What I Wish I Knew... | SOURCE

Hi everyone and welcome to The Source Podcast, all things working dogs. So today it's just gonna be me, Voice of Reason, here. If you caught our episode last week, you know that Simon and AJ are currently on away in Japan on a training contract, so they'll be gone for about a month or so. But we're still going to try to get them on some podcasts, but right now with the time difference, things are a little crazy. So this week is just going to be you, me, and the mic talking about what I wish I knew about the canine industry. So this is not me personally. I reached out via social media. I do all of our social media accounts, so I put a post up asking our followers what they wish they knew. I asked our employees, I asked some students we have here now, I asked some graduates just to try to get a wide variety of answers and kind of see what people wish they knew and just provide this as a resource for you. Whether or not you've been in the industry for a day, a year, 10 years, there's always something to learn, and that is absolutely what I love about this industry. So if you don't know me, I generally am behind the camera AJ will refer to me as voice of reason, mostly because I'm the one who censors some stuff they have to say. Today we're just going to be talking about what people wish they knew and providing this as a resource for you to utilize if you are new or if you just want to learn a little bit more. I'll tell you a little bit quickly about how I ended up in the canine industry. So kind of a similar story to Simon and Keely. I've always really loved dogs. I've always loved big dogs specifically. And then a couple of years ago, somehow, some way, I came across working dogs. Obviously, we all know about— for the most part, growing up, we all know about police canines, but I didn't truly understand the depth of the training and what all that entailed until I actually started getting into it more. If you've watched the episode that AJ and I did together about civilian training, then you know that I actually ended up at CCU as a client first. I was really interested in the process of training working dogs. I was very interested in a protection dog, which I already know this is just putting myself on the spot right here, but I had no real concept of what a bite dog was or a personal protection dog really was. So in my head, my uneducated head, I was like, okay, perfect, I'm gonna get a German Shepherd, I'm gonna bring her here as a puppy and they're going to turn her into a bite dog. So let's just take a pause for a moment to reflect on my poor decisions. I still love her. She's great, but that's obviously not what happened. So I did get a German Shepherd. I did bring her here for training. Her name is Dusa. She went through a couple of evals with a previous trainer and then again with the head trainer throughout the first year of her life. She's a little bit over a year old now, about a year and a half, and she is just a pet. So she is not a working dog. But that's kind of what brought me into the working dog industry or the canine industry, because I really wanted a bite dog, a personal protection dog, and I was ultimately failed by my own ignorance, which happens to the best of us. So if you're interested, there's just that little backstory about how I ended up here. Let's ask the heavy-hitting question. So what do you wish you knew about the canine industry before now? Like, what do you wish you had known going into it to really set yourself up, whether for success or to warn yourself about something or whatever the case may be? So now we're going to move into what the CCU family had to say about what they actually wish they knew. So I'm going to insert some audio clips here. So this first one is going to be from Keely Hill, our training apprentice. It's easy to train a dog with high praise and rewards and consistency, but when it comes to training a human, you actually have to explain things. I'm not good at articulating words. And the next is going to be from Miss Madison Swan, one of our kennel technicians.

Um, one thing I wish I knew before, uh, getting into the working dog industry and the canine industry would be just kind of the different health issues that they can have, such as bloat and heat stress, and just kind of learning how to prevent those things. And, you know, what they are, how it can happen, and what to do if your dog goes through any stuff like that. It's really interesting to find out and learn.

Next, we're going to be hearing from Brandon Martin, one of our trainers here at Custom K9. You guys are probably pretty familiar if you watch the short sets or any of our long-form podcast.

One thing I wish I knew about the canine industry is that even working dogs need loving too. Working dogs need loving too because it is a fundamental development process that helps them understand that they are doing what they're supposed to be doing correctly.

Now let's move into what the rest of our CCU family had to say. So like I kind of mentioned, I made a couple of posts on our social media accounts asking what you wish you knew about the canine industry. So let's start with our comments and then we'll move into just some quotes that I have. So David Martinez says, DOD is the way to go when it comes to canine. I think it just depends on where you're at career-wise, but it absolutely could be the way for you to go, um, when it comes to being in the industry. Um, Jersey Osborne let us know that what he wishes he knew was to check the wind and how many times you'll get bit. So I'm hoping he means bit in his decoy suit, but we're a little unclear there. So fingers crossed for you, Jersey. Keith Sanders told us he wishes he knew the true amount of, the true amount of dedication to the canine and to their training. And that is absolutely so true. If you notice, that's kind of a similar theme that our trainers will have because, you know, they obviously see a lot of working dogs through from start to finish, from us getting them into our kennels and then them graduating with their partner— with their handler, excuse me. So a lot of people may not fully understand exactly how much time and effort, commitment, dedication it takes Zachary Tanner let us know that he wishes he knew how much you'd miss it after it's all over, and then he followed that up with best dog ever. And this is absolutely true. If you're listening, you may or may not remember when we went to Greene County Sheriff's Office when K9 Obie had passed away, and just being at the memorial service for Obie and just seeing the love that not only his handler but also the community had for him. That time goes by quick, and you will absolutely miss it after it's all over. Our next comment came from Lorinda Watts, and she said she wishes she knew that small dog breeds would be my most difficult clients, which, you know, makes sense if you're in the industry, but if you're not, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. She continued saying this is because of mishandling and misunderstanding that little dogs do not need training. Little dogs need training too, and not to have their autonomy taken away so often and carelessly. Um, of course we do mostly working dogs here, but we do have some client dogs, some civilian dogs that come in, and this is absolutely true. I don't know if it's because of their size or what the case may be, but it does seem like People underestimate the need that small dogs have for training. Just because they're 20 pounds as opposed to 80 or 100 does not mean they need any less training than those large dogs. Castillo, who has K9 Huey, commented that training is key to success when working a dog. That is 110% the case. We absolutely try very hard to let our students know that, you know, we have a limited amount of time with you depending on what course you're in. If you're doing a handler course, for example, It could be anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks, and that's the only time we have with you and your canine. So our goal is to equip you with the knowledge and the experience that you need to carry into your everyday life with your working dog or dog in general. Honestly, we also had Kevin Watts, who, if you remember, is the owner of Blue Cord Canine Dog Training, and he actually joined us on a podcast back last year. Phenomenal episode. We talked about training service dogs for veterans. We talked about working with client dogs and veterans and how canines help veterans and, and people who struggle with disabilities. It's very insightful. Can't wait to have you back on, Kevin. So Kevin Watts says, in the pet dog world, I wouldn't have never thought people would drop large sums of money to tell you how to train your dog. That is so funny. Um, I'm sure if you train client— or if you— I'm sure if you train pet dogs, you've experienced this a few times. He also says, um, I'm not going to mention the show dog world. If you haven't been, go, but be prepared. That is a whole different breed of people. So we might— we might need to take a little trip and go mingle with some show dog people. I'm thinking that's what we need to do. Um, One of our students here currently, Lamb Boy, he said having to deal with the people. So kind of a funny take on it. Obviously you get into this industry because you love dogs, you want to train dogs, you want to work with dogs, but those dogs have someone else attached to the under— other end of the leash. So that's just something that comes with it. I asked a few other people and here is what they said. So one person pointed out that within the canine industry, dog breeders breeders can really make or break, um, your experience, we should say. So that is 100% true. If you've ever dealt with a dog breeder before, I think you know you got to make sure you got a good one and make sure you got a good relationship with them. Another person said that they wish they knew about bloat and the effects of it. Again, if you've attended a course through us, you know we have the 10-15 rule which we actually have a short set. It was our very first short set we ever did, um, so feel free to check that out. I'll leave that linked as well. But we go— there's a reason we have that rule in place, and it is because of bloat and similar health concerns that may arise from a dog, you know, overdrinking or whatever the case may be. But there are reasons we have those in place, so that is absolutely correct. Lastly, Sarah, one of our other kennel techs, She commented, or she told me that she wished she knew how unpredictable canines can truly be. So it's just something you're always going to want to be mindful of, that with all the training in the world, at the end of the day it comes down to this, and that is dogs are animals. Working dogs, pet dogs, whatever, they are animals and they can absolutely be unpredictable. I'm going to throw out a couple more I have here. So one thing I wish I knew before entering the working dog industry is the extensive commitment to ongoing education and adaptation required. And that is 100% what we do here. So we— if you've ever attended training here, you know that none of our trainers approach any canine or any handler for that matter with a one-size-fits-all. Because that's just not the case. And so this is absolutely true. There's always new techniques, there's new research, there's just always something new being put out. And we really make sure to prioritize taking in the information and then deciding what to do with it from there. Kind of similar, training methods, understanding canine behavior, and best practices evolve constantly. And they absolutely do. Following up on that, You know, there are things that were set in stone, so to speak, 20 years ago that we don't do now. And there are things that we may— we do now that we may not do in 20 years. One of the biggest things I think that I've personally taken away, and I wish I knew about the canine industry— I have a few if you're interested, I'll only throw out a couple— but, um, one of the things that I wish I knew, let's just start with the in-your-face most obvious: I wish I knew that every single German Shepherd cannot be a bite dog. Every single Malinois, every single Dutchy, whatever pointy ear breed or otherwise cannot be a bite dog. There's so much more that goes into that. So that is absolutely something I wish I knew. In saying that, I would not trade the world for my German Shepherd even though she doesn't work. So maybe I don't wish I knew that because then I wouldn't have gotten her. But thinking about it now, I'm glad that I have the knowledge I have now to approach things differently in the future. Um, another thing is that I wish that I really understood And I'm so thankful to be in a position where I'm able to see it now personally every day, just about. But I wish I really understood the bond that canines and their handlers have. I've always had pet dogs, but there are some similarities, but truly it feels different. The bond feels different, not in a better or worse way. I talked about this a lot whenever we were at the MWD symposium a couple of weeks ago. When our handlers start their courses— and I'm going to use handlers in this case because we're talking about the bond— but when our handlers start their courses and they meet their dog on like the second, third day, once they're through the introductory classes, um, there's kind of, depending on the person, if they— if it's a department dog or if it's a dog they've never met before, but for the most part there's a little bit of like wariness, there's a little bit of standoffishness and kind of like, oh, I don't know this dog, and the dog's like, I don't know this person, but I don't really care because you have a ball or a Kong or whatever the case may be. Um, the thing that I love watching is seeing that progression throughout, you know, depending on— again, depending on what course they're in, however long they may be here. But for this example, we'll say like a month, 6 weeks, whatever the case, like throughout that time period. And you just being able to watch that progression of going from them just meeting each other to becoming a true team by the end of their course, when they're graduating and they're standing up there with their certificate, and you just— there's a completely different bond between them than whenever they first started when they weren't really sure about each other. I think that's one thing that I wish more people knew. I'll say that I really wish more people knew exactly how deep this bond runs. And I kind of mentioned before, but with K9 Obi, when we went to his memorial service, the emotion that was there was just astounding. People cared so deeply, so deeply about this canine and the work that he did, and he was a true member of the team. And I really, really wish that more people understood and saw that. AJ kind of mentioned this in a previous episode that we did, um, about being a canine handler, and I just want to reiterate this point because I think it's such an important one that a few people have kind of touched on in the comments section, but It is that your time is no longer your free time. Specifically pertaining to a handler, yes. But if we're applying that even just to the industry, let's think about it a little bit broader in the sense of you're in the canine industry now. You're— maybe you're a handler, maybe you're a trainer. Either way, you're probably staying up at night thinking about this one issue that you need to solve. How do you approach it differently? What do you need to do to get the canine to understand? Or to better communicate with the dog, whether that's your personal canine or if that is a client dog. And I know personally, like, our trainers will sit in here and just talk about either, you know, a canine, a working dog we have in the kennels, or even a client dog that comes in for obedience or scent work or tracking or whatever the case may be, trying to figure out, like, is it the reward? Like, is there age, something's not clicking. What do we need to do differently? And that's the beauty of the industry, is that you really and truly can never settle. I always joke, like, this is a really good industry for someone who gets bored easily because you could never get bored. You're always handling different dogs. You're— or if you're a handler, maybe you're handling the same dog but it's different situations. Well, another thing that AJ has mentioned he wishes more people knew about either being a handler or just about the industry is how much time you're not going to spend doing the fun stuff, you know, like, obviously training is fun, doing detection is fun, doing some bite work is fun, whether you're decoying or you're sending the dog, tracking is fun, obedience can be fun, it's fun for the dog, or at least it should be. But there are some standards that you have to maintain, you know, cleanliness for the dog. So if they're in a crate, for example, ensuring that you are performing proper kennel maintenance, disinfecting, cleaning. You have to groom the dog. That may not be your dog's favorite thing or yours. Training dogs is fun. Being a handler is fun. At least it looks fun. But there's a lot that goes on behind that. So thank you guys so much for joining me today. I know things are a little bit different because we don't have AJ or Simon joining us. So I appreciate you for sticking around and listening to what people wish they knew. if there's anything that you wish you knew, or better yet, a piece of advice you would give to someone. Don't forget Tuesdays, we have our short set. Keep your eyes peeled for that. As always, all of our contact information is linked below, whether that's social media, phone number, email, website. And if you click the link at the very top of the description box, you will find a link with information about what you should know before becoming a canine handler. So getting a little bit more specific on that one, but it's a great episode. AJ kind of talks us through what he wishes he knew before becoming a handler and what he makes sure to tell people before becoming a handler, and it is a great episode. So that will be linked below for you to access. Thank you guys so much for joining us today, or joining me today. I really appreciate it. I hope you guys learned one thing. Not to take AJ's tagline, but if one person takes one thing away from this episode, That is the point. That is exactly why we do this. So thanks again for joining me, and we'll see you Tuesday. I'll be behind the camera again, and all will be right in the world. We'll see you then.