Send us Fan Mail

Build a healthy relationship with your puppy:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/episodes/17564361

Punishing bad puppy behavior episode:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/episodes/18841389

Are you doing these critical things with your puppy:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/episodes/15297457

The first few months of puppyhood:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/episodes/16591219

It's not because he's a puppy (and puppies aren't made of glass):

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/episodes/19123313

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

We all want to teach our dog's stuff! But how good our results are and how long it takes can be influenced by some seemingly subtle details. We cover some of the key details in the process to ensure efficiency.

Sharpen up your obedience training by understanding subtleties like sequence (giving the cue prior to performing the behavior), leaving gaps between each piece of communication (between the cue and the behavior or between the marker and the consequence).

Avoid muddying the waters by verbalizing unnecessary things or performing unnecessary actions. That only makes it harder for your dog to decipher the meaningful information. Keep it simple. Don't walk around when you are teaching a simple command. If you're teaching sit, stand pretty still. If you're teaching place, stand near the cot. Don't do laps around the house. Don't move 20 feet from the cot. Your dog needs to learn to walk before you try to run..

Eliminate sloppy training by keeping your dog on a leash. Removing your leash too soon will mean if and when your dog messes up, you are unable to achieve the desired result. Each time that happens...well..your dog learns the wrong behavior. You are literally teaching your dog to do the incorrect behavior after a command is given. Not good.

Your dog needs to be motivated to comply. And even just to pay attention and put in effort. Use things that motivate your dog to learn and to replicate the desired behavior more. Do lots of reps, and then add something that makes it not optional. Punishment. Results are best when we combine motivation to earn something with motivation to avoid something.

At the end of this episode we discuss the common fears around the step of adding punishment. It doesn't have to be scary or dangerous to incorporate accountability and make your obedience reliable. So be sure to stick around to hear that important piece!

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

One thing is for sure. Any trainer (me included) that uses prong collars, ecollars, and any kind of correction is usually the "last resort" for folks. But this is silly because first of all, those tools do more than just correct dogs. The tools are highly versatile and all of the control lies in the handler's hands.

Secondly, all dogs need correction. Yes, that's right—your dog needs to experience proper punishment. No, it doesn't matter what breed they are or what their temperament is. Sweet dogs are not exempt from this. This isn't a super popular statement. But it's a fact, so who cares?

The fact is, punishment is what stops unwanted behaviors, and it gets old hearing people express that there is obviously something different with or wrong with their dog for not responding properly in the absence of punishment. That's normal.

Motivating dogs requires the use of a variety of tangible consequences including rewards and corrections. This does not change just because you have a golden retriever, or a toy breed, or a super sweet bully breed. It doesn't change if your dog is afraid of everything—or if they're a real asshole. It doesn't change.

What does change is what motivates each dog. What is a reward for one might not be for another. The same goes for punishment. It's important to adapt to what motivates each dog. But eliminating pleasant or unpleasant consequences entirely can only serve to hamper your results.

A clear path to walk created by predictable outcomes contingent on behavior helps make every dog become the best possible version of themselves. Nervous dogs get more confident, reactive dogs get more tolerant, pushy dogs get more respectful.

It's not a matter of what type of training they need. It's a matter of motivating all dogs to do things they find unnatural on unappealing by providing things to work for and things to work to avoid, so that they may learn to exist in a manner they otherwise never would have tried if just left to their own devices.

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

We have a lot of clients that are doing amazing things with their dogs. And we meet a lot of folks that just seem to struggle even though their goals are very realistic—quite mundane, actually. Why is this?

There are lots of sayings out there around attitude and results, like "whether you think you can or can't, you're right." Mantras around the power of a made up mind or Earl Nightingale's The Strangest Secret, expressing the certainty that the seeds you plant are indeed what will grow.

I find these concepts ring very true in dog training. You'll find a way—or, you'll find an excuse. At the heart of not wanting it bad enough lies fatigue, discouragement, laziness, fear, guilt, misinformation, fear of judgment, or, let's be honest, just plain love of playing the victim.

Whatever it is your dog needs help with, one thing is for sure, you have to believe you can fix it. And you have to want it bad enough. You are the single biggest factor, not in your dog's behavior, but in changing your dog's behavior. It might sound like bad news that you are the problem, but the only one you have complete and total control over is you, so I would argue that that is great news.

You can choose to change, literally, right now. And you and your dog can reap the benefits, forever.

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

You don't need to be a dog trainer to be familiar with this term. If you've ever done a cursory internet search on stopping jumping (or anything else), you've probably seen this as the recommended course of action.

"Extinction" is the elimination of a behavior caused by a lack of reinforcement. Sounds logical right? Or does it? Do you stop running races because you don't win? Do you stop flipping the light switch when the power goes out? Does the dog stop chasing squirrels even though he never catches them?

No.

What if you got a static shock when you flipped the light switch? So now there are no lights (no reinforcement) but there's also a stronger negative consequence? That behavior, that habit, will fade faster.

The fact is old habits die hard. Even if you KNOW it won't be reinforced, you'll still do it out of habit for a while. And even once the habit dies down, you'll likely try "just to see". There are also things we do simply because we are wired to do them. They just come naturally. They aren't for any type of "reward". So what then? You can't remove a reward that doesn't exist..

So called "extinction" can even work against you and build more drive in the dog when they become adrenalized and frustrated trying to attain something. Think of a dog behind a fence trying to chase the neighbor's cat. The chasing behavior isn't going away...it's getting stronger.

For this reason it's important to attach contingent negative consequences to the behavior. This facilitates the fastest results as the brain will inhibit the old neural pathways and this provides a catalyst for it to begin forming new ones. The new ones can then be positively reinforced and built up and cemented.

The negative consequence isn't about showing the dog who's boss. It's science.

The strongest modifications to behavior are usually made by implementing a combination of punishment and positive reinforcement appropriately.

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...

Send us Fan Mail

This is sort of a list of recommendations in reverse. A list of what not to do, so to speak. I recently had a boarding visit from Finn and it inspired me to do an episode on dogs like him. It's more common than you'd think. These dogs can be full of monkey business and even down right nasty. But the second they see that you are an entity worthy of respect they snap right into being a little angel. It's like night and day!

The good new is, these dogs are more "savable" than most. Some dogs continue to struggle even after the best training. Or they require a lot of management. But these dogs don't. They just need to know there are standards. And that's it.

So what "standards" are typically missing? What is it people are doing, or not doing, that results in dogs going right off the rails and sometimes even needing to be rehomed (or worse)? Well, we are discussing that today.

If your dog has a genetic proclivity already toward the nastiness and you combine that with too much freedom, too much softness, a lack of boundaries (not knowing how to communicate and enforce them), and no negative consequences, you have the perfect storm brewing.

Support the show

Love the show? Sign up to access our new exciting Xtra content! This content is unique and is ONLY available to our paid subscribers.

Subscriptions are only $3/month! You can also just sign up to make a small donation monthly if you want to support the podcast. Or, if you can't do that right now, just hit subscribe in your favorite app and tell a friend about the show!

Any support in any form from our listeners is sooo appreciated! We count on listeners like you to help us keep putting out content. Visit the link below to subscribe or donate.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124912/support

I want to hear from you! Email me directly to ask your questions and suggest topics for the podcast.

Kati@diamondcanine.com

Visit our website where you can purchase our online course for only $99 and get started with e-collar training today! Work at your own pace. This is a very beginner friendly course. You can also sign up for training with Kati and Joyce, visit our shop for our branded merchandise and purchase E-collar Technologies collars.

https://www.diamondcanine.com

Visit our social media for free training videos and to connect with us!

https://www.facebook.com/diamondk9dogtraining

...