Bonus Listener Q&A:

Hello, dog peeps. Jack here.

Just a quick one before we get into this episode. You may or may not be aware that when I'm not talking dog stuff with Max, I in fact interview people who are incarcerated in prisons across the United States on a show called One Minute Remaining: Stories from the Inmates. And that show has been nominated for an award in America. And I would love your support if you've got 60 seconds to click the link in the show notes of this episode and just vote for my show. That would be amazing if you could. Thank you very much indeed. Oh, and don't forget to verify your email address. Otherwise, the vote does not count.

Thank you.

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It's the Dog People Podcast with your host Jack Lawrence. Secretly, I decided to start this podcast for some free dog training advice.

You know.

Malinois seem to be like the dog at the moment. Like, I think people see them on Instagram doing these incredible things. Yeah. Go, oh my God, that's awesome. And then I get one like, oh my God, what the fuck? And Max O'Neill.

You would not believe how many people I meet and I go, what made you want to get, say, an Aussie Shepherd? They go, I don't know. I'd go, had you met one before? They go, no. If you want to ask me how often I walk my own dog a week, it's only twice a week.

It's the Dog People Podcast, the podcast hopefully giving you a no-nonsense approach to dog training so you never have You don't have to shout, it's okay, it's friendly. My name's Jack Lawrence, Max O'Neill, Down Under Dog Trainer. Of course, we are brought to you by the legends at Knowse, a multi-award-winning Australian pet insurance company. Make sure you check out more at knowse.com.au. That's K-N-O-S-E.com.au, issued by Pacific International Insurance. This is a bonus episode. This is coming out not on our normal launch day for episodes, which is a Friday, but that's because of the legends at Knowse. So give the guys some love because, because of them, you're getting some extra bonus content. And this today is actually—

I actually had a client this week.

who was using them. We always ask things like that around on the consult form.

And they're using nose?

Yeah, and they're using nose. They said it was really, really good.

Great.

Yeah.

All right.

Cha-ching.

Okay, so let's do a Q&A. This is via the Dog People Podcast Facebook group. If you've got a question, make sure you jump in there and ask it. All right. Question 1 is from Janelle O'Reilly. She said, we moved house 7 months ago and still come home to our dog howling and pacing the house when we've been out, even for a short period. How do we assure her and stop this habit? We try to make no big fuss when we leave or return.

Yeah, so it sounds like you're doing some of the basic stuff really, really well. Um, you know, it's, it's a pretty common issue, and I guess normally if you came to me for the consult like this, I'd have a million questions. But so I'll try and sort of give you a bit of information from both sides of the coin with separation issues. So with separation-related issues, I typically find they boil down into one of two categories. So number one, it's more relationship-based where the dog has got a bit of a sort of Uh, I, I guess in both senses they've got an unhealthy attachment, but there's, I guess, one part where the dog is more seeing a dynamic of, hey, I control the majority of outcomes in our life. I tell you when I want to be patted, when I don't want to be patted. I tell you when it's time to feed me. I tell you when it's time to walk. On that walk, I pull you around. I have very little house rules. And the dog sees themself as the guy in the house, and they see themself as that person who decides on the rules.

Mm-hmm.

And then what happens is they feel like they control you in, you know, 99% of your life, but then they don't control you in that one area. That's a real pain point to them. It's like kids who have tantrums. Like, you know, if you see a spoiled kid, they, they're the ones who always get what they want, and then they have a meltdown when it doesn't work sometimes. And a lot of times our dog's separation anxiety, in air quotes, isn't as bad as we think. It isn't so much anxiety. As a problem. It's more so a, you know, my dog walks all over me, but there's this one area they can't control and it's just a tantrum. So in that case, you've really just got to sort out your relationship with them. So what I've actually just done, Janelle, if you're listening, is I've actually just uploaded a file into the group. Uh, Jax has got to click approve on that.

Oh, do I?

Since you're an admin and I'm not, apparently.

Are you not? I've got to keep you down a peg, mate. You got to, you know, I need to be needed for something. Approving posts is all I can do. I can't answer any questions.

There we go. It's there. So if you guys go into the Facebook group, across the top menu bar, it'll be like About, Photos, Events. Click on Files and then click on the Relationship Guide. There's going to be some really, really— and just do View File. There's going to be some really good info on that, Janelle, whichever side of the fence you're on, whether it's genuine sort of more anxiety-based or whether it's more relationship and your dog walking all over you based. So either way, check out the guide. The other side of the— oh, sorry, you go.

No, no, it's because I was just going to say, you probably were just rolling into this anyway, but I was going to say, because from my understanding, I could be getting this wrong, but from my understanding, for what I'm reading is It seems like they haven't had this issue until they've moved to this new house. Can that be a thing? Can the dog be like, hold on a second, what's going on? This is unusual. I mean, 7 months seems like a long time for it to still be happening.

Yeah, that's it. So that's— and that brings us to the other side of the coin where the dog genuinely has a bit of a fear or distress or anxiety sort of issue around you leaving. And what can often happen is because our dogs are so contextual, they have seen the, you know, let's talk about your previous place. They've seen the picture of you coming and going, coming and going hundreds and hundreds of times at your last place where they understood that pattern and go, yep, gotcha. Mum leaves, but she comes back through that door and they understand it. The problem when we move to a new place is that association can go. All of a sudden they can start to go, hang on, I don't know if that works the same, because those things that they've learned, they struggle to generalise from one place to another. So I guess when you move place, we can often be thinking, oh, well, my dog's being— is fine being left alone all day. That's what I'm going to do. We move to a new place, we leave them alone. It's way over what they can handle because they're not sure whether you're coming back. Um, and then they start to get anxious about it, and then we continue doing it, and the problem just gets worse and worse and worse. So it sounds like if it hasn't naturally got better on its own 7 months in, it probably won't get better on its own. It is something that's going to require some training. I guess if we get inside their head for a moment, it's like, imagine letting your dog off lead and you've got— you're really confident in their recall. But you go somewhere brand new they've never been and you're like, ooh, I hope they come back. They've never been to a beach or a forest or this before. That's kind of how it feels for them. And they're not 100% sure that it all works the same. So it's hard to say without seeing it. Like generally when we see howling, that is more sort of associated with distress. But I've also known some dogs have some pretty full-on meltdowns and tantrums and be pretty dramatic about it all. So if it is a more anxious sort of side, then honestly, just look at your enrichment, look at all your background stuff, make sure they're in the best headspace possible, and then, you know, starting some threshold-based training, just lots of short trips underneath their threshold and gradually increasing.

She's posted a picture of the dog as well. It looks to me like some sort of poodle cross—

Spaniel poodle? Yeah, he could just be a cocker spaniel with really curly, but he looks like a spoodle. But yeah, and Janelle, it sounds like you listened to the excellent episode on like, uh, 12 problem behaviors, or, you know, 15 simple things you can do to get rid of 99% of behavior problems. Implement all those and then, and then what we just spoke about then. Hope that helps.

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Boom!

No!

Come on, kids, what should we order for dinner?

Pizza!

Thai tacos!

Hey boys, let's not get loco. What kind of restaurant sells pizza, Thai, and tacos?

I'll never please all my guys. Why can't we have food without the fight?

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Okay, next question's from Liz. Hi, Jack and Max. Roo, 18-month-old Kelpie cross, is starting to have some reactivity issues with strange dogs, especially large black ones, and he cannot handle anything eyeballing him. While I try and stay on top of it and stop him eyeballing back, it can escalate quite quickly. He does agility training and, and trialing and also herding training once a month. So there we go, he's getting those needs met. He also gets a lot of exercise and I do some trick training with him to keep him mentally busy. He's crated during the day when I'm at work, but does sleep in a bed beside me at night and sometimes on my bed. We do live on a farm, so most of our walks happen on the property unless we're away trialling. I try and get him out and about to see the world as much as I can. He's also started resource guarding the couch, me, if he's on it next to me. I'm going to try your advice from the case study you did on Oreo and Tommy and will also snap at him and will also snap at them if they come in. Oh, so he snaps at the other dogs. There's other dogs Yeah.

Yeah. Sometimes reactive issues with strange dogs and he cannot handle anything eyeballing him. So he sounds— he's— so going from the top, he certainly sounds pretty insecure. If he can't handle eye contact from other dogs, uh, that's definitely an insecurity thing. So he needs to be socialised with them, dogs that don't make him feel that way, but also needs to have that behaviour corrected out. Because with reactive behaviour, it's so self-reinforcing. Your dog does the behaviour because initially they're so worried about The other dog, that they do something, whether they get, you know, defensive or avoidant or whatever. And then the dog was probably never going to hurt them. So then they go, oh shit, I did this and it worked. So, um, he needs to be socialised around dogs that don't make him feel that way. So maybe smaller dogs or lower energy dogs where he feels like he's, you know, he's the big dog. Uh, and then just have that behaviour corrected out. Um, In terms of like, same with large black dogs, just finding ones that maybe are good and just slowly customising them to that and just working through. Sounds like you're doing all your enrichment and management stuff really well.

Resource guarding on the couch. I mean, I, I mean, I'm no expert, but if a dog starts growling at other people that's coming near the couch, it gets couch privileges gone. No more couch privileges.

100%. So if he's resource guarding you, you really need to address your relationship. So again, we uploaded the relationship guide. You need to do that because there's definitely going to be some flaws there where he's Not seeing you as his owner, leader, sentient being. He's just seeing you as a human pat machine that he can decide who uses it and who's not. You've got to show him that you're in control of who, you know, gets your affection and who not. That's not up to him. So that behavior needs to be corrected. Your relationship needs to be addressed. And same what Jack said, no more couch access. Uh, it's a too bad, so sad situation, especially if he's coming up to his bed. Like, with that, that's it. That can be a funny one. I think every dog Needs their own space. And if you've got 7, you do need 7 separate spaces. That is a lot of dogs to live with. In the wild, average dog packs aren't even as high as numbers as 7. That is, that is a lot of dogs. That's a lot of people. It's a lot of dogs. So, that one, if he's got no other space, but, you know, I'm a bit more lenient, but he says he is crated during the day. So, I'd be correcting him for that bed. You know, if it's a communal bed, he's— it's not up for him to resource guard. Um, I'd be showing him his crate is his space, but it also sounds like he's a sort of dog who maybe craves a bit of conflict potentially. So maybe some more tug and things like that. Um, I don't know if he'll need our Reactivity Rewire program. I'll be like, you know, I'll be really honest. I'm just going down to the last thing there. Happy to look at Max's Doing Max's program. Um, but it's always the sort of thing we could jump on the phone and have a discussion and see if it's a good fit and, you know, ask a few more questions about a few of these issues. But, uh, yeah, sort out your relationship. firmer boundaries of that sort of stuff. And that's really all you need. You're doing everything else really well.

Yeah. I mean, we had one issue. Not really an issue, but I mean, Becky was on the couch once and Kira was on the couch and Becky moved her foot and Kira gave a growl. Gone. Yeah. Off the couch. Yeah. Not back on the couch. She's not been on the couch since. I'm sorry. I know you like them. And now people might think, oh, that's one growl. She'll come in here, she goes on the couch in here, that's fine. But in the house now, it's like, yeah, no, you're done. Because like I just want to nip that stuff straight in the bud straight away. It's like, this isn't your couch, mate.

100%.

Yeah, this is— you're allowed on here because I've said you can come on here, and if you're going to start that up, you're off.

Yep.

And it's—

so now she just every night comes, puts her head on the couch, just looks going, please. It's like, no, mate, you've got a bed over there, go and lie in it.

And it's a funny one, some like— because you'll get different answers from people. You'll get some people go, don't let him on the couch, that's why he's reactive. And then you'll get other people who say, ours have been on the couch forever, never had an issue. And every dog's different. Like some dogs you can give a shitload of privilege to and it doesn't go to their head. Other dogs, you give them a little bit and they really run with it. They get this inflated sense of self-importance and you really can't give them too much. And sounds like young Kira really ran with it that day.

She did.

And look, ever since, she's probably regretted her decision. Okay. All right. Well, any questions, as always, like those two, you can always ask them on the Facebook page. Just search the Dog People Podcast on Facebook. And we'll get them answered. The Dog People Podcast is a Mashed Pumpkin production hosted by Jack Lawrence and Max O'Neill, edited, produced, and audio production by Jack Lawrence.

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