Welcome to the Animal Training Academy podcast show. I'm your host Ryan Carledge and I'm passionate about helping you master your animal training skills using the most positive and least intrusive approaches. Here at ATA we understand that navigating the vast challenges you encounter in training requires a comprehensive base of knowledge and experience. It's common to face obstacles and rough patches on your journey that can leave you feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
Therefore, since 2015 we've been on a mission to empower animal training geeks worldwide. We've aided thousands in developing their skills, expanding their knowledge, boosting their confidence, and maximizing their positive impact on all the animal and human learners they work with. We are excited to do the same for you. Simply visit www.atamember.com, join our vibrant community and geek out with us.
And of course, in the meantime, enjoy this free podcast episode as we explore new ways to help you supercharge your training skills, grow your knowledge, and build your confidence so that you can craft a life that positively impacts every learner you encounter. But we will start today's episode where I'm absolutely thrilled to welcome back to the ATA podcast show, the wonderful Rose Brown.
Now, if you haven't listened to the first part of our conversation, you can find it in the previous episode on whatever app you're listening to this show on. In that episode, we explored Rose's journey and getting started with positive reinforcement animal training and followed her through her career.
However, if you haven't listened to it yet, you are of course welcome to start here with part two, where you will still gain plenty of insights to help you grow your skills, knowledge, and confidence in animal training.
Let's introduce our guest, Rose Brown, who is a Karen Pryor Academy certified training partner, a FAIR-free certified professional animal trainer, and member of several prestigious organizations, including the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and the Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers.
Rose authored the new puppy start right for instructors online preschool for the Karen Pryor Academy, which is the online integrative component for the original puffy start right preschool for instructors. Since 1995, Rose has been deeply immersed in dog training and behavior. She owns Dynamic Canines and has extensive education in canine behavior from world-renowned professionals.
She's a lifelong student, continually updating her knowledge with the latest scientific research to help pet parents incorporate practical evidence-based training into their daily lives. Her passion lies in early intervention during puppyhood, which is what we're going to be diving into today. This helps ensure emotional well-being and prevent behavioral issues in the future.
So without further ado, it's my very great pleasure to welcome Rose back to the show today, who's patiently waiting by on the other side of the world in Labrador, Canada. Rose, thank you so much for taking the time to come and hang out with us at Animal Training Academy. Thanks so much, Ryan. Delighted to be back and to do some talking about puppies. Yeah, for this episode, everyone, super excited because it's so many people's favorite thing, puppies. I mean, who does not love puppies?
As we learned about in part one and in your bio, puppies are a big focus of yours with an emphasis on getting things right from the start of our dogs. And Rose, I believe you've put a list together for us of the five biggest things you believe trainers can do to teach emotional well-being in puppies and social help their puppy guardians. But maybe to get us started, can you just start in your words, why is this so important to you?
And what made you really want to share about this topic with amazing ATA podcast audience? Right. I became really passionate when I took the Puppy Start Right for Instructors course from Debbie and Dr. Ken Martin, when it launched back in 2012. I was gobsmacked. I have to be honest, because prior to that, puppy classes, even if they said they were socialization classes, they really weren't. They were obedience classes, for lack of a better term.
They really weren't dealing with the issues that all puppy parents have, especially like I said, potty training, kennel training, nipping, biting, all of the things that come in a puppy package that most people think, oh, that's nothing. And then they're overwhelmed by it all, trying to get a puppy to sleep through the night. None of these things were really addressed.
But with the Puppy Start Right program, Puppy Start Right Preschool, Debbie and Ken had done this amazing job of designing a program that while, yes, you're starting teaching some skills and clicker training, really the primary focus was on living with puppy, dealing with these normal puppy behaviors. And also, most importantly, was it gave a clear definition of how to do proper socialization, right? Because it's still to this day, people think exposure is socialization. It's not, right?
And then it also went up against the grain at the time of, well, don't take your puppy out until they've had all their shots, right? Which is 16 weeks. So Debbie and Ken brought all of this information based on science, showing the information and the research that showed that, hey, you know what? You can't wait until 16 weeks, right? This is your time to get started.
And they designed a program that when incorporated right and following the correct safety protocols of how to set up the environment sort of classrooms, that there was very little risk of puppies picking up those contagious diseases during this time because their immune system still isn't up to snuff for lack of a better term. They do need those vaccinations and that. So, they found and designed a program that gave the right balance.
But more importantly, their program is also designed not based on, okay, this week we're coming in, we're practicing systase, we're doing this, we're doing that. Their program was actually designed based on themes. And that's what I really loved about it because, you know, we're doing health and handling this week, right? How many puppy classes have you gone into that are actually focusing on preparing puppies for going to vets?
You know, preparing like wheels and children's toys, like understanding how to provide positive experiences of introducing your puppy to the world that's filled with wheels and children's toys. You know, obstacles and sounds preventing everybody kind of already knew about fireworks and thunderstorms and that. But guess what? There's way more sounds. I mean, I don't know how many times dogs have ended up being traumatized by a smoke detector going off.
So, it designed it so that they're getting in early and setting the scene and giving the instructors the information and the tools of how to get in there and do it in a way that is at a level that the puppy can succeed at. And then you start building up, you know, that resilience to it and having those really good positive experiences. Because again, that's such a muddy term, I find, too. People think positive experiences is, hey, I took the puppy out, right?
And we're like, no, no, no. Positive is based on the puppy's opinion of the experience, just because, you know, this mindset of, you know, your puppy must meet 100 people within the first 100 days. Well, that's crap. I never agreed with that. Because again, that can tip to flooding, right? You've got a scared puppy who's unsure of people. The last thing you want to do is having 100 strangers maul your puppy, right?
So, the Puppy Start Right program kind of was also, for me, it was kind of like, this is where we need to focus. This is where we need to begin. And so, you know, I started teaching it. And again, I had to go knock down a lot of barriers with the vets because they were like, do not take your puppy to Rose's class until they're 16 weeks. But you know what?
Again, you go out into the community, not with a shield, you go out to the community with the power of education and having that science and that information and those veterinary position statements from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and going in. Because you've got to remember, vets are there to protect the health of your puppy too. So, of course, you know, we're not the ones who are seeing the parvo and distemper cases coming in that kill puppies, right?
They absolutely are. And so, when we look at that approach of just like, I totally respect what you're doing, but our program has been designed to protect as well in conjunction and keep your puppy safe so that we're not having a puppy who only comes out first time on a piece of grass in front of the house at 17 weeks of age. Because we also know that lack of socialization and getting into those early days is just as detrimental, right? As a form of abuse, right?
So, you know, it really kind of started setting me on that path of, I want a Marley, I want your puppies, you know? Because, and the other thing is, is that, you know, within the program, it gave us also the skills to identify that if we have an extremely fearful puppy or somebody that's not right for the program, guess what? We will take it and go private.
Like, we can work with you, we can get you, you know, in with a veterinarian to assess, to ensure, you know, that there's nothing medical going on. And, you know, and most importantly, it also designed it in a way that, you know, the puppies also got to play with each other in, again, a very controlled, matched, appropriate play, right?
And which was also really important because, again, this thing of, oh, I'll just let my puppy play with all the puppies, or I'm going to take them to the dog park to socialize. And when we know that, gosh, no, that's the worst thing you can do for a young puppy. But, you know, trying to match them up.
So the program really just kind of lit the fire underneath me for, yeah, I wish I had known then what I know now, you know, in comparing it to what I had done with all of my previous dogs for their socialization. And once we got into that, and I started seeing, I started seeing the benefit of, you know, the removal of a lot of frustration for puppy parents, right? Being able to address that, and using, you know, ponytails as tug toys on the moms, right?
Or, you know, helping them work out what to do during zoomy hour to kind of, you know, and helping them understand about overtiredness is, you know, cranky crankies, as when teeth come out. All of those different little components that the majority of us, you know, in our field know, the average person doesn't, and is very frustrated.
And so when I saw the benefits of helping them get started on that, knowing that we had a good foundation there, actually the ones that still bring the most, I guess, reinforcement for me, were the wallflower puppies that we would have come in through. So these were the puppies who, you know, were not completely fearful, but just a little shy, a little unsure.
And by being able to take what the skills and the tools that I had, and kind of take them, take everything and kind of soften it for the puppy to succeed, you know, and giving them that kind of safe space to grow, it was amazing at the end of, you know, the four and five weeks, the difference of those wallflowers, because they just lost them to the bloom. And those were the ones that I was like, you know what, today we prevented a fearful pup from developing severe, fearful behaviors, right?
And so, you know, it was just like, oh my gosh, we need this more in the world. We need this early intervention. You know, I also had puppies come in that were so fearful that, you know, again, same thing.
We were able to get them sorted and get them started on medication sooner rather than later to help them start to develop so that, you know, just a little bit of medical support, you know, and work on what, with the veterinarians in my community that, you know, they just needed a little bit of medical support, which really kind of helped that also build their confidence and start building that resilience that, you know what, without it, it would have been a completely different picture.
So I think it's because I just saw so much change in the pups and the benefit, and more importantly, the benefit of getting to the human end of the leash so that they didn't resort to me and the puppy in the chest, right, when at five months now they're jumping and nipping, right, and I can't handle it anymore. Because guess what?
It seems there's this like complete switch generally of the tolerance level that when you hit five or six months, people no longer think your puppy behaviors are cute, right?
So helping people understand the behavior of a puppy and what was normal and what isn't normal, you know, and then, you know, lots of fun, I have to say, and I love the ingenuity that some of some of the clients came up with in trying to, you know, keep their puppies from chewing on things, you know, and just kind of giving them just the tools to kind of be able to start thinking for themselves and understand that, oh, it's okay to use a lot of management in these early days, because guess what?
Your puppy's too young to be able to, quote unquote, know obedience skills, right? And obedience skills does not help when puppy's digging in a couch. They've got nothing to do with the need for digging, you know what I'm saying? So helping people understand that and helping give them, you know, proper outlets and ideas for enrichment and doing all of that.
And it just, you know, it also just got their relationships started off on the right paw together, you know, because honestly, puppy instructors at that age, we spend a lot of time also consoling and comforting. A lot of people get the puppy blues, right? You know, and so helping them talk that out and like, you know, this is okay, because I think what happens too is that people also fail to realize that it is a very tangly, tiring time when you bring a new puppy into your home.
Your life is literally turned upside down, because you got to get everything sorted with your puppy and on schedule, and your routine has changed, but it will get better, right? And the earlier you can help them have those plans and know what to do, it makes it so much more easier. So it's just truly, it's kind of the whole picture of just like, yeah, and one ounce of prevention is so worth a pound of cure. So let's transition into, thank you for all of that.
Thanks for setting the stage for our listeners. And wherever you are on your puppy training journey, or you're just, maybe you're doing something else, and you're just interested in learning about this topic, and maybe you've been doing it for years, or maybe you're just getting started. What are the five biggest things that you believe trainers, wherever they are, can do to teach emotional well-being in puppies, and as you just talked about then, help their parent, guardian clients?
Can you start us off, please? All right. So I have lots, but I'll stick it to five, but I actually have six, okay? So I'm just going to go through the list and certainly interject and ask any questions that you have. Number one is the education piece. We need to teach people how dogs learn, right? It doesn't, you don't have to get into the nitty-gritty, the neurobiology, because it's quite simple. It's association, safe or unsafe.
Helping them understand that most of what puppies are learning is by association. It's, as I always say, it truly is all about feels. Does it feel good? Does it feel fun? And that's so important when it comes to understanding how to properly socialize, because you just don't go through the socialization list. No, we got to ensure that each association and new experience the puppy is having is something that the puppy feels good about. Even if they're unsure in the beginning, we can do that.
So helping them understand how dogs learn, because they assume that puppies love everything. Puppies love all people. Puppies love all dogs, and that's so far from the truth. Number two is body language, which I don't think will be a surprise to any trainer. People are really good at reading the extremes of body language in dogs. Extremely happy, extremely fearful, but not everything in between. I don't know how many times people will say, oh, are you tired? Are you tired?
And yet the puppy's yawning because they're stressed. So helping them learn about the canine, just basics to help get them started so they can learn to read their own puppy. But here's the other thing. Body language needs to be learned for the human side too. This is something I don't think people have a tendency to focus on when we're looking at teaching body language. Because a lot of our body language that we do, because remember, dogs are the experts at reading body language.
But oftentimes there's a lot of stuff in our body language that we do that is actually threatening to a dog. So helping people understand some of those core human body language things that we do that can cause a negative or a fearful response in the puppy. And also ways to make it a fun response. Instead of leaning forward to the puppy when you're trying to get them, lean back, open your arms. So good and bad things. It's not always negative.
Helping them, again, this ties into back to part of the body language, but it's really understanding and helping pet parents understand what those emotional responses look like. Because it can be different for each dog, the subtleness and everything else like that. And when I'm talking about emotional responses, a big component of that is helping them understand the components of stress. The good stress, tolerable and toxic stress.
I'm quoting Dr. Christina Spaulding, who has been such a mentor and a wonderful teacher of mine too. And her book about stress is phenomenal. It forces even better. And it's really helping them understand the basics of stress, because not all stress is bad. And pretty much every experience that brand new puppies into the world are going to have is going to start with a form of stress.
Most of it, hopefully, will always be tolerable, where they may not be 100% sure, first time seeing something or whatever, but within a few minutes or even a few different experiences, they're like, this is great. So that's really important too. Number five is ensuring people understand what positive, proactive experiences are, otherwise known as socialization. You have to teach people how to do it right. We only get one chance at a first impression.
And so teaching them that, and then ensuring that they're doing a rinse and repeat. Because there's no good saying, I went through all of my socialization checklist once and thinking it's done for life because it's not. So that's really important. This may sound kind of ironic, but I've always said, I don't care if your puppy or dog can sit to about one year of age, so long as they're having a great time every time they're out in the world and within their home with good experiences.
Some of the most resilient, happiest social dogs I've ever met have never stepped foot inside of quote unquote an obedience school, right? Because they've just had those positive proactive experiences. Number five, helping people learn to let their puppies be a dog. This is paramount. Providing, and we even know more now with more research in recent years, why it's so important that we're providing outlets for those individual dog breeds, because not all dogs are the same.
A terrier might enjoy having a sandpit to dig to their heart's delight and give it to a French Bulldog and they're like, is this, am I supposed to lie on this? So you have to know the individual breed, the tendencies, but giving them outlets, letting them go on sniff ferries in safe areas, especially for young puppies. Stop trying to stick the six foot leash on them from day one. We know so much about in mental enrichment, being able to sniff.
I mean, that is where they get their social information about the world around them. This also, and again, giving them some agency, letting them have a say in the conversation and control. If a puppy is trying to shy away from meeting a person or another dog, or a kid on a bike, you know what? Don't be pulling on the leash to try to get them to go and say, that's okay. That's okay. That's just Johnny on his bike.
So letting them understand that the puppy puts the brakes on, hey, this is a conversation, respect what you're hearing. And we can do that. And it's so easy to do that. And people are actually quite relieved to know like, oh my gosh, I didn't know that. And then also letting them have some independence. This was one of my epiphanies that came to me during the pandemic and resulted in me creating independence trails for puppies.
And it's applicable to dogs of all ages, really good for shelter dogs in that too. Because guess what? We have been inadvertently squashing a puppy's independence from the moment we bring them home because of our micromanagement of them. Like we can't let them out of our sights. We're continuously taking them out of their things.
If we design some independence trails that set up for them safe areas and let them venture onto those trails with those different setups, we are actually again, giving them agency control and a sense of independence and also keeping them safe. Right? So the last thing I know, I've done the five, here's number six. It's letting people know whether it's puppies, cats, kittens, horses, doesn't matter. All trainers. There is one thing no trainer can train, but everybody, everybody is able to do it.
And that is be an influencer, be the positive influencer in your dog's life. I cannot train happy. I can train a sit. I cannot train happy. Only the dog or any other animal that you're with can control how they feel.
But the most important thing is by setting them up with puppies and doing this the right way, we can influence their environment and our interactions with them so that we create that really, you know, as I always say, the rock solid, you know, good, emotional, well -rounded pup, right? Who's able to kind of bounce back from anything and have set resilience.
But if we're influencing in a more negative than we are in a positive way, whether it's our interactions or the experiences that we're providing them and not recognizing those signs of stress or, you know, emotional distress as particularly then, you know, it doesn't matter how well they can sit if they don't feel good about it. So there that's my top five plus bonus one ways we can help with those emotional wellbeing.
I have some, I have some questions for you, but before we do, can you, can you just list out the six again, just the titles, if you have titles or broad ideas of the six again, and then you can ask some questions. Titles, sorry. Or the points like just list out the six things. Oh, just list them out. Okay. How dogs learn body language for canines and humans, what their emotional responses look like, stress, good, tolerable, toxic, creating positive proactive experiences, letting them be a dog.
And the one thing no trainer can ever train, but everyone can do it is be an influencer. All right. Wonderful. Thank you for that. So let's hold, let's hold all that in our minds. Everyone. I'm curious, you're working on some big projects at the moment, but there was a time when you were more heavily involved, would you say, and puppy classes and puppy parents.
So explain, explain to, explain to me and the podcast audience, the, the, I'm going to say that the avatar, the, the average client in the middle of the bill curve, what does the average puppy owner client look like create a character? Tell me, tell me who they are a little bit about what their problems are, how old their puppy is, what kind of things they're saying, explain, explain the average person that come, that would come to you. Okay. All right.
So yeah, so the average person that come to me often it's kind of 50, 50. Cause some had kids, it was kind of like a split between people with younger, younger kids in their family or a young couple. And this was their, this was their first child together. So that, that was about the demographics for the majority of my, of my pups.
So they would come and a lot of the average client came with not so much unrealistic expectations, but feeling overwhelmed because there was way more than what they had prepared for, right. Or thought was going to be. So, you know, it was kind of, here was, here was the, the major things, house training, right. Nipping, not sleeping through the night or just, you know, they got teeth in the body. Right.
So that, that kind of was the top three initial concerns, you know, and the other thing, a good chunk of them also had was that they'd also had previous dogs in the past who had behavior issues. And so this time when they found out there was classes, if they could get in early, they ran for it, which was really good, right. Because again, it was kind of like, oh, I don't want to have happen. What happened? My last dog.
So, you know, and of course they were also looking for the socialization piece, which often most of them, again, we're going with that cultural fog that's out there of exposure. So yeah. So socialization, they were the primary behavior concerns when they, when they first came in and, and, you know, but again, you know, it all came in, loving their pups. Nobody, nobody was coming in and was like, oh, I was just giving this, this puppy, what do I do with it?
They were all somewhat prepared, some better than others. Some had done research, some bought, bought puppies on a whim, you know, and then unfortunately a good chunk of them also bought them online and, you know, when puppy arrived, not what they expected. So, but, but that was kind of like, do you just want to get them socialized? And guess what? Really what they were looking for was just a family pet that they could enjoy. You know, these weren't people that were coming in.
You know, I did have, have folks come through who were planning on doing sports or service dog training, but you know, 98% of the clients were just looking for a family pet. Does that answer the question of the average? It does. It does. And I'm going to come back to this. So run us, run us through those six things again. I'm going to run it down this time. So I don't have to keep asking you. All right. How dogs learn. Body language, canine and human. What their emotional responses look like.
Stress, good, tolerable and toxic. Proactive, positive experiences. Letting them be a dog. And the one thing no, no one can train, but everyone can do it. And that's to be an emotional influencer. How dogs learn. Body language. What their emotional responses look like. Stress and everything you said about that. Proactive, positive experiences. Let them be a dog and be an influencer. Not an Instagram influencer, a positive emotional influencer. Yeah. All right, Rose, we're going back 10 years.
Okay. I am, me and my partner, Kidless, we just got our first dog. Oh my God. We're so excited. We watched Marley and me and we were like, we want a child just like that. And that's what we thought we were getting. But Rose, I'm incredibly overwhelmed. I don't know. I think we might've made a bad decision. There's dogs weeing all over the house. It's nipping us and pulling my ponytails. We haven't slept well for weeks. We just wanted a dog that could be part of our family, Rose.
We had a dog in the past. They had some challenges and we didn't know about these classes. As soon as we heard about it, we signed up. What does that person's journey look like? Back in those things you've just shared with us, how would you help these people and guide them through those?
Again, I keep coming back to this Puppy Start Right program because so much of the stuff was there that we could hear some, look, I have a resource here right for you because we have the book, Puppy Start Right published book. And then of course the videos and that, we could get them all started up right away. And the other thing too, the beauty about that program, I should have said, is that I also offered free auditing of the class prior to committing. So people could see exactly what it was.
But these guys didn't audit the class, but they came in and they want to get in on the program. Great. So I'd have the package for you. I'd talk through, I'd also offer, just give me a quick rundown. Let me see what I can help you with immediately. Because again, I'm there to help and support. Or if they're really overwhelmed, oftentimes they say, you know what? I can come to your home. We can book in a private session. Let me come over and let's see what's taking place.
And let me give you a routine that's probably doable for you. Especially, and let's get concentrated on the house training. Because that is like one of the top three reasons dogs get relinquished. So yeah. So I'd be there to help them right away. So it's not just a matter of, here's the program, good luck to you. It really is stepping in to provide that support. Which, as I said, other puppy classes, programs that were available here, it was just like, well, just make them sit for everything.
Or we're going to implement nothing in life is free, seriously. Or take away all the toys, or put them in the crate. These will be some of Hans' solutions. That's not helpful. But I'd go and I would. I'd provide them some guidance. First thing I do is like, here's the house training schedule. You need to adhere to this. It's commitment that makes the difference to successful house training. The commitment has to be on your side. Then talk about safe confinement or setting up that area.
Then same thing, nipping is often a result of no proper outlet. Like tug, or how to play, or interact. Sometimes it can also be like your puppy's really tired. So you've had them on the go for eight hours today, because you're going from one place to another. Yeah, no. They actually need more hours of sleep right now. So they need rest. They need quiet time. You're not putting them away. So helping them understand the high levels right there on the spot. People like, oh, really? Oh, gosh.
Oh, no, that's great. House training schedule? Yes, absolutely. You can even get apps to download. Then also, let them know, you need to track this, because guess what? UTIs are quite common in young puppies, too. So we know how often puppies go, and it might be indicative of the UTI. I'm going to tell you, that was so frequent in my classes, when I'd say to people, like, are you tracking? You're like, no. It's like, I think you need to go back to tracking. This seems like it will be something.
Sure enough, they go, and it was a UTI. So again, it was people like, oh, my gosh, they did. I said, yeah, that's the power of data. You're able to present to the vet and say, he went this many times. But yeah, so it's kind of like, I do have this package, and we have the book. We have the materials. We have the videos. And of course, the last going off where I developed the online program, because hey, what do you do when the world shuts down and you have puppies, 16 puppies on the roster?
When we did come back, I found it so beneficial of teaching what I call the human component and the problem-solving concerns online, because it really was a good time. They had the full attention of the parents in that, that I didn't go back to bring that into the classroom. I actually just went back to hosting sociables and doing the other stuff. So the parents got to come in and have fun and know that their answers were being answered that week in our online portion of the class.
So yeah, so how do you feel about that now, Ryan? Do you think you can hold on to puppy now? Yeah, what am I going to learn in these sociables? How does that work? And somewhere in there, I heard you say independent trails. What is an independent trail? Yeah. So sociables are where we have the setups and we have obstacles and different instruments or music or, you know, vet's office or whatever, where the puppies get to come in. And the first part, you know, is we have a puppy play.
Again, they have to be matched. They have to be the right match for the puppy. And these aren't big classes. Okay. Just so you know, they're not like 18, 20 pups. Right. It's like six puppies. And so we match and divide according to each individual puppy. Right. So they get to have puppy play if it's appropriate for that puppy.
And then we get to go around and to get to explore and interact with all of these weird and novel items and objects and go through tunnels and, you know, see little trains going by, making choo-choo sounds, moving toys, you know, that singing dance, you know, the llama, what we feel on our bum and all of those kinds of things. So each week we would lay out some things we kept safe because it's nice to have something that's consistently the same.
So especially for puppies who are just growing confidence, we're exposing them to the same safe thing. And we just bury those interactions for the, for the pups. And we'd also teach people how to greet a puppy, you know, and, and, you know, practice on those skills, right.
Of, you know, puppy name and, and just having their attention and just, you know, really ensuring that, hey, they're going out and it, they're like, you know, having a great time and there's no pressure and the puppy gets to explore and experience the world in a safe place. So that's what sociables look like. We just don't give them beer, you know, it's like hanging out at the bar with a group of new fun friends.
And then, and then you said you've moved your, would you, would you call it educational pieces? What is, what, what's involved? Yeah, so, yeah, so the, the puppies start right online. Like I said, I wrote, I ended up writing the, the component, the sister basically to the in-person class. I took, I took in-person and put it online and wrote it for instructors so they can start teaching and that online. And this, this came as a result of the pandemic.
So each week in each of the classes, we do have basically, you know, behavior topics, right? That, that, that's done, you know, that rotates according to each theme. So for example, house training, right? Have that information or whatever, if they're having house training issues, we're going to be discussing that, right?
So it provides that open forum so people can ask the questions or if they're still having concerns, they're not just like, like, you know, what to do about biting, let's dig a bit deeper about biting and nipping, right? Let's, let's talk about creating that, that vet visit. Like why, why is it that we want you to start, you know, helping your puppy learn to be cuddled? Let's show you how to pick up your puppy in the right way.
So they don't fly out of your arms or you're not squeezing their belly. So these are all different things that, you know, they're not really problems to begin with, but they become problems if they can't get it resolved, right? So each week there's, there are set topics that are covered and, you know, we were doing that in person, but it was actually, you know, more beneficial online because guess what?
I'm not missing out what Ryan said that he's having an issue with because I got to take puppy outside the potty, right? So, and so we designed a class that, you know, the, the, the information and the work that we're doing with the puppy, which is very minimal is just enough to kind of review how they're doing with different things. We do that all just at the beginning because it's too tiring for puppy and to get too distracted.
And then we move on and then we spend a good chunk of the other part, like helping them problem solve. So you actually get to have more interactive time and provide support by using the online combined with the in-person sociables. Yeah. I mean, you can, you can teach it either way, but personally, I found that then the person got double, you know, that, that interaction and, and, and then, you know, being able to have that, that Q and a time.
Yeah. I'm switching back into my, my fake persona of childless Ryan. I don't even know, can't even remember what they look like, but okay. Rose, well, thank, thank you for telling me about how your program works. So like what you're basically telling me, whereas is that I'm going to do all of these things and then my life's going to look exactly like the Marley and me movie. Is that what you're saying?
You know what, Ryan, I'm going to do my best to ensure that we get you and your puppy started together on the right path for life, but I'm also going to burst the bubble and help you understand that this is just the beginning. There's loads of things that we need to continue to work on. So let's get you over. This is the busiest part of having a puppy because there are so many essential components we need to get a handle on now that have nothing to do with quote unquote manners or obedience.
You know, so once we get back, then we can continue to focus on building onto the skills we've started in the class. Yeah. But here's the thing. You're going to love your puppy. There, there aren't, you know, we used to offer joke in the classroom. They say who had a Kijiji moment this week and took their puppy's picture and was ready to place them up on the for sale sign. So because it's real, right?
And I think that's really beneficial when we tell people instead of trying to like, Oh no, that's fine. It's just a puppy. You know what? It is just a puppy. Still doesn't make it any fun when I got a set of tiny needle teeth planted in the back of my ankle as I'm trying to walk to the back, you know? So I think that's keeping it real for people and helping them learn to take that breath and also asking them not, not, not just what's going on.
Like we always started off our classes, like tell us one of your best experiences you had, or one of the funnest things that you had done with your puppy this week. You know, don't come to me. My puppy done this, that, and the other thing. Yeah. Okay. They're going to and I'm not being saucy when I say that. I'm like, that's because your puppy's normal. This is going to happen. Right. And it's a process and it's a lot of repetition. Right. And guess what?
Sometimes it's a lot of two steps forward, three back. Right. So. Well, thanks so much for sharing everything Rose. I could just keep asking questions, but I'm looking at the time and thinking this is probably a good place to wrap up and that people have more questions and they can of course reach out to you and we'll tell you how to do that shortly.
Before we do though, Rose, there's one question I love to ask all my guests and we've been doing this for, I think, I don't even know, seven, eight, maybe eight, maybe even more than that. We've been doing this a while and we've been asking this question the whole time. So it's cool because we kind of reach a point where we can go back to the start of that podcast show and listen to what the answers to this question were back then.
The question is, what would you like to see happen over the next five to 10 years in the animal training world? If you want to stick to puppies, that's completely fine as well. I think for us, the future, a lot's happened in five to 10 years of COVID as you said and everything else. Where are we going though? What do you really want to see happen? Okay, so I'm going to try to tweak this quick so as not to go too long. This is my wish list.
There is some movement starting towards national legislation in all countries and certifications for trainers. Total worldwide ban on the use of corrective collars and electronic fences. Breeder licensing. Again, it's starting. We need it to spread. I'd like to see fear-free everything as the norm. Vet clinics, groomers, shelters, trainers. I'm hoping because it seems to be going is of course, continued research. We're getting so much more research in and seeing this come out, it's phenomenal.
It's so beneficial for us all. I'd like to see programs being changed that come away from the traditional outdated manners classes and focus on designing programs that are based in real life and how to transfer those skills to those lives for each individual dog and also that all basic programs, every program include at minimum basic canine or animal education for pet parents. That just becomes the standard, right?
So that everyone who's teaching a program regardless if it's puppies, adults, shelters, that every person gets educated on dogs, basic education, the body language. We're missing that important component. Lots of people are doing great work at it. There just isn't enough. We need to spread it. And again, communities are coming together to do that. Right? Also design programs that are built on less is more. If nothing we learned through the pandemic about overwhelmed and too much.
And again, too often we're trying to cram all the things of teaching a dog into eight weeks. It's not possible. People drop out, people can't complete it. Again, if we use less is more and provide a model that's based on real life, that would be phenomenal. It takes so much pressure off the person, but most importantly, it takes the pressure off the dog. And also incorporating into those programs, again, outlets for those dogs, right? I think enrichment should be a part of that standard.
Everybody should be educated on enrichment and also stop using pass and fails in manners programs for everyday life. It doesn't do good to compare one dog to the next. Different if you're in sports competitions or something that has a set criteria, agility or whatever, that's different. But for the average pet person, I don't want to go in and be in a class where my puppy, because they didn't whole assist day for more than five seconds, they failed. That's so wrong.
And it's not where positive reinforcement needs to be focused. Nobody fails. We're all learning and every dog and person learns at their own individual pace. And so helping people learn to work at their dog's level, not where they want to be is so important. So that's just some of my highlights. I could go on and on, but yeah. And I really liked the way things are going. I think it's just going to continue, but that's my wishlist. Well, awesome. That is definitely a future I want to live in.
And I'm sure as a listener of the show, you're resonating with that as well. Again, so much gratitude Rose for everything you've shared today. Before we officially wrap up though, I think that's the second time I've said that. I know we mentioned this in part one, but can you just remind everyone listening where they can go to find out more about you, what you do and get in touch? Absolutely. Yeah. So I live in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, sorry.
My website is dynamiccanines.ca. You can contact me directly for there. And if anybody has any questions or comments, good, bad, or anything in between, Hey, I love hearing feedback. So it'd be great to hear from you, but certainly happy to speak to anyone that's interested in puppies. I love puppies and not because they're cute, but because we get to have so much influence over setting them up right for life plus they're cute. Fantastic.
And we will of course link to all of us in the show notes as well. Rose, this has been so much fun. So from myself and on behalf of everyone listening again, we really appreciate you taking the time to come and hang out with us today. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ryan. Honestly, it's been an absolute pleasure and so insightful with the questions that you asked. Yeah. You're, you're a phenomenal host and I can see why your, your podcasts are just so successful.
So thank you for having me enjoy the rest of your day. And thank you so much for listening as well. This is your host, Ryan Cartlidge signing off from this episode of the Animal Training Academy podcast show. We hope today's conversation inspired you and equipped you with new tools for your trainer's toolbox. Remember every challenge in training is an opportunity to learn and sharpen your animal training geekery. Embrace the rough patches, learn from them and keep improving.
And don't forget the path to growing your skills and expanding your knowledge continues beyond this episode. Visit www.atamember.com to join our supportive membership where you will find a community of trainers just like you. Together, we're making a huge positive difference in the lives of animal and human learners worldwide. Until next time, keep honing your skills, stay awesome and remember every interaction with an animal or human learner is your opportunity to create ripples.
We're here cheering you on every step of the way. See you at the next episode.