E324 - When to Start Training Your Dog (And When to Introduce Training Tools)

0:00 [SPEAKER_00]: Guys, if you have a dog and you've asked yourself when is the right time and appropriate time to start training start using a leash start using food start using a crate etc. [SPEAKER_00]: I get this question a lot as a pro dog trainer and I can tell you [SPEAKER_00]: really just depends on the dog just like you know raising children if they will let you know like just the other day my son who just turned four because you know an adult and I'm an parent and I'm always like thinking about oh when are we gonna write a bike you know whatever he never had training wheels he literally got on a bike and just took off [SPEAKER_00]: That was it, off to the races, I was like, wow, okay, he's ready for that.

0:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Not every kid is going to be like that, some kids are going to go earlier, some kids are going to go later. [SPEAKER_00]: It's just the same thing with puppies, the same thing with dogs in general. [SPEAKER_00]: We get a lot of questions on, should I use the e-colour now? [SPEAKER_00]: Should I use the prong collar now?

0:55 [SPEAKER_00]: Should I use the harness now? [SPEAKER_00]: Should I be training in general now with my young puppy? [SPEAKER_00]: And the dog is going to tell you what they're ready for and what they're not ready for. [SPEAKER_00]: But as a general rule, it's important for us to understand that dogs, when you basically bring them home at eight weeks, are ready to learn.

1:12 [SPEAKER_00]: I train all my dogs the moment I get them home, so don't wait. [SPEAKER_00]: Your dog is ready to learn. [SPEAKER_00]: It just may not be. [SPEAKER_00]: You know, like you're not going to be running through obstacles and doing sitstays, maybe in downstays and heal work, maybe. [SPEAKER_00]: But you're going to be introducing thresholds, boundaries.

1:28 [SPEAKER_00]: You may be imprinting things, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And it all just depends. [SPEAKER_00]: Like if you have a young mal-in-wall that's engaged and ready to work, you could start imprinting the heal in the place and everything at 10 weeks if you wanted to. [SPEAKER_00]: But if you have a German Shepherd, that's like, I just want to chill and not really do anything in sleep all day because I'm just a puppy, that's fine too.

1:50 [SPEAKER_00]: So it really just depends on the dog, but really you can just offer it to your dog and kind of gauge how they feel. [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about equipment in a minute, because that's a little bit of a different story, but as far as training goes, just again, just like my kid with my bike.

2:04 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, at no point in time, did he just take off in the bike? [SPEAKER_00]: I go away away, you're too young for this. [SPEAKER_00]: No, he did it. [SPEAKER_00]: It's the same thing with puppies. [SPEAKER_00]: If they start offering you things like going to a place and looking at you for food, looking at you on a walk and engaged with you, okay?

2:18 [SPEAKER_00]: We're ready for a heal command. [SPEAKER_00]: If they're yielding to the least pressure well, we can start introducing the heal work, we can start introducing, we do read, I mean recall is one of the things you can train at eight weeks. [SPEAKER_00]: Save the dogs name, they come running to you, you pay them all the way to you, and you pay them right when they get to you.

2:35 [SPEAKER_00]: So don't wait for anything with your new dog. [SPEAKER_00]: Don't wait for anything even if you even if you've adopted an older dog People are like, oh, and on the other end of this picture my dogs too old. [SPEAKER_00]: That is so not true Older dogs and adult dogs in general are absolutely Trainable just takes a little bit of time because they've developed habits for many years just like us [SPEAKER_00]: if we've had a habit that we've done our whole life, it's going to take some time to break the habit and kind of retouch what we want to do alternatively, but you can absolutely 100% do it.

3:05 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no doubt about that. [SPEAKER_00]: So don't wait ever with your puppy if your dog and your puppy is willing and able to start doing stuff. [SPEAKER_00]: Now, of course, outside of [SPEAKER_00]: like physical stuff, like orthopedically speaking, like you're not going to run six miles with your brand new puppy because their orthopedic bones, their system is not developed for that.

3:28 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it would be actually hurtful and harmful long term to do stuff like that. [SPEAKER_00]: So there are some contingencies, I guess, within what I'm talking about, but generally speaking for training and behavior stuff, if the dog is sitting there offering you stuff, you're ready to go.

3:43 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a green light. [SPEAKER_00]: Get to work. [SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the biggest mistakes dog owners make. [SPEAKER_00]: is waiting and tell there's a a problem or b until the dog is a year old for whatever reason like people think oh my dogs less than a year I don't need to train that's like saying my kid's only five years old they don't need to learn anything yet that's that's actually would be borderline abuse I think you'd get arrested for something like that you know if your kid just didn't know how to talk or Communicate or stand up or walk or do anything I mean of course nobody listening and watching to this whatever [SPEAKER_00]: Do that, obviously.

4:15 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just saying. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm giving you like, oh, you know, it's that it's that obvious to somebody who plugs into dogs every single day. [SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty much the same thing. [SPEAKER_00]: So if you have a dog. [SPEAKER_00]: Start training with them. [SPEAKER_00]: Now, equipment wise question that we get often is, can I use the slip leash on my dog?

4:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Can we use the answer really is predicate off the dog because all dogs are again going to be learning differently, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Same thing with the E collar. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just real quick, the E-Color is one of those things that you have to remember when you're developing a young dog on the remote collar, the E-Color is an extension of your pre-existing commands.

4:53 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're not going to be, I mean most generally speaking, we're not going to be teaching a dog a new behavior with the remote collar, generally speaking, you can, but it's not. [SPEAKER_00]: for the average dog owner. [SPEAKER_00]: We are going to be enforcing and reinforcing behaviors typically or just layering over and reinforcing behaviors that the dog already knows.

5:11 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's a great off-leash tool. [SPEAKER_00]: It's changed the lives of so many dog owners around the world. [SPEAKER_00]: But that's a question I get all the time. [SPEAKER_00]: Like when can I use the E-color? [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like you got to remember the E-colors just an extension of what your dog already knows.

5:23 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you have a good basic and you have a good foundation, you can start introducing it, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And that's a whole thing. [SPEAKER_00]: You should take [SPEAKER_00]: Same thing with the prom collar. [SPEAKER_00]: People are like, you know, should I use the prom collar. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, we got to understand the prom collar has many different options on it.

5:39 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a, it has a lot of utility with dogs. [SPEAKER_00]: It has great directional pressure for dogs who are pulling. [SPEAKER_00]: It has the ability to communicate in a way that we can't normally with dogs, right? [SPEAKER_00]: His dogs communicate physically and that's important to kind of decipher.

5:54 [SPEAKER_00]: So, same thing with the slip lead, can I use the slip lead? [SPEAKER_00]: My dog's choking out, like blah blah blah, like it just depends on what stage your dog's at. [SPEAKER_00]: So generally speaking, if you're putting a leash in a collar on a dog and they are responding well to it, then you're probably fine, right?

6:10 [SPEAKER_00]: But it depends on the usage. [SPEAKER_00]: Again, if I have a two-year-old Connie Corso, [SPEAKER_00]: Rotweiler or German Shepherd trying to attack somebody, my correction with the prom collar is going to be much different than with a little puppy that breaks their heel because maybe they're a heavy polar, right?

6:27 [SPEAKER_00]: So you get a six-month-old or even a four-month-old big fat chunky lab that's super heavy on the leash and pulling you, the prom collar could absolutely be appropriate for that dog, but the way that you use it and the way that you apply the correction and the pressure on the dog are going to change.

6:41 [SPEAKER_00]: predicated off of the dog's temperament, their sensitivity levels, and of course the you're objective in what you're trying to shape with that behavior. [SPEAKER_00]: So I think it's just important for people to understand that your dog is going to give you information of what they are prepared for and what they're ready for.

6:58 [SPEAKER_00]: And you just have to pick up on that it's there is no universal thing and that's I think that that's why dog owners get so kind of cautious Which is I respect about when should I use this when should I not use this when should I use that when should I not use that because a lot of people don't want to mess anything up and that's commendable.

7:15 [SPEAKER_00]: That's awesome [SPEAKER_00]: But furthermore, it's just don't be overly cautious where you're like, I don't want to introduce anything until you're there a year and wouldn't do that either. [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's very important for people to go at your dog's pace. [SPEAKER_00]: go at your pace.

7:33 [SPEAKER_00]: And also not for nothing. [SPEAKER_00]: If the other I think key to this is if your dog is old enough to be making serious bad decisions and stressing you out, they're old enough to be corrected and told no to. [SPEAKER_00]: So that's another thing that a lot of people kind of struggle with is like, oh my four-month-old puppy is [SPEAKER_00]: whatever, whatever it is, right?

7:55 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, if your dog is old enough to be doing things that's causing you that amount of stress, they're also old enough to be told no and be corrected. [SPEAKER_00]: It's just, it's going to be a different stop. [SPEAKER_00]: Just like with kids. [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's this, I guys, you know, I've been training dogs professionally for over a decade, and I've now had kids for, [SPEAKER_00]: four years of that and my oldest is four and it's the same exact thing like I'm like you know if once they get 20 years old and you know they they do really stupid stuff hopefully you know safe stupid stuff but they are good inevitably you know my punishment's gonna be much different than when they're four years old right it's it's entirely different the way you speak to them how what they know and what they don't know all these things matter so I think you

8:41 [SPEAKER_00]: their personality, what they know, what they don't know, what's appropriate, because you can have a really well trained dog and do inappropriate stuff. [SPEAKER_00]: In appropriate behavior is just temperament, right? [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of times, right? [SPEAKER_00]: You can get a dog that, [SPEAKER_00]: listens to you well, but it's just a jerk because that's who they are.

8:59 [SPEAKER_00]: That's just they get into stuff. [SPEAKER_00]: They punk you. [SPEAKER_00]: They constantly are just doing stuff that you don't want them to do and that's just their temperament, you know, just like kids. [SPEAKER_00]: They're well-mannered and you spend a lot of time and they're smart, but [SPEAKER_00]: you know, they're off the wall all the time.

9:12 [SPEAKER_00]: They're doing a bunch of things that you don't want them to because that's just who they are. [SPEAKER_00]: So there's there's a whole kind of conversation about this, but I wanted to make this podcast because so many my wife in particular gets a lot of emails. [SPEAKER_00]: Me and my wife run the entire NoBad Dogs Tom Davis upstate Canine, ethos.

9:31 [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, where family business? [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's what we are. [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, at some point, my boys will maybe, I don't know, get into the dog world. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. [SPEAKER_00]: But at the end of the day, me and my wife run our entire company. [SPEAKER_00]: And nothing was given to us.

9:44 [SPEAKER_00]: We work hard. [SPEAKER_00]: But my point is, is she gets all of the emails from people to have questions. [SPEAKER_00]: She runs my back in on my online academy. [SPEAKER_00]: She does all of that, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of questions she gives me. [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm somebody asked, when can I use a slip collar?

9:57 [SPEAKER_00]: When can I use a prompt collar? [SPEAKER_00]: When can I use a harness? [SPEAKER_00]: And you guys just have to realize, if the dog is doing something that will require something like a prom collar, a slip collar or a slip leash, then you can use it. [SPEAKER_00]: If your dog is dragging you down the round, it's appropriate.

10:13 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to create some leash pressure with your dog, put a leash on your dog, put a slip leash on your dog. [SPEAKER_00]: And then once your dog starts acting choking out and doing all these things, then you have to pull back and go, okay, maybe this isn't the right option. [SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think you should ever be afraid of trying different tools if they're going to be helpful.

10:32 [SPEAKER_00]: Because you're not going to harm your dog as long as you're doing it appropriately, which is why myself and a bunch of other people out there put up so much content because we're helping people through these situations, but [SPEAKER_00]: It's important to know if you have a dog that is going to benefit from one of these tools, but they're younger, it's okay, because it's going to benefit them.

10:52 [SPEAKER_00]: There is no thing, you know, there is no sticker on the label that says, do not use this with a formable puppy. [SPEAKER_00]: or a six month old puppy, whatever, you do have to be careful and be mindful that we're not forcing our dogs to do stuff because then the dog becomes equipment aware and then they only do stuff and they only work with equipment, just like people who train their dog with food and they're reliant on the food and they're predicated off of the tool and you don't want that, you want the dog to, you want food and punishment and [SPEAKER_00]: or these tools that can help us correct and communicate to help shape and mold the behaviors that we say, not be the reason why our dogs do these behaviors that we're trying to say, or that we're trying to do.

11:34 [SPEAKER_00]: So don't be afraid to use equipment at a young age, just be mindful of the usage, how much you're using it, the sensitivity of younger dogs, the sensitivity of new dogs, [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, just understanding how to use these tools, I think, is the biggest thing. [SPEAKER_00]: So many people come into my facility with the equipment you, you know, wrong, right?

11:54 [SPEAKER_00]: And it is ineffective and be it could be dangerous. [SPEAKER_00]: The dog is choking. [SPEAKER_00]: The dog is not responding. [SPEAKER_00]: The dog is reactive. [SPEAKER_00]: The dog's dangerous. [SPEAKER_00]: Et cetera. [SPEAKER_00]: It's because the tools aren't right. [SPEAKER_00]: I see that so often.

12:06 [SPEAKER_00]: So often. [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why people hire us, so it's no big deal. [SPEAKER_00]: It's our jobs to help them go. [SPEAKER_00]: You know that prong collar that you just slid over your dog's head? [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you should never be able to do that. [SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, I hope that this was wrapped up in a way that you guys can understand.

12:23 [SPEAKER_00]: When is the proper time to use these tools? [SPEAKER_00]: If you start applying these tools and they're helpful, use them. [SPEAKER_00]: If you start applying these tools and they're not helpful, switch gears. [SPEAKER_00]: but don't be afraid to use them. [SPEAKER_00]: But also, underlining, also just be really mindful about when you are using these tools, it's not dependent on them.

12:44 [SPEAKER_00]: I have an opportunity, you guys have an opportunity if you have furthermore questions. [SPEAKER_00]: You guys have questions specifically about your dog. [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to chat with you and help you out with it. [SPEAKER_00]: You guys can join the online academy. [SPEAKER_00]: I go live once a week, or you can book an online consult with me right now.

12:59 [SPEAKER_00]: And work with me one on one, FaceTime, or chat in the phone anywhere in the world. [SPEAKER_00]: And also, we have all of our courses down below. [SPEAKER_00]: So if you do have a dog and you want to know more about equipment, I have all of my courses talk immensely about equipment. [SPEAKER_00]: The usage when to use, when not to use and how to use them most importantly.

13:17 [SPEAKER_00]: And of course, I have a bunch of free content here on the podcast and on YouTube. [SPEAKER_00]: This is my second YouTube channel here. [SPEAKER_00]: If you're watching this on YouTube, thank you for watching. [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure you guys follow me on Spotify if you haven't yet. [SPEAKER_00]: So many people are listening to me on Spotify that haven't.

13:30 [SPEAKER_00]: So follow us so make sure you guys do that. [SPEAKER_00]: It would be super, super helpful for us to get to new people and have other audiences be helped by us in our community. [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you guys so much for listening to the podcast. [SPEAKER_00]: I really truly appreciate it.

13:44 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very excited about this coming year and the rest of this year. [SPEAKER_00]: We have some amazing guests and we have some exciting news coming up about the entire ethos in which we're under as well as a very, very special surprise collaboration that we're working on that. [SPEAKER_00]: Just best I'd myself that were able to do so.

14:02 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys so much for listening and I will talk to you on the next one. [SPEAKER_00]: Peace