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The Everyday Trainer Podcast
The Everyday Trainer Podcast
It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility
The episode emphasizes the idea that while dog owners may feel guilty about their pets' behavior, it is essential to recognize that genetics significantly influence these actions. We discuss the prevalent culture in dog training that blames owners and shift the focus to the responsibility they have in managing their dogs with an understanding of their innate behaviors.
• The impact of living situations on dog training and behaviors
• The narrative of blame within the dog training community
• Importance of recognizing genetics in dog behavior
• Responsibilities of dog owners: fulfilling breed-specific needs
• Real-life examples illustrating the interplay of genetics and training
• Encouragement for owners to advocate for their pets instead of feeling guilty
Hello, hello and welcome back to the Everyday Trainer podcast. My name is Meg and I am a dog trainer. Today's topic is it's not your fault, but it is your responsibility. I feel like there is so much talk in dog training blaming owners and guilting owners for not having the skills or not having this handling skills or the education, and you know that's why you're struggling with your dog and I dislike this so so much. So we're going to talk all about that and we're also going to touch on genetics and how big of a role that plays in our dog's behavior. You know the drill Grab yourself a tasty drink and meet me back here. All right, guys, welcome back. I, my tasty drink is coffee. I'm recording in the morning. I'm actually recording from a hotel room. This is my first hotel that I've gotten in the like. I think it's been close to six months that we've been on the road. So, if you're a new listener, I am currently traveling around with my partner in our Sprinter vans with all of our dogs. So just some life updates.
Speaker 1:Van life recently has been very, very difficult for me. It has been so hard to exist, and one of the things that I just strongly dislike is I hate being in a place where I feel like people don't want me and I like I'm not going to get into like my childhood or anything like that. But you know, growing up I, my my dad, was basically like, hey, you better get into college or you're not going to have a place to live. Like as soon as I graduated high school. So I never really felt like house was mine growing up. So I never really felt like house was mine growing up. And then, you know, I went to college and I lived in the dorms and you know that's not really your home. And then we always rented houses and we would move. Every one to two years I would move houses, and so this just became like such a norm for me and I really liked the idea of van life because I was like this little space is mine, you know, like nobody can take this away from me, like it's my, it's my little space I don't have. You know I can't afford to buy a house in some of the places that I want to live. Like could I buy a house in the middle of nowhere? Probably. But I think for my job I do have to be like close to people, so that's not really an option for me to be able to buy a space, and I just liked the idea of van life because it's like my little space and it's my home and I can take it everywhere with me. But this past week has been so, so difficult, like it has really made me question if I'm able to actually do this, because so much of my job is online.
Speaker 1:And I think when we look at van life on social media, we're like wow, like you can go out into these amazing places. But the problem with being in those places is you can really only stay there for a couple of days before you run out of like power. Right, because for us, our, our vans are powered by, like the batteries are charged whenever we're driving. We also have limited water. We have a lot of dogs, so it's a bit of a different situation. You know, like we have a big water tank but we go through it very fast because of how many dogs we have. So when we go out into like places that are a little bit more isolated, yes, it's gorgeous, yes it's amazing, but we can really only stay there for like three days max.
Speaker 1:And another thing is internet. I have Starlink, which is just a little satellite that I plug into my battery in my van and I'm able to get Wi-Fi pretty much anywhere, but it draws a ton of power. So I have like a I don't even know how big it is, but I have like a lithium battery that just sits inside my car and that's what I use to power my Starlink, but it only powers the Starlink for one day. So that's why we've been hanging out around cities is because I need to be able to go into coffee shops and work on somebody's website or, you know, post on social media or upload this podcast. Such a big part of my life is online and it was really hard for us to do that stuff. When we're out in the middle of nowhere, we really only get three days max of what we need water and food and power, all of that stuff so it's tricky. Another big thing and like reason why we've been hanging out around LA, is because we have a training community here. I have been dabbling in dog sports for the past two years with my Malinois, minka, and it's really hard to find a good community, but we've we've gotten very lucky to work with Oscar Mora and Shane Murray and Chris Sykes, and you know all of the people that come out to train with us like they are genuinely so cool and chill and they make dog training so much fun.
Speaker 1:My past experience in the sport world has not been that I was part of a, you know and I say club lightly because it's not like they ever trained together, but I was part of an IGP club in Orlando and it was really just nobody there was my age and they weren't very nice. It wasn't like anything personal, but I remember one of them saying like wow, I wish I could have recorded you and made you watch it back so that you could see how stupid you sound. Like I said something and like that's kind of what I was greeted with. So first of all I was like dang, that's a good comeback. Like I'm going to have to like store that one away for later. But yeah, just not like the most welcoming people. So I got really like turned off by sports and I was like, nah, I don't really want to do sports, like it's, it's not for me. I had been training on my own for a long time and I was like nah, you know, like I would rather just have fun with my dog because it got to the point where, like neither of us wanted to go, I'm like dreading driving there, you know. So I'm very fortunate that you know I have community. When we're in the San Francisco area, we get to work with Primal, and when we're here in the LA area we get to work with Oscar and Shane and Roel and, like you know, all of Celine everybody that we train with there. It has been so much fun. So me and Toma have really wanted to stay around LA, especially because he might be trialing his dog in PSA in March. So that's kind of why we've been hanging out here.
Speaker 1:The problem is it is so hard to exist and I'm not even saying like camping, like parking your car overnight and sleeping in it, like that hasn't even been our biggest issue we can't even like park in a parking lot without somebody coming up to us and being like you have to leave, like yesterday was one of the worst days of our van life experience. We, you know, couldn't find like a coffee shop that had enough parking for two vans, and that's the other thing. That's kind of difficult is like we have two vans, so we're like driving all over town trying to find a coffee shop. Like in this little town we finally find a coffee shop. I get some work done in the morning.
Speaker 1:We go to like hike with our dogs. While we're there, the guy's like, hey, like you can't park here overnight, you know, like you, you need to leave. And we're like we're literally not going to park here overnight, like we just want to take our dogs out, like we're just taking our dogs out, you know. So we hiked our dogs, paid for parking, hiked our dogs, came back, left. We left, like before the park closed, and then we like drove down the street to pull over so that we could like map where we were going to go next. And then we pulled over into the other parking lot and the guy, like the park ranger, followed us and he was like you have to pay for parking. And I'm like, okay, we're, we're literally just like pulling over on the side. You have to pay for parking and I'm like, okay, we're literally just like pulling over on the side of the road to like get directions. Like we're not going to park here.
Speaker 1:So we left and then we drove to another park and I pulled up to the other park and I didn't even get out of my van and a guy like walks across the street and knocks on my window and he was like you can't park here. And I was like I'm not staying here, I'm just letting my dogs out. And he was like well, I saw your vans here like a couple days ago and I called the cops on you and I was like okay, and he was like are you visiting somebody? And it was like right by Oscar's facility. And I was like yes, like we are dog trainers, we train with people over here. And I was like yes, like we, we are dog trainers, we train with people over here. And he was like OK, well, you can't stay here. I already called the cops and I was like OK, so we like left last night and I had a nervous breakdown and I had to get a hotel and it was like a whole thing.
Speaker 1:I just I don't know how long that I can do this for, because it's it's not even like oh, you know, we can't find anywhere to sleep at night. It's like I can't even park and like let my dogs out without like a neighbor coming out and being like you're not allowed to be here. And I'm like, yeah, I know, I'm, I'm literally just walking my dogs, like it's been so crazy. And this even happened like I think this week we've probably had the cops called on us like four times and not even for like being overnight, for just parking and like letting our dogs out, like Toma over the past weekend had. He was helping out one of his friends with like a workshop, so he was decoying and while he was still in that, I drove up to him so that we could meet up afterwards and I just found like a pull-off on the side of the road and I was just letting my dogs out and Toma drove up like after he finished his workshop, came over to me and we're sitting there like with the dogs out, and we just get like these flashers, just like in our van, and I thought it was like a tow truck and I was like, oh my gosh, that's so bright. And then a cop gets out and he's like, hey, what are you guys doing? And we're like we're just pottying our dogs and he was like, ok, well, somebody called the cops, so they said that you were like dumping and I was like no, we're just letting our dogs out.
Speaker 1:And this was like in the middle of nowhere and I was like God, like it, just it. It gets really, really hard when you're just trying to like exist and people don't want you there. And it's not even like camping, it's like because we have sprinter vans we cannot park them anywhere and I think too, it's like exaggerated because this is our full time so there's so many just like probability right a trip. You're probably not going to experience that as much, but it just sucks, because I have actually like found a community of trainers that I really like working with, but I can't stay here, like we cannot stay around LA like we're gonna have to. I don't even know, like where we can go. That would be like relatively close to where we could like drive to LA twice a week to train with everybody. So, yeah, it's been. It's been really hard y'all, and also I'm still trying to kind of like figure out where we want to land long-term.
Speaker 1:I love Florida, but again, my house in Florida. It was always an issue with the neighbors me running a dog training business out of the house and I felt like everybody hated me in the neighborhood. My neighbors were constantly like getting on me, they were getting on the trainers, like it was a thing. So like after I left, my landlord got a text from my neighbor. Like I literally pulled out of my driveway. My neighbors were super friendly, it was great. I literally got a text like as soon as I left from my landlord. That was like hey, your neighbors texted this and it was a screenshot and they were like, just so you know, this is an HOA neighborhood and you are not allowed to run a dog training business out of it, basically like I can't go back. So I don't know.
Speaker 1:This is one of those things that I it feels kind of crazy like I'm literally 31 years old and I feel like I don't have a place that I really belong. I've moved like every two years in my life since I was 18 and it sucks, like it genuinely sucks, and I'm sure that there are people out there that are kind of like in the same position as me. I didn't grow up with money. I've had a job since I was 15. I don't have, you know, a bunch of money to just go out and like buy a house in a place that would allow me to have this many dogs, and it's not even like, let's say, I wanted to stay in LA the chances of me finding a place to live that would allow me to have my four dogs plus Toma's three dogs, like it's just, it's going to be really hard for us, and so I kind of went into like van life, thinking that it was going to be one way, and it's kind of turned into something completely different.
Speaker 1:And this is not to, like, you know, bitch and whine about my life, like I genuinely love my life. But I think social media really glamorizes certain things and I've had so many people reach out to me that are like, oh my gosh, you're literally living my dream and I like show it to Toma, and I'm like they could never. Like very few people I think could actually do this because it is very, very hard. So what are we going to do? I have genuinely no idea, but I enjoy the people that we've been training with recently. I enjoy the area I really like Southern California. I've talked about this on previous episodes, but we have to figure out something, especially before it starts to get warm. So we're either going to have to fully commit to van life and just travel up north with the weather, or we're going to have to find a home to live here very soon in the next couple of months, whether that's going back to Florida or, you know, staying around here, we'll just have to kind of see.
Speaker 1:But that's my life updates, the true, honest life updates of living in a van with four dogs. When your partner has a van with three dogs, it's a lot. I kind of feel like I don't know. Now I've become like paranoid, of like. Anytime we park somewhere, I like look around and it's always like a nearby neighbor that just like calls the cops on us and it's like I'm literally just trying to potty my dogs. It can be so difficult. Anyways, let's get into the dog training stuff.
Speaker 1:So there is a narrative in dog training where trainers love to blame owners. They say oh, I'm sorry to break it to you, but like your dog's behavior is your fault, your dog is anxious because you're anxious and I have been capable of this in the past. But when I hear that of this in the past, but when I hear that all I hear is that that is an inexperienced dog trainer. If a dog trainer is blaming you for your dog's behaviors and yes, we do play a role in it Okay, a thousand percent. If you are letting your dog greet other dogs on leash every single day and you have this mentality of like, oh, my dog just wants to be friends. And then you come to me and you say my dog is reactive. I'm going to be like, hey, it's because you're doing this thing, you know. But I'm more so talking about the, the mentality from dog trainers that it's like if you're not taking care of yourself, like you can't take care of your dog. And it's people who have like human aggressive dogs or like resource guarding dogs or dogs with these severe behavioral issues. I hate to see them being blamed because when you have a dog with severe behavioral issues it's genetics. I'm so sorry, but a stable dog is not going to bite somebody. You would have to really really push a stable dog to the point of biting. So I'll give a little example.
Speaker 1:I recorded a podcast I think it was around like two years ago with one of my previous trainers. I don't have the podcast episode anymore because I took a lot of the episodes down, but anyways, it was a previous episode that I recorded with one of my trainers at the time and it was talking about having to rehome her dog. She had gotten a backyard bred German Shepherd. She didn't know any better. She thought she was going to a good breeder and there were some red flags that she said she just kind of ignored. But again, she wasn't a dog trainer. She was literally like a girl in high school, so she was very young when she got her dog.
Speaker 1:As the dog developed, it started having behavioral issues. It bit a couple people in the home she lived with her parents at the time. Her parents were like you have to get rid of this dog. So she posted the dog online and a trainer volunteered to take the dog from her. So they took the dog from her and then you know, this trainer was trying to find a home for this dog and then we recorded the podcast. Well, that really pissed this trainer off. I don't even know her name, to be quite honest with you. I don't really know who she went, who the dog went to, but it really like pissed this trainer off and she was like attacking this girl because she was like it's handler error, the dog bit somebody because of your fault. Like this is you and you're painting this dog to be a monster. This dog is totally fine, Like the dog is perfect in our hair and was just like blaming this girl.
Speaker 1:So, first of all, having to get rid of a dog is, like not an easy decision and if you've never had a behavioral dog before, like you just don't know what that's like, because anybody could look at Gretchen and be like, wow, she's so cute and so sweet and she's very cuddly with me and she's just like the best. But she's literally bitten everybody in my life. It's been in moments where I haven't been there. It's been in moments where I'm not able to manage her. So it would be irresponsible of me to, one, try to adopt her out and, two, whoever took her to be like you know she's a perfect angel. Like it's just handler error, like she's only bitten people because of handler issues, which is just not the case. You know, like a dog doesn't just bite. A stable dog is not just going to bite.
Speaker 1:And this is like a very common narrative in dog training for dog trainers to be like you effed up your dog. This is your fault. So I'm here to tell you it's not your fault, but it is your responsibility. So if you find yourself with a dog with behavioral issues, some that are putting your safety or other safety at risk, it's most likely not your fault because, honestly, genetics is a bitch. Genetics is honestly everything.
Speaker 1:And I was talking to my therapist recently about this. I was like I I'm going to be super real with you guys. I feel like I don't believe in dog training anymore. And she was like why do you feel that way? And I was like I just I don't believe trainers when they're basically like making people believe that we can actually change dogs. I was like I think we can train dogs and I think we can train dogs for like management tools. But I think a lot of these dogs with severe behavioral issues are management for life. And there are dog trainers out there who charge you know 8K to 12K for intense behavioral mod training and these poor, like desperate owners who love these dogs and feels like it's their fault are paying you know so much money with the hopes that like, oh, this dog is going to be fixed. And even talking about mink, I had so many trainers who were like oh, you should send him to insert random dog trainer who talks about being able to like fix aggressive dogs. I don't think that dogs can actually be quote fixed. I have like air quotes right now.
Speaker 1:I don't think that dogs can make a really good improvement, but I think, when push comes to shove, genetics is always going to overpower training, and if a dog has a genetic propensity to bite people or to nip at people, I believe that that's always going to be there. I think that we can manage the dog safely. I think that we can do as much training as possible. I think that we can do as much counter conditioning as possible, but it's if a dog has like bitten somebody, like forward aggression, I would never trust that dog. And as dog trainers, I see new trainers coming up in the industry who are like oh, this is your fault, this dog got this bad because of you and you know this dog needs to be fixed. It's going to be an eight week board and train $10,000. I think that a lot of progress can be made in those a thousand percent. I'm not saying that those are like a complete scam, but I just don't believe that we have much as much control in actually changing dogs permanently as dog trainers would have you believe.
Speaker 1:And so I was like venting to her about this. I was like I just, you know, like mink, I don't think mink is like a safe dog, not because she's not super sweet, not because she's great 99% of the time, but because the 1% of the time, like she is aggro, like I think that she would bite a person, I think that she would bite a dog and like it's my trained eye that sees that you know, and so I feel like it's my responsibility to see that and be able to recognize that and be like hey, this isn't a super safe dog. About this dog, basically she was upset because we spoke publicly about the dog and we didn't have, we didn't say oh and thank you so much for this trainer. But like it wasn't about her, it was about, like the signs and everything leading up to having to rehome her dog. And also she was upset because she was like this dog's never going to get adopted because you're basically painting out to be a monster. But I think that that is messed up because you shouldn't be adopting a dog out that like you have to hide anything about. Like if I were to adopt Mink out, I'd be like hey, like, just so you know, she ripped a dog's crate apart to try to like attack them. If you don't have a close eye on her, like I think she would kill a dog. Sometimes she redirects If you apply leash pressure and she'll like bite up at you. She did it to Toma yesterday and you know Toma's a person who handles her all the time, so I think it would be irresponsible of me to not communicate that to people. But at the end of the day, mink is a staffy pit bull. Mix Her genetics it leans towards dog aggression.
Speaker 1:I was on the phone with somebody the other day and they basically described Mink. They were like I can't put a slip lead on my dog because they attack up the leash. And I was like yeah, sounds like a pit bull. Any experienced dog trainer would be like yeah, sounds like a pit bull. Like any experienced dog trainer would be like yeah, that's a pit bull. My dog barks at the fence Super. She was like I've never seen her like that before. It was honestly really scary, like something just switched in her when the other dog came out in the yard next to us and she was just like going at the fence and I was like, yeah, that's dog aggression, that's in their genetics, like it's just there.
Speaker 1:And the more experience that I've gotten, the more I'm kind of in this place where I'm like dang, I don't think we have as much control as we think we do Like genetics are very, very powerful. And you know, my therapist was like I don't think this is coming from a place of burnout, this is coming from a place of experience. I've been doing this for seven years now. I've trained thousands and thousands of dogs. I've trained so many dogs I went and counted them recently so many dogs in the short time that I, like my, my business, blew up very quickly and because of that, like I've I've had my hands on so many dogs, way more than a lot of people, I think, would believe and with that experience has become this, this level of of questioning. I'm really questioning wow, how powerful are we as dog trainers in fighting against these genetics? So as I've gotten more experience in my dog training career, I'm actually realizing how important breed is in dogs. I think that sometimes we just want to like shut down certain behaviors, right.
Speaker 1:So I recently was working with somebody who has a cattle dog and she was like he's just like always barking. He's always barking, like I feel like I'm just like always correcting him. And this dog was so well trained, like literally knew all the commands, knew the commands at a distance, like the owner could stand there with her arms down to her side and say, sit down. Like this was such a well trained dog. But she was like I'm still struggling. Like he just demand barks at me sometimes and I was like it's a, it's a cattle dog. Like that that's literally what they're bred to do. Like they're bred to work on a ranch all day long and get kicked by cows. Like that dog has drive. We have to be able to channel that drive. Or it's going to go somewhere else to be able to channel that drive or it's going to go somewhere else.
Speaker 1:And a couple of days ago I was at one of my friend's, you know, training facilities and he was talking with a client who had a working line, roddy, and she had gotten this dog as a service dog and this dog wanted to work so bad. They had never done any sort of like bite work with the dog. And bite work doesn't have to be in aggression, it can be a very fun, playful thing. I really like that. I like how Shane teaches play in his training through bite work, and so that's all that he was doing with this dog. And this dog took to it immediately because that's what the dog was bred for.
Speaker 1:The dog was bred for sport and so a lot of times we're getting these dogs that are high drive dogs and we're trying to turn them into, basically, golden retrievers. I find that most owners want the bit ability of a golden retriever. They want to be able to, you know, have their dog get along with other dogs, be friendly and around kids, be friendly with strangers. But they're getting, you know, german shepherds, they're getting Malinois, they're getting pit bulls and they're wondering why, you know, their pit bull isn't friendly with other dogs. May have I don't really know how to say this, but people who, like without rescues maybe would have gotten a golden retriever, are now getting dogs that are like mixes of like two high drive high drive dogs that they have these expectations of oh, I want a dog because I want, you know the relationship, I want a companion and in their mind they're thinking of their childhood golden retriever or their childhood lab and they're getting these rescue dogs that are most likely mixed with pit bulls or shepherds or Malinois and they're wondering why they're having all of these behavioral issues. And then they're going on dog trainer social media and they're seeing trainers who are like well, I hate to break it to you, but your dog's behavior is your fault and that is just so, so not true. So if you identify as that and you've gotten a dog, that is maybe a little bit more difficult than you expected.
Speaker 1:I guarantee genetics is playing a huge role in that and I really urge you guys to do research on your breed, because genetic fulfillment is everything and that's why, ultimately, I decided to get into sport with my Malinois. So Minka is my Malinois. I've had her for I think we're coming up on three years now, and I got her with the intention of doing sport with her because in my mind it's unfair and almost kind of inhumane to get a high drive dog and not give that dog an outlet, because genetically they are bred for a specific purpose. It's like getting a cattle dog and expecting them to never bark. It's expecting them to be perfectly biddable and, you know, well-behaved 24, seven, like a golden retriever would. And the only reason I say golden retriever is because I think the temperament of like goldens and labs is typically what people expect when they think of a pet dog. But we're getting these high drive dogs and expecting them to act that way.
Speaker 1:And then we go on social media and we see these trainers who are like oh well, if you're struggling with your dog, it's your fault. I'm here to tell you that it's not your fault. You most likely have a dog that is genetically a working dog. They need some level of fulfillment that you might not be giving them. So, although their behaviors are not your fault, it is your responsibility. You have this dog now. It is your responsibility. You have this dog now, right, it's your dog. No-transcript. Is providing them enough biological fulfillment, right?
Speaker 1:So if I get a Malinois, I'm going to make sure that I give them an outlet to bite. If I get a working line Roddy, I'm going to work them. I'm going to do, you know, obedience with them. I'm going to do bite work with them, like I'm going to give them that outlet. If you don't, it's going to show up in places that you don't want it to. So, for example, the girl that I was speaking to recently who had just gotten a pit bull, I was like look, you have to learn how to play tug with that dog. You need to learn bite work mechanics.
Speaker 1:And I'm sounding like Shane right now, because Shane's got on me about my bite work mechanics. He's like oh my gosh, come on, we need to learn the basics, but it is really important, especially when we have these dogs, and I think he's a great person. That kind of exemplifies this. Right, he got his like bully from, I'm assuming I think he got him from a shelter. Please don't come for me if I'm incorrect, but I think he got Zeus from a shelter and he was reactive Right, he was popping off at other dogs.
Speaker 1:And so what did Shane do? Shane did research. He researched that these dogs have this drive and they need to be biologically fulfilled and if not, it's going to show up in other areas. It's going to show up in less productive areas like reactivity, like fence fighting. So when I was having this conversation with this girl, with this pit bull, I was like, look, you got to learn how to work your dog in a way that is fulfilling to them. Like this is not a golden retriever, this is not a oh, this is just like a downstay dog and I'm going to treat you like a service dog. No, you need to learn how to play with this dog in a way that they like to play. This dog likes to thrash a tug around, right? So like, we need to harness that and we need to make sure that we are doing something that the dog enjoys, that allows them to get this genetic need out right. This dog has this need to thrash and tug, but in a productive way. So we can mix in obedience into these bite work sessions. We can mix in, you know, a down before the dog is allowed to bite and then a yes, and then the dog bites the tug. But for us to get basically any dog and expect them to be a calm, biddable dog, 24 seven is kind of crazy. Right, we have to do research on the dog that we have and the breed that they are and what they are genetically created for.
Speaker 1:My field line golden is very different than my show line golden. Lucy is my field line golden. She is high energy. If I take her near a body of water, her back legs literally shake. I did not train that. I did not train her to be that driven towards water. That's genetics. She's a field line golden retriever. She is bred to jump into a body of water and retrieve a duck and bring it back. That's literally all that she wants to do. I've never done that with her but even at I think she was eight weeks old, she like jumped off a cliff into a pond and I remember she was just a tiny little puppy and we're hiking and I'm with my friends and we just see Lucy goes off the edge of the cliff and I was like, oh my God, like what is this little dog like?
Speaker 1:This dog is so crazy. And it's because I had the expectation that she was going to be like my show line golden. But genetically she wasn't and it wasn't anything that I did. It wasn't because I wasn't calm and obedience. I do more training with her. I funnel all of that drive into something productive, because if I didn't, what does it turn into? It turns into her destroying my baseboards, her shredding up a roll of toilet paper, things like that.
Speaker 1:So most of the time whenever I'm working with somebody, things like that. So most of the time whenever I'm working with somebody, they're doing too much when their dog is outside of the crate, but also not enough. They're not doing enough of what that specific dog and breed needs. So, for example, this person with the pit bull was walking their dog for three 40 minute walks every day. That pit bull does not need those long walks that many times a day. I said, all right, we're going to do one walk in the morning and the rest of the times where you normally take your dog for a walk, we're going to play tug, we're going to make some obedience into those sessions where you're playing tug, because those long walks is not fulfilling for that dog.
Speaker 1:For some dogs that might be right. A dog that is used to walking long distance maybe, like actually I don't even know like what type of dog, would just want to go and walk. But think about, like a border collie, right? Like what is a border collie bred to do? It's bred to herd. So a border collie is going to be an ankle biter. If that dog is an ankle biter, it doesn't mean that it's a bad dog. It means that that dog needs to be fulfilled and needs to have another kind of outlet. It's not your fault, it's not the dog's fault, it's just genetics. Like genetics plays such a big role in all of this and a lot of dog training is really just tools for us to be able to manage the dog in our very human lives, right? A border collie is not bred, was not created to live in an apartment with a 25 year old girl, right? So if that 25 year old girl wants to be able to live with that border collie and have a border collie as a pet, she has to do a lot of training to teach that dog how to exist in a space that it's not naturally made to exist in.
Speaker 1:And this brings up another point of a common thing that I work through with a lot of my clients is reactivity around an apartment building. Well, dogs kind of claim the apartment as their own. It's very unnatural for there to be hundreds of dogs all claiming one space as their own. So you're going to see a huge increase in reactivity around apartments, around you know busy neighborhoods around areas like that, because a lot of the dogs are claiming those spaces as their own and when they see another dog in their space they're popping off Right. So it's not to say that like, oh, you know, this dog is so reactive. It's more so like, hey, this dog is reactive because this environment isn't necessarily conducive to what this dog was bred for. And a lot of dog training is just that. It's training the dogs the management skills in order to be able to safely coexist with them. Anytime I work with an aggressive dog, I never at the end of the session say, hey, this is a super safe dog. You never have to worry about this dog ever again.
Speaker 1:I remember last year this is one of the dogs that broke me not the dog, more so the owners. But I had a rescue reach out to me and they pulled this dog off the youth list list Pit bull mix, not friendly with other dogs, resource guards. So I got the dog and they're like you're going to fix the resource guarding? And I was like, well, we're not really going to fix it, but training is going to help us manage the behavior Right. So the dog was not dog friendly at all Barrier aggressive, like every time a dog would walk past his crate he would pop off on the dog. Pretty intense resource garter with high value things like toys.
Speaker 1:So whenever we did the go-home session they had another dog in the house and I told them before I even did the go-home session and I'm pretty sure I've talked about this on previous episodes but before they even did the go-home session I was like, look, this is not a safe dog, this dog should not be in a home with kids, this dog should not be in a home with another dog. And basically the rescue lady like blamed me. She was like this is your job as a dog trainer. You're supposed to be able to fix these behaviors and I wouldn't have dropped this dog off if you couldn't fix them. Bring the dog home now off. If you couldn't fix them, bring the dog home now. I offered to even keep the dog longer because I was like look, I will, I will hold onto this dog until you find a proper home for it. Or if you find a foster that doesn't have a child, an elderly person and another dog, like I will, I will hold onto the dog. And she was like no, bring the dog tomorrow. And I was like all right, whatever.
Speaker 1:So I did the go home session, walk into the house. The other dog had no structure, no boundaries, but that dog didn't really need it. That dog didn't have behavioral issues, but one thing that they had is they had a basket of toys all over the floor and I said, hey, you can't, you can't have this with this dog. Like this is. This is a opportunity for that dog to resource guard Right. And so it's my job as a dog trainer to see a situation like that. See that we walked into a home and there are toys and high value things on the floor and say, hey, this is not a dog that I would trust. Well, didn't you train him? Didn't you train him not to do that? And I said no, I trained him to be able to sit on place and stay on place.
Speaker 1:But resource guarding is not something that is just gonna be fixed overnight. It's trained through management. We train the dog to have impulse control. We train the dog to not just grab resources when they're available to them. We teach the dog that all the good stuff comes from us. But it's still not a dog that I would ever leave unsupervised and just trust around other dogs and kids and people that this dog is safe and is never going to resource guard again just because they did three weeks of training. That is not how dog training works and is never going to resource guard again just because they did three weeks of training. That is not how dog training works. It is a constant game of management and that dog loved training, loved active sessions. We would run it through place and heel and all of its obedience commands and it loved it because it's a high drive working dog and a lot of these dogs that are coming from shelters and are coming from rescues are drivey dogs and if we do not find outlets for them, they are going to cause problems. They're going to cause problems in homes. They're going to bite other dogs. They are going to you know resource guard, become barrier aggressive, bark at dogs at fences. It's not to say that there's something inherently wrong with that dog. It's that that dog is not genetically fulfilled and that dog doesn't have the proper management training in order to prevent some of these behaviors.
Speaker 1:I also recently got the opportunity to go to Michael Ellis's seminar and it was very refreshing for me because he and I train reactivity pretty much the same. I am constantly redirecting a dog from reactive moments. I do not correct dogs for being reactive. I think that is our job as the dog's human, as the as kind of like the brain in the relationship, to see that my dog is loading up, and it's my job to intervene before I allow the dog to load up on and react to a trigger, and so I'm always redirecting that dog until it becomes the norm for that dog, until eventually the dog learns oh, my trigger is there. I got to look to my person because she's going to change directions, or she's going to reward me or she's going to offer me a tug, or you know something else besides being reactive. Well, I don't want to say that I never correct. If I do correct, I correct the intention, like if a correction disrupts the dog. But most of the time I'm going to redirect through a directional change when I see the dog starting to load. And so it was really refreshing to me to hear that from like such an experienced trainer of like okay, I'm doing, I'm doing the right things, and I've only come to this conclusion through my experience. I've trained thousands of dogs over the seven years that I've been doing this and I've learned to understand that just because I correct a dog for you know, being reactive or doing something dumb doesn't mean that that dog is never going to do that thing again.
Speaker 1:A lot of dog training, especially with behavioral dogs, is proper management and redirecting the dog in moments that we see that the dog needs to be directed, redirected. But it's not to say that there's something wrong with that dog. That dog just needs a little bit of extra help. And when I can, I'll give that dog an outlet, right. So if I have a dog who is, you know, let's say, german shepherd, popping off on leash, that is very much a sport dog picture.
Speaker 1:So if you've seen German Shepherds or Malinois do bite work, we, you know, hold them back on a harness or hold them back on a collar and they're barking at the person in front of them. And that's something that you can do with your dog. You can tie them up to a tree in your yard and play tug with them. Let them bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, and then play tug with them, play tug, play tug, play tug out. Let them bark, bark, bark, bark, bark. Right, they're gonna bark. If we give them an outlet that is productive, it's going to help them so much and that is our responsibility as educated dog owners. So I really, just I really wanted to like limit the the owner bashing and the owner blaming. That comes from inexperienced dog trainers and it's typically coming from the dog trainers who are just shutting down behaviors. They're typically not doing any sort of sport with any of their own personal dogs. It's just, you know, get a German Shepherd and shut them down. They're not giving them an outlet for this, for these behaviors that are just so genetically wired in them, you know. So it's not your fault, but it is your responsibility to figure out what your dog likes to do and do more of that in a productive way so that we are fulfilling them.
Speaker 1:And if you listen back to some of my earlier podcasts, I probably sound like a lot of those trainers. But the reason why I'm not preaching the same things is because I've grown, I've learned, I've gotten a lot more experience. I've worked with a lot of really amazing trainers. I've grown in training my own dogs and so because of that, I'm not preaching the same things to you guys, like if you've listened to earlier podcasts, I hope. I hope that I am saying different things, because there's a lot of dogs and a lot of experience that I've gotten and dogs that I've trained in between then and now, in between then and now and that is another thing that I would like you to be mindful of is if you've been learning from a trainer who you don't see work with other trainers or you don't see you know working their own dogs or you know doing things, just trying new things, then I'm very hesitant or I want you guys to be a little skeptical of the advice that they might give, because dog training is one of those things where you're going to always be learning there's. You're never going to stop learning unless you choose to, and I just want us to be taking advice from people who are choosing to learn from other people in the industry. I think that that is so important. Continued education is so important, especially in this industry.
Speaker 1:So you know, past Megan, 25 year old Megan probably would have said it's your fault, your dog sucks because of you, but that is just not true.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry, but genetics is truly a bitch and it can help or hinder you, but it's our job to figure out what our dogs were genetically bred for and make sure that we're doing something that fulfills that need so that we're not seeing it leak over in other aspects of your life. So that's my dog trainer rant today. I am so grateful that each of you listen to me every week rant on about dog training topics and I you know. I hope that you guys can resonate with maybe having a difficult dog and feeling like you're putting all of the blame on yourself. I'm I'm here to tell you that it's not your fault and we should probably stay away from dog trainers who are blaming owners or guilting owners when they have to rehome a dog, or you know something like that I will never guilt anybody for something like that. So that's a that's a topic for another day, but I appreciate you guys so much. You have no no idea. Love you all and we'll see you back here next week.