The Magic Of Allowing Your Dog To Make Choices

00:00 — Kati introduces the episode’s focus on improving dog behavior beyond conventional command training.

Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger Warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Hey guys, Kati peppy of Diamond Canine Dog Training. Welcome back to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. Uh, this'll probably be a pretty brief one today, um, but it's kind of an interesting subject that's not really talked about a lot. So when we think of our dog's behavior, and I mean most people when they seek me out for training, what what they're looking for is help with their dog's behavior in a lot of cases. Um, but I think we tend to think about commands specifically and like getting our dog to do commands. And yeah, I'm not gonna say that's not behavior, but it's not, it's not behavioral training.

Like we're not really addressing necessarily, or we're not necessarily getting a lot of traction on the dog's state of mind and just how they choose to behave, like by default, by just teaching commands. So I think people often lose a lot of ground because of that. Um, we're just not thinking about it correctly. So you need a perspective shift maybe. So let me clarify.

When people don't want their dog to jump, they try to teach their dog a sit, okay? And there's a few problems with that. Everybody asks for a sit at the door. There's a problem with that too. Um, and then when you let your dog, you know, off leash, um, or even just in the house, not in command, not on a leash, they're a maniac, right? So that's what I mean when I say behavior. So we have a couple different things here. We have, I wanna teach my dog obedience commands, and then there's, I wanna tackle my dog's state of mind and create kind of a calm, confident and polite dog by default, which are two very different things.

There's some overlap, like we might leverage commands to get there, in some cases in some way, but they're not the same. They're not the same. So, and I think pe people just don't think about this.

03:00 — Teaching sit instead of jumping frustrates owners because they primarily want the jumping to…

So most people that say, you know, they don't want their dog to jump, so they're teaching their dog to sit instead are very frustrated. And I mean, the reason that they're frustrated is because the truth is they don't give a shit if the dog sits. They just don't want the dog to jump. So the truth is, I mean, you're gonna be frustrated because you want, what you really want is you want the dog to make a better decision by itself. And it can do that <laugh>, your dog can do that a hundred percent most in most cases.

So, so let's just break this down into what this looks like and, and how you fix it, right? So teach your dog the commands. I think that's fantastic. Every dog should have that foundation. Teach your dog the basic commands, you know, like sit down, meaning lay down. Uh, you know, I love to have a place command obviously come when called. Uh, and I'm a big fan of heal. So teach your dog those things and teach them what those words mean and what those behaviors mean. And that's fantastic. You're never gonna hear me say that. That's a bad idea.

You shouldn't do that. But okay. And here's, here's the big light bulb moment. Hopefully teach your dog how to behave when they're not doing any of those things.

Teach your dog how to be calm, respectful, polite, focused, tuned in when they're not sitting, laying down on place in a heel <laugh>. So how do you do that? How do you achieve that? And it might be easier than you think. So the way that we achieve that is simply by doing so, put the dog in various situations, various scenarios, and just let them make some choices. Stop barking commands at the damn dog. Okay? So I tell everybody, when you go to a door with your dog, like you're going out of the house or out of the car, whatever the case may be, don't say anything.

And that's actually a lot harder for some people <laugh> than they ever thought it would be. 'cause they didn't realize how used to that. They were just barking commands at the dog constantly in every context. Let your dog make a choice and then you provide the feedback.

Okay? Now guys, that doesn't sound that big. This is magic. This is magic, okay? Because now your dog actually learns how to choose the correct behavior, how to make better decisions, how to be in a better state of mind, right? So we walk up to a door and if the dog crowds the door, if they walk past me, if they weasel their little nose right the way they do, they get their little snoot in there in between you and the door. And then as soon as you start to open the door, their head is just curling right around the door trying to see out there and trying to move forward.

06:00 — At a door, handlers should address crowding or pushing through so dogs learn to…

No way, man. But let your dog do that. And then of course you have to have a way to correct them for that and tell them that's the wrong decision, which of course is another huge piece that people are missing.

But you hear me talk about that all the time, right? And so I won't spend a ton of time on it, but just to recap, you need to have markers with your dog. You need to have a simple language, you know, you need to have one word or a clicker, but generally speaking one word that means, you know, good job. Maybe it even means food is coming or another reward is coming. Maybe it's affection or so that word might be good. It might be yes. Um, I usually just do calm praise. So I'll say good.

Sometimes I'll accompany the good with some affection depends on the situation and how excitable the dog is. Um, so that's your, your positive marker. And then you also need a punishment marker, which is usually no, right? You don't have to yell, you don't have to scream and be crazy, just no.

And then that's attached, um, to a consequence. So after I say no, I would follow that with a tangible negative consequence that I know the dog does not like. Um, so, and usually the most practical way to do that is a correction from an eco. So you just turn it up a little bit, tap the button, um, at whatever level that particular dog, um, finds intolerable for that situation. So here's what it looks like. I go up to the door, the dog crowds the door, I say, no, I turn up my e-collar to something uncomfortable.

I tap the button. Now if the dog doesn't move away from the door, I may guide them away from the door. At that point using the leash or my body language, I kind of like to use my spatial pressure. So I'll just kind of turn around and walk right into the dog to just kind of push them back, right?

And so then that says, I don't want you there, I want you back here. So now I've made it very clear to the dog that they were too forward. That there's a, a negative consequence attached to that behavior of being too forward at the door. So they should be more respectful at the door. Most dogs, the second time you walk, right? 'cause then you walk away, you walk back. Most dogs, the second time you approach the door are much more polite. And then you can say, good ta-da <laugh>. But so that's a perfect example of not barking commands at the dog, but just letting them make a choice.

09:00 — After correction, the dog approaches the door more politely, demonstrating choice-based training.

Give them a little bit of freedom. Now I recommend doing it on a leash, but don't yank them around the whole time. A nice loose leash. Let the dog make choices. You provide the feedback. So usually I say there's three pauses at the door, okay?

And the door is just an example, but it's a nice easy one to use. Um, and it's a big one in a sense because you go through so many doors in a day, um, usually anyway, most people do, especially if they're walking their dog regularly. Um, that there's a lot of traction to be had by addressing doorways. So this is something you can do right away. And if you don't have an eco, if you've got your dog on a prong collar, hopefully you do, um, great communication tool with your leash. You gotta know how to use it.

Um, I talk a lot about that both on the podcast and in all of my social media videos, but you can use that as well, right? So dog crowds the door, I say no leash, pop, nice firm leash pop, guide them away from the door. Super simple guys.

So you can do this today. Um, but let the dog make the decisions, right? So I usually say there's three pauses at the door. The first thing I do is I just walk up to the door and I put my hand on the doorknob and I just pause there and I see what does a dog do? Just stand still for a second. Those pauses are so important in dog training guys. It's gonna give you so much insight into your dog's state of mind and what choices they make on their own, right? So hand on the door knb and just pause there for a second.

Does the dog kind of hang back and just wait to see what's happening? Or do they start crowding the door, getting a little excited, getting a little too forward? So give them the feedback either way, good or no. And follow it with something appropriate.

The second step is open the door, but don't go through it <laugh>. Just swing the door open and pause and not gingerly, not all slow. Open the door <laugh>. Okay? Just like a normal person would open the door and pause and again, let the dog make a choice. You provide the feedback. It's either good, maybe with a pet, right? Or even a piece of food, especially with puppies, or it's a no correction. Guide the dog back, start over, right? Right. So that's the second point of decision making is after you open the door, the third point, and nobody really talks about this, everyone talks about before the door and it kind of leaves things after the door really messy.

Um, and the state of mind really bad 'cause the dog just turns into a missile. What happens is we just spring load that door and shore. The dog might wait for permission, but then you give them permission and they just take off like a bullet. And that's no good either, guys. So you got hand on the doorknob, you got open the door, and then your third pause is gonna be after you go through the door. So I usually will say, let's go and we walk through the doorway together and then I stop.

Okay? Now, if you've been working with your dog a lot and they know a heel and they know most of the time on a leash that that heel is expected, they're gonna stick right next to you anyway. But of course most people don't have that. Um, so at the very least it's like start teaching your dog. Just 'cause we go through a door doesn't mean you can be line off to wherever it is you wanna go, whether it be the next door or outside, whatever the case may be. And it's like maybe you do wanna give them freedom and that's fine.

I'm not saying you can't. I'm just saying they shouldn't assume. So it's these assumptions that cause us trouble. If the dog makes an assumption and it happens to be correct, we never address it. So we're missing all that, all those opportunities, right?

You gotta teach your dog to stop making assumptions and to just wait to see, right? So some people call that a permission-based relationship, which really is what it should be. Because if you don't do that, then do you really have control of your dog at all? If they're gonna make their own choices, then really your dog will never be safe to have the freedom that most people want their dogs to have. So a dog that's truly under control waits to see what's happening and what you would like for them to do, and whether or not it's okay to go do their own thing.

And when it is, it is and that's great and that's fun. Um, but it's just eliminating those assumptions. And this is how we do that, is we just let the dog make those choices and we address them. But, so it's important if your dog makes an assumption, even if the assumption is correct, you should still correct them for that.

14:00 — Even a correct assumption should be addressed so the dog does not learn to…

You should still address that and you should do it over again, right? So an assumption is never correct, even if it is right. Wait for just wait for direction. So we say, let's go, we walk through the door and we pause. And if the dog moves forward past me, they go out to the end of their leash, especially if they're running or bolting to the end of the leash. Then again, I mark that with a no and I provide a correction and then we do it over again. Which is so important too, guys, because it's like you don't wanna just correct the dog.

The correction is a huge piece of this. I mean, that's what everyone's missing and it's why the door never looks good. And it's why everyone has to do the sit, sit, sit, ah, ah, ah, wait, wait, wait. And all this garbage at the door.

The correction is huge, but so is the rehearsal of the correct behavior. So once you correct your dog and they make a different choice, do that a few times, right? Don't just stop at one bad repetition, get in some good repetitions. That's how we really cement the good behavior. But those are the things that will really start to change your dog's state of mind and change how they go through the world. That's the stuff that will wire your dog to be calmer, to be more polite without you telling them to or without you holding onto the leash, right?

So I always use the leash in the beginning for all these things until the dog has seen what to do and is getting good at it. Then leash can come off, especially if you're using an eco and they've learned how to respond to the eco, right?

But that's training. So early on in the training, use your leash, people screw themselves by taking that damn leash off. Um, and it's too messy, it's too difficult to show the dog what we do and don't want without that leash on. So you need that until you've made it clear to the dog and, and you can see that they're, they're doing well without constant feedback from you then, then you can take the leash off. Alright? But those are the things that'll wire your dog to be more polite on their own guys. And so that was just one example.

Uh, I think it's a great example. Um, I assign a lot of gravity to doors. I really do. Um, and coming outta the kennel, that's also a door. Same thing there. So in and out of the kennel, the house, the car, you know, if you open the door to the car and the dog jumps in, you say, well, yeah, but I was gonna tell him to get in. It's like, I know <laugh>, I get it, but it's an assumption on the dog's part. So every time you let one of those moments go, you're wiring your dog to be more autonomous and to take cues from the environment instead of from you.

You didn't tell the dog to get in, you didn't invite them into the car. They just assumed, right? And so those assumptions can really bite you in the butt when it matters the most.

I mean, if you throw a ball and it accidentally goes out into the road, <laugh>, I mean, that might be a bad example. 'cause I guess if you're throwing the ball for the dog, your your assumption is that they're gonna chase the ball. Um, but you get my drift. You get my drift. So just teach your dog to wait and see what's happening. What are some other examples of that? Greetings are a good example of that, right? 'cause everyone tries to teach their dog to sit instead of jump. It's like let your dog jump. Tell him no and correct him.

Then you can move to rewarding him for not jump. It doesn't matter if he sits, nobody cares. And you can absolutely ask for a sit if you want to, but you cannot ask for a sit without addressing the problem first. That's a, that's a sin guys. Let your dog make the choice to do the bad thing. Address it.

Then if you wanna move on to patterning a certain behavior, a sit down, whatever you want, go ahead, knock yourself out, right? But just jumping right to those commands and skipping over the feedback piece. Skipping over the, let your dog make a decision and tell 'em that's the wrong choice. Your dog will never learn to make the right decisions if you don't put 'em in the situation and have them make the decision and give them the feedback properly. And by properly I mean consequences, right? Negative and positive. But everyone wants to skip right to the positive stuff.

The dog never gets the information that says, Hey, you can't do that. They don't get it. They don't get that memo. Nobody gives the dog that information. And then we wonder what the problem is, why our dogs not getting it. It's not the dog <laugh>, it's not the dog, it's us.

Uh, what's another example of just wiring the dog to make good choices? Uh, you come home, right? You come home from work or the store, whatever the case may be, your dog gets over excited, goes bananas, flying through the house, racing around, maybe gets the zoomies, maybe they jump on you. Any of this stuff. It's like, no <laugh>. Okay? So of course your dog's happy to see you and like that's fine. And you know, I'm not saying your dog shouldn't be happy to see you or you should do something about that, but that's too much, right?

So I always say if your dog's choosing to fly into a state of excitement where they can't listen, they really can't follow commands, they can't settle down. If you tell them to, then that's too much, too much arousal. And you should disagree with that. Just like any other unwanted behavior, it feels mean to people to say like, well, you know, I come home and my dog's excited to see me and you want me to correct them.

Yes, yes I do because it's too much. And frankly, having that level of excitement attached to you is actually not healthy. So makes us feel good, but it's actually kind of a red flag. It's a bad indicator of the relationship dynamic, uh, in a lot of cases. And it means you're gonna struggle to control your dog in a lot of scenarios because of the level of excitement and arousal that you represent, right? Because arousal triggers all the stuff we don't. Like. If your dog struggles with any kind of anxiety, aggression, any of that stuff, arousal triggers that.

So if your dog has all kinds of arousal tied up with you, how do you think that impacts things? Not good, right? Your dog should respect you. Your dog should feel comfortable and confident around you. Your dog should trust you, but your dog should not go ape shit to see you. Sorry.

So disagree with that. Just like any other unwanted behavior, dog flies off the handle goes right off the deep end. You just say no. Turn your heat collar up. Correction, right? And then withhold affection until your dog is in a better state of mind. If they're shaking whining, it's not a good time to touch your dog guys. Let 'em cool off, okay? And they'll cool off a lot faster if you correct them. Um, because that will bring the arousal down most likely right away. So these are all examples of like, let your dog make choices, right?

Or sometimes I go out and I'm healing dogs around a lot of distractions. You know, we'll go to a park and it's like at some point I take the dog outta command. I just say break. And I, I let them kind of roam around on the long line and sniff things and like look at people and like I might see someone walking by or a bike coming and I say, okay, I'm not gonna say anything to this dog. I'm not gonna give him any commands. I'm not gonna call him over here. I've got him on a leash in case anything happens, but I'm gonna let him make a decision.

22:00 — On a long line, handlers can let dogs sniff and observe while providing feedback…

He sees this bike coming our way, what's he gonna do? Right? So if it's a bad choice, I can tell him, right? If he just sits there and observes, great, I can tell him he is good, right? But if he lunges at the bike, I can correct that.

So that's another example. So I'm sure you can think of a million moments during the course of your day where you're trying to instruct the dog on what they should be doing and your dog is struggling with that. So I want you to think about that. 'cause in those moments, maybe we're just not handling it the right way, right? Maybe we should not worry about giving the dog so much direction right now. And instead just give them feedback, which is what's always missing. Let them do a thing, mark it if it's wrong and correct them for it, right?

Usually an eco correction, which is a higher tap, um, or a firm leash pop, then the direction can come after that. The guidance can come after that, right? And when they make better choices, then that's when you can praise them, reward them. But try shifting gears from constant instruction and commands to let the dog make a choice. Give him some feedback. See how that works out for you guys. I'm excited for you. So tackle some of those moments and see if uh, you don't get some better stuff. I bet you do, <laugh>. Alright guys, that's it for today's episode.

Thanks for listening and I look forward to seeing you all next time.