You're listening to in the Vets Office with doctor Josie Horchak.
All right, welcome to in the Vets Office. I am your host, doctor Josie, and this week we are joined by a very special guest, my friend Nicki Varva. She is an amazing dog trainer. She's been training for twelve years professionally and actually just this past December went out on her own and decided to open up her own training program here in Nashville. It's called Always Training Canine. Her bread and butter is behavior modification, but she really
does it all. She can do doc diving, search and rescue and is really passionate about training service dogs for veterans with PTSD.
So welcome Nicki. I'm so happy to have you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. You're welcome.
And as always, this podcast is BYOD. So we have mister Sailor here, which is Nicky's dog. Tell us a little bit about Sailor.
So, Saylor's about to be He's about to be two. He's a German Shorthaired poeinner and he is a dog that I got to be able to. He's like a demo dog. I can have him around any dogs that I bring into training, and he can bring them out of their show. He can also be a great distraction for them, So he's kind of a what I call my co pilot. That's amazing. Does he should be on payroll? You know, he gets to live their rent free, so I'm pretty sure that's enough for him.
It's gonna say, Sailor's so handsome. I was just telling Nicky we've had dogs take poops in the studio. My dog bit Bobby last season, and Sailor's sitting here like a perfect angel.
So we had a long talk on the way. You know, it's like, hey, behave you're a trainer's dog, you know, don't embarrass me. The bar is very high, very high. Well, we'll jump right into our case of the week.
We always talk about something that I've seen in practice. A lot of times owners don't really know what's going on behind the scenes and the trenches, as we say, and so the case for this week is a sad one, but I think it's important to talk about because we do see it from time to time. It was one of my owners called me and said, hey, you know, I left a bag of veggie straws out on the counter, and he had three dogs, and one of them got up on the counter, got the bag of food, brought
them down. He came home from whatever errand he was running and it was I think pretty gruesome. There was blood everywhere. Two of the dogs had ganged up on the smaller dog and beat them up pretty bad.
Which it's a sad story.
It's not a great case of the week, but I think it's an important one to talk about because so often we think about dogs fighting each other at the dog park or getting into altercations when they're on the leash. But I in practice, we'll see dogs that live together and that are siblings fight and.
Hurt each other all the time.
So I'm a big proponent of when you're leaving the house, putting them in a crate.
What do you think about that? One hundred percent? You know that, honestly, right there could just saved that fight. You never know. I told you this. Nobody can ever guarantee you what your dogs are gonna do when they're by themselves, whether it's a single dog or multiple dogs. The safest thing that you can do is just put them in a crate, right put them in a crate. And you know, I'm at that. People say that's a band aid, but honestly, that could have saved a big
fight or losing a dog. Yeah, and to that.
Extent, yeah, and sadly we do see the big dog little dog. Are altercations where we do lose these dogs. I mean they can it can be a life or death situation. And I find that owners feel guilty about the crate, but it is so important. And I have found that dogs really like their crate.
They do. They love it. We put a lot of human emotion on it, you know, they they call them a cage or I want my dog to just be a dog. Well, at the end of the day, they are a dog, and we can't expect them to live in a human life and be able to do the things that we expect them to do when at the end of the day, they're a dog. And so the crate honestly is a great way to put you know, your dog in a safe spot to where they do feel comfortable. It is like their own room. It's how
we escape too. We like to go to our own rooms and kind of relax. That's a great place for your dog to go as well we Cody and I will refer to our dogs Create as their condo. Yes, they have their own little condo and they can just relax, they can take a breath, like they don't have to
be on they don't have to be on alert. So I think it's important for them to be able to take a break, just like you and I absolutely absolutely, you know, if you think about it, when dogs are they're active twenty four to seven, you know, so they honestly really enjoy being able to go into their crate and take a nap and turn off, you know. So it's great and again it's something that can really I tell people all the time to prevent things from happening.
Your Create is your number one thing that can prevent things from happening.
Yeah, absolutely, all right, Next up, we will dive into some of our listener calls.
Hello, doctor Josie, your nephew, Hank is five months old. He's a Portuguese water dog and he started humping. My question is is this for sexual reasons or is there any other reasons why this would be happening and how can we minimize that?
Okay, that was my brother in law, Tanner, who just got a puppy and I get this question all the time.
I'm sure you do too.
It as a trainer, oh absolutely, where dogs puppies a lot of times as they're maturing a little bit, and even adult dogs will hump. And whether they're neutered or in spade or not, or even a female dog, even a female dog, we will see humping. And it does not, necessarily, I would say, the majority of the time, does not equate to them being sexually aroused. More than not, I find that it is, and I would love to hear
your opinion too. I find that it's they are excited and overstimulated and they're kind of displacing that anxiety and excitement and it turns into humping. But it's not hey, I'm want to have.
Sex exactly, it is. It happens a lot when dogs are very overstimulated, so it's an outlet. So it's something that they can do. Now, some dogs will go into displacement, they get excited and maybe go right and pick up a ball because they're just trying to put their energy into something. And some dogs, of course just start humping.
You know.
Yes, at times it can be a dominant kind of thing, you know, where two dogs are sizing each other up, you know, kind of a little bit. Normally it's it's always just overstimulation. Yeah, so, brother Tanner, no worries. Hank Is is good to go. He's probably just really happy to be alive, exactly. He's not attracted to you. We're good, Yeah, all right. Next up.
Hi, My name is Anne.
Then.
I volunteer at a pet shelter in Delaware, and I had a question about dogs. We noticed one day all the dogs were going wild when one man approached. Now he's worked with these dogs before, but they were very, very agitated by him this time. And he happened to be wearing a bright orange almost a hunter orange shirt. Could this have been something that would have triggered the dogs? Is that common for them to be triggered by certain colors?
I have two thoughts when I hear this, The first of which is dogs are pack animals. I think if maybe the other dogs had interactive with this person before, but I think if one starts barking, they can all sort of trigger each other and then spiral a bit. The other thought, and not to get too scientific, is that dogs only have two cones in their retinas. Humans have three, and so dogs can't really make out red or green colors. They can really only make out blues
and yellows. And so I feel like orange kind of falls into that red category, and it can look like a very dark color to them. So it is very possible that a big man wearing that color of shirt could be causing them to be a little bit more fearful than usual.
Yeah. Absolutely, And also so you got to think in a rescue is my thing would be do you have a new dog? Has the new dog? Is this the one that started the barking? Isn't it causes everybody to bark. So a lot of times when somebody says a dog or dogs have done something out of the norm, it's normally not out of the norm. You gotta think about what triggered it prior. You know, did the guy come
through a different door, did you know? There's all kinds of different things you go into it, but definitely, you know, dogs again, I've seen dogs act differently when they've actually been able to see a color, you know, whether it be I'm gonna have a chair in the yard, that's it blue and now the dogs are like, oh my god, what is that? Yeah, mikes, because I've never been able to see it before. Yeah, I mean, so it does.
You know, dogs definitely can you know, change to routine or something that's different in their life and act different to it. But definitely in a kennel situation, if one barks, they're all going to explode. Absolutely.
And I think one thing that you just said that I think really rings true for me is routine. Dogs are such routine, natured creatures, and just like you said, of anything as different from the usual.
I can really throw them off absolutely.
All right, that was our last question of the day, But if you have any questions for me, feel free to click that link in the show notes and record any questions you have. Nothing is off limits, and we're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back. All right, Nikki, I am so excited to learn a little bit more about you. You know, you don't hear every day about people being dog trainers. How did you find yourself on this path?
This is a million dollar question. I have been asked as many times and I always just kind of laugh and be like, because I love dogs, But to actually know a little bit more about me, it goes deeper than that. So I've always struggled with anxiety. I had a reading learning disability, and just growing up, I was just one of those kids that just didn't know how
to fit in. But I always grew up with a dog, and you know, I would rush on from school and be like, where's my dog, just because that's where I felt, you know that piece And growing up, you know, you always hear that you need to be a doctor, you need to be a lawyer. You know, you need to go to a four year college. So dog training is really not on your radar that you could do this as a career. So fast forward twenty fourteen, I moved to California to go to dog training school, and that
is where I found peace. Dog training really saved my life. It brought me to where I was like, this is my purpose. And I think we all thrive to find our purpose in life, and that's where I found it. I really just you know, when I talk about anxiety and stuff like that, I think it's really hard for people to communicate how we are feeling. So growing up I never knew like how to communicate with somebody like
how I was feeling. So look at dogs. They can't talk so they cannot express to their owners how I'm feeling this situation makes me feel uncomfortable or I'm scared of this situation. And so that is where really everything opened up to me, and I was like, I can be the voice for these dogs. Is I know exactly where they are. You know, they're nervous and they can't communicate to why. And so I just dove deep into it and was like, Okay, I'm going to be your voice.
Like I get you, I totally get you. So now I'm going to be able to educate your owner to ways that you guys can actually communicate on a dog level. And again, so it's just really dog training, you know, saved my life. So I think, you know, we've talked about this a little bit. I think that a lot of the people in the animal field have a background where they felt, whether it was growing up or at some point in their life, it was challenging and they felt that really the only place of comfort.
And unconditional love came from their animals. I know for me, like I grew up in a very tumultuous household, there was addiction and divorce, and my dog was like my one true outlet and so I think it's so true where it's like it just goes deeper than just loving dogs. It's like a it's a vocation. I would say, yeah.
I mean because dogs are true, they don't judge, they're happy to see us all the time, you know. So I think it's where people can really feel themselves, is around something that is just there to love you so pure. It is.
One thing you said, and I have never heard of this. What is dog training school like?
So there's really not a dog training quote unquote school. You know they're in the US. There's not certifications. Anybody can literally wake up in the morning and say I'm a dog trainer. That's scary, very you know, very scary. And so when I went to California, there was a a business that actually where you could go and pay and start to learn, you know, about dog training. So I think anybody, before you are working with clients, you're
a dog enthusiast. When you become a dog professional is when you've actually are working with clients, you know, and actually teaching people how to work their dogs. And so I went to where I could just have my hands on so many dogs because that's where it comes into is you can train your own dogs, absolutely, but until you've had your hands on so many breeds, so many temperaments, so many personalities and all that, then you really have cannot like you in your practice. But again it is
very scary because you can have anybody. You can google dog training near me and there's hundreds and hundreds of you know, different companies from you know, the franchises or to somebody like me that is just you know, hey, I've been dog trainings for you know, twelve years. But it's all about too is when you're looking for a dog trainer, you know, red flags are where where your
dog stays? If they won't show you where your dog is going to be living or proof, you know, show me what you've done with dogs, not your personal dog. Because anybody that trains dogs your dogs can look fancy. I can do all kinds of crazy things with Sailor, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be teaching that to somebody else's to somebody else's dogs. So I think again, when you are looking for a dog trainer,
you really need to dive deep into your research. You know, talk to many people if you don't feel comfortable with them, from the get go, just with a conversation, then that trainer's probably not for you. But asking all kinds of questions, you know.
Is it normal for clients to ask for like a reference or a testimonial, you know?
I think sometimes you know, you can go on Google and you can find that. But I always tell people when I talk to them, is if you want references, I can give you. Yeah, I'll give you. I'll give you a whole bunch, you know what I mean. I'm very with my and if you follow me on Instagram, you can see that I'm very transparent with what I do.
I'm very honest with what I do, so you can see that when your dog is with me, all of my Instagram stories are dedicated to that owner and that dog because I am training the owner in that moment. So you get to actually see your dog training through the process of the time that they're with me. So it's not like, hey, here's your dog, it's done. This is what I've done and this is what you have to do as well.
I can speak from personal experience. Nicky and I met through Wags and Walks. What I talk about all the time on this podcast and one of my dogs. Oakly the big German shepherd. He is a wags and walks alum, and like so many other rescue dogs, he came to me a little bit more timid anxiety, yes, but just a little bit more timid. Then as he got more comfortable, he was like, Ooh, I'm gonna bark on the leash
at other dogs and I'm gonna defend our house. And I was dealing with leash reactivity and so I was referred to you, and I can speak firsthand. It's just how amazing you are at what you do. And I also love your Instagram. That is so unique. I haven't seen many other people. I don't know if anyone's doing that. And for my husband and I was so cool to follow along because all day long you're posting videos of what you're doing. It helps us understand, Okay, this is
what we need to be doing. And just like you said, I think that's a level of transparency that when your dog is going to board and live somewhere else, like you have to have that.
Oh absolutely, I mean even for my own dogs. I know I can imagine sending my dog somewhere for a long period of time and especially not getting updates and like are they okay or is that going on? Yeah? So it's great for the owners one, you know, because you guys can see your dogs thriving, having fun. But the reason why I do that is there is never enough time that I can have with you to give you all of my knowledge you know, on your dog,
because every dog is different. So while your dog is with me, I tell people you are actually learning like you are supposed to be watching these Instagram stories because not only am I telling you what I'm doing, The key with dog training is telling you the why why am I doing this? Why is your dog acting that way? And what do you need to do? And also to you know I'm doing this, but why am I doing this?
So then when it comes down to whenever the dog goes home graduation day, you guys have already been watching for the weeks that you know, I have your dog what's going on, so you have the knowledge, so then we can really jump into the hands on that matters. So you guys have that education while it's going. But also too, I think it's really cool to see your dog from day one, to see oh my god, my dog really can do that. I know it's amazing could do that. It's amazing. I still follow your stories.
Oakley is now home and thriving and doing great, but I still follow the stories because I just love to see the transformation. Yes, it's unbelievable. You do such an amazing job. I can't say enough great things.
What are would you say?
The most common issues that you see are seeing dogs being brought in for training for.
Separation anxiety, especially after COVID. Is gonna say, true, that was everybody, you know, I get it. All the shelters were empty, everybody was getting dogs, which is great, and then they were spending so much time with their dogs, and I think that's just a journal besides COVID that separate separation anxiety is probably the biggest, biggest thing. But also to separation anxiety leads into leash reactivity, leads into destruction behavior. So that is probably my number one thing
is I can't leave my dog alone. They hate their create, They destroy my home, and sometimes even to owners are prisoners of their home.
Yes, I see this all the time and practice people will come in and talk to me about it, and it's it is rampant, especially after COVID, and I think that's yes, the dogs are used to having us home, but also we were used to being home with our pets, and so I think as owners we are also much more hesitant to leave our animals versus before it was like, you know, a little bit more commonplace.
Yeah, you know, it teaches them. You know, a lot of dogs can't stand on their own four pause. They just can't. So a lot of times I tell people that your dog doesn't know how to life without you, you know, and even too a lot of times too, they don't know how to life with you, meaning that you get up to go to the bathroom, here they come, you know what I mean, You just stand up and
they're like, oh my god, where are we going? And so they're constantly anxious because they're constantly worried about what you're going to do. And so we have to teach them actually how to life with us. And that's something about my training is it's not about obedience. Obedience is the easy part. Sit down, stay, that's honestly the easy part. But what I teach is how you live with your dog, and I teach your dog how to actually live with you to where obedience actually comes into play.
What would you say The hardest issue you find to train.
Is nothing to do with the dog. It is the owner. We are the problem. It's us, and it's something that you guys are the problem. And I tell all my clients this, you know, when they call, I will never judge you for anything that you've done with your dog, because you're doing the best that you can with the knowledge that you have. You're not dog trainers. You know, the fact that you reached out, I will I'm very proud of anybody that reaches out because you're trying.
But it does take us a little bit of like vulnerability to be like, hey, even as a veterinarian, to be like, hey, I know everything there is to possibly know about animals, but I can't train my own dog, like I need help, right.
And then a lot of times, you know, it is a lot of people are like, well, I've had dogs my whole life, but then they get a dog that is different and they don't know what to do, you know, and then reaching out and again is I don't criticize. I don't go oh my god, you're they're to blame or anything like that. You know, I talk it through and I tell people this is this is what's going on. And again I'm talking for the dog of like, this is why your dog is acting like this. But the
hardest part to change is change. That's for anybody with anything besides dog training. It's you know, somebody says, I want to get into shape, you know, but I don't want to go to the gym, you know, and all that,
But it's just change and taking away human emotion. That restricting your dog from getting on the couch or on the bed is not gonna make your dog hate you, you know, it is actually going to just all this training and boundaries, boundaries I cannot express enough and structure is actually gonna make your dog love you even more.
And it's so hard as an owner, I think, as a human, just that boundaries, whether it's with our family or our friends, yes, and then let alone our dogs we love more than anything. It just feels so impossible, But in the end it benefits you so much more than not.
Oh absolutely, your dogs will little. I mean, I will love you more and you'll actually see what I love so much is when dogs come in, we're gonna say day three, day four, every dog takes a big sigh relief with me kind of like like you get thank God, you understand here's somebody that is I can talk to you, and it's understanding what's going on to where we can communicate.
And then when they go home and they start working with owners, I feel like the owners then can take it sigh of relief too and be like, Okay, yeah, now we find peace in our home because we all have that, like we have an understanding of rules, boundaries and structure, like symbiosis it is, you know, I get so many pictures of like, oh my god, my dog
has never been this relaxed before. My dog doesn't you know, jump at the doorbell anymore, and you just kind of what happens again, owners become prisoners of their own home because they, instead of having their dogs learn how to live with them we do, owners will constantly do everything to appease their dog, like I can't stay long at dinner because I have to go let my dogs out
kind of, and so they become prisoners. So then at the end of all this training and things, it really is something that where I can feel that owners are again they're living with their dogs in in a more peaceful environment.
I know for me, it was really helpful just one thing that you preach is consistency and clear expectations and communication. And I think that it's nice to have someone guide you like, Okay, this is what you should be doing, this is why you should be doing it, and then just knowing that your dog isn't going to be cured like whatever they have like that, that is them. But it's on us to kind of follow through and stick with it. And it is a lot of work and we do have to set boundaries.
But like I said, oh absolutely, and again kind of touching back on that finding a dog trainer. If anybody says I can cure your dog and I can fix your dog, run, Yeah, there is no fix. There's no cure because if you think about my you know, always training canines, you're literally for your dog's entire life. You're always training, you know, and it's just become something that it's again routine, like putting your dog on place when
you're eating dinner. It becomes a lifestyle of you know, it's not just like I don't have a magic wand I can't you know, I don't go and go to dog your dog is cured and we'll love all dogs and you know, and we'll do all these things. So it does take consistency, but I layer that foundation to where you guys can go home and you have the tools and the knowledge to just thrive and take your dog even further. Yeah. Absolutely.
So when we were first introduced, Catherine from WAG she introduced us and she said, hey, I have this veterinarian.
She has a wax alum and you were like, oh boy.
And it made me laugh because there is I think some misconceptions or maybe it's not a misconception with trainers and veterinarians. And it's funny because you know, as vets, we work with animals all day long in a very different capacity than what you do. And so where do you think that like, what do you think that tension is?
And I'm not going to speak for everybody, yeah, of course, you know, but I do think where I'm going to speak personally, Yeah, is I have a lot of you know, I have clients to call me and you know, talked about their dogs with separation anxiety or behavioral issues and they tell me my dog is on a lump sum of trasdone or Elville or ace and all these things. I'm like, oh my god, so your dog is just sedated zombie zombie, right, and they're still having issues and
you know. So at my point of course is, you know, I don't only know how much the client tells me that the vets, and so I'm like, oh my god, why didn't you know? Why are they just throwing you on all this medicine like you needed to, you know, go to dog training, you know, you needed you know, a behavior is kind of a thing, and so I think that's where we kind of get this like, oh veterinarian. Yeah, And of course it goes deeper into you know, food or shots, and we could go on this long, you
know kind of thing. But I think the main thing I get is I want to know behind closed doors. I know you probably I don't know how many clients, you know, clients you see in a day, and you only see that dog for twenty fifteen minutes maybe, and you get a brief you know, and probably not even the full story of why the dog has been acting like, yes, you know, and and again in that moment, yes again. Safety for a dog is my number one concern. So if the dog is breaking out of the crateon literally
like you know, hurting, themselves. Sure, okay, give that dog some trisdone, But also to I want to know, do you guys recommend that these these dogs go to training. It's so hard.
I think I can only speak for myself. I do you know, you know we see twenty five appointments a day on a busy day. Every fifteen minutes you're seeing an appointment, and I'm in there to focus on the medical side of things. So it's I'm doing my physical exam. I'm trying to figure out why they're having diarrhea. I
need to update them on their vaccines. And then oh, by the way, he's trying to kill Fluffy when we go on walks and I have two minutes left in my appointment, and so of course behavior modification is so so so important, but when the owners at their wits end, I do know, Like for me, I'm like, okay, well here's a little something to hopefully help at home. I will say, I think as veterinarians, it's so important for us to have a list of trainers that we do recommend.
And that is something that I print out for every single one of my clients when they are having behavioral complaints. And so what I would say to owners and listeners out there is if you're having behavioral issues with your dog, yes, your veterinarian is a great resource, but they're probably not going to be the first person to go to. So I would ask them a do you have a trainer that you recommend. If they don't, then just like Nikki said, you can find them on the internet and just look
for those prerequisites that we talked about. Where they're transparent, they have good referrals, they're showing you exactly where they're boarding. They're not having a ton of dogs all at once, because I agree, I mean, these it requires so much more than just a band aid, which a lot of times is what the medication is.
Right right, So I think, you know, again they these dogs and they're like, oh, my dog has been them for six months, has been on a trousdone you know, and still breaking out, you know of crates and things like that. But again I understand, I do as you know, I'm not like, oh my god, these vets, you know what I mean. Yeah, but of course even two I've had dogs that I've trained go in that have to wear a muzzle, you know, because the dog just hates the vet. I'm sorry. The dog only sees the vet
probably only sees you what once every six months? Yeah? If that? Yeah, yeah, And specifically I have a dog, it's my friend's dog named Baker. Hates the vet. He has to have a muzzle, you know what I mean. He'll express his antal lands, which I know is one of your favorite I've been there, but the vet would be like, your dog needs to see a behavior less or a trainer, and this dog has been through training tremendous. This dog is a great dog, just doesn't like the vet.
And so at times I'm like really, And they'll even say, like has told you know, my friend like we should probably put him on trasidone and stuff. She's like, no, he's really just he's only bad at the vet. So a lot of times it's kind of like, you know, also to training doesn't fix everything. Again, I can't do my magic war and have the dog love to have a thermometer.
Yeah, of course, no, of course. And I hear what you're saying there, and that makes sense. I will say, I think in situational instances like that, it isn't a bad idea to give them a little something before their visit.
Just to take the edge off. Absolutely it's less stressful for the pet.
So by no means, I think trasidone absolutely has its place and can be more safe and less stressful for the animal and the veterinarian. But again it's not necessarily that like long term fix for behavioral issues.
And I think the other thing is, you know, whenever I was told you were a vet, I was like, what is your thoughts on training tools? You know, I mean a lot of times, you know, I do know that some vets, again I'm not speaking for all of them. Some vets you know, only recommend all positive training, and when it comes to serious behaviors, I'm sorry, a hot dog isn't gonna get to your dog to stop barking,
you know, do the trick. So I think again, I really do wish, you know, if somebody were to say, what would be in your perfect world is that veterinarians and trainers work together. Yeah, I love that.
Maybe we're going to break the mold exactly, I know, all right, Yeah, I think there's a place, and I think I'm sure it happens all the time, but we probably all could be a little bit better at it, for sure.
If you think about all the knowledge you have, the knowledge I have, how many dogs? I mean at our goal is you're trying to save dogs and make them feel better. I'm trying to save dogs and make them feel better. Why can't we jump on the bandwagon.
Together and dude together, Absolutely, we're going to drive that bandwagon.
What is your most favorite dog to train? Breed? Wise Wise has a good question.
It doesn't have to be a breed either. I guess it could be like a general.
Just working dogs working I mean your cattle dogs, or you know, just any any working dog. To be honest, I mean to be if I was just being just completely honest, any dog. I love to train any dog because they're all different, you know what I mean? All different, and so every dog. Yes, at the end of the day, I have an end goal result. Every dog brings to me something different and I learn from every dog. Now, I think the question probably was which dogs do I
not like to train? Yeah? Which ones do you not like to train? To be honest is this is probably gonna make people laugh shit suos. Oh my gosh.
Morgan, our producer is laughing right now because she has a shit suh.
These dogs don't want to do anything. You know, you could put a mortgage board of reads. They don't care steak, and you could say sit, and that dog is going to huff and roll its size and look the opposite way.
You're Actually, it's so funny you say that. And sorry, Morgan, not to throw your shit, Toder.
I still love training them. Just air them, just pick them up.
Yeah, exactly. They're like little gremlins. I do love them. They're so cute. But you're right, like our German chupherds and our pointers in our labs, they're like, we want to make you happy, We'll do whatever you say. And the little lap dogs are a little bit more like, eah, I'm good.
Yeah, I mean I always like the dogs with attitude. Those are my dogs. Chihuaala's ye give me a good Chiuala. I'm ready to train all day.
A whole year, preach into the choir. Okay, I'm gonna rapid fire some breeds at you. Okay, I'd like you to like say the first two to three words that come to mind. And I want to preface this by saying that we love all breeds. This is not to stereotype them, but these are the most common breeds that I see in practice. I'm sure you do too, and I just like, I think it'd be funny to see what the first couple words that come to mind are.
Okay, hopefully we can anything out.
Yeah, no cussing, okay, number one French bulldogs.
One Golden Retrievers. Good old boy, good old boy.
Aren't they just the good as the boys pass as golden doodles?
Oh? The dudes? The dudes mm hmm, high strung. Maybe to be honest, they doodles. To be honest, I do. I train a lot of doodles, great dogs. They just need training, you know. But I think this is a lot of time soon we talk about dog breeds. It's not the breed, it's how somebody has the breed. So doodles are known to be your I don't have kids, and this is my first baby, and these dogs come
in spoiled, rotten. That's what a doodle is. Those are two words I like that touaas love them, perfect, love them. I'm sorry I was speaking for you. Wag sends me, you know, all their feisty chihuahuas, and I'm surprised I have not foster failed yet, not yet. Pit bull sweethearts.
Australian Shepherds feisty, spicy like that. Standard poodles intelligent. If anybody were to ask me again, if you were like, hey, what kind of breed would you recommend to people, Toy poodles or standard poodles are probably your perfect I agree, perfect dog for anybody to have. A lot of times people pass them because of the looks. But anytime I've trained any kind of poodle, they've never had any issues.
Yeah, they as a vet like coming into the clinic. They are perfect gentlemen or ladies. They just stand there perfectly, and they're so smart. Yes, I love them. Corky's Fighters, they are biers. People love Corgies because they're so cute, and those little butts are so cute that they.
Bite and they bite. They're like rattlesnakes.
They are cavalier. King Charles Spaniel.
Perfect dog dog. If you're looking for you live in an apartment, or you are retired and you're looking for that that you just a lap dog, choking.
Cat, cavies, boxers, goofballs.
I've never been able to see a dog touch its nose to its tail in so many different directions, and our goofy and just that face. I love them. They are goofy miniature Schnauzer. I loveuers. They're one of the most underrated breeds for me. Yeah, I have just Am. I'm actually training one right now to be an alert sound alert service dog for a veteran and he is a standard Snauzer and just and he's great. Great, They're awesome great Danes.
They don't live long enough. I know that wasn't two words. They don't live long enough. And I'd say scaredy cats, gentle giant. They're like the elephant that's scared of the mountain lap dog. Yes, I had a great Dan and she definitely did not live long enough. I would have loved her to live forever, but she was scared of her own shadow. Yeah, the best. All right, that was so fun. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll
be right back with Pallen Order. All right, this week on Paw and Order, the first thing on my list is I would not train my dog to use bells or chimes to go outside when they have to go potty. Nicky, I'm sure you can speak to this, but I have found that they abuse the bells and chimes, and.
They're just like, give me attention. They use an abuse. They may just want to go outside and stretch, or they just want it to get your attention. And then a lot of clients I have still have accidents. They may rang the bell twenty five times a day and stuck off to go to the bathroom. It just becomes kind of a toy, you know, to get your attention. Structure, schedule. I when people ask me about potty training, it's my potty training is I let my dogs know and they
need to go to the bathroom. It's a schedule, one hundred percent. Yeah.
And when they're puppies, I think people think, oh my gosh, this is great, like they're telling me when they have to go, But when their puppies like, just no, they have to go all the time. So every thirty seconds, every ten seconds, you're taking them out, when they eat, when they drink, when they wake up from a nap, after they're done playing that you just need to preemptively take them outside, and them ringing bells is just teaching
them bad behaviors. I think Nikki used the word it turns them into little narcissists, which I thought was very funny.
It does you know it's funny? I mean because they will. They'll also ring the bells when you're on a zoom when you're eating dinner, They're just like, hey, I want attention, I want out, And most of the time they don't go to the bathroom.
Yeah, they've got you wrapp around their little paul absolutely all right. Number two, I would not put my dog that is already pulling me into a harness.
Oh why not?
You probably do you? Is there any dog you would put in a harness?
Elderly? Okay? So I have a fifteen year old Border Collie Charlie Brown that if I needed to take her somewhere, you know, the harness does work because she does stumble, you know, and kind of fall. It kind of helps give support. But harnesses, yes, the only time I would recommend them is for puppies. When you first get a puppy, I don't want anything around their neck because you have to teach them how to use that call or how
to have leash pressure. So on puppies. All of my puppies they come home and they're on a harness because then you can sit on your puppy, which means they are on a leash and they're in that harness twenty four to seven, so you're giving them you know, they're with you, so they don't have free access to the house. But harnesses for puppies one hundred percent until you get into that training stage, which would be about like four months old.
I agree with that too, and not even coming from a training background, but more of a medical background.
They're tiny little necks.
They're just so fragile, and I've seen dogs really get hurt with the leash and the collar around their neck.
So harnesses for sure with puppies. Absolutely, harnesses is just a great thing to get them used to it. And then harness is to for dogs. Now I'm a big advocate on riding traveling with your dogs and crates in the car, but if you can't, that seat belt harness because it keeps them from flying around in the car. So that kind of thing. But if you are wanting your dog not to pull, do not put a harness
on them. That's what harnesses are for. They are used to you know, pull sleds or you know things like that that harnesses are for that. So don't put your dog on a harness.
Yeah, you're just setting yourself up to like water ski behind your dog. Yes, you're just sled dog and it is what I call it, literally sled dogging it all right. Number three, I would not free feed. This means leaving out food all day long for your pets to graze. I think it's really important to have structured feeding times. One, if you are potty training, that makes it really difficult. You've got food and water going in one end and then coming out the other end. Willy nilly, you just
don't know exactly. And then be you can really create a monster, you can.
You know, it's sad. I'm sorry. You see this a lot of obese beast dogs. It's easy to put on the weight, it's hard to take it off right. But then also too is you are missing a phenomenal training opportunity with your dog. Now, I don't care if it's in a bowl, but feed that dog from your hand. Get your dog to sit, to place, to down, to come, just working on that engagement because your dog, you know, that's a resource. You know, I want my dog to
understand that food play affection comes from me. And again you're missing that huge opportunity you know, for just reefeeding. But Also, I see so many dogs, especially doodles, picky eaters. Yes, they're very picky. They will cover. They will come to me in training with three to go bags with if my dog doesn't eat this, put this on it, and if it doesn't eat that, then you're gonna need to
put this on it. And I'm like no, because that all that does is teach our dogs that the longer I wait, the better things that come.
Yes, they know they'll wait, and they'll be like, if I wait a whole two hours, I get cheese. If I wait five hours, I get filet mignon. Yes, If I wait twenty four, I'm getting wagoo beef.
Yes exactly. And I'm getting it hand fed to me with a four on a silver platter, Yes exactly. So it's just you know, I that is a big struggle with people, is you know, if the feeding is my dog is a picky eater, you're making your dog a picky eater. Yeah.
I think so much we project on our pets, and the fact of the matter is if they're hungry, they will eat. So I really recommend two feedings a day, unless otherwise directed.
By your vet.
If they're a puppy, that may be an exception, but morning and night, lay that food bowl down, give them ample amount of time to eat.
My dogs get about fifteen to twenty minutes.
If they don't finish their meal or they don't eat it, we pick it up and wait till the next feeding time.
Exactly exactly, because I believe you know you can quote me if I'm wrong. As a veterinarian, I don't think dogs will starve themselves.
It would be highly unlikely. I haven't encountered one yet, right, right, I haven't met many. All right, awesome, Well, today's episode was great. I really appreciate you coming on.
Thank you for having me. It was a blast.
You're so welcome, And for all the listeners out there, please rate, review, subscribe. You can click the link of the show notes to leave us any questions that you have and we'll see you next week. L