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The Everyday Trainer Podcast
The Everyday Trainer Podcast
Things Every Dog Owner Should Know
We asked, you delivered. This week, we're diving into listener responses to our question "What do you want all dog owners to know?". Everything from proper dog "socialization" to what types of dog friendly places to avoid, our listeners fill you in on everything you need to know to be a well-educated dog parent and live the most fulfilling life with your dog. I'm once again joined by my lovely partner Thoma, so enjoy our hot takes on all of your responses. Don't forget to grab your tasty drink, and enjoy.
Are you ready? Are you ready? All right, let's go. Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Everyday Trainer podcast. My name is Meg and I am a dog trainer. Today's episode is things that all dog owners should know. So I loved our last episode so much, where I kind of like polled you guys and got all of your responses. So we're going to do the same thing this week. So I had you all write in of things that you wish every dog owner knows. So we're going to talk about all of those things. I'm going to read them off. We're going to give our takes. I'm here joined by Toma, who is literally sitting behind me.
Speaker 1:I can get closer Anyways y'all know the drill Grab yourselves a tasty drink and meet us back here. So all right, to kind of set the tone for today's episode. We are house sitting for mike and aaron of primal canine, so we are in their guest room. In mike's podcast room, uh, they blew up a nice little air mattress for us with unicorn sheets and there's dog food in one of the pillowcases. Just so on brand um, and it's kind of funny because I feel like me and mike are very similar and you and aaron are very similar and there's all of these weird like similarities between our lives, like we, me and kind of joke that like their life is like a parallel universe of mine and they even have like some of the same home decorations, like they have this like mexican painted skull in the same placement, like by the sink yeah, that we had in florida.
Speaker 1:In the same placement, like by the sink yeah, we had in florida in the same placement and it's like they have the same type of dogs, not like personal dogs, but like the training dogs are like the same dogs that I trained, like I have the other universe version of, like some of the dogs, and it's just like it's just all the same it's like the same problems, the same like it.
Speaker 1:We live the same life, just on opposite ends of the country, basically, um, yeah, so we left a house full of dogs and now we're in another house full of dogs, just in a different place, but we're house sitting for them. So we're taking care of all of their dogs while they are back home to the midwest visiting family and doing all the things that they need to do. So, yeah, it's kind of it's tough to.
Speaker 2:When you have working dogs, you know it's tough to like find reliable people to watch them leave yeah not everybody can watch your dogs yeah so, and just like you know that many so yeah, we're happy to now we're here in our little little room.
Speaker 1:but yeah, so today we're gonna get into what every dog owner should know. A lot of this stuff I really agree on. I'm just going to kind of like read through all of the lists and me and Toma are going to give our hot takes on everything. But if you are a new dog owner, I think it's important that you kind of like open your mind up to these things, because a lot of the stuff that I'm going to read off of this list I would say is very like common sense.
Speaker 1:If you're a dog trainer you're like, yeah, duh, but there are a lot of new dog owners out there who are just now kind of getting into the world of dog training and I feel like it's very important to emphasize the basics. And I think in dog training we talk so much about like I don't know. You can just go on and on about like dog training theory, but I guess my approach is the more like this, the simpler things that we talk about. I feel like it affects the majority of people, right, like you and I can sit and talk like dog trainer semantics all day long, but it's like what part of the population like?
Speaker 2:is that really?
Speaker 1:yeah, is that really helping? Like it doesn't really matter that much, so you let's get into it. And thank you all so much for all of your responses. Like I'm truly overwhelmed each week by the amount of people that write in, and I hope this is cool for you too, that you can kind of feel like I don't know we're having a conversation and it's not just like me talking at you, you know, I feel like that's cool.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:Cool, All right, so I'm just going to start kind of at the top of the list. I actually did download this list this time, so we're not going to have the issues of it updating while I'm reading it off of the podcast like we did last time. So this first one how the dog feels about no, sorry, how the owner feels about the relationship with the dog matters more than how strangers feel about it. They are the ones sharing their lives together. How do you interpret this?
Speaker 2:I could think specifically like with like your family or like strangers, doesn't really matter Like there's set values that you have for your dog and like your life, and you know people may not necessarily agree with them. Something as basic as like creating your dog like someone else could view that as like cruel or whatever, but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. It's you know whatever works for you and your dog.
Speaker 1:Well, you can relate to that personally.
Speaker 2:Which of my dogsk or walter with walter, yeah, I mean fair enough. I think, just like him being like I, I guess like from a personal level, like with my, with my mom specifically, like she'd be like, oh, like, why are you so strict? And whatever, and just like I think there's value in having like clear structure and you know, maybe she like wouldn't understand that, but that doesn't really like matter at the end of the day. It's like how I live with my dog.
Speaker 1:That's important yeah, that's what I was trying to get at out of you. I think that's like a common thing, especially with younger people like, who are really into training, and you go back home and you bring your dog with you and your parents are like, oh, why are you so strict? Or why are you creating your dog Like that's so unfair, but at the end of the day, like they're not the ones who are, you know, spending a majority of time with the dogs and you put in so much work to like keep up with the training and crate training. Or maybe you have a behavioral dog Like a dog like Gretchen, where she isn't safe, and so I have all of these things in place, all of these protocols, to keep her safe and keep everybody else safe. But not everybody looks at that as like a.
Speaker 2:They're like, oh, and it seems like silly and excessive, until something happens, you know right or, like you know, the use of tools.
Speaker 1:I get that question all the time that people are like oh, what do you say to people when you're out with like a prong collar and I'm like I don't really give off the like come and talk to me talk to me, you know, but I know that's like a common thing is people being like, oh, what's that, what's an e-caller? And they like feel judged, but at the end of the day, like nobody knows your dog better than you yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:You know, do what works.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So you just have to like not care what people think. Basically You're the one who's spending all the time with your dog, you're the one that's like sharing the life together. You just really have to like push other people's opinions out of the way, because you know your dog, you know what's best, and and also I feel like this goes for like if you're working with a trainer too yeah, I mean there's some things you're not willing to budge on or whatever, and it's just important to be true to your values, right and like.
Speaker 2:A good trainer should adapt to that as well. Like, if you have no desire to use a prong like that shouldn't be a problem at all yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:Next one dog parks are the worst for your dog. If you're already dealing with behavioral issues, I shout this from the rooftops all the time I do not like dog parks. I the last time I went into a dog park was probably like a year and a half ago and it was like a beachfront dog park and I go in and, like you know my dogs like they just want to swim, so we're just like in the water, probably, you know, 20 feet out, not really anybody around us. Like it's very spacious and still who comes in? A fucking doodle, a doodle.
Speaker 1:And the owners have no control over this dog and this dog like rushes us. It is so rude and really like the problem with dog parks or other people's dogs. You know, like you can have the best trained dog but like, for example, if that dog were like in my yard for training, I would correct it for being pushy and being like an asshole with the other dogs. But I can't do that Right, like I have no control over the other dogs. And there are people who are bringing dogs to dog parks that are so insanely unsafe and I know because I do phone calls with these people, because they reach out to trainers when their dogs like mall dogs in dog parks multiple times multiple times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they'll be like oh well, this is the sixth fight that my dog has gotten into at a dog park and I just like I really want to do training to be able to take them there and them be like social, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm just expecting the other six phone calls from the other poor dogs that your dog has attacked. You know, it's just like sometimes people don't have common sense, unfortunately, as far as dog parks go, and I think if your intention is to bring your dog to a dog park, it's coming from a good place.
Speaker 1:Like you, you think that your dog should have friends yeah, I mean people are just looking for ways to fulfill their dog, but yeah, but I also think that we're kind of putting our own emotions on our dogs because we as like a society I feel like are very lonely and we're kind of always looking for like social outlets or like external approval and like the thought of like our dogs. Getting that from other dogs sounds nice, right, because we're like oh, I want social connection, I want to be around people, like I want to be a part of a group and go hang out with people. So my dog has to want that too. But the problem is like dogs and this is not a problem but dogs are not people, they are like let's be real, they Like that's just what they are, and throwing a whole bunch of predators into an enclosed area is just insanity to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, your dog doesn't necessarily need a friend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, your dog doesn't necessarily need a friend. They've been the attacker like it is just such a common thing.
Speaker 2:I feel like if dog parks and doggy daycares did not exist like, there really wouldn't be as many issues. Yeah, no, I mean. Yeah, most of the time the owners aren't even like watching their dogs, like they're texting or talking amongst each other and they're not even paying attention.
Speaker 2:And even if they are like, for the most part they don't know how to like read body language or like actually stop like unwanted behavior, like I don't know, they just like let their doodle hump your dog or whatever you know yeah, I also think people have rose colored glasses when it comes to their dogs. Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I'm speaking to.
Speaker 2:Me included.
Speaker 1:Yes, my shepherd is just a good boy. Walter's not that bad. He's like ripped a dog's ear off before. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:This is true he has, so there are dogs like that that are at dog parks. Don't take your dogs to dog parks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there wasn't a dog park situation, but yes, yeah, it's just, your dog doesn't really need to have friends like you think that they do.
Speaker 1:I would say, if you do want to quote, socialize and I put that in quotations because that's kind of a loose term in the world of dog training, I think somebody else mentioned it in this list but socialization isn't what you think that it means, and a lot of new dog owners think, oh, I need to socialize my dog, which means I need to expose them to as many people and dogs as possible, and socialization really just means exposing them to the environment. But our goal with that is neutrality. It's not really like you don't need to make everything like a positive, good experience with you know, affection from strangers or friends with other dogs, like that's not necessarily what we mean when we're speaking about socialization with dogs. Also, do you remember when we were at the restaurant outside of Tahoe and there was a lady with a dog there and nobody was giving her dog attention and that guy walked by and she was like, can I pay you to say hi to my dog?
Speaker 2:yeah, that was wild because the the man in question like you saw, he was an uncomfy like he didn't want to yeah and then, like that too is kind of giving weird vibes she was like I'm socializing him.
Speaker 1:Can can I pay you to sit here and pet my dog?
Speaker 2:yeah, it was so odd it was so just oh cringy. We just watched from afar, didn't say anything.
Speaker 1:Oh god, and the guy was like yeah, sure, and he like sat down and she's like good boy, good job, while this like stranger, it was, just it was. It was hard to watch. It was a hard watch.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so don't do that either. Like socialization is not letting people come up and pet your dog, like your dog needs to be neutral to people. Do not do that.
Speaker 2:Do not force strangers to come up and pet your dog, like your dog needs to be neutral to people. Do not do that. Do not force strangers to come up and pet your dog.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I mean the dogs were awkward, but the guy was awkward too, like the whole thing was just like no, like that guy did not want to. Also, he was like leaving, like he was with a group of people leaving, and that's what I'm saying is like people put their own emotions on, like that. That lady just wanted to talk to somebody and she had a doodle and no one was giving attention to her doodle and she was like oh, everyone around me is leaving. I have to make somebody come and sit. And you know when they like give you eye contact for too long and you like try to avoid, so that they're like oh, do you want to see my dog?
Speaker 2:and you're like no, I don't her last like little hope, yeah yeah, they're just like staring at you too hard.
Speaker 1:Like I know you want to pet my dog. Like I really don't. I really don't want to. Uh, all right, I got a little negative. Next one Just because you let your dog in the backyard does not mean it is getting the proper exercise it needs. I love this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good one, Because I mean you see a lot of dogs that are just like hanging in the backyard. They also like develop potential problems, like you know, running up and down a the fence line, just like fence reactivity and that kind of stuff yeah um, but also it's just like not very fulfilling, like there's so much more you can do with your dog yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm really big on when your dog is out of the crate, that the time with them should be valuable. So downtime is downtime and active time is active time. Like every time we take our dogs out, we are with them, we are doing something with them. We're not just like throwing them in the backyard and hoping that they like exercise themselves. That's not how it goes. And having a backyard does not correlate to having a more fulfilled dog, even though I know that, like a lot of rescues require people to have like fenced in backyards. I feel like this is my hot take. I feel like almost apartment dogs are more fulfilled because people are more intentional when they do take them out yeah, you have to actually take them out Like a backyard.
Speaker 2:almost is inclined to like being a lazy owner because like it's easier. You know, you just let your dog out to potty, you don't have to do anything. I mean like, just look at us right now we're living out of vans and, like our dogs, have never been more fulfilled. You know, they're always going on a new adventure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. So just because you have a backyard does not mean your dog is getting the proper exercise. There are some other things that you can do, like play with them. So you shouldn't just be leaving out a whole bunch of toys. Toys equal play with you. So instead of having a huge basket of toys just like strewn across the floor, pick those up and take a couple out each day and play with your dog, like when you take the toy out, it means you're playing tug or you're playing fetch or you're doing something engaging with your dog. I would much rather you do a five minute tug session with your dog, then leave your dog out in the backyard for 30 minutes yeah, definitely more beneficial.
Speaker 2:You're actually like building a relationship yeah, like it's.
Speaker 1:It's quality, not quantity, as far as like time out goes, time outside with your dog goes, you know. All right, this next one is long, but I really like it. It's very important to me. What you feed your pet matters. There is a direct correlation between their gut health and behavior. Aka the gut brain access. The microbiome controls hormone production.
Speaker 1:Focus less on expensive supplements and focus more on incorporating fresh, whole foods. No amount of supplementation can make up for an inflammatory diet. If the diet is highly processed, it is inflammatory. By removing an inflammatory diet, you can improve and even get rid of many health conditions skin conditions, chronic ear infections, chronic gi distress, even food sensitivities. If the diet fed is inflammatory, your supplements are working to combat this every day. Highly rendered generalized prescription kibbles are not your only option for health conditions. Anti-inflammatory fresh food diets can be formulated for every health condition ckd, liver disease, pancreatitis, ibd, hua do you know what that is, hua? I don't know what that is heart disease, etc. These diets will provide nutrient dense, biologically appropriate and bioavailable nutrients, antioxidants, phytonutrients to the body needed for healing.
Speaker 1:You are your pet's biggest advocate. Don't blindly trust billion dollar corporations with the health of your pet. Mic drop I. I know who wrote that. I love it. Um, but yeah, diet is huge and that's one of the biggest things that I look at Like. One of the first questions that I ask my owners whenever I'm working with them is what food do you feed? If I'm getting an anxious dog that has itchy skin and is whiny and slightly neurotic, I like 90 times out of 100 they are on pro plan. Like pro plan science diet. What's the other one, the big one, the big kibbles science diet. What's the other one, the big?
Speaker 1:one the big kibbles, yams, it's royal canin yeah, those are my three like least favorite foods and they're all the that vets push, uh. But just so you know, all of those companies are like vets do get a cut of it. But I think it's more systemic than that. I think they are the ones who are teaching the nutrition in vet schools. Like it's just a huge monopoly and it's just like everything else. It's just like our food. You know, like the people with the money are kind of what control the messaging. So when you go to the vet and you're like I feed raw, they're like you're gonna kill your dog, like how dare you? Like that's what I would get every time I would go to the vet and it's like you can't argue with them. Just you know, okay, yeah, and honestly, like I would just lie, like I think a lot of yeah, people just don't even bother having that conversation anymore yeah, but the goal is always whole foods.
Speaker 1:So whether it's raw or like home-cooked or you're just, you know, adding things in like whole foods is always going to be better than highly processed foods.
Speaker 1:So kibble is heated to really really high temperatures and it actually denatures a lot of the nutrients in the food. And think about it like it's like if you ate cereal every single day, like it's carby. It's highly processed. A lot of the nutrients are added back in because you know the the food source nutrients is basically heated off because it's cooked at such high temperatures and at the end of the day, it's really not that much cheaper. Like I feel like nowadays and we did the math the other day like we were going through so many bags of kibble and we were obviously like using kibble for convenience reasons. Um, just like on the road it was a little more difficult, but I got a cooler now and so we've just been going and buying raw from like local places and it's not that much more yeah, it pretty much came up to like a dollar 50 on average, um more per meal, like per dog.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, like you know, a very worthy investment in my mind I think it was like three dollars and 80 cents for kibble.
Speaker 1:But we are you, we like farmina, so there are, like, better options as far as kibble goes. But like, at the end of the day, kibble is kibble. You know, like I like farmina, it's a really good brand. It's what I recommend to all of my owners if they're not willing to go raw or home cooked or, you know, gently cooked, whatever. Um, it's just a convenience thing. But it was three dollars and eighty cents what per dog per day for kibble, and then I think it was like for something yeah for rod.
Speaker 1:No, it was like just over five yeah yeah, just over five bucks per dog for raw and I was like that's dumb, like that's not that big of a difference yeah we're already spending so much money on kibble like we might as well, get that extra step.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure yeah, like we might as well just feed our dogs like good food, and also our malinois can't have anything but raw, like they literally will explode yeah, so at that point, like we were already buying raw, so might as well feed everybody like the higher quality food yeah, and I'm just really big on like prevention.
Speaker 1:I think people spend so much money on dumb things like toys and licky mats and treats and like all of this extra stuff. We keep it so, so simple for our dogs, like their enrichment is going into the forest and like chewing on steaks. You know, like that's, that's what they're doing. But we spend all of our money on like quality food because their health is really important to me. So I just believe in a more like holistic approach as far as dog training goes, like looking at the full picture of the dog. You know their behavioral issues are tied to their gut health.
Speaker 1:Like even Gretchen, when I had her on raw, it was literally night and day and her behavior and like she is, she's like yeasty.
Speaker 1:She puts on weight really easily with kibble. Like you can tell that she doesn't do well, you know, like it's, it's visibly there and it's also a huge just change in their behavior. You know, and it's the same for us, if we eat like crap, we feel like crap, you know, and I do think that it's important to have balance. Like we got a tube of cinnamon rolls downstairs that I'm about to bake up after this, you know, but, like, we do get our nutrients in and our fruits and veggies and we're active and we got to look at the full picture with some balance in there. So if you I'm not here to like kibble, shame anybody but it's one of those things that is, honestly, is a huge topic for me. It's a huge topic for me, it's a huge topic for my owners, it's something that I try to get everybody to be aware of because it has just such a huge, huge benefit overall to behavioral issues and just overall wellness for your dog.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and let's be real. Your dog. Yeah, and let's be real. There's like periods in our dog's lives where they've previously been on raw and then, for whatever reason, like it's too much work or you don't have the freezer space or, you know, maybe you're tight on money, whatever, you go back to kibble and like we've done that multiple times in our dog's lives yeah, yeah, we, we flop around all the time, but it's whatever is like convenient, but whenever we can, we get raw, and that's kind of what I'm saying is like it doesn't have to be perfect, you know.
Speaker 1:It's just about balance, like you don't have to feed every single meal raw. It doesn't have to be like those extravagant, you know what I'm talking about those like crazy ass raw meals and I'm like, oh, that's insane, like I would never have time for that.
Speaker 2:You put together this like whole ass five course meal with like, all the like the presentation on instagram. You know, with the eggs and I wish sardines, and you name it, but like I wish.
Speaker 1:I wish I was that type of person, but I'm not. So we go and buy the raw patties and we just slap them in the bowls and it's good.
Speaker 2:Dogs are happy.
Speaker 1:So do what you can, but do incorporate some time into you know your ownership as a dog owner words, invest in your dog's health, take some time to research that and understand like what your dog biologically needs to be healthy.
Speaker 1:I used to work at this like slightly sketchy zoo and one of the people who worked there which I absolutely loved she would have her kids write a research paper on whatever animal they wanted before she would get them the animal. So like we worked at a zoo, we're all animal people. Like her kids are animal people and she made them write these full write ups of like what the enclosures needed to be, what their diets needed to be, and I remember that's kind of like the start for me to get into raw, because I was like preparing all of these meals for other animals and we would have like tortoises and it would have like a huge tray of just like rainbow colored veggies and we would feed like the carnivores like all of this meat and supplements and I'm like whoa, this is not what we feed dogs and like we would have like they're called like omnivore biscuits but you would only give like a tiny little handful of like omnivore biscuits to the omnivores because it's like carby, because it's unhealthy and I'm like this sounds like dog food.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm like we're literally feeding our dogs and we supposedly love dogs more than any other animal, right, but like we, I couldn't tell you what a dog really needed to eat. So when I went down the raw rabbit hole, I feel like that was the most beneficial thing for me. So I used to prep my own raw and I figured out how to like, calculate it for each of my dogs and what they needed and how to supplement it, and so I really understood, like the nitty gritty of like biologically, what our dogs need to consume. It's a ton of organ meat, a ton of bones. Like when we're talking about feeding raw, we're not just feeding like a chicken breast, like it has to be the whole animal or pieces of the whole animal.
Speaker 1:Organ meats are very important. Bone is very important. It's the full thing that your dog needs. You can't just give them chicken breast, but if you're feeding kibble, it is good to add a chicken breast or chicken leg or some chicken feet. Adding some supplements of whole foods is always going to be better than none yeah, absolutely do what you can yeah, and don't be scared of it either.
Speaker 1:Like it's really not that complicated. I feel like everybody thinks that they're gonna like hurt their dog if they mess up, but it's like mean I think people like initially dive in super deep, like I also.
Speaker 2:It's not that deep, like did my own raw for a while and it's like, ok, we like tone it down Like what's actually doable and sustainable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, All right, next one. This is a good one. Just because your dog is friendly doesn't mean you should be letting it run up to random dogs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because, your dog is friendly doesn't mean you should be letting it run up to random dogs. Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, you don't know the dog that you're letting it run up to. Yeah, so oh, the other day we were at a coffee shop and I was on the call for one of my, for one of my virtual shadow program, like calls, and tomah went back to the van to grab hawk his malinois, who he's not like unfriendly, but like he, if given the opportunity, he would fight another dog and he would like fight a person, if, if, yeah I if, like put in a situation you know, he just kind of like amped up all that, he's just a Malinois.
Speaker 1:Like he's literally just a Malinois. He's just like a cranked up Malinois.
Speaker 2:Like he nipped my foot just because there was a fly on it, you know, like just the pea brain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But so I get there and there's a guy at the coffee shop that just unloaded like two big like German shepherdy looking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no leashes. Like he pulls up in the parking lot and I'm sitting there but I'm like in my call and I can't say anything and he just like opens his car door and the dogs just like rush out and they rush over to me and they're like one of them has like is like sniffing my crotch and I'm like like no obedience, no boundaries like no leashes, no collars, like this guy just like pulls up and he's getting coffee and he just like leaves his dogs out in.
Speaker 1:It was like a little garden, like yard thing with like a terrace, yeah yeah, with like tables and stuff, and I'm like sitting there on a call and his dog is like up my butt and I'm like try, I'm texting toma. And then I realized that his phone is sitting across from me charging. He walked to the car to get hawk and I was like, oh my god, he's gonna come back here and he's not gonna see these two off leash dogs and we're gonna have to break up a dog fight, like that's what was going through my mind.
Speaker 2:He ended up seeing them it was all fine, but it just goes to show like people are just clueless. You know it's. You know there was no ill intent, just utterly unaware yeah, like I'm sure his dogs are friendly. I mean, there is such a thing as being too friendly as well, like you know like that doodle, but they shouldn't be in your space, you know oh, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Like if my dogs were doing that to people. I would be so embarrassed yeah, it's terrible.
Speaker 2:He was literally unfazed. He was like in his own little world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's one thing. I will say that, like coming to california, more of the like rural areas that we go to, like these like mountainy towns, people don't give a fuck, like they literally just let their dogs out in like public settings, like around other dogs, and like I can't even imagine if you did that in orlando I feel like that's very typical of like ski towns, like everyone just has their outdoor dog, that they do like outdoor activities, of like go mountain biking or hiking, whatever, and everyone has like big dogs as well.
Speaker 2:um, and I mean I feel like that kind of was the life that I live with my shepherd like before being into dog training, so like yeah, before you knew any better. Yeah, like I know where people are coming from, you know?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I think I was kind of like that to some extent with Zoe, but I've also always been like overly paranoid of like intruding in other people's spaces and like I almost kind of overly think about like other people and making sure that I'm not like seen or heard you know, I mean like not like it's one thing to have like an off-leash dog and putting it like in a down, like while you go get coffee, but he just like didn't even put them in command, you know.
Speaker 1:So that's, that's interesting for sure yeah, but I mean it's just, it comes from a place of like. He just literally has no idea yeah like he has no idea that like some dogs like if your dog approached at all, like some dogs would just yeah, they could end up badly. Like immediate fight, you know, and like people don't understand dog body language. So like I mean they were both male dogs.
Speaker 2:Ignorance is bliss.
Speaker 1:Like they were both male dogs, like even Walter, like if you had Walter, and like they were pushy in Walter's space like fight yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, hands down.
Speaker 1:Like even my dogs, like my dogs don't like other dogs approaching them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, they would like they would fairly correct a dog, but not all dogs handle corrections, you know. Like they wouldn't like fight a dog, but they would like growl and like some dogs if they get growled at, yeah, like they'll be like f you and it's dog fight like I don't know. It's way more common than you think and even like I'll be super transparent Mink the, the rescue dog that I have. We were well, I was in Tahoe. You left immediately after you left incident incident.
Speaker 1:So Mink was originally in Toma's van, so Toma had three dogs in his van, and then I had my four dogs and so Toma's van. So Toma had three dogs in his van, and then I had my four dogs, and so Toma's van was Hawk Walter Mink. Oh yeah, hawk Walter Mink. And then he was driving back to like work on his van the day before me, and so I was still like out in the woods like no service, nothing up some logging road like, up some like literally in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 1:And so anytime I'm like out in the middle of nowhere, like I have minka with me just as a deterrent, like I don't want people coming up to me, I don't want you know, like she's my melon, don't want you know, like she's my Malinois, that's her job, the pointy dog. So I had Minka out and I had. This is confusing. Minka is my personal dog, my Malinois. Mink is the rescue dog, the staffie that I have, and Mink is not friendly, like she is a very dominant dog, friendly, like she is a very dominant dog. Um, she's like she's dominant with people, but she likes us now. So like we can handle her fine, no issues, um, but she does not get along with other dogs and I have pretty good control over minka.
Speaker 1:So I was like okay, I'm just gonna like tie mink out and like tie her over to a tree, give her some time to like walk around on like a you know 15 foot lead, whatever, just kind of like go potty, do all of her stuff. I'll keep Minka out. And so I like walked over to Mink to bring her back in, walked over to Mink to bring her back in and because Minka was with me, she like got overstimulated and like redirected at me. So she like took her anger and frustration that there was another like female dog out and I was the closest thing next to her. So she like launched herself at me and then Minka was like F you and went to go pull Mink off of me and then I had to like break up a fight right there.
Speaker 1:And it was so fast, like it happens so fast and I think that's what people don't understand. And this kind of goes back to like the dog park stuff and you know, not letting dogs rush up to your dog, like it literally happens in an instant and we see videos of it online all the time. But like I it I break up dog fights, you know, and it's not like I know how to read dogs body languages, like I do this 24 7 and it still happens, you know and then also it's easier to break up a dog fight if you know a dog has a leash on, like yeah like mink had a leash on, I had control over minka so I could out her.
Speaker 1:And she outed and I grabbed mink and all was fine, like, like it wasn't bad or anything, but like they had a moment, you know, and it happens in a blink of an eye, yeah, and luckily, like my dogs are very resilient and you know I raise my dogs to be very, very confident but that shook Minka. Yeah, like I had to work her. After that I had to work her. After that I had to work her. After that we had to work through it. She was like her pupils were black, like she was like I'll fight whoever comes near you. You know, like I was like relax, you know, it's okay, you're fine, we had to walk it off. I had to. You know, walk mink around. We had to calm everybody down, like hey, not a big deal, it's fine, it happened, it's over, we're just. You know we're gonna walk it off.
Speaker 1:But you know, like walk Mink around. We had to calm everybody down, like, hey, not a big deal, it's fine, it happened, it's over, we're just. You know we're going to walk it off. But you know, like there was a lot of training that had to go in afterwards and it happened so fast and it was so short, but it does have, you know, a lasting impact. So you know if you're out with your dog. So you know, if you're out with your dog, like, be mindful of that. Like you don't know whose dog is out there, you don't know if it's a safe dog, you don't know if that dog has already been traumatized by an off leash dog. Like you just don't know. That's why you need to have control over your own dog to, you know, prevent any incidences.
Speaker 2:Like it seems so crazy, but you really do and you do have to be so aware of your surroundings when you have a dog and you kind of have to, you know, keep your head on a swivel. Yeah, some people are absolutely clueless. Like literally kind of funny because like while I was walking to that coffee shop with the man with the off-leash dogs, there was literally like a lady of a small dog on a flexi, texting as I go around a corner, and she like never even saw me. I just like turned around, went the other way, you know, but she like wasn't even looking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like oh, that would have been snatched up snack, yeah, but that's what's so wild and it's one of those things. It's like I don't know. You just don't know until you know. So this is my psa to you if you don't know, like, be mindful, be mindful of other dogs, be mindful of your dog rushing up into the space of other dogs. You just don't know them and the best thing that you can do for your dog is create space between other dogs. Have a recall on your dog.
Speaker 1:If you're going to have them off leash, that's also like somewhere here on these lists. But you know, just because your dog is friendly doesn't mean you should be letting it run up to other dogs. And the next person also said just because my dog is or looks like a friendly golden retriever does not mean we want to be approached for a head-on, on-leash greeting. If you don't know, on-leash greetings are very unnatural for dogs. Most of the time there's tension in the leash which builds tension. So if we're thinking of bite work with dogs, if you've seen dogs do bite work before, there's a lot of tension in a leash. You have a big fat collar. A lot of pet owners have big fat, flat buckle collars and leashes and they're being dragged up to other dogs and that's literally like bite work 101 yeah, you're.
Speaker 1:You know, opposition reflex building, frustration, the dogs they're pulling harder into each other yeah recipe for disaster like, just because you have a golden retriever doesn't mean that that dog is friendly. And like zoe is a typical golden retriever. Anybody can come up to her and she's like hello friend. But like lucy, lucy's kind of a bitch, you know.
Speaker 1:Like lucy doesn't want other dogs coming up into her, she'll growl, yeah, but she'll also give a fair correction yeah, she's not like attacking anybody, but some dogs again don't really handle that very well, so it doesn't really matter about breed. Um, it's just kind of a universal rule. You know, just be mindful and have control of your dog and create space and be neutral, just be, you know. Next, a trained pup is a much happier pup and when, with just a relatively little bit of consistent commitment, you can have a well-trained pup Also, training maximizes a positive relationship between you and your pup. I love this.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of times we want to love our dogs by giving them endless freedom, endless affection, endless treats, whatever they want. And if you restrict that at all, you are a heathen. If you restrict that at all, or you don't let your dog pull you wherever you want on walks, like it seems like you know you're a bad owner or you don't love your dog. But I think the best way to love your dog is to train them, and training in our sense is really preparing them for the very human worlds that we live in. You know, like this world was not designed for them.
Speaker 1:Obedience is not a natural thing for our dogs to do. They're not just out, you know, giving each other obedience commands, but those things. That's a skill that helps your dog navigate the human world better and it creates confidence in you as their guide, essentially. So when you're confident in telling your dog what to do, your dog is going to follow your lead. So, if you're raising a puppy, more structure, more guidance, more training creates a better relationship, and it's really quite simple, like I would say, training is easier, far, far easier than not training.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and training off the bat versus fixing problems down the road.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, there's so much that you can do with prevention.
Speaker 1:that is like it's so makes a world of a difference like, behavioral modification sucks yeah, you're always going to be fighting an uphill battle yeah, especially during, like if you miss out on the imprinting stage where, let's say, let's talk potty training, you get a puppy and you're like, oh, crate training is mean, or you're not willing to get through you know the first five days where the puppy is like crying in the crate. You know that's so mean, I feel so bad Like I would never. I can't sit here and listen to this puppy cry. Okay, so you don't crate train and you leave your puppy out and your puppy's having accidents throughout the house. All right. So then we hit around six months, puppy's still having accidents. But you've pretty much missed out on that imprinting stage where you've taught your puppy that going potty inside is uncomfy and going potty outside is the move. So now you have a semi adult, like, let's say, teenage dog that has spent most of its imprinting going potty inside. Now how are you going to work through that?
Speaker 2:Good luck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like it's so much more difficult to work through problem behaviors later on than it is to just prevent them. And that's why I tell everybody puppyhood is all about prevention, or destroy things. Like it doesn't have to be difficult, training is easier and it's less frustrating for you and then it improves your relationship with your dog because you're not getting frustrated with them all the time. I think that's the biggest thing when I speak to puppy owners is they're just like at their wits end and it's like it doesn't have to be like that.
Speaker 2:Like I love raising puppies but I keep it very simple yeah you know I'm not trying too hard, it's we're sticking with a crate schedule and I take them everywhere for exposure yeah, and honestly, like I think the potty training example is a good one, but even just like a dog, it's like teething and like chewing on stuff. If you never present that opportunity to the dog in the first place, you're never actually gonna have to deal with that. Like the dog's never even gonna go and grab your shoe because, like you take him out and you play football or whatever yeah, that's not even like a picture that they've seen.
Speaker 2:Yeah like simple as that yeah it's not even a problem you're gonna have to like even worry about like.
Speaker 1:You don't have to like fix anything yeah, this kind of goes into the next one. Having a well-behaved dog takes effort. The amount of people who say, oh my god, my dog would never as ours walks in heel past theirs, yes, your dog would do that if you taught them and ours is not perfect by any means, but way better than how we got him there you go it does take effort, obviously, but at the end of the day, like once your dog is trained I mean, we see this all the time, every, every time, every time I get a new board and train, I'm shocked, like how do people live with this dog?
Speaker 1:Like I understand that that's my job is to get like not well-behaved dogs.
Speaker 2:But it's crazy, our dogs are so easy yeah.
Speaker 1:You know like they're so easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean trained dogs get more freedom Like hands down, they get more freedom like hands down.
Speaker 1:They get more freedom. They're more enjoyable. We can take them out places like it's just. It's so much better I can.
Speaker 1:I can't even like think of a world in which I don't have trained dogs yeah, like that first drop-off session, like is always mind-blowing right the owners are getting like dragged, dragged they get dragged like they'll like, walk up to, like our neighbor's houses, and they'll be like my dog dragged me over here and I'm like girl, walk back over here like you can't be walking up to people's houses like that yeah, the dog's running the show entirely yeah they're just living in their dog's world yeah, or like the dog is, they don't leave their house, or the dog is having accidents all the time, and yeah, just you're living for your dog at that point, and I mean like we do too, but like different yeah, enjoyable yeah, like our life is now catered around like how we can fulfill ourselves and our dogs.
Speaker 2:It's not around like the stress of having an untrained dog like some people, like worry about if they can take 15 minutes to shower and like leave their dog alone yeah, like our clients literally don't shower like with the door closed yeah, so yeah I'm thinking of yes, we're thinking about the same person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, oh, she's doing so well. Now though she's killing it. But yeah, you know, having a well-trained dog does take some effort, but, in my opinion, not near the amount of stress and effort that comes from having an untrained dog. Okay, I love this one because I am I'm a hater. I am a hater In all caps.
Speaker 2:This one says put down the snuffle mats and go outside.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, sing it. I do not like the snuffle mats and I do not like the lick mats, I just like just go outside, let your dog chew a stick, these fake added enrichments that our society is like we have like you have to do that because you've gotten so far away from any sort of like natural way of living with your dog. It's like it's so artificial to me yeah, I mean the other day.
Speaker 1:We're sitting outside of our van and I think like five of our dogs are like just chewing a stick they're all just like chewing on sticks and I was like I would be canceled right now because people think that that's bad, and I know that there have been incidences with sticks. Please don't message me, but I'm just saying like there's incidences with everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, At a certain point I mean, you choose your. Once again it goes into the value topic.
Speaker 1:They're just like rolling around in the forest and it's like they're using their noses. They're sniffing out the little squirrels you know like. That is what our dogs are supposed to be doing, and you have to give them these snuffle mats to like mimic to mimic like, just go outside. Just go outside, like you will benefit from it, and I think if I had any message to anybody, it would be you need to get comfortable, like being in nature if you have a dog.
Speaker 2:That's my hot take yeah, I mean, I think that's fair you can do all the obedience in the world.
Speaker 1:But I mean, even you, like we've kind of come to that.
Speaker 2:You know, like you were, you were really into the sporty stuff, which yeah, with my mouth Cause, like my shepherd, like I always love to like go on hikes and all that stuff and like have them loose, and then my sporty dog never really saw anything else but a sport field, you know. Now I've come full circle where I'm actually taking him to coffee shops and, um, letting him be off leash in the woods and it's honestly like the best thing ever, like seeing him off leash with your pack of dogs like brings me so much joy yeah, like him just being a dog yeah, it's like what it should be.
Speaker 2:You know, just fulfilling um like for him but like for me to see as well, it's cool yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I love it and that's always kind of been my thing. I really liked doing pack hikes with you know, our board and trains or our daily training dogs, because you just got to see such a big difference in their behavior when they're like fulfilled. You know, you check off all the boxes when you go for a hike with your dog. You let them explore and you let them run. I think that's a big thing.
Speaker 1:Our dogs don't really get to run for sure yeah you know, it doesn't compare like and it's not even like they have to be off leash, like you could have a flexi, you, how long is your flexi? This is the longest, this is literally the longest flexi you know. But like that's when you can use a flexi is when you're out in the middle of nowhere, like going on a hike, and if you live in a city and you're like Meg, there's nowhere for me to take my dog Lies. I have traveled all over the United States and I always find a place to let my dogs run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's always a park or a soccer field or something.
Speaker 1:Or like a random field in between buildings, you know like.
Speaker 2:Literally that tiny little strip, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It doesn't have to be anything extravagant. Like your dogs will love it. You know just to like run in a field yeah I was thinking about that today when we were slap milling mink. Like she gets, you know, she gets those like zoomies where her like butt tucks and she's like I gotta go. You know, like you see, you see it in her face, I'm like, yeah, she has to run yeah, she is so fulfilled like we just put the flat collar on and she like gets and sprints on the slap mill she's like yes, like she just needs it.
Speaker 1:But I think like imagine how horrible lucy would be if I never let her run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like she needs it.
Speaker 1:She needs it yeah.
Speaker 2:And I mean that's a great example of trained dogs. Get more freedom Right, because, like we can recall them yeah. We can't let her off, leash Right, so the slap mill is like the easiest way to fulfill her needs. But you know, not everyone can have access to the slap mill.
Speaker 1:It's funny because Mink is honestly like really good off leash, but it would just never be the worth the risk of like some random person approaching us you know what I'm saying like she doesn't go anywhere it's not like she stays close, yeah, she's like very clingy, but it was just like that would really suck if somebody, some random person in the forest, walked up to us like I don't really trust her in situations like that, you know.
Speaker 1:All right, the next one. We already kind of touched on it a little bit, but the meaning of socialization. I had no idea what socialization really was supposed to look like. I thought it was throwing your puppy in with a bunch of other dogs and people to get used to it. Now, as a result of dealing with now, as a result of dealing with the consequences, I have developed the understanding that true quote, socialization, or what we mean when we talk about what we do to help our puppies to be confident, comfortable interacting with the world and living with other things, looks so much different than I think a lot of first time owners think, involving building up focus and calm, minimizing overstimulation, reactivity, behaving quote respectfully, et cetera.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so socialization is not what you think it is.
Speaker 1:It's a horrible word that we use, but the reason that I continue to use the word is I'm trying to change, like, the definition of socialization. You know, and I always, when I say it, I clarify what socialization actually means. But it's a tricky word, because when we think of like, oh, we're gonna go socialize, it means talking to other people and being around other people, and so people think that it means your dog is super friendly with other dogs and getting to meet a bunch of other dogs and getting to meet, meet a bunch of people, like the people at the place, the restaurant that we're at, you know, like that's definitely what she thinks that she's doing and she's like heening the stranger like treats and she's like pet my dog and it's like no, that's actually creating a lot of excitement or nervousness around this uncomfy situation. Like that stranger was put in an uncomfortable position, that energy is seeping over to that interaction with that dog, you know, and it's like those moments matter her dog was actually doing better before she asked that.
Speaker 2:You know her dog was being pretty neutral.
Speaker 1:Yeah, her dog was doing great and it's like she's literally training her dog to either get overly excited every time he sees another person or nervous nervous, which could lead to like sketchy behaviors, like nipping people or, you know, trying to create its own space because the owner isn't advocating for them in that moment. So socialization is not that. Socialization is building up some sort of engagement with you. I always like to have some sort of foundational training. Or, if you have like a really young puppy, it's really just like picking them up and carrying them and taking them and exposing them to like drive-thrus and coffee shops and you know all the things you're going to encounter later in life. Like it's about that. It's so that when you have an adult dog, the dog doesn't like freak out when they see like a bicycle.
Speaker 2:You know it's like this is a bicycle showing them as many pictures as possible at a young age, and not necessarily having a positive or a negative experience, just like this is life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right. Next one we already kind of touched on the socialization, so I don't want to nag it too much. Okay, unless you have a dog with a serious behavior issue, dog training is not that hard. You can do a lot with just 30 minutes of training new commands or behaviors a day, while reinforcing what you've already taught them throughout the day. Humans often make it harder than it needs to be fact yeah, this is literally me saying this.
Speaker 2:I didn't write this, but this is something that I would say yeah.
Speaker 1:Even like my virtual shadow program students. I love them, but they overthink literally everything and it's inhibiting them. I would say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. It's like we don't. I don't know people just like dive in too deep. It's like we don't, I don't know people just like dive in too deep.
Speaker 1:I am very, very grateful that I did not like drink the Kool-Aid with any trainers, like while I was learning, I genuinely kept my head down.
Speaker 1:There was like one trainer who really like, got me into it, got me like, oh, this is a thing, like I can be a dog trainer.
Speaker 1:And then I would say, from that point forward, I really just worked with so many dogs and the dogs showed me what works, and I think that's why my training is so simple, because if you talk to other dog trainers, it's like I can't keep up with the theory and the semantics and you know like the definitions of everything.
Speaker 1:But I would say that I'm a pretty like intuitive dog trainer because I've just I've gotten my hands on so many dogs and they've all taught me so much and I don't know. I think it's kept everything really simple for me and this is true. You know, dog training is really not that complicated and that's that's really what I'm trying to emphasize with my virtual shadow program students is, they're the type of people who are online, right, they are consuming my content, they're consuming the content of a bunch of other dog trainers out there and I know owners are doing the same thing, like you're just researching so much and you're, you know, looking into everything and trying to come up with the perfect plan and perfect schedule, and you know you need everything like planned out for you and it's like that's not how this works.
Speaker 2:Just take your dog out and train.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if it doesn't work, try something else or get better. You know it's, you know it's, I don't know my. My foundation of training is really just create a language and utilize that language. It doesn't matter if you have a puppy or a behavioral dog. You know everything is going to go at a different pace and look a little bit different. But if you have the foundational stuff like, it's really not that complicated. You know Thomas getting sleepy over here. He has been so full of energy all day long and then I put a microphone in front of him and he stops talking. But we've been spending so much time together we're starting to lose our minds and I am very introverted, can be alone, I can go and live in a cave and be totally fine. Toma needs people and he needs activities social butterfly over here he's.
Speaker 1:He's my fourth golden retriever and I can't keep up but she's also a night owl and I don't last this long night owl is strong, I'm definitely not in a night owl I don't know what time it is, but I definitely um bonk earlier than you lots of people responded with just because your dog is friendly doesn't mean you have the right to let them run up to others or force them in the face of your dog. That's like I don't know. We probably got like 20 responses of that and then a lot of responses of, uh like, don't leave your dog in the backyard. Oh, this is a good one.
Speaker 1:Crate training will change your life. Yeah, that's honestly like the biggest thing that we do. I would say most people's dogs are not crate trained and that's a huge part of our training Like teaching your dog to sit still and do nothing and just like decompress and relax dog to sit still and do nothing and just like decompress and relax. A lot of the dogs that we get are very overstimulated and anxious and the crate is an excellent tool in teaching them how to sit. I wish I had a box that I could go, and I mean we kind of do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we kind of do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we kind of do. Maybe that's why I like the van so much. All right, if you're going to let your dog run off leash, please have 100 percent recall and don't let him come charging up to my dog's face, running behind him yelling. Don't worry, he's friendly, because my dog's not. She hates that. We already kind of talked about this. But I think it is very important that if you are going to have your dogs off leash, you are able to recall them around distractions, other dogs, around people, squirrels, and if you can't, you have to eat, call or train them like you have to. I'm sorry, but that is the only way that you're ever going to recall your dog off of a squirrel With like a high like.
Speaker 2:For sure With a high prey drive animal.
Speaker 1:Try, try not to Take Minka. Take Minka and show me how to force free train, recall her off prey.
Speaker 2:Very, very strong marker words.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you. Just I don't know. I I personally don't do quote off leash dog training, um, you know, especially like in orlando, because I don't what dogs I mean, a lot of the dogs aren't even like there.
Speaker 2:Yet you know, like that's not what, we're right, that's what.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like let's just walk on a leash first, you know. But I think too, that kind of gets into like people's expectations, which is one of the things that I like posted about this week is like people have these like grand goals and expectations for their dogs where they're like I want my dog off leash, recall and blah, blah, and it's like your dog is actively reactive. You know, like we are so far from your dog being your perfect end goal picture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just yeah baby steps, one thing at a time but I definitely do not do off-leash training without any collar yeah, no, for sure I think it's.
Speaker 1:And even like just in the last, what six months, I feel like we had one dog that was off-leash trained, like like a born trained dog, like we haven't done maybe two, haven't done that many yeah, and it's very obvious when we have I I genuinely think, like just in this year we've had two dogs that were off leash and we're like, wow, we're so great trainers, they're off leash yeah, that is just because the dogs the dogs that we get like are their behavioral modifications yeah yeah, and like that's not to say they can't be on like a long line, like we do put dogs on long lines or we like let leashes drag, that's a big thing yeah, a big transitional step is letting the leash drag, but every once in a while you gotta hustle on over to that dog and step on the leash for sure you know, still would not trust them off leash.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'll wrap it up here, but I do want to get to this one because this one is very interesting and I would not have put this on here. But if it helps somebody, it helps somebody. I work in vet med. Having insurance for your pet at this point is basically mandatory. Just as an example, if your dog is vomiting more than twice in a short period of time, you'll right off the bat be offered blood work, which can be 250 dollars, and x-rays, which can be over 400. If you're lucky and your pet doesn't need to be hospitalized, which can be $3,000 or more, you'll still often pay 150 plus for meds. This is one visit. I personally spent over 60K on vet bills in 15 month period for my beloved dog, which got 95% covered. Get your pets on pet insurance.
Speaker 2:Wow 60k. That's really impressive 60k. That they actually covered that. That's not bad. Whoa. What insurance are you using? Yeah me on that plan give me the details um. We do not have insurance for our dogs I mean, we have a lot of dogs, so we'd have to look into what that actually entails in terms of insuring all of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I looked into it at one point because Zoe was so quote old, it was like insane.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I would have to take all the dogs in to like a specific vet for the health test.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:To make sure that they don't have like preexisting things. Yeah, and maybe that's dumb Of us, I don't know. We also are not ones to like rush to the vet. I feel like I'm very I know what I'm doing doing yeah I also don't trust doctors personally. That's just my thing.
Speaker 2:I'm just one of those people I mean, we know our dogs and we monitor them well, and you know, yeah, like obviously I've had to, you know, rush to the emergency, but it's a rare occurrence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not to say don't get insurance.
Speaker 2:No, I think it's a valuable point, especially if you just have like one dog, like maybe it's worth it. At the end of the day, any pet insurance is cheaper than $60, um of potential vet I don't know, over 15 months.
Speaker 1:I bet it would be close to that for all of our dogs yes, yes, but easy 60k. How many, how many? Most people don't have what's 60 divided by 15? That's four grand a month. That's crazy 60K over 15 months. I wonder how much it would be. How many dogs do we have?
Speaker 2:At the moment seven.
Speaker 1:Okay, it definitely would be cheaper than 60K for 15 months. That would be $571 per dog a month. There's no way it's that much. It might be a lot for Zoe. I remember it being in like the couple hundreds, but oh God, I just I don't know, hot take.
Speaker 2:Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I think at a certain point, if the vet bill would be too high, I would put my dogs under. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Put them down.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:That's brutal. I don't know that's brutal.
Speaker 2:I don't know what, my damn, you're gonna say that on a podcast. I mean I don't know what my cutoff line is, but I mean, at a certain point you gotta pull the trigger I think it depends on what it is yeah don't you think?
Speaker 1:yeah, absolutely, absolutely like I would never put my dog through cancer treatment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's literally what I was thinking. It's like cancer, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but let's say, like what if one of the dogs got like hit by a car or something? You know, like I would, I mean even that it depends.
Speaker 2:They're like internal bleeding, like I don't know. I just feel like sometimes vets play with people's emotions too.
Speaker 1:And yes, I do agree with that.
Speaker 2:You know it's like, oh, like, if you do like this $20,000 like surgery right now and then this other one that costs 15 grand, maybe your dog will survive. And it's like oh there, you spent 30 grand and the dog died.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean, that definitely does happen. And two, I feel like sometimes owners get like so paranoid and if their dog like sneezes, they go to the vet and that adds up, you know yeah, like we're very conscious and like we wait right to like yeah, see, like if
Speaker 1:they even need to go to the like vet for anything I'm also like pretty good with like the medications, like I know what to I think like my experience at the zoos and stuff, like you have to give medications and like animals get sick. And it's not like a vet is coming out every time an animal at a rehab place gets sick, like they're like oh yeah, do this, this and this you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So it's like, yeah, I know, like I know a lot of the things and like you know, knock on wood, we haven't had any major health things. But I wanted to add that one in there, because that's not something that I would necessarily add, but I do think that it is, you know, a valuable take, don't?
Speaker 2:you think? Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a question I've, you know, asked myself several times like oh, should we get pet insurance?
Speaker 1:so definitely good to have that on the list as well um, okay, the last one that I really like enjoy the process. I kind of, you know, mentioned this this week. But you have to learn to take your dog for who they are, accept the failures with the wins and ultimately know that their time with us is limited and you've got to enjoy the journey. Don't have too high of expectations that you forget to enjoy your dog in the process of training. I feel like I'm feeling this one a lot now that Zoe is getting older and she's like showing signs of being older, like it's just kind of slapping me in the face of how limited their time with us genuinely is. You know, and I remember when I was in college, like Zoe was such a door barker she still is. If Zoe's in the house and somebody like walks in, she's going to be, like you know, like at the door just give it a couple of barks, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when I lived with roommates, like it drove everybody nuts because there's people walking in and out of the house all day long and you know everybody's like you need a train. Zoe, and I was like so embarrassed and like we tried to do everything. We tried correcting her. We tried like we tried everything and we could not get Zoe to not bark at the door. And I just remember being so frustrated with her and I was like God, like why can't you just like not do this thing? Like why I just wanted her to be like perfect. You know, because she was perfect in essentially every other way in my eyes and I got like so hung up on this and I feel like now, especially after training all of the dogs that I have, people will come to me and be like, oh, my dog does this thing and I just hate it so much and I'm like it's a dog.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, like, yes, I know the technique to technically work through this, but you're not going to do it, You're not going to put in the time to keep up with this.
Speaker 1:Like just enjoy your dog Flaws and all you know. I see this a lot with my clients who are very much perfectionists. They get very like embarrassed if their dog does anything or they get easily frustrated with their dogs. If their dog is like putting any pressure on the leash and they're like I need more lessons, my dog is putting pressure on the leash again. That's how it goes.
Speaker 2:You know, our dogs are definitely not perfect no, not by any means far, far from it yeah, and I mean I used to be super frustrated, like especially with hawk taking him out like more for like a sports session or whatever, and like I wasn't enjoying the training and neither was he, you know, and like I kind of like let go of certain expectations and like now it's like fun having more fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's, it's a lot and it's like visible you know with him too and, like other people, notice it yeah, so this is a lot yeah, but it's like you got so hung up in like the sporty stuff that was like the only relationship that you had with him was like these heavy obedience sessions and you're asking so much from him and then when he doesn't do it, you're getting frustrated. And then he gets frustrated because you're frustrated and you both are like steaming at each other and then you end the session and it's like that's not enjoyable for either of you no, for sure and like now, you have very low expectations and the training is going better A way better relationship, yeah, so.
Speaker 1:So you got to enjoy the process. I know that we're all very much into dog training and it's very cool to train your dog, but don't get hung up on their flaws. Like their lives are so short, it goes by so so fast, like I don't know. I just I have a different perspective on it now and I listen to owners and I'll listen to their woes about their dogs and I just want to be like it's fine, it's going to be. Like it's fine, it's gonna be okay. Like yeah, we can spend all this time and money training them, but like just enjoy your dog zoe's still very much kicking.
Speaker 2:She's, she's running with the pack, she's doing no, I mean she is, but it's just.
Speaker 1:You know, like I'm 30 I'm gonna turn 31, like Like I got Zoe when I was 19. She's been with me over a decade, like you know. I would give anything to have that time back with her when I was like getting frustrated at her for barking at the door. I don't care, I do not care that she barks at the door Like can you imagine if I was still hung up on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not that serious.
Speaker 1:It's not that serious. It's not that serious, that moral of the story, moral of the podcast enjoy your dog enjoy your dog. It's really not that serious. Yeah, should we wrap it up there? Do we have any new exciting things? We're pretty chill for the rest of the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's pretty good Working on building out two vans and I mean we'll see really what we end up doing, where we'll end up in California and all that One thing at a time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do want to get my van build planned or something. You know, it's a little. It's a little messy at the moment. So essentially our plan is we kind of are looking for where we want to get property. So we've just kind of been like trying out places. Truckie was pretty cool. I really liked truckie yeah, it's nice out in town but we also found some property in like northern california that we're gonna go and check out and I feel good about that.
Speaker 1:I also really liked, like the joshua tree area, yeah absolutely I don't know that my skin can handle like I was getting nosebleeds. I don't have fingerprints anymore, like my my fingers. The skin on my fingers has just peeled off going from living in florida to here. I'm so dry, my skin is dry, my hair is dry, I'm just dry all the time yeah I just feel shriveled. I don't know what I think. I would just like dust away in the desert.
Speaker 2:Well, funny enough, we haven't even gone like by the coast yet. I think I'm looking forward to going like Santa Cruz and like yeah, it's just been too hot for the dogs.
Speaker 1:So it's been wildly hot.
Speaker 2:I was not anticipating this, because the last time I was here like around this time last year, and no, I mean there's definitely been a heat wave, um, like locals have said, it's not normally this hot this time of year. Yeah, um, but it's simmering down and we'll. We'll finally be able to explore some warmer areas yeah, oh, other other things inside.
Speaker 1:exciting news tori and I if you don't know, tori is my girl. She's been helping me run my business for the past like I think, four years now a while. Um, we are doing website builds and crM setup for dog trainers. So you guys know that I have the virtual shadow program, so we've been taking that one step further and doing the business setup for people. So if you're a dog trainer and you're like, oh my gosh, I need help with my website, I need help getting clients, I need help showing up on the internet we got you reach out send me a DM, send us an email. We're more than happy to to set you up and we'll have some more official stuff for that here very soon. But that's kind of my next. My next thing that I'm getting into, that I've been kind of getting into over the past I don't know two years has been helping dog trainers, be dog trainers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you've been very busy. I'd say you've helped a lot of dog trainers.
Speaker 1:I have.
Speaker 2:And also like build numerous websites in the past.
Speaker 1:I've been hustling on the websites.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I genuinely enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Like it lets me be creative creative again and like I am very artsy, but I feel like you know just the grind of taking care of dogs 24 seven. It doesn't allow for that so much. So I've kind of branched into the world of helping dog trainers, be dog trainers, and now I'm able to help more dogs than ever before because I'm helping dog trainers help dogs, and it's exponential. It's been really cool. I genuinely love it and it's been super fulfilling. I'll have to do a podcast here very soon talking about like the updates and what all that you know looks like with us. But yeah, if you want to work with us, reach out, let me know. This has been a long episode so we'll wrap it up there. You got anything left to say?
Speaker 2:I mean thanks for having me on. It's always a pleasure thanks for being here.
Speaker 1:We'll do it in the morning next time, so you can be a little bit more of a yapper.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm falling asleep here. Sorry about that, guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's okay, but as always, guys, I appreciate you. I love you so much for all the support and the facts that you listen to me every single week. I'm truly blessed to have this platform, so thank you, thank you, thank you, and I'll see you back here next week.