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[Music] Hi everyone! I’m Nicole Ellis. I’m a certified professional dog trainer and fear-free certified animal trainer. And I’m joined here today with Mickel Becker and Rossi. Mickel Becker is the lead trainer for Fear Free Pets, and I’m really excited – we’re just going to jump right in. I’m going to talk about today what are some of the most important things you think training-wise, as both trainers, that you don’t think people touch upon the most. I definitely have a few in my head that I always talk about with my clients, so would love to hear yours. Oh my goodness, well I think for sure, getting down those basic skills and really attending to them when they’re doing what we like. I think a lot of times, people will overlook when the dog is settled, they’re chewing on their toys or their chews, or they just are relaxing and they’re doing the things that we want our dogs to do. But sometimes we overlook that, and we only attend to them when they’re acting out, when they’re getting really hyper, or when they’re jumping up or they’re chewing on the furniture, and those things that maybe we don’t want. So sometimes our dogs can really start to do those things because they’re like, "Hey, that gets a lot of attention. Whenever I steal their socks, they come running after me it’s like this really fun game. So just literally just attending to them when they’re doing those things that we like: Giving them praise, playing with them, giving them some treats when they’re doing that, that all really goes a long way. It’s so simple but really so powerful. I love that. That’s something I talk about a lot, and when I tell my clients they’re so mad because the dogs chewing their shoes or their remote, and agreed we’d all be frustrated, but I’m like, "What are you do when he chews his dog toy?" Well nothing, it’s his his dog toy. That’s the time to tell him what a good boy is. That’s what we want, but I think it’s hard because we don’t do that in our relationships. I’m not like, "Oh thank you so much for sitting down at dinner and sitting there politely." We don’t have conversations like this, so I think it’s a different mindset. And once we get in that mindset our pets then can understand what we want of them. They want to please us, they want to do good, and they want attention. Yes, I think a big one also is mental stimulation. I love food puzzles and I know you love food puzzles, so giving our dogs something to do. Their noses are so incredibly powerful we can’t even relate in any way. So let’s give them stuff to do and doing 10 to 15 minutes can be better for them mentally and tire them out more than an hour walk. Yes. And I think this is something that’s totally missed and the dogs love it. Let’s give them fun things to do and work those brains a little bit, and a lot of these things we can prepare super quickly and easily it’s not going to take much time. Yes, oh absolutely. And one of the easiest things that we can do is if you have a backyard, you can just scatter treats so it’s almost like a little Easter egg hunt or a treasure hunt where they can go out and sniff for that. Or even just doing things like get the snuffle mats or even just if you just get a long, carpeted mat that has longer threads, that can be really perfect for them so we can scatter their food in there or little special treats. So that way they can sniff for it and hunt for it. It really is more natural for them because dogs really do want to work for their food versus having that free handout, which is really not that fulfilling. They’ve shown that dogs actually have what’s called contrafreeloading which is that they prefer to work for their food than they do to just get a free handout. That’s not nearly as fulfilling for them. Yeah, there was a study where they gave working police dogs their food in bowls and then in mental games. And they all went pretty much, not all but almost all went for those mental puzzles. And I think that speaks so easily when the dog could just eat their food, and what did they do? They made their own decision. They want to interact, they want to play, and dogs need to play. And dogs are one of the only species, along with horses, that play their whole lives. Yeah. So we really should be encouraging play, and that goes for our senior dogs. I have a 16-year-old that still plays with puzzle games and it’s her favorite thing. She jumps up and down and goes crazy for it. Cognitive enrichment – it’s almost like a dog’s version of Soduko. Yes! Yeah! I love that! I think another one is to prepare your dogs for things that they’re going to need throughout their entire lives, like as you would say, vet visits, another one I’d say is car rides, and I think these are big things that if we can introduce it early and slowly and properly, even if you rescue your dog later in life, it’s never too late. Let’s set them up for these experiences. Rossi, Rossi Bear, come here. You want cookies? He just saw a treat. Good boy. Down. So speaking of that, I just called him back. He went to his bed. And this is what we use in our house as a bed. It’s our Sleepypod mobile pet carrier that’s third-party crash-tested. And what’s great is we can put it in the car, he’s safe in the car, and he’s relaxed, and he has less stress and anxiety. Which we all want less stress for our pets, and less stress on us. And that’s perfect too because you give them a safe space that can that can really travel with him, so not only can he have that in the home he can have that in the car he can take it to his vet visits and it really gives him that security wherever he’s at. Yeah. Do you have any go-to things that you teach dogs? Oh my goodness, well my my number one is "Four on the Floor." It’s so basic, but it’s so important. So literally just attending to them when they have four paws on the floor. That’s a huge deal. It may seem so simple that’s a dog’s baseline where they should be at, but a lot of times dogs start to learn, "Hey, I jump up that’s when I get that attention." Or That’s what I do to to get you to pet me or to give me my treat" or whatever it might be. Four on the Foor is so simple. When they have four on the floor, that’s when we give them their food puzzle, that’s when we give them their chew, that’s when we play with them. Yeah so so simple, but it really is very helpful and really kind of a safety tool, too, to really have for them — especially if they’re around kids or elderly because falling and tripping over your dog can be a really big hazard we may not even think about. It’s so useful when people come over. We can use it in so many different environments. I love teaching tricks. I think it’s a great way to get our dogs thinking about other things. It’s useful when we’re out on a walk and I need my dog to focus on me. Probably my got to or every puppy is teaching a "touch" behavior. I love that too. So Rossi, can you get up? And I’ll just move this out of the way. Rossi, "Touch!" "Good." And that’s it. Just touching his nose to my hand. "Good job." I think it’s so nice because so many little dogs I’ve seen getting frustrated because they’re overly picked up. Yes. So this is a nice way we can easily maneuver our dog. I want him over here: "Come touch. Thank you." And he can come over there. I can get him to do extended touch and I can get him ready for vet visits this way. I can get him moved over to an area I need, or on a walk if there’s something dangerous coming I can easily do it. This works with big dogs, tiny dogs… And he’s excited. His tail’s going and he’s having fun. Yes. I do this with, very young puppies pick it up. I’ve seen senior dogs pick it up. I think it’s so nice that we can teach them at any age or something that I can use later in life, too. Yes, absolutely. I love it too for interacting with other people so say that I’m a veterinary team member, or I’m a groomer. It’s a perfect way for him to be able to say hi and to do it at his own pace. And if you put your hand down. He would do it for you. "Rossi, touch." A good strong one, really nice. Good job buddy! He’s never done this with you before, so it’s so nice to see we can have this done anywhere and get our dogs working and focusing on other things. "Good boy!" "You can go back in there, we’re all done doing that." Well this is super fun! I’m so glad we could go over a few of our favorite things. I loved hearing yours. And I hope this helps other people get a jump start and work on some things that maybe things that aren’t worked on as much. Absolutely, and training can be fun. It should be fun for both them and for us, so… and this has been super fun today to be here with you, and to be here with Rossi. I’ll add lastly, my training sessions are super short. They’re shorter than this conversation. So as you said, it should be fun, so I always end on a good note. So if he’s not doing it, make it easy for him. Do something he’s going to do really well. Our "touch" might be that close. "Good boy!" And then that’s it. We’re going to end it. 5 minutes. I think everyone can do that. I love that. Thanks so much and thank you everyone for watching. [Music] …
Develops your Dog’s Hidden Intelligence Click Here 👈