with them so far?
Speaker 3:I think I've just learned we have to work together to get through these problems. Because Khalifa, he responded really well to everything and it's almost like he doesn't have any problems Because I know he still does and we have a lot to go through, but I'm just amazed at how well he's done so. And then Tyson, he has a lot of struggles, but most of it is fear. So then I have to show him that confidence. And one thing I have learned is that they have a lot of my worst traits, and so it's like we have to get through that together. Like I definitely cried, but it's so. We got through it together and we went down the stairs, we walked past the dogs and everybody was okay.
Speaker 4:So it was just we came out and told us how great of a dog trainer she was.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Because she was frustrated that you can't tell her.
Speaker 4:Well, you made a comment. You said that the dog has never been told what to do or something like that. So she kind of took it more personal, like I'm doing a bad job at raising my dog when in reality she's going to be a great dog trainer and it's just the dog overcoming its fears Like stairs might not be a big deal for us, but for them it's like what the heck? So she was getting very frustrated, but to him it was like a big fear that was being overcome. I told her take small victories, I guess yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So, tyson, she brought him upstairs and he didn't want to come back down Like at all. No, you know, luring no treats, no, nothing. And how did you end up getting him down?
Speaker 3:We used leash pressure. What we've been working on these entire two weeks pretty much. But with the other dogs it was just walking on the leash outside and if they get in front of you you give them a little bit of pressure and when they turn around you let it go. But for him it was a little bit extended, but he eventually came down and I don't know. I think that's so awesome for him. It's such a small thing, but we learned a lot in that moment.
Speaker 4:And they're big moments for dogs, but small victories for us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And you are going to be a very good trainer. You are, I hope so. All right, Claire, you're on the hot seat. Tell us about kind of your experience. So you have your own dog training business and you're kind of in the beginning stages of that? Tell us about that.
Speaker 4:I mean, they've been working with puppies, trying to build a structure on how to let them thrive in a household, kind of depending on whatever that household looks like if they have kids or if it's just a single family and letting families know like this is what you need to put into their lifestyle so that you guys can live efficiently together. I live in San Diego, so a lot of people want their dogs to be free roaming, free leash, kind of do their own thing. So I've had a very big struggle on teaching owners on how to create structure and boundaries with their puppies, especially because they're super cute and you want to treat them like a baby and you don't want to give them hard disciplines to teach. But that's kind of been my biggest lesson with owners is like they're cute but as they grow older, whatever you will let allow to happen right now is going to continue as they grow older.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah for sure. And how long have you been doing this? For Two and a half years, nice. What's like the biggest piece of advice that you have for owners.
Speaker 4:Consider the genetics of the breed that you want before you bring them home. If you want a working dog but you have a household that's more of a family matter like you guys, don't really do working dog things and you want like a golden retriever, Get a mouthful. Exactly it's just consider like there's very trendy dogs going on around right now, but you really have to consider like is this going to fit into my household and my lifestyle and am I going to be able to maintain what this dog needs?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that, and what was one of your goals with coming here?
Speaker 4:To be more confident in my dog training.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm gonna adjust your microphone again.
Speaker 4:To be more confident in my dog training and understand the steps forward into, because I went to a college, a dog training college, but they didn't tell me afterwards what I could do after I got my certification. So it was like, okay, I'm certified Now what.
Speaker 4:Like now what? And viewing all the dog trainers on Instagram and stuff, it was like, okay, everyone's got it down, it's so easy for everyone and I can't do it. So coming here, it's like, okay, my goals are attainable, I just have to put the discipline and follow through. Yeah, and what are your goals? To help more dog owners understand their dogs, so there's not so much dogs in the shelter, like I want dogs. Even if you have a problematic dog per se, I want you to understand why that dog is problematic and maybe meet them in the middle and have a lifestyle where you guys can balance out and thrive together. So I love that.
Speaker 1:That was so good. Write that down. I love that, shay. Yes, tell us a bit of your background.
Speaker 5:So I got my first puppy when I was 17 with the intentions of training her to be my dog. I didn't really know what I was doing, but ultimately it worked out and now I have Finley. I don't know if you can see her in the camera, but she's laying right over there, the golden retriever angel baby.
Speaker 5:We love her. But so in training her and, you know, going through the whole two year process until she was fully trained, I really fell in love with it and my ultimate goal is to eventually be in service dog training and help owners who are in the shelter, Owners who are going through owner training with that whole process. Because I never went to a trainer, I couldn't find one that was really helpful for me. But I know there's a lot of people that definitely struggle with owner training and struggle with all those kinds of things, and so I want to be able to help people. You know, if I can help someone have a dog that's helped me even a fifth of how much Finley's helped me, I'll be extremely happy with that, yeah, and walk us through that process too, because I don't think very many people know.
Speaker 1:You know like, just how much work goes into training your own service dog, or that you even can.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so the ADA allows for people to own or train their own service dogs, and so it really starts from the moment you get them. So I got Finley she was nine weeks and it was like the day after training started for her. It's a lot of work, obviously. You have to raise a dog that you know, you have to socialize them a lot and they're going to be put in a lot of weird, different situations and they have to be ready to kind of handle that. And then there's task training. There's different tasks these dogs can learn to help mitigate different disabilities. And so you have to do public access training, where you're taking them into places both pet friendly and not pet friendly and have them, you know, behave and yeah, so it's do their job yeah.
Speaker 5:So yeah it's, it's a lot. Typically for most dogs it's a two year process. It's definitely how long it took until I really considered Finley fully trained and so, yeah, it's, it's a lot, yeah.
Speaker 1:And what's something that you wish like you would have known when you're first starting that process.
Speaker 5:I wish that and this is just me. I wish I had been able to, like, tell myself back then it works out because there is, you know, not every dog is cut out for service work. It is a very demanding job and, you know, they get put in a lot of weird situations where they're expected to behave really well and task and work and and so I wish I was able to go back and tell myself what? Like my 17 year old self, when I just got her, like hey, it works out. Like, because there was a lot of moments where I got frustrated, I considered pulling her from service work. I was like she's not going to make it, and now she's she's so good she's so good yeah.
Speaker 5:So like, yeah, like it does work out, as scary as the whole process can be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I think that's something that, like I see with a lot of our pet owners also is I see the light at the end of the tunnel. So they get really frustrated with the little things and I'm like you're it's going to be over with in no time.
Speaker 4:Yeah, this on the small victories, because it all pays off, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and like the change doesn't happen overnight. You know you're you have to go through that Like sticky stage. That's what I always tell people. You're in this sticky stage where you're working through either like behavioral issues or like complex training, like you're going to get into that. So I think that's very helpful and relatable. And what was one of your goals that you could take away from this program?
Speaker 5:Just, you know, learning how to do it. I think that was like a big mystery to me is I'd see people, you know, like training dogs and running around, and I'd see people running dogs and running board and trains, and it was just like I had no clue how any of that actually looked, and then also like all of the business side of it was super daunting to me and so I definitely like have somebody fully explain it to me. I can read about it as much as I want online, but unless someone's like this is a good example, like it's not going to stick for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that's something that, when I was first starting off too, I remember asking trainers like how long is the dog in the crate for, like in between training sessions, you know, and like nobody would tell you anything. It was all very like secret and behind closed doors and I'm like it's such a simple question, you know, like I just want to know how you're structuring your day. So I think a lot of people are, you know, feel the same way, especially when you first start off as a trainer. You're like how do I do this? How many sessions a day do I do? How do I communicate with clients? How are we teaching things, all that sort of stuff? Yeah, all right, pass the mic.
Speaker 2:Brady, you're up. What's the question?
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's talk a little bit about your background. So you're also a new dog trainer and you're kind of like in the process of getting your own thing going right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about your experience as a trainer, because you've worked for other trainers before, correct, yes, can we talk about that? Um, yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, let's talk about the type of training that you have experience with.
Speaker 2:It was mostly positive, but it kind of transitioned to like balance training.
Speaker 1:And how long did you do that for I?
Speaker 2:was there for a little bit over two years.
Speaker 1:You're like pretty experienced. I could tell like as soon as I saw your leash handling skills I was like you worked for somebody.
Speaker 4:I saw like a leash pop one time.
Speaker 1:You also have a Rottweiler.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you don't let dogs bully you no because she's like you know, they're pushy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she could be pushy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what was one of your goals with doing this, like, why did you want to do this program?
Speaker 2:Um, mostly like to gain confidence and to see how, like you, structure the training business.
Speaker 1:Okay, and where were you at before this? Like what were some of the areas that you were like? I don't really know how to do this, because you're like a good dog trainer, you know the things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I didn't know how to condition a dog to E-collar. Okay, that kind of stuff yeah.
Speaker 1:That was actually one thing that kind of surprised me about all of you is none of you had any E-collar experience, which is cool, I like that, but I didn't expect it you know shaded.
Speaker 5:I used it briefly, but I don't think I used it very well, so I had stopped for a while.
Speaker 1:Okay, and how has, like has your perspective changed at all as far as like E-collar and stuff like that?
Speaker 4:As someone who's never used E-collar, I can feel like I'm confident in using. I would use it on my personal dog now, were you open to it before. I wasn't really well informed on what it was, and when I had my personal dog use it on a other trainer, it was more like of a. It was a different sensation. I don't think it was an E-collar, what was it, I don't know. It made a sound whenever you would admit it. It was like a ringing sound.
Speaker 1:Like just a tone.
Speaker 4:Yeah, okay, side dogs out. So that was my impression on what an E-collar was Okay. When you used it, I was like, okay, this is totally different. This is like not a big deal. I could use this even on my older dog, who's kind of anxious when I go home. I'm going to get it for him.
Speaker 2:Nice, nice.
Speaker 1:I love that I've like converted you guys Nice. It just allows for super clear communication and like people don't get that, like don't you see the difference in the dogs?
Speaker 4:Seeing it in person, it's definitely a big difference because you don't even have to go that high up. It can be one, two and the dog's like okay, I don't want to mess around, yeah, and it doesn't. Yeah, it's just a sensation. Yeah, it's just reminding them like oh okay, I got to do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's very clear like on and off. That's kind of what I, you know, talk to people about. I'm like with a leash it's very like you have to have a lot of hands on skill to be really timely with a leash. But with E-caller it's so much easier because it's like a button on and a button off. Like you let go of the button to turn it off, so it's easy to be like, okay, pressure is off immediately, whereas leash is kind of like it's a little more blurry of a line for dogs and owners too.
Speaker 1:So how I kind of structure my training is we teach everything on leash first. So we use like higher value food rewards to reinforce behaviors that we want to see more of leash guidance to guide the dogs into positions or, you know, to into that like follower state of mind. And then once we have a dog who understands leash pressure and how to give into it and what we're asking of the situation, then we layer E-caller on top of that. So you guys got to see the full process of us getting newer dogs in. I think we had them for like a couple of days before you guys got here. But you know, getting new dogs in that really don't know a whole lot, and you know layering all of these things on so that now they know the expectations, they know what the E-caller is, they know how to turn it off and we're able to use it to help them, kind of like, navigate behavioral issues.
Speaker 4:I will say I don't want to boast, but Bailey was really good today. I don't know if it's been the E-caller training or what, but I was very good.
Speaker 1:You've done a good job. Yeah, yeah, you did a good job. Let's be real.
Speaker 4:Bailey was your dog, I think after he understood that we were going to be firm on the E-caller. We weren't just going to let him bark when he wanted to and put the E-caller whenever we wanted to like. You were firm on that.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's talk about this. Because you were hesitant to do that at first, Not like I don't want to say hesitant, but just you didn't have the experience to do it at first. So I know I like shocked you a little bit.
Speaker 4:Well, because I got a very tough dog.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 4:So I feel like I was. I was uncomfortable putting it to a higher level because it was my first time using it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I had tested him out to his working level but, I, was like we were in a situation where it needed to be higher and I was like, okay, this is not my dog, but he needs this kind of correction, so, but even when we did that, it was once or twice, and then he was like you understood, yeah, but I think that's super valuable because people will be like my dog keeps doing this, you know, and they're E-caller trained and they get hung up on those like lower levels because they're like, okay, we found his working level at this or like the working level is the lowest level that the dog feels it at. But that changes depending on so many factors, you know. So Bailey is a dog that we have for a board and train and basically he's with us for kind of a refresher. I trained him when he was younger, so he has like all the foundational stuff but he's just a very, very pushy dog and so he started resource guarding things in the house and so his owner was like I don't know what to do. You know, like he's starting to kind of come at us over things and you got to work with him a lot and kind of see that like pushy behavior and the value of being really firm with him.
Speaker 1:So we were out at like downtown Winter Park. It was super busy. We're doing an outing and I intentionally choose a place like that because it's so busy. It doesn't allow the dogs to fixate on any one person or any one dog, so it's a good way to socialize a dog without them. Like you know, yeah, hyper focused, hyper focusing and like staring at another dog and reacting. You know, there's just like so much. So it was a super busy place and Bailey was really pushing your boundaries right. He was dragging you, he was barking like literally the entire time. He's just like an anxious dog with like a lot of big feelings, and he was. He was giving you a hard time. So she was hanging out around like lower levels and I grabbed the E-caller and I dialed up. Now I know him and I've trained him before, so I know that like he needs those higher levels and needs like a firm correction to be like, hey, you got to knock it off. Like I, you know we cannot do this. You cannot be screaming in public like this.
Speaker 4:Basically, it only took like once or twice to correct it.
Speaker 1:It only takes once or twice, yeah, so that's kind of the thing is I would rather correct a dog one time at a higher level than be nagging them constantly at those lower levels. And that's something that so many of our owners get hung up on is they're scared to dial up. But I'm like listen, the dog tells you what level is working. You know, like we were trying lower levels with Bailey and he was just like blowing it off, like it just was not doing what it needed to do. So we dial up, we correct him.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like I said the other day, I'd rather be uncomfortable personally and make a difference in the dog, like I don't want to do this but I know it's going to help the dog and it only be once or twice. And then I know, you know it's like they're not going to constantly do that If it's that kind of situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and to with Bailey, like his owners are very much on the verge of like, re-homing him. You know, and that was one of the things that I said to you of like, look, I'll be the bad guy, all correct him, because if I don't, if I don't do it, yeah, his best chance, his best chance is for somebody to be firm with him and like, I am that person for so many dogs, you know, but it's a tough place. It's a tough place to be in.
Speaker 4:Because he was on place. He didn't want we did walking drills. He didn't want, like he was engaged and I didn't have any collar on him, like he kind of already picked up what we were doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he did really good today. Nice, we're proud of Bailey. So what were some of the other things that you guys kind of learned, like watching the dogs progress through our program?
Speaker 3:I think the importance of consistency, and I think that's a really hard thing. Like you could send a dog to a board and train and then they could come back home. But if you're not going to keep up with those things, and it's not going to matter, because even the dogs that we were seeing every single day, if we didn't say like hey, get back on your place, like place, place, place, place, place, then they just learn to blow us off and be like, hmm, whatever, and we're supposed to be the people training them and getting ready and for them to go back home, and if their family is just like whatever with them to, then there's not going to be a difference and they could be re-homed or whatever the situation is. And so it's just like you have to be consistent. It's hard but you have to do it.
Speaker 1:The dogs were kind of bullying you in the beginning.
Speaker 3:Because it's easy to bully me.
Speaker 2:No but they don't bully you anymore.
Speaker 4:She closes your teeth or treat.
Speaker 5:All the dogs are Rob Bailey's treat pouch. My dogs my dogs bully you still.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I know I know, oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:Yeah they.
Speaker 1:They were definitely bullying you at first, but you learned very quickly and your handling skills improved so much. You know over these two weeks, like seeing you from the beginning, where you're like tangled up in a leash, you know, and then you're doing walking drills with Gretchen, and like feeding her with your left hand. It was so cool. It was so cool to watch.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm glad. I mean that's why I came. I knew I would probably be like the underdog, but it also helped that everyone was super nice Like everyone in the room, not even on the camera, but everyone was super nice. It was just an awesome experience and it's my first step, but I think it was a good first step.
Speaker 4:So I'm excited. I wish my first step was like this. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's get into that. Let's let's get into how you guys feel about this, and I also want to talk about, like, how you felt at the beginning versus how you feel now.
Speaker 4:In the beginning. Well, personally speaking, I was very late, you know, going into a house full of girls, I was like I didn't know if they were going to accept me or anything, but I've been very happy.
Speaker 1:You were very what?
Speaker 4:Like I was like not sure if people were going to like me coming in. That was the last one and I was like nobody really knows me Really. Yeah, she thought she was that.
Speaker 4:It's been very welcoming, not just with the girls at the house, but you guys as well. I feel like it's been. My mom calls me every day. She's like, is there drama? And I'm like there's no drama, we all get along. And I feel like in this industry it's like being a dog trainer. You can feel super alone, like in your head, like oh my God, this is so complicated, but like I feel like now you guys are my new friends. So it's like I just I feel very welcomed by not just them, but you guys as well. It's been a very grateful experience. I'm gonna cry.
Speaker 4:I just you know, because you never expect, like we're all strangers so you don't know if we're going to get along. But I feel like we all have our differences but we also like have this similar, like passion.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:So we all get along.
Speaker 2:Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 5:What was the question?
Speaker 1:I was gonna ask how do you? Feel like how do you feel about the program and coming here? And like how did you feel coming into?
Speaker 5:it. Yeah, I mean I was super nervous at first, you know I didn't really know what exactly to expect, and now I'm just excited to start what's next. I mean I was a little nervous coming here that I'd get here and be like, oh crap, this isn't actually what I want to be doing. But I definitely after this and like excited to take the next step, and I'm glad that I made that scary decision to come, because for me, traveling out by myself is a big thing, and so I'm just I'm super, super excited for what's next.
Speaker 4:Good, I haven't scared anybody too much. It's given us the confidence to continue forward.
Speaker 2:Good, that's what I want, yeah.
Speaker 3:I was super nervous. I almost emailed Tori and was like, hey, something came up. But I decided to come and at first I wasn't even going to bring my dogs because that was also like. You see all these people on social media and you're like, oh, their dogs are perfect and like, my dogs are not perfect. But then I ended up bringing my dogs and it was a lot better than I expected and just the whole process was a lot better. My first day I looked like I never touched a dog before, but eventually that got a little better too, and I guess it's because I come from a place like where we don't really tell the dogs what to do, like when they get outside it's literally just so they can go potty and play and enjoy the sun. But so training dogs is a completely different thing. But I have to kind of learn to find that balance and so, yeah, it's cool, I'm really excited.
Speaker 2:Good Brittany. So when I first came I'd kind of like didn't really know what to expect. It was kind of just quiet. But then we got more comfortable, like pretty soon, I would say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you guys went and got tattoos on the first weekend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, first free day.
Speaker 4:To remember. This is a memorable moment. I love that Like there's literally nothing.
Speaker 1:I love more than impulsive tattoos. I was like, oh my gosh. I know I would have gotten tattoos with you for sure, for sure. So were you guys kind of like nervous coming here? You didn't really know what to expect. How has, how has it lived up to your expectations?
Speaker 4:Well, coming here with nothing like in mind of what we were going to do, I'm pretty proud of the confidence I have now in training dogs, like it's just told me in my mind I might tell myself, oh, I don't know what I'm doing, but in reality I do know what I'm doing. You do know what you're doing. Yes. My passion is dogs, reading dogs body language and helping communicate that. So it's like I just need to stand firm in this because I know this stuff and I just need to follow through and continue.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I think so many people are in that same position and that's something that I talk to my trainers a lot about is I'm like you know so much more than you're giving yourself credit for is very intimidating to putting yourself out there and like reaching out to people and offering help and stuff and a lot of clients won't want the help to, so you get rejected a lot of times. But it's like if you believe in your passion, you, you stand firm, you're going to get somewhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what's next steps for everyone?
Speaker 4:I have to go first For me it would be having like signing up for an LLC insurance and promoting my business more to the market that I want to work for and the dogs that I want to train to thrive in their households. I want to reach out to my niche clients.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what's that like ideal client for you.
Speaker 4:Realistically, it'd be like owners who are kind of close to giving up their dogs because they haven't really seek help. Maybe they got the breed because they thought it was cute and now they're stuck the dogs running the household. Yeah, I want to help those people and be like we can put boundaries and structures and you guys can actually live together and be happy. Yeah, that's kind of my goal.
Speaker 2:You're up.
Speaker 1:What are next?
Speaker 5:steps for you. Next steps for me are probably trying to get clients, getting all the business-y stuff set up and Learning about how to train some of the like service dog task work that I'm not as well versed in.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I wish I could help you there, but I know yeah. When somebody's like service dogs, I'm like.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I could. I could talk about service. It's a lot, it's a lot Little world training?
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure, bailey. What's next for you?
Speaker 3:I Mean I have a long road ahead of me. I guess my main goal is to work with the more behavioral dogs, but I think for right now I'll just take fosters home from the shelter and just reach out to people. I was even telling Claire I was like I'm just gonna put flyers around my neighborhood because I know there's dogs that live there but nobody wants to walk them because they literally can't. So even if I could help them, like just getting their dog outside, that'd be awesome. So I'm just gonna start really small, not bite off more than I could chew, but just keep moving forward.
Speaker 1:That's my goal, big step Teach them how to walk on a leash. That's like. That's how I started my business, you know.
Speaker 3:I started off as a dog walker.
Speaker 1:I was just walking dogs and I was like, wow, people's dogs are horrible, like they're literally dragging me down the street. This is awful. And then I just kind of went from there. So you gotta give yourself more credit.
Speaker 3:You don't want your head to get too big.
Speaker 1:Brittany. What are the next steps for you?
Speaker 2:I definitely want to Get my LLC started and do the insurance stuff. Get the business things going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was one of the things that I kind of walked you guys through is like how to set up a dog training business, like kind of the legal things, and there's no resources out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know and it's like great, I know how to train a dog, but like, how do I make this like applicable, how do I like actually train people's dogs? And yeah, that's kind of my favorite side of things is like the business side. Obviously I like dog training, but, you know, I think you guys have kind of seen like dog training doesn't have to be complicated, like we keep it super, super simple. Everything that we do is Revolved around like what people are able to keep up with and what owners are Capable of doing, and it's our job as the dog trainer to make it as simple as possible and to educate our clients, as you know well as we can through, not just in the way that we speak about the training but, you know, the other resources that we have. So, like we were talking about like the food guides and like the reports that we go over, like that was a lot of the stuff that we covered is like, alright, here's how you, you know, set up your business, but like also, on the back end of things, here's all of the emails that we send our clients and the reports and the type of videos that we send, because if you like, you can train a dog all day long. But if you can't, you know, communicate to your client effectively and teach them the things, like none of it matters Exactly, and I've met, like the most skilled dog trainers who are struggling in their business because, yes, they can train a dog really well, but they cannot communicate to owners, they cannot, like, relay their message at all.
Speaker 1:So that's like a big part of this that I wanted to. You know, communicate to you guys is like it's not just about training dogs. You know, the training part is very simple and it doesn't have to be over complicated. Where most people struggle, in kind of like the stage that you guys are in, is like how do I set up an LLC? Like what, what legal things do I need? How, like, how do I take payments? You know stuff like that.
Speaker 1:So I think it's really important to be, you know, transparent, for me as a business owner of like, hey, I went through all of it, like in the beginning I had no idea what I was doing and I had to spend all of this time like Researching all of that, so that was one of my goals. For you guys to take away from this program is like, yes, the dog training is valuable, but you also see us like running out taking phone calls and like pulling our laptops out. You know, like that's just as much a part of what it means to be a dog trainer as you know the training dogs part of it. With that being said, what are kind of like your.
Speaker 1:I know we touched on, you know, like next step for you guys, but on one of the first days that we talked about business stuff, I had you guys write down each of like your goals and where you envisioned yourself in you know, the next year or so. So let's talk a little bit about that, because I think that's also, you know, very relatable. And one thing that is really cool about like you guys and this group of people is like you are all in different stages and you all have come from like different backgrounds of dog training. So what was? What was that like goal that you guys wrote on that piece of paper in the first week.
Speaker 4:Well, like I said before, I'd like to. I'd like to help dog owners that are struggling and thinking of maybe putting their dogs up for adoption, kind of helping them communicate and understand why they're having those problems and maybe putting structure in to maybe give them a last chance and see if this will work out. There's a lot of the times I feel like owners get the dog not considering the genetics and then they just let their dogs free roam and do whatever, regardless if it's a family dog or a working dog, and I want them to understand that it's what they're bred for and we have to put this in place for them to thrive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you also talk a lot about kind of like nutrition stuff too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I feel like.
Speaker 1:I think that is very, very Important. In like who you are as a dog trainer, you know you're not just looking at behavioral stuff, you're also looking at nutrition, because that does play a big role in it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I've seen a few times that dogs who are very agitated or very anxious it is because of their diet and it's something in their gut. A lot of the gut microbiome relates to our brain, so if they're aggressive or reactive it could be because of their diet. But I've had two clients already where we've switched Is I am less anxious.
Speaker 1:So I know I wish more people kind of knew how impactful that is. And I know, like Hunter and I have talked about it, like we know, dogs that are on shitty foods, like we know that there. You can tell just by looking at them. Like how they act, like everything, when we switch all the dogs to farming.
Speaker 5:And we're like, no, we're not dealing with it.
Speaker 4:Like the dogs, trying to communicate that to you through their behavior.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:As if they're anxious or they're scratching, or if they're agitated, or if you touch them in a certain area and they try to bite you, it's not because they're reactive. It could be because they're in pain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah for sure. So you want to, you know, like grow your business to help more people in that way, to help those Kind of like last chance dogs or the people who are like really struggling with their behavioral dogs and Look at the training is like a whole picture. Yeah.
Speaker 4:I'd like to go into their home see what a day in their life is like, see their diet as well, and just kind of see what kind of structures they have and help them kind of implement whatever works for them as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, and Shay, I know we kind of talked about already but I know that, like in your business you run air really help like service dogs. You want to help coach people train their own service dogs.
Speaker 5:Yeah, like going going into service dog training as a first-time handler is super daunting, it's a lot, and so I want to be able to, you know, help people learn how to train some of that stuff and Like just the whole process from picking a breed to getting the puppy, to raising the puppy and socializing it and then Going through all this training and I mean it's it's a lot and it's really scary, and so I want to be able to help people Through that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and how do you plan on structuring that? I know we're kind of like brainstorming a little bit. I was like you could do raising trains, like you can do lessons. What's your ideal way to reach that goal?
Speaker 5:probably like a mix of probably born trains and Probably virtual lessons or in-person lessons, and then I would eventually like to have a raising train dog that, like I, get as a puppy and Eventually place with someone as a service dog.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and Bailey, you currently work at the shelter and and one of your goals, you know, when we were talking about it that first week was to be able to, you know, help the people that are, either, I Guess, prevent the dogs from ending up in shelters, right Like, help the people with those more Severe behavioral issues and also Identify the dogs in the shelter that are safe for homes, correct, mm-hmm, yeah, so talk a little bit about that, because I think that that's super interesting and I didn't even know that was a thing, but it's like what a behaviorist is, kind of like the current role that Does that. So what do they do?
Speaker 3:They pretty much just assess the dogs and it will be like, if they don't get along with dogs, and I'll be like, okay, what level are they at? Like, did they just not like dogs in their space? Are they outright reactive? Will they lunge and bite at the leash and try everything they can to get to them? So it's just kind of figuring out where they're at, but yeah, and then some dogs are deemed unadoptable, but then sometimes they get Pulled by rescues, and so I'd like to eventually be that person that's able to train those dogs and help them live in a home, Even if it's a highly managed home. Yeah, for right now I just want to, you know, pull some fosters and help them become more adoptable, just through the basic type of stuff, and I just want to show people that it's not that hard if you just Because everybody, we all set up our life, we have a routine that we go through, we have a structure for ourselves, but then we forget about our dogs.
Speaker 3:We don't think like, oh, they need to be doing this, like going on walks, eating at this time, having time to just chill out, and so I want to tell people like, hey, it's also important for them, like I know you like your time to Netflix and chill, but your dog also needs that, and so it's like we all know this, but you just need someone to tell you, and so I I would love to be that person to tell People those things, and so yeah, I think that's such an important role.
Speaker 1:Really, you know, that's an area that's really overlooked. I think especially in pet dog training is. You know, a lot of trainers are like I don't want to touch, you know, rescue dogs because they're difficult and it doesn't pay as well, you know like it's easy to be a dog trainer for people with money and well-behaved dogs, but it takes a lot to you know work dogs through really difficult situations and behaviors. So, yeah, that's a big deal and I think you're the perfect person to do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know I have to start off with the foo foo dogs, but I hope not to stay.
Speaker 1:And Brittany, I know you want to start your own business, but what does that look like for you?
Speaker 2:Like hoping owners live like a healthy lifestyle with their dogs. And what's a healthy lifestyle? Proper diet, exercise, stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so just kind of like coaching owners through the the whole picture of what it means to be a dog owner and like how to better your dog.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like behavior-wise too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you want to do more like behavioral mod or like personally I Love puppies Because I really think that like my strength in dog training is creating really confident dogs. I used to kind of be like you guys where I was like I like the really difficult dogs and then I was like it's definitely shifted because there's so much that we can do in puppyhood to prevent dogs from like having those behavioral issues later on and I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna like make all of these puppies super confident because then they're not gonna have behavioral issues. But is there like an ideal dog or like an ideal client that you really see yourself working with?
Speaker 2:I kind of like the pushy dogs.
Speaker 1:You like the pushy dogs? That makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I think that would be a good fit for you, for sure. Yeah for sure. So during this two weeks I kind of and this is gonna sound horrible, but I kind of treated you guys like how I would treat dogs in a board and train.
Speaker 1:So in the beginning, I hiked you through some mud, yes, so in the beginning, yeah, lots of mud and puddles In the beginning of a board and train. I work the dogs, we do tons of walks. There's just something about a little bit of physical exhaustion. I have to say I didn't know how long that hike was gonna be, but I did not know. I did not know how muddy it was gonna be, so we took a wrong turn.
Speaker 2:We had a little loss.
Speaker 1:We actually did not.
Speaker 2:We actually did not.
Speaker 1:I just took you around an extra loop because I felt like you needed it. A little bit of tough love in the beginning and I wanted to kind of like be a little harder on you guys in the beginning and ease up towards the end, because it makes you nice and confident. So what are kind of your takeaways from that? How do you feel now that we're kind of like wrapping up the end of second week?
Speaker 4:I kind of understand how you structure your day with dogs now you have the active training and the inactive training. Kind of understand how that structures in the dog's brain because, you have to. Before you ask them to do all these kind of communions, you gotta make sure that they're Needs are perfect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, needs are fulfilled.
Speaker 4:They're exercised for sure, I kind of like seeing how you structure your day. That was kind of one of my biggest questions on how you do it when you have so many dogs too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's actually been really nice having you guys, because just like imagine all the dogs that we have and like me and Hunter.
Speaker 5:Literally just me and Hunter.
Speaker 4:I'm trying to figure out what you guys are, but yeah, it's kind of made me understand. Like, put my mind into a dog's mind. Okay, how am I going to learn best?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also it's good for you guys too. Like I was thinking about it and I was like if we did a seminar or something, it would be like I don't know like we're active and then we do nothing, and then we're active again and then we do nothing, and then we're just going to see that in person. Yeah, because if you don't sit down you'll lose your mind. You know we were talking about, like mine and Hunter's, like 3pm nap. Do you understand that 3pm nap sounds?
Speaker 2:like a hot bath.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, I think anytime I get a new trainer, that's the thing is like. They come in, like even Allie. She's like cleaning the house and we're like girl, you gotta sit down Like you're gonna burn yourself out real quick, like a couple days ago. You're like I need to go in the room, I need to watch Netflix, and you go and look.
Speaker 1:Yeah exactly, exactly. But like me and Hunter are like seasoned with that. We're like don't do too much. Everybody wants to come in and organize everything and deep clean the house Like you're gonna burn yourself out in less than a week and then you're like I'm tired and I haven't eaten anything, yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's kind of how we do things and I don't know. I think it works out really nicely for like us and the dogs. I've like been with other trainers who are like on all day and then also have dogs that are on all day and I'm like I don't really think that's super helpful to the owners, because owners aren't gonna do a quarter of what we do with the dogs. You know like think about that. We're doing like a couple training sessions a day with them and at least a walk. You know Owners are not doing that much, so that downtime in between I think is super important for like you guys and also for the dog. So that's how I structured this whole program is. I was like I'm just gonna run them through a born and trained. So I'm really glad that you guys are here and I am genuinely so proud of how far you've progressed over the past two weeks. At first I was like they're not gonna talk to each other.
Speaker 2:We got this thing. I love that.
Speaker 4:Can you guess what the group chat is? 73 on the.
Speaker 2:E-Caller.
Speaker 5:Oh, no. 73 on the E-Caller.
Speaker 2:I don't know how I feel about that one, it's just funny.
Speaker 4:It's just funny, it feels longer than it actually was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that is that's what I wanted from you guys and I know kind of in the beginning I talked about like it's not just about me and like what you take away from me. Like this dog training community is very small and you guys are the peers you know, like this is who is growing into the industry. So form those relationships and I'm so, so, so proud of you guys, like seeing how much you've grown over the two weeks. I'm so impressed and so happy that you guys decided to do this with me.
Speaker 4:You're not just saying that no.
Speaker 2:I'm not.
Speaker 1:I'm not at all like I've been talking.
Speaker 4:I mean I do feel more confident, like I do feel like I'm more confident than I came in here, because I was like do. I know what I'm doing, but now, working with you, I'm like, okay, this is kind of the same thing that I've already been doing.
Speaker 1:I just need to be confident, but not even just confidence in dog training, like you just like, as people you know, this is a nerve-wracking thing to come into, yeah, and I didn't like it's not like I like gave you guys an itinerary or like a super set schedule of this is what we're gonna do every day and this is what we're gonna cover. So you're walking into it like pretty blind, yeah, and that's a lot. Give yourself some credit to like come here and become friends and now like leave here with all of these goals and ambitions. Like this is why I did this, you know, and it's super fulfilling for me to be able to like see that and provide this for you guys. So thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 5:Thank you for doing this, yeah.
Speaker 4:I was gonna say thank you for putting this all together, because even though I didn't know what I was getting myself into.
Speaker 4:I was like, okay, well, I look up to you so highly. I was like, whatever she's got put together, it's gonna be worth it and it's gonna pay off. Like I wasn't like, oh, is this gonna work. Like I was like she knows what she's doing. I had full confidence in you. So I was like I wasn't like if it was anyone else, it'd be like I didn't get an itinerary, but like I felt like you knew what we needed to do and like how we needed to structure the program so I was like okay whatever she has planned even if it's awkward like I was, like I'm still willing to put myself in that situation because I do look up to you.
Speaker 4:So I was like she knows what I needed. So it was like you know it was worth it putting myself in an awkward position. I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2:I don't know about you guys.
Speaker 3:This post hold in here, I agree and I'm glad it. No offense to the guys, but I'm glad it was all girls.
Speaker 1:No guys applied. I can't imagine why.
Speaker 3:But I think it was cool. It was like a girl power, confidence building, like we're all gonna do these cool things, even you guys. You're already doing the cool things. I mean you guys are too, but you're like gonna go do your own thing and like you're doing your thing and it's just I don't know. It was just so awesome to meet everybody and know that so many good people are in the space, because it's really intimidating just seeing people you know on social media or just around. You're like ooh, but it was good, I loved it.
Speaker 1:Good, I'm so glad Well thank you all again so much for being here. This was truly like, genuinely one of the most fulfilling things I've done, and I'm kind of in a big shift in my business and I'm kind of like a firm believer that everything happens at the time that it's supposed to happen and for a reason, and you come across the people that you need at the right time, and I genuinely believe that's why all of you guys are here.
Speaker 5:So that's what I felt too, that's how I felt coming here, because I've looked into other people's shadow programs and, yeah, this was the first time where it was like, okay, I think I can do this.
Speaker 4:It was very welcoming.
Speaker 1:Good, that's what I wanted. I didn't want it to be crazy intimidating. Sometimes I can be a little scary. People can be scared of me so I tried to not be scary. That was like my biggest thing. I was like I'll try. I think they're scared of me.
Speaker 4:I'm glad we all showed up. That's why I feel like we all came here for a reason.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think so too.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you guys so much for this. This has truly been like the best experience for me. I know that it's your experience, but it's honestly just as much for me as it is for you guys too. I feel like getting to see how much you've progressed and like grown over the two weeks is amazing, and I hope you all know that I'm always going to be in your corner. So, whatever you guys do like moving forward, I am right there with you and will help you in anything that you've got going on. Yeah, you can't get rid of me.
Speaker 2:You're stuck with me now so that's what I was going to say you have my number.
Speaker 1:That's a big deal. I don't really like give that out, so take advantage of it, you know. Alright, guys, thank you so much again. This has truly been like the best experience ever and I'm so happy that I got to share it with you guys.
Speaker 4:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and thank you so much for listening. We will see you back here next week.
Speaker 3:It's a good song.
Speaker 2:I'm feeling your drink now.