Lisa is joined by Sarah Hodgson who talks with Lisa about not only her book Puppies for Dummies but about dogs of all ages! Sarah Hodgson has been a dog trainer for twenty years and owns Simply Sarah, Inc., a dog training school in Westchester, New York. She has written five books about dogs, including the bestselling DogPerfect and Puppies For Dummies.
After Sarah answers the first question that I ask every guest (when did your love of dogs begin?) Sarah shares tips on on the first 10 days at home with a puppy and sleep. What Sarah shared makes me think I can actually get a puppy someday!
Sarah also talks about things to keep in mind when choosing a puppy, tips on training your puppy (and your older dog,) how to give your puppy a stress free existence, understanding his world and much, much more!
Lisa is joined by Sarah Hodgson who talks with Lisa about not only her book Puppies for Dummies but about dogs of all ages! Sarah Hodgson has been a dog trainer for twenty years and owns Simply Sarah, Inc., a dog training school in Westchester, New York. She has written five books about dogs, including the bestselling DogPerfect and Puppies For Dummies.
After Sarah answers the first question that I ask every guest (when did your love of dogs begin?) Sarah shares tips on on the first 10 days at home with a puppy and sleep. What Sarah shared makes me think I can actually get a puppy someday!
Sarah also talks about things to keep in mind when choosing a puppy, tips on training your puppy (and your older dog,) how to give your puppy a stress free existence, understanding his world and much, much more!
54:40
Owner: Lisa Davis
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
dog , puppy , people , day , benji , play , teach , book , home , sleep , mat , week , child , breed , crate , walk , wake , leash , feel , adrenaline
SPEAKERS
Speaker 2 (81%),
Speaker 1 (19%)
Lisa;
Starting on January 11, Health power we'll be posting every Tuesday instead of every Tuesday and Thursday, on Thursdays starting on the 12. You're gonna get dog eared with Lisa Davis. They write books about dogs, I interview them. So if you're a dog lover, I hope you will check it out. Tell your friends, tell your family also tell them about health power. So again, health power every Tuesday dog here with Lisa Davis every Thursday, hope you'll tune in. Hi, I'm Lisa Davis, and on today's episode we do talk about Sarah Hodgson's book puppies for dummies. But we also talk about dogs in general and training tips for dogs of all ages. So even if you don't have a puppy, you'll want to listen to this episode. Thanks so much
Sarah:
0:53
does your dog kind of avoid you when they're sick? Or do they cuddle up to you to feel better? You know, my natural inclination I thought because I have a child is when my daughter was feeling sick when she was young, she would cuddle up to me. My dog Blue has a virus He has a fever. He has a gastrointestinal issue at the moment. And when I go to sit with him, he moves or if I do sit next to him, he turns his head away from me and kind of shoves it in the couch. And I found that really odd. So I'm just curious if maybe that's just the natural way my husband thinks listen, he doesn't feel well. He just wants to be left alone. So I'm curious. Let me know you can tweet me or DM me wherever you follow me at Lisa Davis mph. I'd be really curious to know but luckily, I have a wonderful holistic that he's got some supplements. He's going to just rest today and we're just going to keep our eye on him. And that is what's going on with my baby. But today we're talking about puppies. I just read a book told me everything I would ever need to know about a puppy by decide to get one puppies for Dummies fourth edition understand your puppies actions use positive reinforcement techniques for training. We direct problem behaviors by Sara Hobson. Sarah joins us now. Hi, welcome to "Dog-Eared with Lisa Davis." I'm so excited.
2:11
Sarah:
I'm so excited to meet you and be here.
Lisa:
2:14
It's great to have you on. Okay, so the first question I ask every guest is when did your love of dogs begin?
Sarah:
2:20
So it's interesting that you asked that. And people always say to me, Oh, you must have had an amazing childhood. And your parents must be so proud. And my real attachment to dogs started was it's all animals, really. I do work with cats. I help people who are having trouble with their rabbits, and they're guinea pigs. My I have always prioritized the company of animals over the company of people, because I lived a somewhat lonely childhood. And I never, I don't say I lived a neglected or deprived or sad childhood. I say a lonely childhood relating to people. Because I had a few older siblings. I was the last one home my father had passed away my mother needed to work, a couple of jobs. And I spent a lot of time in the company of different animals. And I learned to communicate with them at a very young age. And I always do this for people and people are kind of freaked out by it. But the very first utterance I made was not to a person it was to our guinea pig, Peter pig. I will do it for you now. I would talk to that pig for hours I could do the squeals I mean, literally, I have to drink water. Now. It comes from this place around my thorax. And so I was raised in a place where there were a lot of dogs around I had dogs. And I literally say dogs taught me the best qualities of being human. They taught me forgiveness. They taught me patience. They taught me to really relish adventures and freedom and exploring. And so it started very young. And then I started training dogs around the age of eight. I had a business by the time I was 12 trading dogs in the neighborhood. And it evolved from there. So at a very young age. I had my first book I think I was 21 and I was working under Joe Michael Evans, who was the original monks of New Skete he's now passed but he had a lot of books. I just I just was very blessed with doors opening and no resistance to running through whatever door open for me. And again, I credit that For dogs, they're always up for whatever time and involvement we have to spend with them.
Lisa:
5:06
Yeah, dogs are so amazing. You know, it's going to be hard to avoid certain stories that I've told before. So I'll keep this brief. Everyone knows who's listening. My mom is afraid of dogs. And the thing that's so heartbreaking is that she was chronically ill. And if she had had a dog by her side, what a difference it was, oh
5:22
my god, what a difference.
Lisa:
5:24
I have dreams now. She died in her 50s in 1995. And I have dreams that she's alive and she loves my dogs and she cuddles my dogs and I wake up and I'm happy and then I'm so crushed. Because I think that you know, I don't know where her fear came from. I think she may have had an incident when she was little, but it just breaks my heart because dogs bring us so much joy and so much solace,
Sarah:
5:48
solace. We think I'm the same way if you are me, I was gonna say solace and you said it. True. So I know you're the only one who can see me. But right now that's my well this dog. My other two dogs are just off screen on the couch cuddled up but I have four dogs and I call them my Hallo. It's literally wherever I go. I have six cats, for dogs. And now my Hallo. Wherever I am, they seem to just gravitate. And the energy they give me is so healing and and just so reassuring. And this sense of calm that's in our household really start starts in puppyhood you can really coach it in when they're young.
Lisa:
6:31
Yeah, it's true. No, I'm curious when your dogs are sick, do they pull away?
Sarah:
6:37
I think it depends it I think the bodies I always say this to people the bodies but a house for the soul. Whether you're talking about a tortoise or a dog or person I know in every every body is different. And also illnesses are different. So if it's an illness, that's a body ache or physical internal pain, they're not going to want they're not going along for touch. If it's simply a fever and there they would gravitate towards you just to reassure them so I think every animal is different in every illness is different. I know when I have a toothache I don't want to be in the presence of anybody but you know if I just have a fever I'm you know, can you bring me a soup? Can you bring me
Lisa
7:25
so I've always been afraid to get a puppy because the whole idea of a puppy that's going to wake me up and extra work. It's like this weird psychological thing that I need to break through. But having your book and going through it helped me so much because I realized like there is a guide to this. There is a way to do this.
Sarah:
7:45
So one service that I offer is people only I only do this one dog at a time. They send me their puppy straight from the breeder for one week only. And the first thing I do is I sleep train them. And this is what helps everybody realize is when you bring home a puppy, they are going through an intense growth phase for the first seven months and Nene need 20 hours of hibernation like rest a day. So the biggest mistake people make is they bring home a puppy. The first night the puppy cries out they take it out of the crate they take it outside every two hours. Biggest mistake in the book in one week. I get a puppy sleeping 12 hours without interruption. And here is the reason why. When you bring a puppy straight from the litter, they are accustomed to full body contact, heartbeats nesting, and you bring them home and you put them in a bear crate with a flat mat. It is terrifying. They're waking up every two hours is calling out for their mother. It's their grieving period. The most important thing you not do is hyperarousal them by taking them out of the crate it's very confusing and it creates a pattern of not being able to ride the sleep wave you know how we go into a deep sleep and then recommend a light sleep and then we fall now when they're crying out there in the light sleep. You don't want to be waking them up out of that. You I take the first three days of puppies home but the crate in the middle of my bed and my husband is the same and when that puppy wakes up and cries I don't do anything but put first of all a the crate is like a nest of stuffed animals and sweatshirts that smell like you there. This thing called the snuggle puppy that has a heartbeat You can get one of those but the crate is this nest of all body contact. So the puppy kind of nests in and feels like safe tactically secure. Then the two hour I don't care even if the puppy has an accident the first couple of nights every two hours. It If that puppy just wakes up and is whining, I put my fingers and I say get the puppy back down into the sleep. Now mind you, if the puppy wakes up and goes, woof, woof, woof, it's repetitive barking, that's a quick I need to go the credit, I don't want to go to the bathroom here, that's a run through. But that generally happens maybe in six to eight hours spurts. And that's a very quick out, run them outside or on the papers, put them back in, the puppy must be in the habit of sleeping a 12 hour sleep cycle at night, from the beginning. And if you devote, as I do, I bring them in, I know how to raise a puppy, I can do it in my sleep. I'm like a baby nurse. For puppies. I bring them in, I sleep train. And by the time they go home, after one week, they are sleeping, and I'll tell you more about it and get you excited to have a puppy. I work with a lot of special needs children with dogs. And we have therapy rabbits that we place with children with special needs that are raised literally imprinted from birth with human touch. So they're calm and docile. Anyhow, the puppies, when when they wake up, they are on a 45 minute 45 to 90 minute is average about an hour, wait to sleep cycle. So they wake up at seven, you feed them, you take them out, or papers, you feed them, you take them out to potty and play. Then they have some self soothing time where they learn the most important early lesson, which is you are present but you're not always accessible. So you wake them up, take them out, you feed them, take them out, you play with them, that's kind of parallel play in the beginning, then they self soothe with their own little toys while you do what you need to do. And within 45 minutes to an hour, they are already going into their sleep state. They go back in the crate, which initially should be in a blacked out room, you're you're mirroring the inner sanctum of the den, you play sound cancelling music and they are asleep for another two to three hours. Then they wake up and you repeat. We're out to potty we're in to eat. We play engagement, we self soothe and we're back into sleep and you stick to that pattern for the first month that puppy is home. Then it stretches a bit but the goal is that you have a new create a restful routine for the puppy so they learn early on to trust their environment. It's not some jagged, chaotic, every day is different ritual and it's primarily sleep based because this is their intense growth phase.
Lisa"
12:56
Wow, that's incredible. Okay, so that's good. So I'm gonna if I ever get a puppy, I'm gonna send them to you. I'll drive wherever I have to go figure that out. Now in the book you write in puppies for Dummies quote, regardless of where you begin, remember this puppies are a lot like babies they need to be nurtured but not spoiled. They need to be loved but not overindulge. They need guidelines, not unlimited freedom they need to play but they also need limits. Your ability to reason and understand gives you the responsibility to make the necessary adaptations. You must be your puppies, leader, safe keeper friend and voice your efforts will forever be a reward. And in the book, you tell us exactly what to do to have this happen. In
Sarah:
13:37
science, I always say dog training isn't hard. Since when did we overthink? Loving a dog? It's like fear base now and everybody I call is like frozen, though, like should I get a dog? Should I how much work and I'm like, let me just map it out for you. And then you decide Can I do this? Can I not because it is important that you know you'll be able to schedule the puppy hood and you'll be able to be on a routine you shouldn't go to dog if you're away every other week or you know you're working nights one day and you don't have anyone to cover. But once you have a routine down for your dog, and you can provide predictable outings four times a day and food and play times twice a day. They are restful. My animals rest from nine to four when the pandemic hit, and we were home all the time to have my dogs develop separation anxiety within the first few weeks because they weren't getting enough sleep because they were always like following us around and my husband was always walking in the middle of the day. So they were like chronically overtired toddlers with teeth and that is what dog problems. The central core of a dog problem is a dog that overstimulated overtired or, or Simply lacking any sense of predictability to base their life around.
Lisa:
15:06
Now, when you choose a dog when you choose a puppy that is really important, and I've shared this story before number one, I've never had a puppy but I got my first dog Bailey when I was 33. He was a pit mix such a cutie. I just fell in love with him at the pound. I didn't know what he was. I just fell in love with him and I took them home, then I let him pick our second dog because they got along so well. After they passed. I got a lab and I didn't know how much they shed Are you telling me I would have reconsidered I mean, don't get me wrong. I love my Benji, but holy cow. And then we met blue. I'm a pet fanatic. And Benji in blue got along. And then he eventually became mine. So there was no planning, and it all worked out. But that's not the case for everybody. So let's talk about how important it is to really know what breed and your personality and your lifestyle.
Sarah:
15:50
Yeah, so I always tell people to like, think of writing a want ad, like, what do you want to do with your dog? What do you want your day to look at and then sent show that to me or process it in comparison to the different dogs you're considering? I'll give you a funny example. I had clients, they didn't talk to me before they did this. They had to have an ESA passed away, they wanted another dog, they decided to get two weapons. Well, you couldn't have a more different experience. Whippets, as you know, are very prey driven. They're very instinctive. They don't reference people. They're not big cuddlers they like their personal space. So they you know, shoot a cut of what up one service I do offers people come to me virtually or in person. And what we do is talk about it like we talk about, okay, do you want to rescue? What's involved in that? How much do you need to know about the dog beforehand, even if you get a rescue, what breeds are predominantly you know, in that rescue, and then you look at your lifestyle. So someone might say, well, you know, I have three kids under 10, we have a lot of activity in and out of the house, you're probably not going to want a protective breed, who's going to be keeping score of all the comings and goings, you may not want a hurting breed because they have an obsessive compulsive component of keeping everything together and everybody together, you're gonna want a more laid back dog breed that's more group oriented. You know, the hounds love groups. The sporting breeds get along well, with others. There are many other dogs that that are in the non-sporting, you know, the Havanese in the toy, but the Bijon dogs that are more inclusive to groups. And then within a letter, so recently, I had a family who had a child or a brain tumor, and they needed the dog to be a service dog for this little boy. So we picked out a Havanese. And I had a choice of five puppies, there was only one that was spot on. And I have pictures on my Instagram of that puppy lying upside down while I'm in my dentist, and they're drilling at eight weeks old, because that puppies threshold to excitement barely exists. Whereas the other ones if a parent dropped or somebody shouted, they were just up and looking around. So within a litter of puppies, there can be a dog that that shines first, a specific situation. And so there are different breeds, but you'd look at your lifestyle after person then get an active dog if you're a docile person give a docile dog. So anyhow, those are all things I take into my head when I'm talking or working or recommending people you know, think about what the dog breed was bred to do. And if you want that kind of energy in your life, at this time,
Lisa:
19:15
right now, in part three, nurturing your puppy day to day you right, I'm going to tell you a little secret. Your puppy from the moment he meets, you will think of you as another dog, your friends and family family will be thought of as dogs too.
Sarah:
19:28
Okay, so we have the ability to speciate we can say, Oh, this is a monkey. This is how the monkey will act. And this is a dog and this is a rabbit and rabbits are prey animals. So we have to move slowly around them because they'll run away and dog is more socially domesticated and engaging so they won't and things like that. And we never stand face to face with a primate and show our teeth because they feel that's a sign of aggression. So we can speciate dogs and other animals Don't when when they, if we were to crack open their skull and look at their brain, their organ is very tiny. The majority of their headspace is sensory neurons, and sensory bulbs. So their whole life, a dog's life is spent in sensory interpretation, you know, interpreting what's coming in. So when a dog greets us, and we walk straight at a dog quickly, especially a puppy, it can be viewed as threatening, or is an invitation to play rough, like confrontational puppies will be face to face, but they have to interpret through their worldview, what we're doing. And an example I always give is a puppy, you know, that is chronically ankle nipping or biting their shoes. And I'm like, remember, they don't necessarily view what goes on below your hip is attached to what goes on above your hip, we move through the world vertically, they are horizontal. So with every time they grab your shoelace, you bend over and you make a ruckus to them. That's confrontational play. So it's gonna reinforce the behavior. So I'm always thinking, Okay, if I have a frightened dog that I'm working with, or an aggressive dog, I have to walk backwards towards them. So I don't trigger that fear, or that frustration. So that's, that's how I process the world is how can we modify ourselves to make our dogs feel more safe, or to teach them that a front faced approach is not threatening? I always say hands are forgiving, not for grabbing. So whenever I have a little dog or new dog that's been rescued, I always tell people extend always extend something positive to your dog for the first few weeks, or when you're trying to teach them something new. So they learn hands are not going to grab them and thus trigger that sympathetic fight or flight response.
Lisa:
22:00
Yeah, that makes so much sense. And you alluded this in this you write, in my opinion, the greatest gift you can give your puppy as a stress free existence. And you have to understand the world from his perspective, which you just fill this in on a bit. What are the best ways to do this, you talked about understanding the world. But what about giving him the stress free existence, which I would assume as part of understanding his world, right, like it's gonna all go together.
Sarah:
22:21
Number one, make sure you are respecting your dogs by over them do not constant, don't keep your dog up all day, they don't always need to go to daycare. Daycare is good for socialization, but make sure you find a daycare that has structured rest periods. So when a dog gets the right amount of sleep, which is about 16 to 18 hours a day, depending on their age 21 their baby babies, make sure they get the right amount of sleep. Number two, discovered their passion. If I want a Frisbee dog, but my dog likes tennis balls and doesn't like Frisbees, I'm going to have to make the shift. If I have a dog that loves to dig, and really loves to dig, it's a happy release for them. I'm going to find a place we can go or our entire there's either probably a 20 by 12 sandpit in my backyard where we play volleyball, but it's mostly for the dogs to dig and cats to go to the bathroom. So when they're outside, so find out what your dog loves, and give them that adventure. I always say if your dog is leash reactive, why are you walking him on a leash every day, either address the issue, or take them out on a long line to a field and let them run. You don't want to do things that stimulate dramatic rise rises in adrenaline. So my dog is leash reactive, and I walked them by the house where the dogs are barking every day and it frightens my dog, their their brain is releasing adrenaline to deal with the fear of that situation. You find a different way to play with your dog or exercise your dog or fence in your backyard dogs. Dogs that love to go on a leash walk should be taken on a leash walk. But if they don't like it, if they don't like leaving the den, which is your home, don't do it. So find out what lights up your dog's brain and give them outlets for that. Avoid things that create stress. And stress internally is just a rise in adrenaline levels that fight or flight response. Avoid things that do that. You know if you have a counter cruiser and it bothers you remember counters to a dog or just an outcropping. So if it bothers you, you're gonna have to modify and put the stuff on your counters away. And I have quick hacks for discouraging counter jumpers. But the first thing is don't leave stuff out on the counter. Um, so that would be the answer to that question.
Lisa:
25:04
Yeah, you know, it's funny my I'm a total extrovert and luckily, so is my pity and one of our favorite things to do. At least once a month, I'll take him on an adventure. We'll go on a day trip. It's like my favorite day of the month, we will go to the beach. He is good with every single dog, every single person and he loves it. Oh my and I love because I love talking to strangers. I love making chit chat. I love seeing new things. And we went to Rockport last month in Massachusetts, which is absolutely stunning. And we just had the best time. And I also think it's really good for Pitbull awareness, because he's such a love and people like, oh my god, I'm like, Oh, no trust, oh, people kind of pull away. I'm like, Oh, he's fine with other dogs. And some people are still kind of resistant, but other people are like, okay, and he he just knows like, he just gently smells them. And he's done. That's it. My lab on the other hand, would love to go on those trips. But I don't take him because he's a complete and utter spasm. And if a dog growls at him, he'll keep jumping on him. If you if a dog growls at Blue, he will back up and cry. So I feel bad. But Benji is not going on our day trips with us. Right?
Sarah
26:08
Like you have to know what to do with Benji. He's also an extrovert. And he he's not good at social referencing. So that's something you would have to teach him because he doesn't. So I always say it's like politics, right? If, if you're a Democrat, you see the world full of Democrats and you cannot understand the Republicans worldview. The reverse is also true Republican cannot see your worldview. So if you take a lab and you put them with a shepherd and the shepherd is like back off, it's because the shepherd views that Benji is a danger. But Benji views the dog adverse Shepherd from his worldview, and thus, he doesn't even pause to consider the cues he's giving. No, we have a pitbull mix name Wahoo. And he's, he's just like your, I mean, he's just like blue. He's just Martian, and loves adventures and loves day trips, but for some reason, the the pitbulls can play both sides of that some of them and they do need excessive socialization, but they can play both sides of the coin, right? They can socially reference and mirror, whatever the other dog is putting out there. Right? So it's dependent on the dog with some dogs, you have to teach them. I do teach group dog training puppy kindergarten, I do pet therapy class, and I have basic training classes. And I'm constantly talking about social referencing, the goal of training is that your dog will always reference you for cues on how to behave in different situations. And all dogs are different, right? They all have different personalities. But I think the best thing we can do is, is you know, give a little bit of our time to our dog because like, like you said, when you do something they love, you feel the love coming right back to you.
Lisa:
28:09
Yeah, it's true. I mean, the thing with Benji, too, he's nine, he has horrible arthritis, we're gonna start him in aquatic therapy in a couple of weeks. He can't walk more than 15 minutes at a time. I mean, he's so stiff. And so there's other issues too. I got him at a year or nine months, and his previous owners never trained him, never socialized him blue, I got blue when he was six months, his trainer Did you know or his trade season his his his pet parent until I got him did do all the right things. And then I got my little mush. And so I feel like I should have done more with Benji, although I have to say we had three different trainers. So we tried, I don't know, are there dogs that just if they don't have that young socialization, it's just more of a challenge. And maybe we gave up too quick? I don't know. I'm so
Sarah:
28:51
glad you brought that up. Because there is this period of intense intense brain growth between zero and 12 weeks of age. And this phase is called the imprinting phase. Because whatever the puppy hears, flows right through the reptilian part of their brain and makes a mirror image on their hippocampus, so anything that goes on during that stage becomes normal. And that phase is like an open funnel. I mean, you can bring and people say, Well, I can't bring my dog out until it's inoculated, I say I fully get a sling like a baby, put the baby put the dog in the sling, or get her clothes, very kennel or whatever. They have those big tents for big breeds, get them out, get them hearing watching dogs at a dog park, get them on a train, get them in an elevator, anything that would be normal for your life during this early phase that you bring them home between eight and 12 weeks. Lean and take some time off. It is so cool. Federico, and people send me their puppies. I only take puppies between eight and 11 weeks of age, because that's what I know best. That's the best time to train a dog. Oh, my, none of my dogs jump and people are like, how do you ever these dogs are so calm, they don't jump, because they learned before palm roll, nothing happens unless you're on four paws. And nothing happens unless you're on your happy mat. And every room has a happy mat. And all good things happen to the dogs when they're on their happy mat. One, you know, you're I'm doing the podcast in our podcast room, and they have a big couch doesn't matter if it's a couch or not. If I'd say this is your happy man, and I hold the tree and I say on your mat. Then they learn that, oh, when I want something, I go on my happy man. And it's not negative reinforcement. It's a positive reinforcement. It's just the house rule. You want to question you want me to open the gate, want me to open the crate, you've got to be breathing normally, and you have to be standing up for a pause. And then it happens. And when you teach it early puppy eight, nine weeks for ever. They are trained to do that. When I send people home after they've spent a week or two here. They get a 30 page ebook with all the videos, all the instructions and all they have to do follow my lead. And people are always saying, oh my god, I'm gonna need you coming over I have so very few people who ever need to train her again. Because when the dogs are trained, we lick skin. We sit on our mat, we sit there and when we want the gate open from the time they're babies, that's the best time that's an imprinting time and then you're good to go.
Lisa:
31:41
Yeah, and so that's why I had such a struggle or have such a struggle with Benji because he was a year and nine months with like, he didn't he barely even knew sit. I mean, I don't know these people. I don't know what the hell they were doing. But thank goodness, they surrendered him to the shelter. Right? So it's possible but harder.
Sarah:
31:55
Oh, to train an older dog. Yeah. That so the funnel if you think of the funnel that early in printing, the funnel inverts, but it doesn't close. Okay, so the the training I do with older dog really focuses on parasympathetic, which is the rest and digest nervous system when we feel comfortable, and the sympathetic fight or flight or excitement in his case, like what causes those dramatic shifts in adrenaline, how can we gradually socialize the dog realizing it'll be a process, it won't just be a given like you can with a puppy, and then using words as a way to help the dog understand where to go and what to do. So that in situations that trigger their hyper arousal, you can redirect them more calmly. I love zingers and my favorite thing or with a puppy or an adult dog or child is they're on the roller coaster. You're on the park bench. They're on the emotional, they're having an emotional tornado right now. You've got to stay on the park bench so that you can guide them through it.
Lisa:
33:10
Okay. Oh, that is really good advice. All right, let's talk about speaking dog leash and convene yourself as a top dog to your puppy right dog list consists of three elements eye contact, body language and tone.
Sarah:
33:23
This is the most important thing I tell people. And everybody's like, I never heard that. I actually heard the opposite. Oh, really? Yes. So I always tell people, the more you look at your dog, the less they'll look at you, though, when puppies first come home, and this is why I can do my imprinting in a week and people like how is that even possible? And I'm like, I don't know, read the testament testimonials on my website. When puppies first come home, they need to understand are you more parents like, or you more puppy like, and they don't bond so much to us right away as they try to format their perspective and learn the new routines. So we have no fur we do not bark. We don't make the same noise. We don't have a tail we don't have ears. Those are all the dogs and puppies first language right is is watching the posture and the subtle motions. We don't have any of it. They then try to determine Okay, the eyes are similar, are in the physical in the physical nature of our being is similar. So they're like okay, puppies are constantly interacting, grabbing each other making eye contact, body body contact. And parents are more like matter of fact, there's some verbal vocalizations. They have a lot of puppies. They do this thing I call it the soothing they licked the puppies, right? So when the puppy first comes home, the biggest mistake people make is they overstimulate them. They don't let them sleep enough. and they constantly are looking and picking up and engaging, then they call me wanting to know why the puppy is nipping so much. And I'm like, Well, you are being perceived as a puppy to that puppy. So I kinda, it's really important. I can, and, and it will make sense when I explain it in a minute to you. But I can look at my dog, maybe give them a command, but staring at them said said calm, calm moving towards them, scaring will cause distress. Or they'll simply think I want to play and then they'll get very physical. So eye contact is important that the sustained loving gazes should be really reserved for times that you're both in in a restful space, not looking, what do you got what it gives me the tissue, give me this, give me that the dog will go crazy. And when you're constantly looking and grabbing things out of the dog's mouth, you're highlighting the dog's focus on that object. So you're just gonna lead to the dog picking everything up, instead of here's your happy mat. And here's a little toy basket full of your things. And then you know, we're going to really keep things up for a week or two, so the puppy doesn't get confused. So, in terms of direct eye contact, so I'm talking to you now, my dog has been trained that if he wants attention, he sits next to me, he doesn't jump up in my face. And if he didn't jump up in my face, all I would do is take my hands and cover my face, so that he would learn Oh, that doesn't work to get attention if I want attention. I have to come over here to get it.
36:47
Sarah:
36:48
so handsome. He says, I'm a German Shepherd, and I have a curly tail and floppy ears. Oh, will the therapy dog pee the key. He was came from a shelter and he had been kept in a very small box with his littermates. So all their hips were just like completely mashed. But um, he says I have hip dysplasia, but it's as good as it can be. We do a lot of homeopathic stuff. Red, red deer antler Red Deer oil from New Zealand. Check it out. It's the new turtle for some.
Lisa:
37:32
Really? Yeah, my poor Benji has arthritis is terrible.
Sarah:
37:36
And we don't live too far ways to meet the middle for a playdate with
Lisa:
37:43
apps. Absolutely. Oh my gosh, I just think you're fabulous. I wish she lived next door so we could hang out.
Sarah:
37:48
Oh my God, would that be crazy? We would be inseparable. Yes,
Lisa:
37:52
I want you to tell us about Chabi your childhood one of your childhood dogs.
Sarah:
37:57
You know, it's funny because I'm writing fictitious book. But it's going to be based on my life and what led me to dog training and kind of weave in my whole philosophy. And my goal is to tell it from the point of a dog, but you won't necessarily understand that. So of course, my first template is is Xabi. And as I said, I had a human deprived childhood, but I still see my childhood is very good. And I forgive you know, life happens the way it does. But Xabi was our first dog, and she, I was five. My older brother was home. I had very older brothers. And I pulled her out of this little box of puppies that were at a local Indian Reservation. And from the time I picked her up until her very last breath, she was my shadow. There was nowhere. I was that she wasn't. There were no leash laws at the time. And she wasn't a perfect dog, right. I mean, she tipped over garbage cans. I had to go around the neighborhood and get everyone's garbage cans she killed. I think she killed someone's chicken. She was a husky mix. So she wasn't the perfect dog but she was the perfect job for me. And there was never a day I got off the bus that she wasn't at the bus stop. There wasn't a morning walk to the bus that she didn't come with me and she lived a long time she lived 15 years. And um, and so I always call her kind of my mother because she taught me forgiveness I I was teased because I was very underdogs, so I got called doggy things that that. Yeah, I mean bullying is teaches you a lot about human nature and the kind of human you don't want to be. But I remember I came home one day and I was in tears. And I had my book bag and I threw it down. And she kept, you know, the thing dogs do where they taught you for attention, no Gio, and I just shoved her away as hard as I could, because she was driving me crazy, kind of like Skippy is doing right now. You know, I was just I came home to, uh, there was never anybody, my house sent my dog. So I remember pushing her away, and then being very mortified that I could push away my best friend like that. And she crawled under the chair where I was, and she just laid her head in my lap. And it was just like, she's like, No, I, I get it, I forgive you. And to this day, that is my sign of forgiveness, you know, is you just pushed me away, but I'm just gonna come back and I'm here when you need me. And so she, I, I mean, I guess I could call her my mother, but might be real, I don't know. Anyhow, she taught me much more about living and being human than my mother was able to because of the pain and you know, or her own life and needing the work all the time.
Lisa:
41:34
Wow. You know, when you brought up Shadi, you had mentioned how, you know, back then, you mentioned also a moment ago, there's no lease laws, yet a lot of time to hang out. And you're in you write in the book that quote nowadays, dogs and kids rarely have the freedom to bond this way. The world today is different from when I was a child, we have computers, most communities have leash laws, dogs left outside are stolen, people are even more dog phobic. And what are ways and you haven't in the book, but share a little bit about how to get your kids and your dogs to bond because there especially with social media, I mean, you know, you see a kid walking their dog and they're on their flippin phone like they're not even present. It's terrible.
Sarah:
42:12
Yeah, and I, I, you know, there's a certain grace in knowing when you're beat in terms of, um, the best way to get a child to bond with a dog is train that dog sleep, train that dog and include that dog in as many family affairs as you can. Because children have a very low tolerance for stress. No, now, like when parents fight we used to just leave the house, we'd leave the den to get away from it. Now, kids put on headphones or they go in their room and, and they feel solace on those devices. It's a good escape for them. In in my day and age, you went on a walk or you went over to a neighbor's house, you connected with somebody. And so if you have a dog that's nipping that's jumping on the counter that's causing you to stress out and scream. It's stealing the napkins. It's barking at you during dinner time. So it's not the child's not gonna bond at that dog. And there are ways to I just work with a corgi yesterday. I wish I had a before and after video that two people had said to it's too much dog for you. Somebody said it's you know, I hate when people put negative it's a brat. It's all these negative things. It was the smartest dog in the world. I had that dog. All I did is every time he jumped on me or cover my face. Every time I barked or jumped at the table. I just said no, no sweetie, go on your mat or trended on a mat. It picked everything up. I had to teach it in minutes. And it was flying over to its mat to get my attention by the end and it was not difficult. It was just simple techniques. And the people are so happy because everything they were told to do jerk the dog on a prong collar and walk it likes jerking and if it wasn't inside, it's a quirky wants to run around it wants to grab frisbees it wants to and um so really if you want to reach children you really have to provide a very stress free existence and and build a you know have a dog that that when they played their piano or they're doing their homework sits on the mat, choose a bone make the you know, Bill then okay one of your things you're going to do every day for the family. I hate to call it a chore but because you don't want walking the dog is to just take the Dog Out and, and maybe if the dog doesn't walk well on a leash or is reactive on a leash, just take the dog and play fetch with a ball. And if it's a little dog, and then it's winter time, you know, or you have a bass man or you couldn't teach the dog a trick or something like you don't have to make training. So adverse that a child doesn't want to hurt their dog, you can have the kid do the trick training part, the fun stuff, the jumping over things. When When kids come to class, I always have a prized box, and even the 16 year olds and 70 year old one, little dog years, and stuff like that. And I often get parents going when I'm the most engaging conversation with my son on the way home, like the way you put it, and the way you think about it, and that it was a positive experience. And you didn't like make fun of our dog because they barked a lot in class. Made my kids feel so included in the process.
Lisa:
46:02
Oh, that's great. Do you have any advice for a nine year old lab that is mouthy doesn't bite down? He just when he greets people, he likes to put their hand in his mouth and then he pulls away but people hate it and I don't blame him. What what is that is that just his way of like checking people out like that he doesn't even like nibble.
Sarah:
46:22
It's called the slobber greeting the slammer touch. So you have a dog that is naturally oral. So it doesn't matter what time you teach the skills you can teach them now, I would teach him a skill Carrie, and I do this I had a lot a golden here last week, you can see her on Instagram, her name was Billy, very oral, very, very oral, always wanted to carry the leash in her mouth. Now, again, puppies that are all want to carry a leash in their mouth, that's their passion. So you don't teach you don't get mad and pull it out and create a focus. What I did is, dogs don't like oregano oil, they find the taste very offensive. So you take some oregano oil, you put it full strength on a napkin, you hold it in front of their their face, they'll come and sniff it. And as they're sniffing it, and it's going to their brain, they will pull back because it's offensive and then you just say leave it as they're pulling back and then they they learn that that intense scent and the word leaving are kind of paired. And then you dilute it down just a few drops, you know, dogs can smell a drop in a pool. So maybe five drops in a sprayer, you know, medium sized sprayer and then you rub the the you spray it on your arm especially because good manners started home you should start this manner with you or with someone familiar that the dog knows. So you you, you can have like a thing you put on your arm or you can just spray it on your sleeve. And that's one part of it. The other part of it is teach him what to do first. So you have like at my doors, there's always there's a big basket of stuffed toys and balls and bones. So when you come in my house, my dogs feel a rush of adrenaline. That's normal. You're coming into their DUBNER excited. Initially you want to teach him Carrey. And with Billy the dog that stayed here I just took a sliver of newspaper and I folded it up into a neat little mouth about peace. And whether I was doing a favorite toy or I was taking her for a walk, I would use a sliver of paper or toy or stick and I would just say Carrie and I and I would praise her because she likes to hold something in her mouth. And if she spit it out, I didn't make a big scene I just picked it up and reintroduced it a little way down the road. And so she learned carry was a fun word and it meant to carry something in her mouth and even if she grabbed the leash I would say carry so first you teach carry then you teach drop it which again there's a how to video online on how to teach drop it my YouTube my Instagram. With a puppy you just take you pack yourself like a little Kenyatta with some treats and then when they're chewing on a bone or playing with a toy, you just put the treat in front of their nose as they spit out the object you say drop it, then you can use a treat cup also on on my social media, too. If they're chewing a bone or carrying a toy, you can shake the tree cup which they recognize is paired to a treat, say drop it but as they're spinning it out and when you teach this young it's there for life. Then you phase off the treats but you still praise them. So now you've taught a carry and drop it you You engage your boy in any activity where he could carry something. So if you're carrying in some groceries, you can give him a little bag and say carry. If you're going to walk, you can give him a stick or a newspaper, and encourage him to carry, then you plant some toys at that he loves if he loves tennis balls, playing a little basket of toys at the front door. So every time you come in, you say get your ball, get your ball. And so you're really driving listen, you love stuff in your mouth, I'm gonna teach you all sorts of fun tricks, and things you can do to engage your mouth. And then what I want you to do is take the oregano, get him to recognize this smell as adverse, which I described with the paper towel, full strength, you never shove it in his nose, you just let him smell it. And then you have a little sprayer by your front door that you spray your arm. And when he comes up, and he grabs your arm, it says distasteful things. So you can say, leave it and then move on.
Lisa:
51:15
Well, that's amazing. You know, it's funny because he does love to carry things around half my socks are missing. And he luckily he doesn't eat him. He just drops them in different parts of the house. But one thing I thought was funny is when we got blue, blue learns things quickly, within a week, he would notice that when someone came over Benji would put something in his mouth to bring to the person before then he would drop it in and melt them. But I got to work, I'm gonna work on that blue it literally in like a week blue when someone would come to the door, he would run around the house looking for something to bring. That's how they do things here.
Sarah:
51:46
Everybody put a little basket of toys in all the room you share because the dog knows what to grab. Because we do things with our hands when we're nervous. Or when we're anxious dogs need to put things in their mouth, have a fester chew, if you're having like a party or somebody's coming in the house and they have to work and it's gonna disrupt your dogs give them a really special chew, they can just chew off.
Lisa:
52:13
Yeah, this is great. Okay, first of all, you got to come back. There's still so much more to talk about. And I know you have a lot of books and I want to talk to you about all of them. I just want to tell people this really is everything you need to know. The book again is puppies for Dummies, fourth edition, understand your puppies actions, use positive reinforcement techniques for training, redirect problem behaviors. I think the book was like 500 pages, and I read the whole book and I learned so much and you've given me the confidence today and from reading your book that maybe I will get a pet because I want a little pet puppy someday. Oh, yeah. And I want you to take him first. Do the sleep thing and then we'll take it from there. But is there anything else you wanted to add today?
Sarah:
52:54
No, that's what people love the most when I send their puppies home that they're sleeping through the night that they have kind of a handle on housebreaking, because with my four dog show, I was gonna ask about grass, and that they're well socialized to dogs of all ages, because the third my 13 year old dog doesn't want any puppy nipping on her tail. Whereas peekaboo is my youngest plays with them all day and Skippy is like the saint we come st Skippy he just babysits them all. So no, I love what I do. I'm happy to help anybody. It's It's not rocket science. And don't believe everything you see or read.
Lisa:
53:32
All right, well, I think you're incredible. Tell us all the ways we can find you. I think I'm following on Instagram and I got to make sure I got to see these videos.
Sarah:
53:39
Um, I'm out there on all the social media. It's Sarah says pets. You can hop on my website, which is either Sarah says pets.com or simply my name.com Um, and my books YouTube. I'm out there.
Lisa:
54:01
Oh, great. Well, this has been so much fun. I can't wait to have you back puppies for dummies. Fourth Edition. You wrote them all. That is really impressive. I had so much fun today. I can't wait to have you back.
54:13
Lisa
54:15
Okay, so follow me to see blue and Benji at Lisa Davis mph on Tik Tok, Instagram and Twitter and keep coming back to dog eared rate, review and subscribe.