Jordan Lindner: Avoid These 5 Costly Puppy Mistakes | E32

[00:00:00] Over emphasis on teaching obedience and cues. I would say that focusing on how puppies

[00:00:06] feel is more important than what cues they know at such a young age, especially when

[00:00:13] they're first coming home. So taking the time to try to teach and shape behaviors

[00:00:19] is important.

[00:00:26] Welcome to The Pet Care Report podcast by PetSummits. Here's your dog training host,

[00:00:31] Melissa Vieira. Welcome back to The Pet Care Report. On today's episode, we're talking

[00:00:36] all about puppies and I have just the expert joining us today to cover this important

[00:00:41] topic. Jordan owns the business Puppy Matters Co. in South Australia. Jordan's business

[00:00:48] focuses primarily on puppies as well as young dogs offering things such as one-on-one

[00:00:53] training, six-week classes, as well as adventure walks. So thank you so much

[00:00:59] for being here today, Jordan. Can you tell us a little bit more about what made you

[00:01:03] specifically want to focus on puppies?

[00:01:06] No problem. Thanks for having me along. I suppose the thing that made me want to

[00:01:11] focus primarily on puppies is that's the stage in their life where you can have

[00:01:16] the biggest impact that's going to carry over into the rest of their life. So,

[00:01:22] yeah, it's an important time in the life of a dog and it's a time where people are often

[00:01:30] the most stressed out about what to do. So I think it's a good time in a dog's

[00:01:36] life to help them out and steer people in the right direction.

[00:01:40] And you discovered that firsthand when you got a puppy a few years ago?

[00:01:45] Yeah, absolutely. So we got our first puppy four years ago now and we went

[00:01:52] through that same experience that I think a lot of people go through when

[00:01:55] they get a puppy of, oh my goodness, what do we do with this thing? And just

[00:02:01] going through that process of trying to find not only how to do it and what

[00:02:08] to do, but where to actually learn from to be able to teach our puppy the

[00:02:13] best that we can was, it was quite difficult. You know, that's a process in

[00:02:17] itself, just finding what to learn. So yeah, that was a major factor in

[00:02:24] starting the business and getting into the professional side of puppy

[00:02:29] training.

[00:02:30] And the neat thing about your business, I was looking at your website

[00:02:33] and it's so personalized. And I think there's one part that specifically

[00:02:37] says like just guiding that puppy owner through the very specific areas

[00:02:41] where sometimes people will go to a puppy class and they leave feeling just

[00:02:45] as confused as when they started. So it seems like your business really has

[00:02:50] that personal approach for being able to help people and guide them through

[00:02:54] all of those challenges that come with a new puppy so that they can

[00:02:57] actually spend more time enjoying their puppy and not being so stressed

[00:03:00] about all of those things.

[00:03:02] Yeah, absolutely. I think that the personal approach is important.

[00:03:09] I mean, my main goal is to help people as much as I like helping dogs

[00:03:14] and puppies. It really is a people business and that's the thing that I

[00:03:18] like most out of it. So yeah, I really enjoy that personal aspect

[00:03:22] and you really get involved in people's lives when you're helping

[00:03:27] them with a new puppy. It's quite a personal relationship that you have

[00:03:31] with people going into their homes and helping them out with.

[00:03:35] And also you're setting them up for life. I mean, for the next 12, 15

[00:03:40] years even being able to prevent mistakes and problems that could

[00:03:45] arise during puppyhood that if those aren't addressed in puppyhood,

[00:03:49] really tend to stay with the dog for a long time. So you're

[00:03:52] preventing that stress down the line too. It's not just in puppyhood,

[00:03:55] which is really neat and important.

[00:03:57] Yeah, absolutely. I suppose the main goal is to help people to get

[00:04:01] right from the beginning so they don't run into trouble later and then

[00:04:05] have to engage in remedial behaviour programs and things like that

[00:04:10] that can be quite difficult for people to take on.

[00:04:13] So I'm sure in your business you have seen many mistakes that are

[00:04:17] very common and that you see often and those are the things that

[00:04:21] we want to try to help people find before they happen. So what

[00:04:25] would you say are the five most common mistakes people make with

[00:04:29] their new puppies that you can help them prevent?

[00:04:32] Yeah, sure. So some of the five most common mistakes that I've

[00:04:37] come across. Number one would be an overemphasis on teaching

[00:04:42] obedience cues to puppies when people first get them. When

[00:04:47] you think about puppy training, the first thing that

[00:04:50] comes to mind is I'll teach them to sit, teach them to lay

[00:04:53] down, teach them to roll over and shake hands and all of

[00:04:56] those neat sort of things. While teaching them those things is

[00:05:01] valuable, the most important thing to really focus on when

[00:05:07] people first get a puppy, especially at that really young

[00:05:11] age, is trying to teach them behaviours and trying to make

[00:05:16] them feel safe and help them to understand and fit into the

[00:05:20] human world. Number two would be not enough time spent sniffing

[00:05:30] and decompressing in nature spaces for puppies and this is

[00:05:35] really for all ages of dogs. Number three would be

[00:05:43] probably low value treats. Using low value treats in a

[00:05:47] high distraction environment is a recipe for puppies not

[00:05:52] listening and not really understanding. Number four would

[00:05:55] be assuming that socialisation means just going out and

[00:05:59] meeting every single dog and every single person that you

[00:06:02] come across and not having any control or structure to that

[00:06:07] interaction. And number five, I think this is the big

[00:06:11] one, is forgetting to notice good behaviour.

[00:06:14] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:06:16] And reward it. Yeah.

[00:06:17] So starting with number one, focusing on behaviour rather

[00:06:21] than formal obedience cues, would you say like focusing on

[00:06:26] behaviour that fits that lifestyle? So should the

[00:06:29] family really be thinking about what they want in a dog

[00:06:32] and what they want the rules of the household to look like

[00:06:35] even before they get the puppy?

[00:06:37] Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think a focus on how the

[00:06:43] puppy feels is more important in those really formative weeks

[00:06:49] of their life over what cues they know.

[00:06:52] And that really can relate to number five as well, because

[00:06:56] you mentioned like not overloading the puppy, the

[00:06:58] socialisation aspect doesn't mean just bringing that puppy

[00:07:02] around everyone and everything.

[00:07:04] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So yeah, just

[00:07:07] taking time to try and shape their behaviour by rewarding

[00:07:13] what you do want to see. So they can begin to learn how to

[00:07:18] behave in different situations and environment.

[00:07:21] All right, so puppy owners have these things that

[00:07:24] they're going to try not to do. But what can you tell us

[00:07:28] about the preventative measures for each of those

[00:07:31] five common mistakes?

[00:07:33] Yeah, so for number one, the over emphasis on teaching

[00:07:37] obedience and cues, I would say that focusing on how

[00:07:41] puppies feel is more important than what cues they know at

[00:07:46] such a young age, especially when they're first coming home.

[00:07:50] So taking the time to try to teach and shape behaviours

[00:07:55] is important. And just remember that teaching cues can

[00:08:01] it can happen anytime. And in all honesty, as far as dog

[00:08:05] training goes, the cues part is the easy part, is

[00:08:09] teaching behaviours that is harder and takes a bit more time.

[00:08:12] So, yeah, just focusing on the things you would like your

[00:08:16] puppy to ultimately do in the places that you ultimately want

[00:08:20] to take them and making sure you're rewarding the good

[00:08:24] behaviours you see there. For number two, so that

[00:08:30] would just be once your puppy is appropriately

[00:08:34] vaccinated, of course, taking them out to nature rich

[00:08:37] environments and just having a good time together.

[00:08:41] That's one of the best things I think you can do with

[00:08:44] the dog. You can use a long lead if need be, but giving

[00:08:49] them that freedom and the time to sniff and explore

[00:08:53] and just engage in their natural behaviours is really

[00:08:56] beneficial for their overall mental wellbeing.

[00:09:00] And I find that the more dogs do that, it really

[00:09:04] bleeds over into positive behaviour and other areas of

[00:09:07] their life because they're getting that outlet that

[00:09:10] they need.

[00:09:10] Yeah, I can agree with that more.

[00:09:13] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so like the big secret is

[00:09:16] go out and have fun.

[00:09:18] Right.

[00:09:20] Yeah. Number three, so that was using low value

[00:09:23] treats in high distraction environments. And the best

[00:09:26] prevention for that is just find out what your dog

[00:09:29] likes and find out the treats that they're really

[00:09:32] into. Mostly puppies are going to do better with

[00:09:36] softer treats because they have such little teeth.

[00:09:41] Anything that's meaty and has a bit of moisture is

[00:09:45] usually going to be higher value for them than

[00:09:47] something like a dog biscuit or a liver treat.

[00:09:51] And just keep in mind that wherever you go with

[00:09:55] a puppy, you're competing with the environment.

[00:09:58] So the value of the rewards you have on you

[00:10:02] needs to be appropriate for that environment.

[00:10:06] My top two treats would probably be number one,

[00:10:09] roast chicken and number two.

[00:10:14] We use that prime 100 rolls as treats.

[00:10:17] They seem to be quite good.

[00:10:19] Most dogs seem to like them.

[00:10:20] Those are remaining high value because I believe

[00:10:23] you had said like going out, you're using those

[00:10:26] high value treats where at home it's less

[00:10:27] distracting. Maybe they're not required as much

[00:10:30] unless it's something new or difficult you're

[00:10:32] working on.

[00:10:34] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:10:35] Absolutely.

[00:10:36] So I often tell people that unless you have

[00:10:41] the hungriest Labrador on earth, most dogs will

[00:10:46] they'll do anything for a dog biscuit at home

[00:10:49] in the kitchen.

[00:10:50] But as soon as you go to the beach and there's

[00:10:53] a lot of action going on, it's just not

[00:10:55] going to cut it.

[00:10:55] So yeah, very value of treats depending on

[00:10:58] where you are.

[00:11:00] And then the next one, number four.

[00:11:03] Yeah.

[00:11:03] So number four was socialization and the

[00:11:07] approach to that.

[00:11:09] I think the best preventative measure is to

[00:11:12] just try to control interactions that your

[00:11:15] puppy has as best you can so that they're

[00:11:18] positive and that they're practicing

[00:11:21] behaviors that you ultimately want them to

[00:11:24] do as an adult dog.

[00:11:25] So being aware of things like trying to

[00:11:31] tell people not to pat your puppy and

[00:11:34] excite them when their puppy is jumping and

[00:11:37] being crazy, for example.

[00:11:40] You can use things like food lures and

[00:11:43] treats on the ground to keep puppies from

[00:11:47] jumping on a person when they're greeting

[00:11:49] them.

[00:11:50] And also in regard to greeting other dogs,

[00:11:55] I think it's good for puppies to have

[00:11:58] lots of really short greetings where there's

[00:12:02] as little action as possible.

[00:12:04] So two to three second greetings with dogs

[00:12:07] reward them if they've done a good job and

[00:12:09] then move on.

[00:12:11] I find that most of that over excitement

[00:12:15] for puppies happens when they're standing

[00:12:18] with the dog and they greet them and then

[00:12:19] they stay there and it's like, what next?

[00:12:22] Well, they usually want to burst into play.

[00:12:25] So moving them on is a good idea.

[00:12:28] You said also ensuring that the pet owners

[00:12:32] are looking at, well, what do I want my dog

[00:12:34] to act like as an adult?

[00:12:36] Because sometimes puppy behaviors are a

[00:12:38] little less noticeable or less annoying

[00:12:41] because the puppy is small.

[00:12:42] But then all of a sudden the dog is a

[00:12:44] big dog and jumping and pawing at them.

[00:12:47] And that's not so cute anymore.

[00:12:50] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:12:51] The adult Great Dane jumping on Nana is

[00:12:54] not so fun and cute.

[00:12:56] Absolutely.

[00:12:59] And yeah, that's a good point.

[00:13:00] I suppose viewing all of their behaviors

[00:13:03] through the lens of would I like my dog

[00:13:07] to be doing this when they're a full

[00:13:09] grown adult and what would that look like?

[00:13:12] And then number five is the big one

[00:13:14] because there are so many misconceptions

[00:13:16] about socialization, what that actually

[00:13:20] looks like.

[00:13:20] And you can go into more detail about

[00:13:23] what you recommend for the social time

[00:13:28] for puppies, what activities and what

[00:13:30] that looks like.

[00:13:31] Yeah, sure.

[00:13:31] Sure.

[00:13:32] So yeah, so number five is forgetting

[00:13:37] to notice their good behavior.

[00:13:39] And that is something that happens out

[00:13:41] in social settings, of course.

[00:13:44] But I suppose the big secret is try

[00:13:48] to catch your puppy being good and

[00:13:51] acknowledge it and reward it and let

[00:13:53] them know that you appreciate those

[00:13:56] good behaviors.

[00:13:58] Something that can happen with dogs

[00:14:01] that I've seen is they get stuck

[00:14:03] in a negative attention seeking

[00:14:05] cycle because it's easy to ignore

[00:14:09] a puppy when they're finally doing

[00:14:11] the right thing.

[00:14:11] You know, they're finally quiet at

[00:14:13] a cafe.

[00:14:14] They're finally sitting still at

[00:14:17] the park or something.

[00:14:19] And you can create a cycle of

[00:14:23] negative attention seeking because

[00:14:26] puppies are really smart and they

[00:14:28] can figure out that the only time

[00:14:30] anyone pays attention to them is

[00:14:32] when they're being crazy and doing

[00:14:34] evil stuff.

[00:14:37] They get chased around the house.

[00:14:40] Yeah, and puppies, I mean,

[00:14:41] naturally they do rest a lot and

[00:14:43] they do sleep a lot, but it's just,

[00:14:46] I think they make themselves more

[00:14:47] noticeable and the owners find them.

[00:14:51] They only complain about the

[00:14:52] behaviors that the puppies are doing

[00:14:54] when they're awake because those are

[00:14:55] the behaviors that are working and

[00:14:57] paying off.

[00:14:58] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:14:59] Absolutely.

[00:15:01] And yeah, as far as the socialization

[00:15:05] approach that I like goes, I

[00:15:09] think it's all about first

[00:15:12] figuring out what you ultimately

[00:15:13] want to do with your adult dog.

[00:15:16] Where do you want them to go?

[00:15:17] How do you want them to act in

[00:15:18] those places?

[00:15:20] And once your puppy can go out into

[00:15:24] the outside world, I don't think

[00:15:26] that you can do too much exposure.

[00:15:29] It's just exposure, exposure,

[00:15:30] exposure, going to all of these

[00:15:32] places until essentially until the

[00:15:35] novelty of those places wears

[00:15:39] off for the puppy and rewarding

[00:15:42] that good behavior, trying to shape

[00:15:45] their behavior and interactions as

[00:15:46] best you can in those environments

[00:15:48] and making the behaviors that you

[00:15:51] want to see the most rewarding

[00:15:53] thing that they can do in any given

[00:15:56] particular environment that you

[00:15:57] take them to.

[00:15:58] Yeah, and all of the other points

[00:16:00] really tie into that because it's

[00:16:02] not just at home.

[00:16:03] You're talking about the types of

[00:16:04] treats and the types of behaviors.

[00:16:06] So that might apply to the

[00:16:08] training and the calmness that

[00:16:11] you're trying to reinforce at

[00:16:12] home, but also during that

[00:16:14] exposure and taking them out

[00:16:15] places, those all make a lot of

[00:16:17] sense for all of that.

[00:16:18] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:16:20] Absolutely.

[00:16:21] Exposure is one of my big

[00:16:23] points that I'm constantly telling

[00:16:27] my puppy class attendees about.

[00:16:29] Well, you can't, there's no time

[00:16:31] machine.

[00:16:31] So if you miss that, it's hard

[00:16:33] to go back and try to get those

[00:16:36] experiences.

[00:16:37] So when they're young and you

[00:16:38] have that opportunity, it's an

[00:16:40] amazing thing to be able to have

[00:16:41] that opportunity to expose them to

[00:16:43] the world and to different types

[00:16:45] of people and dogs.

[00:16:46] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:16:48] Absolutely.

[00:16:49] And yeah, once they've been to

[00:16:51] an environment enough that the

[00:16:53] novelty starts to wear off,

[00:16:55] that's where the really

[00:16:57] remarkable behavior changes

[00:17:00] start to happen and they really

[00:17:02] settle into those environments.

[00:17:03] Now of course, sometimes

[00:17:05] mistakes do happen because

[00:17:07] that's just life.

[00:17:08] People get busy or maybe they

[00:17:10] don't hear about these

[00:17:11] mistakes until they've already

[00:17:12] made a few of them.

[00:17:14] So what recommendations can you

[00:17:16] give for families with puppies

[00:17:18] that might realize that they've

[00:17:20] been making some of these

[00:17:21] mistakes?

[00:17:21] How can they go back and make

[00:17:24] those changes?

[00:17:25] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:17:27] And as much as I preach the

[00:17:29] best practice with raising

[00:17:31] puppies, I do understand not

[00:17:35] everybody has all day every

[00:17:36] day to take their puppy out

[00:17:38] and train them for the first

[00:17:41] few months of their life.

[00:17:42] People do have jobs and kids

[00:17:44] and other commitments and that

[00:17:46] sort of thing.

[00:17:46] So just doing your best is

[00:17:51] good enough when raising a

[00:17:53] puppy.

[00:17:54] So I suppose the first thing

[00:17:57] I'd say about correcting

[00:17:58] mistakes is that raising a

[00:18:00] puppy is not a linear

[00:18:01] process.

[00:18:02] Right.

[00:18:03] They'll have setbacks and

[00:18:04] they'll have good days and

[00:18:05] bad days and you'll have the

[00:18:07] odd puppy size disaster, but

[00:18:10] it's okay.

[00:18:11] You can keep going moving

[00:18:13] forward.

[00:18:14] And so don't feel bad if

[00:18:16] some things are not perfect

[00:18:17] and in fact, don't even

[00:18:19] expect things to be perfect

[00:18:20] because they're still

[00:18:22] learning and they're not

[00:18:23] going to be.

[00:18:24] I think the best way to

[00:18:27] correct mistakes is to either

[00:18:30] choose a good local trainer

[00:18:32] or a learning resource and

[00:18:35] stick to it.

[00:18:37] Stick to that method.

[00:18:39] The best training approach

[00:18:43] on earth is not going to

[00:18:45] help if it's not

[00:18:46] consistently delivered.

[00:18:48] So I think that a

[00:18:51] mediocre, so to speak,

[00:18:53] approach that you deliver

[00:18:55] really consistently is going

[00:18:57] to serve you better than

[00:18:59] the best training on earth

[00:19:00] that doesn't happen all the

[00:19:01] time or different family

[00:19:03] members are doing it

[00:19:03] different.

[00:19:04] So choose something that

[00:19:05] everyone can understand and

[00:19:06] stick to.

[00:19:07] Yeah, that's a really good

[00:19:08] point because a lot of

[00:19:09] families will get to that

[00:19:11] point where things are

[00:19:12] going really well and then

[00:19:13] they become frustrated and

[00:19:15] they do want to drop out

[00:19:16] of training or change.

[00:19:18] They think something needs

[00:19:19] to be changed, but sometimes

[00:19:21] it's just not necessarily

[00:19:22] that they need to change

[00:19:23] any of their training.

[00:19:24] They just need to be,

[00:19:25] like you said, more

[00:19:26] consistent and just work

[00:19:28] through that because puppies

[00:19:29] themselves are changing so

[00:19:30] rapidly.

[00:19:31] So that consistency is

[00:19:32] really important.

[00:19:33] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:19:35] Yeah, consistency coupled

[00:19:36] with exposure.

[00:19:37] Now, do you have a number

[00:19:40] one tip that you want to

[00:19:41] share?

[00:19:42] I think I have an idea of

[00:19:43] what that might be.

[00:19:44] But can you tell our

[00:19:45] listeners what that number

[00:19:46] one tip is for puppies?

[00:19:49] Yeah, sure.

[00:19:50] Yeah, okay.

[00:19:51] So I haven't given it

[00:19:52] away yet.

[00:19:54] My number one tip would be

[00:19:56] just try to give your

[00:19:58] puppy a good life.

[00:20:00] The more you go out and

[00:20:01] do fun stuff together, the

[00:20:03] better they are going to be.

[00:20:04] So take them out to

[00:20:06] interesting places,

[00:20:08] include them as much as

[00:20:09] you can.

[00:20:11] And yeah, I think the

[00:20:13] best learning happens

[00:20:14] for them while they're

[00:20:15] out on fun adventures.

[00:20:17] Absolutely.

[00:20:19] So where can our listeners

[00:20:21] find you?

[00:20:21] These links will be

[00:20:22] alongside the episode

[00:20:25] as well.

[00:20:25] But can you tell us the

[00:20:26] best places to find you?

[00:20:28] Yeah, sure.

[00:20:29] So we're on Instagram.

[00:20:32] We are at Puppy Matters

[00:20:34] Co.

[00:20:35] And also our website is

[00:20:38] www.puppymattersco.com.au.

[00:20:42] We have some little

[00:20:43] learning resources and

[00:20:44] things on there if people

[00:20:45] want to get them.

[00:20:46] And I send an almost

[00:20:50] every Sunday email out

[00:20:52] to people with some

[00:20:54] tips and tricks.

[00:20:55] And yeah, we're of

[00:20:56] course on Facebook as well.

[00:20:58] Awesome.

[00:20:58] Thank you so much for

[00:21:00] our listeners for being

[00:21:01] here with us today.

[00:21:02] Like Jordan said,

[00:21:04] get those puppies out.

[00:21:06] If you like today's episode,

[00:21:08] please subscribe and

[00:21:09] like it so that we can

[00:21:10] reach more pet owners

[00:21:12] with valuable information.

[00:21:14] Thank you again,

[00:21:14] Jordan, for being here.

[00:21:16] No worries.

[00:21:16] Thanks very much for having me.