By Luzelle The Dog Trainer
The podcast currently has 33 episodes available.
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We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
I absolutely love helping owners with their barking dogs. Why? Well, if you've never had a not so friendly Dog Control ring you up because your neighbours are complaining about your barking dog, you may not understand. But, I guess you're here, so you get the panic, the overwhelm, and the despair. How do you stop your dog from barking? Because every bark makes you break into a sweat. Because is this a bark that's going to make Dog Control take your dog away? Then comes the cycle. Your dog barks, you stress, your dog senses, you stressing, and then they bark even more. And then we get frustrated. And we all know that when we feel frustrated, we just don't make good choices. And that's exactly why Hush the Bark was born. I've walked a mile in your shoes and I get it. [00:01:00] Imagine feeling like a superhero though because you could get your dog to stop barking simply by saying, thank you matey, Well buckle up because that's totally within your reach. I've turned my own chorus of canines into well mannered mutts. Just using two words, and I've helped countless others do the same. No gimmicks, no treats, and no bark collars. I've tried teaching my dog to bark and then to stop barking with a quiet cue. Didn't work. I tried using a bark collar. She barked straight through it. Treats. She started barking to get them. None of it worked. Maybe I wasn't doing it right. But you shouldn't need a degree in rocket surgery to be able to get your dog to stop barking. And with Hush the Bark, you don't. Now, I could keep the Hush the Bark program all to myself, but that's not me. Because dogs are losing their lives [00:02:00] because of barking. And I know how stressful it is for owners to deal with. And, what's more, I want you to feel like Superwoman by simply telling your dog, Hey matey, you don't need to bark about that. And they actually stop. Now, I'm here to teach you the simple and effective way to get your dog to stop barking and turn you into Superwoman with just two words, Thank you. Is that what you're looking for? Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get started.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Now I've been saying I was going to tell you guys a little bit about Ùna for a while now. But a lot of things have been happening, including, uh, my book, how to socialize your puppy, even if you don't have access to puppy classes, which is out now on amazon. com. So if you are raising a puppy or would like to not screw up your puppy, Uh, I highly recommend you get that book.
It is suitable for even the most difficult puppies, like Ùna. Now, to understand Ùna, we have to understand her auntie Delta. I used Delta's brother over Raven to get Ùna, because I really loved the fact that Delta is the most intelligent dog I have ever met. Like she humbles every trainer who tries to work with her because she believes she should be worshiped.
There's just no other way to describe her. If she was human, she'd probably be a bit of a psychopath. Now, whether this is good or bad, I don't really know. You never know how Delta's going to behave, and you have to watch her because she's an extreme opportunist. She has. humbled some of the most experienced trainers.
So she is exceptionally good at being bad. And she surprises you all the time because you just, you just do not know whether she's going to get along with the dog or rip their face off. It is just, she's just that kind of dog. This is not good or bad. This is just information. And this is the problem with her is that she needs a very experienced handler in order to prevent her from getting up to mischief.
You cannot, thank you doggies, you cannot relax around her. You have to watch her. Ravy, that's enough please. Um, you have to watch her constantly and that's just life with Delta. And she's perfect. She is amazing if she's the only dog. Add another dog and she tries to eliminate them from the house. And this is unfortunate because When she's by herself, she is amazing.
When she's not by herself, she is horrid. And I say that with all the love I possess. I mean, I use Delta's brother in order to create another Delta because that's really what I wanted. I wanted another Delta and that is what I've got in Ùna, except I have 10 years more experience. I have 10 years more dog handling.
And I have 10 years more strategies and I have sit and thought about how, what I would do with another Delta. In fact, I think I have got it pretty much as good as I can get it because Ùna behaves exactly the same way as Delta. In fact, In Ùna's mind, she is princess. Now, we have not made her queen, and we have not made her believe she's worshipped.
Because, which is the mistake I made with Delta. Delta was my pride and joy. I did everything for that dog. She wanted for nothing. And that dog, Yeah, like if anybody says a dog can't do something or they, there's a saying here, who thinks he's standing must be aware that he does not fall. You think you're a pretty good dog handler?
I'll hand you Delta's leash. You, you're going to learn a few lessons from her because she is exceptionally, exceptionally good at being bad. So anyone who's got any opinions about dogs. You handle Delta, and then get back to me about your opinions. Um, yeah, she's the most intelligent dog. With a, yeah. And so, Ùna is very much like that.
She's fast, she's snappy, she's snatchy. She's, uh, very hair triggered. Like, she's very very quick and she's very strong. Now, there is nothing that holds Delta back. Delta has the belief she can conquer anything, anyone, any dog, any, like, there is nothing that can stop her. That's her belief. Now, from day one, I have I've tried very hard to make Ùna believe she cannot conquer me, that she cannot pull me over.
And that's hard work because she's exceptionally strong. She's like, so the technique these dogs use is, so they pull into the lead and then they kick off with their back feet, uh, to get that extra, um,
traction and, um, yeah. And that is like. Delta breaks everything. She breaks brand new leather leashes, harnesses, she breaks everything. And if she can't break it, she'll just bite through it. I've seen her do it. She is just So, one of the things that we have to understand with a dog like Delta and Ùna is that You have to, you have to squash the belief in themselves, or not really squash it, just not create it in the first place.
Because once you've created that. You're screwed, literally. There is just nothing you can do to undo it. Um, there's a study, a Harvard study about, um, rats. Now, it's a horrible study, and I, like, cannot even imagine what kind of people come up with these studies. But, it's about rats. Um, they put the rats in a glass jar and then the rats drown in a very short time and then they take another bunch of rats, they stick them in the glass jar and before that time runs out of the previous group of rats that would drown, they rescued them and like, it was only like 15 minutes or so that the first lot of rats stayed alive. You, you'll have to get the study to get the exact numbers. I'm recalling this off memory. Um, and. The second lot of rats, before they drown, they rescued them, they dried them off, they gave them water, food, and those rats stayed alive three days before they drowned. That is the power of belief. And this is why fixing a dog who's escaping is so hard, because once they've got that belief that they can do something, undoing that belief in themselves, is almost impossible.
And that's the thing that Delta has is exceptional belief in herself. She'll take on Rottweilers. She's only 25 kilos. She'll take on anything and win. She just has that much belief in herself. I am not giving Ùna the opportunity to even learn to fight another dog because I do not need another Delta on my hands.
I like The idea of Delta, and I like the idea of a Delta who's that intelligent, amazing, but you can live with them, and they can live with another dog in the house. Now, one thing that became very clear very early on in Ùna's life is, That I tried, I genuinely, before Ùna, I used to pride myself on the fact that I very rarely needed training tools like e collars.
But unfortunately, with a dog like Ùna and Delta, you really can't avoid it. using tools, because as I said, once they learn to pull, not only do they lean into the lead, but they kick off with their back feet. You cannot hold them back. Delta dragged, she became a military working dog and dragged soldiers around.
That dog is extremely strong. And I did not need I like to train with as little tools as possible. I like to use relationship as much as possible. And you can do a ton with that. For most dogs, you don't need tools if you've got the relationship in place, except for Delta and Ùna, and dogs like them.
Unfortunately, Ùna got past me one day, I was working on her issues with cows, and one day she got past me and chased the cows. It was that day that, and that can cost a dog their life, they can be shot for that. And quite rightly so, too, because there's a lot of money tied up in cows. And it's an animal welfare issue too.
How dare a dog cause so much stress on a herd of cows. It's not fair. So that day, she was seven months, eight months, maybe. That day was the day I decided she needed to be taught cows are off limits and that's the day we used an e collar on her. Um, and it took a long time. I couldn't even handle her that day.
I had to ask a friend, Toni from Dynamic Dogs. She both handled her and applied the e collar because I was too close to this dog at this stage. Um, I, this was the first time I'd really lost against Ùna like, and it's not about winning and losing. It's just, I, I, I, she was, it's the first time she learned that she can do what she wanted.
And I knew that it was going to be the start of creating a very difficult dog. If I didn't get control of it that day. And so Toni helped with that. And this is the thing. A lot of people think they can DIY, um, training their own dog. And when it comes to e collars and stuff, especially if they don't have the experience and I didn't, um, I had never really used an e collar up to that point.
I had them. I just didn't really use them. So because of my lack of experience and my lack of confidence and the closeness How close I was to Ùna. I felt that me using an e caller, I would use it unfairly. I would use it incorrectly, and I would be inconsistent. And so Toni applied both the e collar training and she handled it because Ùna was strong on that long line.
She really pulled, because we went in with the cows and had the conversation. And that collar, to get Ùna to even hear anything above the cows, that collar had to be on full tilt. There was no There's nothing that, like, this is the thing, the power of these dogs self belief, the power of these dogs in drive, like, you, there are, you've got nothing.
If, and this is why, um, I am not a fan of banning training tools. I definitely believe they can be used a lot less, and if people used relationships, They would need a lot less tools, but honestly, for the safety and welfare of all animals and owners, because I created a monster in Delta. So, the problem is, how do you walk a dog like that?
Like, if your dog is like that, and without the use of prong collars or e collars, you've got nothing. You, like, and ultimately, a dog like Delta much prefers a prong collar to a head halter. So to me, if a dog finds a head halter uncomfortable, why would I, um, and she can remove muzzles. Why would I force a dog to cope with a head halter?
If they're quite comfortable wearing a prong collar to me, that doesn't make any sense. And to me, it's kind of feels like we are not training the dog in front of us. We have a variety of tools and I don't believe they should be banned because we need. Every dog needs something different. Every dog is different.
Banning a tool or saying, you can only use this that's available is actually unfair because we're not training the dog in front of us. We're training to our viewpoint. And the fact that I didn't want to use an electric collar, that was my preference. I don't, I don't like using an electric collar. I much prefer using a tool like a prong collar.
The reason being, I can apply the amount of, uh, tension that's needed in that moment. But with an e collar, I'm relying on buttons and I, Can't feel the intensity. I'm applying. And so I'm still not a fan of an e collar. I still prefer a prong collar much more, especially if it's used carefully and the way I like to use my prong collars is, um, I hold them with two fingers and I just apply light pressure and it's just to and it's actually much better on the dog's neck because it doesn't crush their throat their trachea
um, so I much prefer that tool. So here's the thing, Ùna and dogs like Ùna and Delta are just, why should they be put to sleep? Just because they need more, just because they're harder to handle, just because they need a training tool. That's unfair. If owners really love their dogs, and this is my attitude to dogs, if an owner really loves their dog and wants to live with their dog and is prepared to do the work with their dog, who is anyone else?
That is going to say no to them. You don't have a right to say an owner has to put their dog to sleep just because you want to ban a tool. It's unfair on the owner. It's, it's unfair on the dog. Um, and not just that. And we're not talking about like Delta's. If Delta is handled correctly and Ùna is handled correctly, they're not a danger in society without the tools to handle these dogs.
They will be and then those banning these tools, you really have the blood of the dog, the blood of the person or dog they injured. You have all that blood on your hands because you are working from your emotions rather than what's best for the welfare of everyone. And like, it's really hard to talk about tools like this because.
Ultimately, I understand why people want to ban them. It's so easy to misuse them. And I have seen people with e collars who have created dogs who bite because of a bark collar used incorrectly. I have seen people create reactive dogs because They're hard on the dogs and they just slap and zap and zap the dog for any little misdemeanor so the dog becomes so stressed that they become reactive.
I'm not talking about people who misuse the tools, but I do feel like instead of banning these tools, I'd much rather Um, have them in better hands, like maybe somebody who, um, you need to sit a test or prove that you can handle the tool. I'd much rather that than banning of a tool. Anyway, I've talked long enough and I hope this has given you some insights.
This is started as a talk about Ùna and became a talk about tools. Um, I hope you got some insights from this. Happy training and see you in the next episode.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
I wrote a book. I wrote a book. I wrote a book. I wrote a book. I wrote a book. I wrote a book. Hi. Sorry about that. Um, but I'm just really excited that I wrote a book because Me actually achieving something and getting to the finished product of anything is really hard because, uh, I have a million half projects and, um, finishing anything is, is, it's got a very small chance of happening.
So the fact that I wrote to book and published it is. Huge. I do hope you, um, find value in it and you enjoy it and it helps you, uh, because that's why I wrote it. So, why did I write the book? How did I write the book? What's the backstory? And what was my ultimate motivation? I will share it all with you in this episode.
So firstly, uh, I really had to learn the hard way. So like I was thrown in the deep end with my first litter. So I basically found out my female was pregnant 10 days before the puppies were due, um, because I'd swapped dogs with another trainer who apparently could read dogs and, um, I was teaching his female to do.
Um, competition heeling because he couldn't train her for some reason. Um, and so I've worked with her and I was really into high drive, lots of play, and she did really well with it. Uh, by the time I was finished with her and stuff, but he was supposed to do some bite work with my female and he did nothing.
Um, just ended up with her pregnant. Anyway, uh, lessons learned. Natalie, one of my very good friends and one of the people who's a lot of their, uh, Uh, thoughts and ideas I share in the book. So it's not just my thoughts and ideas. You will learn a lot of, um, some really, really good trainers, um, thoughts and ideas in the book.
Uh, said to me, you know, it was an accidental litter. Nobody likes the sire and dam because everybody in New Zealand has this sort of mindset. A Dog's only good if you import it. And the dogs bred in New Zealand are terrible, which is untrue actually, because Delta, the dam of the litter went on to become a very good military working dog and so did her puppies.
Um, they actually have very exceptional service records, uh, one of the highest performing dogs of their generation. So that was really cool. And especially because it was an accidental litter and. Basically at that stage, like before this litter, I was like, I'm not following anything. Natalie has to say, because she does low drive training because she trains show line, golden retrievers, and I've got working line Malinois.
So. That doesn't fly, but I wasn't such a like these puppies were my everything. I'd always wanted to be a breeder, but never had the guts to become a breeder. So when Natalie basically said to me you're gonna have to do something different because there's a chance these puppies may need to go to pet homes.
I was by that stage. I was so low. I was so done. I was so stressed that I was just like I will do whatever I can to save these puppies and I did. I did, I did everything I could. Um, ultimately, four of them became working dogs and one went to the lady who had one of Delta's brothers. She was the best in the litter, but yeah, of course.
Um, I was really pleased with how they all turned out, they all turned out to be really good dogs. And Yeah, I'm really pleased with that litter and I'm really happy. I actually took a chance and took Natalie's advice because without Natalie's advice and I wasn't ready to take it anytime, any other time, I had ideas of raising these puppies like everybody else raises the Malinois and it took a lot because I had no homes.
I had no, these puppies were doomed without me trying something else. So, yeah, um, I was really stressed and so being at rock bottom, sometimes that really is the motivation you need to try something different because like I was very, I had a lot of cognitive dissonance, like, no, Natalie's way is not the right way because she trains low drive dogs and like now I'm all about low drive training, but I didn't start there.
Like I tried it. And the thing is, throughout the last decade and a half of Having dogs and training dogs and trying stuff. I actually tried everything and I tried doing the opposite of what everybody said. And I was probably ended up with some unique circumstances, like my first litter of puppies trying what Natalie said, then, um, fixing a dog that was going to fail their training and fixing a lot of messed up dogs.
And then, um, Raven who was so accident prone that basically she was always, always either had an injury or a cast or something. She's still accident prone, like seriously the other day she like cut herself again dog. I dunno how she does it. So yeah. So I couldn't really do like a lot of things I'd normally do and actually I observed without.
Like other people's influence telling me differently and I observed stuff and I tried stuff and I tried doing the opposite of what people say. And I was actually really impressed with the results and yeah, the book kind of came about because I tried everything like I have done so many online courses, like I could have labeled myself as certified in so many different areas.
But I refuse to, simply because I don't want to be put in a hole with that style of training. I want to be free to try stuff. Um, but I've done plenty of certification courses. I've done plenty of online trainings. I've done plenty of actual, just read tons of stuff online about dog training, tried it, watched videos, tried it.
And then spent some time observing the results and what I got from it. So the book is really a result of trial and error for want of a better word. And like a lot of the information there has been extensively discussed with trainers, some of New Zealand's best trainers, best hidden gems, because nobody really knows about them.
And I wish they did because they would. Everybody would be in so much of a better situation if they only knew Natalie and Guus and, um, trained with them because I've learned a ton of stuff from these two trainers. So Guus is a third generation KNPV trainer, his father and grandfather trained dogs for a living.
And, and now he does, and so he's just about ready to retire. So you've got so much knowledge there that, um, people aren't making use of. And it's really sad because it's all going to go to waste if people don't. Um,
get to know these people, Natalie as well, she's freaking awesome. Like I just wouldn't be here today without Natalie and Guus. And then of course, um, more recently I met a lady in Perth called Charlotte Moore and she's a horse trainer and she has three working line German shepherds. And, uh, from a really good breeder that I really love too.
And what was going on was, um, I was, because I love the breeder. We were both in the same breeder group and what she wanted to do with her dogs is what I was doing. But she was told by everyone that that's not what you can do with working dogs. So when she found me, it was really cool because, um, I was doing what she want was wanting to do, and so I really proved her theory.
And then she put the science, because she studies neuroscience. She put the science behind what I was doing. And so, yeah, it just made so much more sense, but anyway, so that's really how the book came about. The reason for writing it is because most of the time when I have owners come to me with their dogs issues, no matter what the age of the dog is, they say one of two things.
So they either say to me that.
But my dog did so well at puppy class, I don't understand why they're behaving like this. Like, as if puppy class could fix everything. I mean, you've got four weeks of one hour sessions. What do you do with the other six days and 23 hours? There's so much you can do. So puppy class is not really like all you need to do with your puppy.
There is more. Um, and also the other one is owners who feel they failed their dog because they couldn't take them to puppy class. Either the puppy classes were full or their puppy was too old. And so they couldn't go to puppy class. So they feel like, Oh my goodness, I failed my puppy already. Now I've seen these behavior problems, what have I done wrong?
Like, is it because I didn't go to puppy class? And usually I assure them, I say, I don't take any of my puppies to puppy class. Now, um, I did take one puppy to puppy class. It was Delta. Uh, the trainer that took the class didn't like Malinois. And so I didn't let her play with the other puppies because she was going to bully them because she's just a cow.
I say that with all the love I possess. I love that damn dog. I see. Like she's amazing, but yeah. So, um, because of that Delta, I didn't want, uh, people don't like Malinois, they are hard dogs. And so I didn't want. Um, Delta to, uh, be further labeled. I was quite in a sensitive period of my education. So people's opinions really mattered to me back then.
Now I don't care about your opinion. I've already proven what I need to approve. And if I've got a question, I will go check with Guus Natalie and Charlotte. We will discuss it. Um, so, other people's opinions don't really have any weight with me anymore. Because, uh, if a third generation KNPV trainer, a trainer who trains service dogs and a horse trainer, can't, if we can't get the answer, then somebody else's opinion means nothing.
Nothing. And also, Una's been one of the hardest puppies I've raised since Delta and oh my goodness, I think I have conquered the beast finally. So yeah, I'm really comfortable with what I've achieved and what I've done. And so I wanted to share that with you because obviously I want owners. To be more successful because of I can help owners understand their puppies and dogs better.
They're going to have happier, longer lives and the owners are going to be happier and there's going to be less drama. Just life's just going to be so much easier. So that's where I really wanted for owners is to get to know their puppies a lot better. So who's it for? Can you, will you learn something from it?
If you own working dogs. Absolutely. The problem is though, working dog trainers generally will have a lot of cognitive dissonance because this is not the way we raise Malinois puppies or German Shepherd puppies and so they'll have prejudices about the training I suggest. That's their thing they have to work through.
I can't Tell you it works or it doesn't because my opinion will mean nothing because cognitive dissonance shuts down a two way conversation So like ultimately it will help even if you have working dogs, but you do you you've gotta like try it Test it and do what you need to do to get to the other end.
I can't, like, make you believe that this is gonna work. You've got to do it for yourself because until you do, you're not going to believe it. And that's fine. Everybody has their own journey, and this is a lot of things that happens with owners. It's, You have each owner has to go through their journey and I can guide them, but sometimes they're just not ready to take on the information.
Like I actually had an owner say to me after I've been telling them the same thing for weeks, Oh, you're trying to get us to figure this out ourselves. I said, no. No, I've been telling you this. You just weren't ready to hear it. They had a lot of stress going on in their lives. And if you read my book, you'll find out how stress impacts our learning ability.
So, um, yeah, it's quite interesting training dogs and working with people. And it's quite fun, especially when they get over that, um, stage of
continuing to do what they've always done and cross that bridge to the other side where they try stuff. Oh, that's so, that's so beautiful because. That's where the magic is. So I wrote the book in three days, probably because. I was going through a bit of a stress patch, we were moving house and, um, I was waiting for the house to go unconditional and so, I just was hit with inspiration and like, I was fidgety and stuff so, I wrote the first draft in three days.
I could do it because the information was just sitting below the surface. I'd been obsessing about raising better puppies for a long time. I have been you have no idea how many training plans and stuff I've made for puppy raising. It's insane. Um, and so, yeah, when I, this is like a well over a decade's worth of work.
And. Like paying attention, testing stuff, trialing stuff. This has been raising litters of puppies and following them through and this has been raising my own puppies and testing them. This has been helping owners with really really difficult puppies and getting them to the other side and seeing where they're struggling and stuff and why they're struggling.
My ultimate motivation really was, I was part of a Uh, dog trainer, professional dog trainers, Facebook group. And then somebody was complaining about the fact that another trainer wouldn't let her in the puppy class. I was like, why do you need a puppy class for like, you could do this yourself. Like I haven't attended puppy class in like a long time.
My last puppy went to puppy class 11 years ago. So. And I've raised every single puppy without puppy class. I've, I mean, I've run a puppy class, a couple of puppy classes, I think, but the way I run puppy classes, uh, is completely different to what everybody else would do with the puppy classes. So, I mean, everybody's got to make their own choices at the end of the day, but to me, it was really weird to hear a bunch of dog trainers not understand how to create a socialization plan for their puppy if they didn't have a puppy class. So I was like, there's a need for this book. Like if even dog trainers are struggling with this, we, we have problems. Even dog trainers can't socialize their puppies without a puppy class or do not know what to do without a puppy class.
We've got a problem. So that's where the book came from and I hope that Understanding a bit of the background helps you decide whether the book is for you or not. I do hope that if you read it, you read it with an open mind, and I do hope that, um, you figure out You try some stuff, even if you're not convinced, try it at least.
I wasn't convinced when I first started training either. I was high drive girl. We were doing high drive training, lots of play, maybe a bit of about one to two minutes of actual training. The other 20, 30 minutes we were playing. And, um, now it's completely different and I have much nicer dogs and they're not less capable.
They're actually more capable. So anyway, that's my thoughts. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope that you give the book a chance and I hope it helps you raising your next puppy. Happy training.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn Let's dive in.
Let's talk about different personalities and dogs. This is probably one of my favorite topics because this is one of the first things one of my mentors taught me and this has really helped me see each dog as an individual. Now in every breed, you can have the four different personality types. So, what are they?
They're the same ones that apply to us people. You have your driver, which I call your company CEO. They like to make the rules. They're the fun Nazis. They want to see results. They don't care how it's done. They are not there to have fun. They are there to get shit done. That's your company CEO. Then you get your expressive or your company sales person.
These dogs are all about fun. Now I generally joke, I do not recommend this, and say you could hit this dog with a 4x2 over the head and they're not going to care as long as they get to do what they want. I fall into this category. You can do whatever you like to me. It is not going to squash me because as long as I get to do what I want, no matter how much pressure you put on me, no matter what you try and do to me is not going to work for you because I am going to find a way to do what I want and it's just going to suck to be you.
These dogs work on my nerves. I struggle with these dogs because I can see their bullshit a mile away. Now, generally, these dogs struggle with the company accountants or the analytics. So the analytical dogs are your company accountants. You do not hug your company accountant. They're all about data and information.
They are introverted. So you do not. Hug these dogs. They, they like to lie by your feet. They like to be social. They have a very small circle, whereas your expressives, like, they're friends with everybody, but you could die a slow painful death and they're not gonna care. That's your expressive. That's me. I love you, but if you disappeared, I probably might not notice.
And I'm sorry, it's not you. It's me. Um, so that's your expressive dogs. They don't care. Your analyticals form deep, meaningful relationships. They are loyal. Um, they need information. They have a very small bubble. So they have one or two really good friends, uh, the rest of the world can die a slow, painful death and they won't care.
Um, think like, more like Sheldon, engineers, accountants, these sort of people fall into the analytics. Analytical or company accountant category, and then you get your amiables. I call them the company receptionists. These dogs pretty much train themselves. They are the perfect dogs. They are so eager to please.
They just want to do everything right. But your driver or company CEO personality can squash these dogs. Um, so if you have a very dominant personality, I recommend you do not get a, um, a company receptionist type dog, an amiable dog, because you're going to squash this dog. Also, these dogs are very sensitive.
I've had a few, generally they're your golden retrievers. Um, your company salespeople are usually your labs, your company CEOs, uh, generally they can be in almost any breed, but they're very strong minded. So usually really strong Malinois, Rottweilers, uh, German shepherds, um, however, most German shepherds are your company accountants.
Your aimables is your, um, golden retrievers. And I've actually had a few who have gone in a depression when they've been rehomed. They are that sensitive. They feel things deeply. And when they, they lose their family, it's like they really, really, really struggle to cope. Now, these are generally the four personality types.
You can get multiple. Now, one thing that most people don't talk about when it comes to personality types is where you fit in a personality type quite often can change depending on the people around you. So I can fall into the company CEO personality type. I can even fall in the company receptionist personality type or the company accountant personality type, depending on the other people around me and the positions they fill.
The dog's the same. If there's a really strong person, then I am not going to, um, challenge them because I'll probably try and find ways around them being true to my personality type. Now, if you understand this and understand which of these personality types you gel with and understand that you're not a social butterfly.
So don't get a social butterfly dog because they are going to get you in embarrassing situations. If you are an introvert, don't get an extrovert. If you're an extrovert, don't get an introvert cause your life's going to be miserable because you're introverts not going to want to hang out with any one of your friends or their dogs.
Um, most people, if you're a company CEO, never, ever, ever get a, um, company receptionist or an amiable. I actually saw this team at a, Local club, and it was horrible. The poor dog went, tried to go to everyone. Like she tried to go to the judges just to get some relief from her owner. And, uh, it, uh, it sucked to watch because, um, the owner, you couldn't tell the owner anything, company CEO, and this poor dog struggled with the loveliest border collie on the planet.
And just with the wrong owner who was so domineering, this poor dog would run up to judges just to get relief from the pressure the owner put on them. So here's the thing. You need to understand where you fit and where your dog fits because there is no point if you are a company receptionist that you end up with a company CEO dog.
It's not gonna work. That dog is probably gonna kill you, so that dog is gonna make your life miserable. If you're a company accountant, do not get a company salesperson dog, that dogs who would drive you up the wall. Actually, to be fair though, despite the fact that I'm a company, um, salesperson type personality, my favorite dogs to work with now that I understand them and I've had the best success with them is your company accountants.
Because when you understand these dogs. Oh my goodness. These dogs, as soon as I get to work with them, and as soon as I realized they're safe with me, and that, um, I understand them, they just, I fit into their bubble, and they're like, oh my goodness, where have you been all my life? Oh, you have just Like it changed my life so much and they know that I've been the, uh, person that's helped the owners.
Uh, and so I can do no wrong in these dogs book for the rest of their life. They are so loyal to me because I have given them the support they needed. So, um, generally a lot of my episodes cover how to help these dogs because these dogs are the misunderstood dogs. And if you can just help. These dogs, there's a quarter of the dog population that is going to be feel so much relief if only people would understand how to help them.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'm looking forward to catching up with you in the next episode. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
How to tell if your dog is the correct weight and why is it even important? Right, I have a very easy way to tell if your dog's the correct weight but let's start with why is it even important. If you're here, you're, you probably feel like I do that our dogs don't live long enough as it is. And I would love for my dogs to live as long as possible and not just live a long life, but be as pain free as possible too.
Because I don't know about you, but I can be pretty grumpy and miserable if I'm in pain and our dogs do too. And many, uh, dogs. Behavior problems and grumpiness is actually due to pain. So if we can reduce the pain, then we're gonna have a happier, longer life with our dogs. And that is the ultimate one win, in my book anyway.
So, how do you tell if your dog is the correct weight? Right, there is a simple, easy way to tell and all you need is a hand. Right, so if your dog's rib area feels like the palm of your hand, then they're overweight. If your dog's rib area feels like your knuckles, then they're underweight. You see how the knuckles, um, there's quite a gap between the bones and the skin and it's, it's quite distinctive.
You definitely don't want that because that means your dog is too skinny. And they are actually starving. Now, when you look at the palm of your hand, you actually have to dig down to feel the bones in the palm of your hand. Um, and, um, as soon as you have to, uh, push through the skin to, to feel the bone, then your dog has got extra weight that they don't need to which can result in a shorter life down the track.
The ideal weight. For your dog to be is to feel like the back of your hand where you can easily feel the bones but it is not distinctive like the knuckles and you don't have to take down like if it was the palm of your hand so if you you should just run your finger along lightly and feel the rib bones Um, through the skin.
And so I never look at a dog's coat because many of our coated breeds like Huskies and Pomeranians, they, you, you won't know if they're over or underweight just by looking at them because they've got that thick coat. So always feel the dog's rib area to determine if your dog is the correct weight or not.
Now, there is something else, some other research that's come out that you may need to take note of and But remember every dog is different and every dog needs something different. However, that is never being overweight What um, you may want to consider is feeding your dog once a day. Dogs who are fed once a day has been shown to live longer than dogs that are fed twice or more a day.
Obviously puppies need to be fed. Um, the younger they are, the more meals they need. Five meals and then reduce to four, then reduce to three and then reduce to two. And eventually by the time they're a year old, you can reduce it to one meal a day. Um, that is ideal for dogs, um, because for us too, uh, fasting is a very effective way to, um, keep us healthy.
Another thing is to make sure that we don't overfeed our dogs or ourselves. To keep us healthy and happy for longer. Anyway, I hope you got something out of this short episode today and it helps you live a long, happy life with your amazing dog. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
How to tell if your dog is the correct weight and why is it even important? Right, I have a very easy way to tell if your dog's the correct weight but let's start with why is it even important. If you're here, you're, you probably feel like I do that our dogs don't live long enough as it is. And I would love for my dogs to live as long as possible and not just live a long life, but be as pain free as possible too.
Because I don't know about you, but I can be pretty grumpy and miserable if I'm in pain and our dogs do too. And many, uh, dogs. Behavior problems and grumpiness is actually due to pain. So if we can reduce the pain, then we're gonna have a happier, longer life with our dogs. And that is the ultimate one win, in my book anyway.
So, how do you tell if your dog is the correct weight? Right, there is a simple, easy way to tell and all you need is a hand. Right, so if your dog's rib area feels like the palm of your hand, then they're overweight. If your dog's rib area feels like your knuckles, then they're underweight. You see how the knuckles, um, there's quite a gap between the bones and the skin and it's, it's quite distinctive.
You definitely don't want that because that means your dog is too skinny. And they are actually starving. Now, when you look at the palm of your hand, you actually have to dig down to feel the bones in the palm of your hand. Um, and, um, as soon as you have to, uh, push through the skin to, to feel the bone, then your dog has got extra weight that they don't need to which can result in a shorter life down the track.
The ideal weight. For your dog to be is to feel like the back of your hand where you can easily feel the bones but it is not distinctive like the knuckles and you don't have to take down like if it was the palm of your hand so if you you should just run your finger along lightly and feel the rib bones Um, through the skin.
And so I never look at a dog's coat because many of our coated breeds like Huskies and Pomeranians, they, you, you won't know if they're over or underweight just by looking at them because they've got that thick coat. So always feel the dog's rib area to determine if your dog is the correct weight or not.
Now, there is something else, some other research that's come out that you may need to take note of and But remember every dog is different and every dog needs something different. However, that is never being overweight What um, you may want to consider is feeding your dog once a day. Dogs who are fed once a day has been shown to live longer than dogs that are fed twice or more a day.
Obviously puppies need to be fed. Um, the younger they are, the more meals they need. Five meals and then reduce to four, then reduce to three and then reduce to two. And eventually by the time they're a year old, you can reduce it to one meal a day. Um, that is ideal for dogs, um, because for us too, uh, fasting is a very effective way to, um, keep us healthy.
Another thing is to make sure that we don't overfeed our dogs or ourselves. To keep us healthy and happy for longer. Anyway, I hope you got something out of this short episode today and it helps you live a long, happy life with your amazing dog. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn Let's dive in.
When it comes to helping difficult or challenging dogs, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is you need to love your dog in order to be able to help them. The bad news is love is not enough. What do I mean by that? What do I mean by you need to love your dog? And what do I mean by love is not enough?
All right. So before we begin, the first thing I'm going to tell you is At no point am I telling you to put your life in danger in order to put up with your dog's dangerous behavior. However, what I am saying is when you love your dog enough in order to
Try and overcome their difficult behaviors. That's where you grow as a person. That's where you grow as a trainer and that's where you'll get the results Now love is not enough because love alone can't change a dog But what love can do is love has power. Love has the power to motivate you in order to realize what you're doing currently isn't working and you need to change what you're doing.
Yes, change is difficult and until I could change what I was prepared to do, I could not help my dogs. I could not see results. I was never going to see results because I wasn't prepared to change. So, um, story time. My very first puppy was a German Shepherd called Kaz. And so she was an introvert and a future episode.
I'll tell you all about extrovert and introverted and extroverted dogs. But for the purposes of the story, you need to understand she's an introvert. So she didn't like a lot of things. She wasn't social. Her idea of the a good time was lying by your feet and playing with you. However. Not one time in those interactions did that, uh, involve hugs.
Did that involve playing with other dogs? Unless she was friends with them. That didn't involve, um, getting patted. It did not involve giving up her toy. Those things were not things she enjoyed doing. However, we could overcome many of those things if Well, if I changed what I was doing and if I was prepared to learn how to help an introverted dog, which took me a long time, it was really Kaz who motivated me to change, you see, because when I first got Kaz, I had a temper problem.
I was no good as a dog trainer or even a dog owner. I had no idea what I was doing. I'd got this puppy. I was a mental mess anyway. I'd gone through a crappy time at work and so I got this puppy and yeah, uh, proceeded to screw her up. However, one thing I did do was loving this little puppy and realizing that this puppy is not to blame for the way she turns out.
What's happening with this little puppy is My responsibility. Now you can't grow. If you have fingers pointing at the dog, because the problem with pointing a finger at the dog is that three are pointing back at you. The more you say, yeah, but my dog, the more I hear, I am not prepared to change, to help my dog.
Now I'm only telling you this because this is what I needed to see for myself in order to be able to help my dogs. Now, here's the other things that you need to, uh, that, well, where love can help you. So, love can motivate you to get help. Now, I tried getting help with Kaz, um, with her reactivity, but I was told things like, Oh, tell your dog to sit and correct her when she doesn't sit.
You don't correct her for reacting, but you correct her for not sitting. The problem was She was so freaked out by how close these other dogs were, she was uncomfortable, she didn't even, she wasn't even, she didn't even feel safe. So, that sort of feedback was not helpful for poor Kaz. These were professional trainers giving me this advice.
So, really, the problem is, Kaz was really the motivator for me to learn how to be a better dog. Trainer. Kaz is the reason I can help reactive dogs because Kaz is the reason I had to start questioning everything. I had to go right. Tried it, didn't work. In fact, made it worse. Now, let me tell you about Rosie.
So Rosie is a lovely little corgi who is very similar to Kaz in her personality. She's an introvert as well. She lives with three other dogs, you see, and her owner loved her enough to get help. Lucky for Rosie's owner, by the time they contacted me for help, I already knew how to help Rosie. I could quickly identify that Rosie was feeling overwhelmed by all, well, everything that was going on.
So Rosie's owner rang me up. She was afraid that Rosie was unhappy. And yes, Rosie was unhappy in her home. But it wasn't Her owner was afraid she had to re home Rosie because she was that unhappy, but it wasn't, she didn't need to be re homed and that was the good part. What Rosie needed was to have her space respected.
So what we did was teach Rosie she's safe in her crate, make sure that the other dogs Didn't crowd Rosie and Rosie was allowed to have space. Rosie was also told she wasn't allowed to tell the other dogs off. Especially if she entered their space and then told them off. That wasn't allowed. So this is the thing.
Now Rosie's really happy because she understands Her position in the household, she has her space respected and so she is amazing and her owner, I caught up with her this week and her owner is so happy. She was in tears thinking she had to get rid of Rosie and now Rosie is a happy dog and that. Is the power of love.
Now, the problem with that is not everyone you go to is going to be able to help you and not even I'm the right owner for a trainer for every owner. The problem when we're dealing with behavior problems is every dog is different. So here's another story. I want this to inspire you. However, I want you to know that I would have given up on this dog myself.
So this is a really, really amazing German shepherd. However, he went to the vet and The vets, he went in with an ear infection and came up with a bloodshot eye as well because the vets, uh, thought they knew what they were doing. The owners said to them, knock him out and just get it done. And instead, they didn't knock him out and end up fighting with this dog.
And then he came out with huge aggression issues. Do not mess with serious dogs. Knock them out, vets. Don't even go there. You are gonna lose and then you're creating problems for these poor owners. And that's unfair. So anyway, this is what happened with this German Shepherd. Now, he ended up biting his owner.
He bit me. Um, and that's all good and well. I knew that I made a mistake and that's the reason he bit me and I knew the owner made a mistake. That's why he bit her. However, she has spent a year working with this dog and finally she's got a breakthrough. I'm not saying it's going to be. Rosie from here on out, they are still going to struggle because he has got some serious ideas of how things need to be done.
As I said, full disclosure, I would have rehomed that dog to go to a home where he could be trained as a military working dog or a police dog would not have continued with that dog. Um, but full marks to the owner who loved her dog enough. To not only get help, and I couldn't go near this dog, she had to do it all herself with my guidance, um, and I got Charlotte Moore, um, from Perth, Australia, who is studying neuroscience, and we bounce ideas off each other all the time, I got her involved to help this team as well, and without this, the teamwork for this dog, we would not have got here. Now, personally, as I said, not a dog I would continue with, not because I don't want to save the dog, not because I want to give up on the dog, but simply because I know how quickly you can screw up with these dogs, and I'd rather send this dog to somebody who has got a better handle on these types of dogs.
So, I'm not saying you should continue with a dog who is hurting you and your family. However, I am saying to you That if you love your dog and if you are prepared to put the work in and if you are prepared to make the changes you need to make, you may be able to conquer your dog's behavior challenges.
You may learn how to change you. So that you can be the owner your dog needs to become the dog that they can be. So I hope this motivates you. I hope this helps you. I hope that this gives you the motivation to bring out that power of love. And that it helps you realize that love is not enough and you can't love a dog with challenging behaviors.
Well, because you, you just can't over mothering a dog is just as bad as being too much of a dictator. Nobody thrives in that kind of environment. Anyway, happy training. I hope this episode helps you and I'm looking forward to catching up with you in the next episode.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
Follow Us: YouTube @theunconventionaldogtrainer Facebook @DogTrainingLab Instagram @TheDogTrainingLab
We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
Hey there, dog lover! Welcome to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. We hope you enjoy our battle tested, relationship based solutions for helping your unconventional dog shine, with your host, Luzelle Cockburn. Let's dive in.
What can you do to help your reactive dog? Hi, I'm Luzelle, the unconventional dog trainer. And in today's episode, we are going to talk about the three strategies I use with every reactive dog to help them. But before we get started, remember, my philosophy is every dog is different. And I cannot tell you how many dogs I screwed up because I tried to prevent issues or fix.
Issues that I thought would come up from one dog based on what I learned and had to fix 10 times from my previous dog. It wasn't until I actually learned to just take time out. See what the dog in front of me is giving me and then responding accordingly that I stopped creating issues for myself now How can you do that?
You can head on over to thedogtraininglab. com and you can grab our free resource How to become your dog's best friend. That is What I use mentally, it's my mental checklist that I've written down for you that I go through with every dog I work with so I've shared it with you so you can get to know your dog a whole lot better and just by following the getting to know Their dog's better.
A lot of owners have seen huge changes in their dog's behavior. All right, so without further ado, let's get started. So the first thing I implement with a dog is a stress detox. Why a stress detox? And I will cover what it is and exactly how to do it in a future episode. Now, I do a stress detox because I want the dog and owner to start from a relaxed point, especially a reactive dog, because usually the dog owner, if there's a reactive team going through the spiral of despair, I understand the spiral of despair, because I have been there, my friend.
It is when. You take your dog out for a walk, nothing, you've not had an incident before, or even if you've had, even if, or even if it's the first walk, you take your dog out, and then they have a big emotion and a big blow up, and so they react. That gives you a fright, not only that you're shocked and surprised and you have feelings of, Maybe shame, maybe embarrassment, maybe confusion.
And it all comes down to, you don't know what to do with this information your dog's giving you. Because it could be at something totally innocent like a child. Now, what do you do? Problem is, we don't know what to do. So, we have all these feelings of stress and fear come through us. And of course, that releases.
The hormones that our dogs can smell. And once our dogs smell the fear hormones coming through our body, that they caused, don't get me wrong, they, they caused it, but of course, they're your dog. How could they cause you stress? In their mind, they do not connect. The two that it was them that caused you those feelings to them.
They just now all of a sudden smell all those fear, um, pheromones and smells and scents. And now all of a sudden they're thinking, Oh, I must have been right. And that person or dog or whoever or whatever it was must be scary. So I was right. And so the circle of the cycle of despair starts because next time you go out.
You are going to start from a more stressed state of mind because the dog reacted and so it just continues. And then your dog reacts and then it's, Oh yes, I was right because now my owners lost it. And then you start panicking before you even start taking your dog out. And this is the problem with most reactive dogs and owners.
And I can tell you this because it's. I have been there. This is how I know. Um, so, this is why I do a stress detox. For a period of time, depending on the dog and the owner, stay home. Do things at home. Learn the part two, which is the skills. While you just completely stop walks, because no good is going to come from continuing in that stressed state.
When are you most likely to overreact or punch someone or yell at somebody? When you're stressed or when you're calm? Of course it's when you're stressed. So, first things first, we need to bring the owner and the dog's stress levels down. Secondly, while we're going through that stress detox, We need to build in the skills you guys will need because you are a team so your team needs some skills in order to, um, handle stressful situations successfully.
So during that period of the stress detox, it's not that we're not going for a walk, but keep in mind a half an hour walk is a half an hour walk, whether it's in your backyard or out and about. But during the time of the stress detox, We are going to do our exercise in the backyard or in the hallway or in the house or somewhere really calm and relaxed.
We just do not need any stress events right now. And then we will teach skills. Of course, all reactive dogs need to learn to wear a muzzle for their safety and yours. And to show if something happens, at least nothing bad will happen to your dog, because They can see that you are taking steps, um, dog control or whoever you got in trouble with can see you already taking steps to help and support your dog.
So muzzle training is definitely something that's important. And you also need to learn how to maneuver your dog, how to help them, what they need, what their critical distances are. All these sorts of things is going to fall into this period of time where you and your dog are going to learn to. Work together.
And then, of course, thirdly, you have to work on your relationship because the whole reason we're in this reactive state is usually because our dog has lost trust and faith in and on us because they reacted, we couldn't deal with it. And now they're like, Oh, my human can't deal with it. I have to deal with it.
Either that or another dog, maybe. Bailed your dog up and now they think, Oh, my human can't deal with any situations. If my best course of action is an offense rather than defense, because if I wait for my owner, they're not going to be able to do anything. So your dog is, these are the dogs that become, that go out to attack a dog after they've.
Um, had a dog in their space or even was attacked. Um, and just keep in mind, according to dog rules, the dog that enters the other dog's space is in the wrong. So, if I come over and give you a hug, I'm in the wrong if you don't like hugs. That's how it works. According to dogs. It's not the dog who or the person who doesn't like hugs That's at fault in dog world It's the person or dog who entered the other animal's space without permission They are the ones that are in the wrong whether you like it or not That's the reality of the situation.
So this is where I find that a lot of people, the attitude of, uh, all dogs should play is really not helpful for dogs because the biggest thing that dogs should learn is proper, uh, slow, soft greetings, not rushing into another dog space because that's a recipe for a dog fight. All right. So you need to work on your relationship.
Um. So we will, we usually set up small challenges so that you and your dog can overcome these. It doesn't matter that they react. It's how quickly they recover and how well you can deal with this. Because if you can learn not to dump all those stress hormones, then your dog's going to learn, Oh, my human's actually got control of the situation.
I don't actually need to worry anymore because my owner's got this. So, these are the three things I do. Just to recap, I start with a stress detox. During that stress detox, I teach my dogs the skills that we will need to work through um, their reactivity. So I will teach them basically. All the maneuvers we're going to need we'll muzzle train them and everything like that so that they can have success.
And then thirdly, I work on our relationship and I teach my dog that they can trust me, rely on me, and that I'm going to be there to protect them and take control over the situation. And that they don't need to take charge because I've got this. And that is what I do with every reactive dog. What it looks like is different for every dog because if I do the this this Specific thing with one dog that does not mean it's going to be helpful for another dog because every dog is different So go and grab the how to become your dog's best friend Um, workbook from TheDogTrainingLab.Com and get to know your dog a whole lot better so you can help them more. And I would appreciate your feedback. If you found this episode helpful at all, you can also reach out. I would be more than happy to help you and your reactive dog. Happy training.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Unconventional Dog Trainer. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, or share it with a friend to help us help more dogs enjoy long, happy lives in their homes. We also have more resources for you at thedogtraininglab. com.
Catch you in the next episode.
Want more?
Get The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1067022813
More Support & Resources: https://www.thedogtraininglab.com/
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We aim to share unfiltered and honest findings and experiences. We hope that what we share with you helps you and your dog become a better team and you enjoy a long, happy life together!
Kindest regards
Luzelle the Dog Trainer & The Chompy Malinois
The podcast currently has 33 episodes available.