Puppy Culture Potluck: Ep5 - Yes, You CAN Get it all Done with Large Litters! Time Efficiency Tips for Breeders

1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,160
I'm Jane Messineo Lindquist

2
00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:06,480
and this is the Puppy Culture

3
00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:14,400
Potluck podcast.

4
00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,600
You bring the topics,
we bring the conversation.

5
00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,440
Today's topic is a perennial favorite,

6
00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,360
which is time management,

7
00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,920
especially with big litters.

8
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,080
So here's here's how the question goes.

9
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,640
Here's the post: Help.

10
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,400
I am actually freaking out.

11
00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,720
We usually have litters of six or seven,

12
00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,680
but I just confirmed 11 via X-ray today.

13
00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,880
I am usually very particular
about following

14
00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,920
protocols,
but have got a really bad feeling

15
00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,320
that I'm going to be short on time
for individual work.

16
00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,480
How do those of you
who have big litters work it?

17
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,520
Do you try and do more group sessions?

18
00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,440
Okay, now this is me talking again

19
00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,560
and I just want to say I am

20
00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:16,080
uniquely qualified to answer this question
because I am not

21
00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:20,320
a naturally organized person.

22
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:23,200
So this is something
that's a real struggle for me.

23
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,600
And I've put a lot of thought
into where the pain points are

24
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,880
and how to eliminate them.

25
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,440
So first, before we get started,
let me say

26
00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,680
saving some truly

27
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,560
catastrophic personal circumstances.

28
00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,040
You easily have time to do everything

29
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,600
in the Puppy Culture film,
even if you have a big litter.

30
00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,240
Even if you have a job
or other commitments,

31
00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,200
the feeling of running out of time
or even actually

32
00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,520
running out of time is real
and legitimate.

33
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,680
But I'm going to help
you get past that in two ways.

34
00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,480
Number one, I'm going to give you
some concrete time management advice.

35
00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,600
And number two,
I'm going to help you position

36
00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,520
your expectations and goals.

37
00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,320
So let's roll right into the concrete

38
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,080
time management suggestions.

39
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,320
I have a video up on the show page.

40
00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,840
If you go to madcapradio.com,

41
00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,480
under this episode there is a link to it

42
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:34,920
and it's

43
00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:38,040
a video of me doing leash training,
walking with a litter

44
00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,800
of five puppies.

45
00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,480
The entire training
session took 8 minutes.

46
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,000
This was the third session
I did with these puppies.

47
00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,680
So do the math.

48
00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,600
That was I'd put 24 minutes
of training into these puppies.

49
00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:01,440
And if you watch this video, you're going
to see that all the puppies walk

50
00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:06,480
by my side for a few steps and accept
a leash and collar without reacting to it.

51
00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,080
Now, my puppy owners have a puppy
that won't buck and fight on the leash

52
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,240
and can go out for a short
sniff and strolls.

53
00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,880
So I just eliminated a huge friction
point for my puppy owners

54
00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,200
and they can take off running
and get the ball rolling

55
00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,640
with socialization
as soon as they bring their puppies home.

56
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,440
Even if you had 15 puppies,

57
00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,640
we're still only talking
about an hour to an hour

58
00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:41,160
and 15 over the course of a week
to achieve the same result.

59
00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:44,840
Now, this

60
00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,320
is a little disingenuous of me to say it,

61
00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,720
because that's the actual training time.

62
00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,960
And that video only includes

63
00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,960
the actual time
I spent training those puppies.

64
00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,240
What you don't see in that video

65
00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:07,600
took way longer than the training;
switching the puppies out,

66
00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,320
finding and chopping up treats,

67
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,360
locating my clicker,
which I can never find.

68
00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,680
Getting dressed for the weather,
finding an appropriate pair of shoes,

69
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,880
putting all the big dogs away
and clearing a space to train.

70
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,920
So now that 20 to 25 minutes
balloons up to 4 hours

71
00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,280
in an already
stretched to the seams schedule.

72
00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:35,760
And that's where you run into trouble.

73
00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,040
So, yes, you do have time to do
all of the Puppy Culture protocols.

74
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,240
It's the rest of the stuff
that's killing you.

75
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,280
So let's break it down.

76
00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:49,280
I have five tips for you.

77
00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,160
We're going to look at these five areas
where you can make a big dent

78
00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:59,080
in the amount of time that you waste
and really streamline the process.

79
00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,880
Number one tip, have treats ready.

80
00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:06,440
Listen.

81
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:11,040
A lot of things have to come together
for the time to be right to train

82
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:12,400
your puppies.

83
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,720
The puppies have to be awake, but not over

84
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,720
tired, hungry, but not hangry.

85
00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,560
You have to have a free time slot.

86
00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:24,400
And if you get to
that confluence of events

87
00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:29,800
when it's time to train the puppies
and you don't have treats on hand,

88
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,400
you've just blown your opportunity.

89
00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:38,720
In my last litter, I ran into situations
twice with that litter where

90
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,960
I had no treats and wound up driving
to the store instead of training puppies.

91
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:45,760
Now I am going

92
00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,560
to sidebar here
and say that was a very real example

93
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:54,640
of a personal crisis
that caused a time management issue.

94
00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:00,240
My dad had open heart surgery
completely unexpectedly when the puppies

95
00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,280
were a couple of weeks old,
and that was taking up a lot of my time.

96
00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:05,840
And yeah, I found myself

97
00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,040
getting caught with my pants down
a couple of times about things.

98
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,200
So now what I learned from that
is that part of my pregnancy

99
00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,520
preparedness now is going to be making,

100
00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,680
cutting up, bagging and freezing treats.

101
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,760
So I never get caught
in that situation again.

102
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,720
This is a great project
for a spouse or child

103
00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,080
who can do the chopping and bagging up
while they're watching TV.

104
00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,200
But you know, you do have to set them up
for success, okay?

105
00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,760
Don't just give them the project
and then get cross when it doesn't happen.

106
00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:44,760
You got to be really granular about this,
okay?

107
00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,000
You have to have your cutting board,
your knife, your baggies ready,

108
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:50,920
you have your treats ready.

109
00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,800
Cut up a sample baggie,
show them how much you want

110
00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,400
in each bag
and how small you want the treats cut.

111
00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,400
Put it in front of them on a table
while they're watching TV.

112
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,280
And that is the best way to get buy in
and get what you want.

113
00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,680
Before I move on to the next tip,
I want to circle back for a minute

114
00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:15,240
to my dad's open heart surgeon
and how that threw me for a loop.

115
00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,400
And I say it was completely unexpected.

116
00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,080
And it was.

117
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,520
But in reality, most of us

118
00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,720
are at the age where we do have a parent
who very well

119
00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,160
could have a catastrophic illness
at the drop of a hat,

120
00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,200
or we ourselves may be at that age.

121
00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,280
And if we're not at that age,
then we're at the age where we have

122
00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:42,040
a bunch of kids with various trajectories
that can explode at any given moment.

123
00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:44,080
So good

124
00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:50,120
time management includes foreseeing things
that we could reasonably expect

125
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,280
to happen and making allowances for that.

126
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,640
And it's really best to assume
that some kind of bomb

127
00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,440
could go off in your life
when you have puppies.

128
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,680
And the best way that you can prepare

129
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,840
for that all boils down to
if there's anything you can do

130
00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,960
now, rather than wait, do it now.

131
00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,520
Inventory all of your toys and equipment
before the litter comes.

132
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,640
Prepare mother's pudding
and freeze it now.

133
00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:28,240
I mean, the list is long and that could be
a whole course in itself.

134
00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,000
But in general, you get the idea.

135
00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:36,120
Think of as much of the things
that you can that you could possibly

136
00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,320
freeze, put up, store, inventory, prepare

137
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:44,040
now and be well provisioned
against the chance

138
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,840
that you won't have time to do it later.

139
00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,840
So my second tip is have a gear bowl,

140
00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:57,480
put your clicker in it,
put your harness leash, collars,

141
00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,720
make it a truly grab and go experience,
have it on your counter.

142
00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,880
If you are doing extensive grooming
protocols, have your clippers in there.

143
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,800
Your toenail clippers, your face clippers,
what, your scissors,

144
00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:15,400
whatever your whatever you're working
with, have it in that bowl on the counter

145
00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:20,040
so that the minute that you come to that
crossroads where you have an assistant

146
00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,280
and you have time, you can just put
your hand on what you need.

147
00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,680
Third tip plan the day.

148
00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,960
I'm going to give you an example
of how we plan out our day.

149
00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,760
And this is a day with 6 to 10 week

150
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,440
old puppies
and it assumes that it's fair weather.

151
00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:40,360
Okay,

152
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,440
so the puppies go outside
first in the morning.

153
00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:45,960
They're the first ones
to go out in the yard.

154
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,960
They come in and then the big dogs go out

155
00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,400
and then the puppies will play inside
for 30 minutes or so.

156
00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:58,560
And then they get a meal and then they're
ready for a nap for a couple of hours.

157
00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,960
Then the big dogs can come in the house.

158
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,680
And as the puppies naps

159
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:10,600
and any big dogs that are still outside
are ready to come in and take a nap.

160
00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:16,160
And any dogs loose in the house can,
in all fairness, go in crates for a while.

161
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,160
And this is the time that I pinpoint
for training puppies.

162
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,360
I've set it up so that the puppies

163
00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,400
and the adults are on opposite
schedules of naps and awake time.

164
00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:32,640
And I plan training at the crossroads.

165
00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,800
Just another sort of side
note on planning.

166
00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,400
It really helps
to have a nice big whiteboard

167
00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,760
that you can bullet point what you want
to accomplish during that day

168
00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,800
and also keeps the entire family team
on the same page of what has to happen

169
00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,720
and what you'd like to happen that day.

170
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:56,880
Fourth tip.

171
00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,320
Be dressed for training.

172
00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,000
Have a set of ready play clothes

173
00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,320
and stout boots for any weather

174
00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:07,760
that you can slip in and out of easily.

175
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,160
So this goes back to that pre-planning.

176
00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,280
My go to dog uniform is leggings

177
00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,280
and thin layering turtlenecks from Amazon.

178
00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,480
I order a bunch of them
every time I have a litter.

179
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,240
I also have some long sort of baggy

180
00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:30,080
pajama bottoms
that could double as pants in a pinch.

181
00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:32,600
And over that I wear a polar fleece
jacket.

182
00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:38,200
Amazon Basics makes a great one
with pockets for treats, and the pockets

183
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:39,160
zip up.

184
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,840
None of these items cost
more than 15 or $20.

185
00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,000
And that is my around
the house dog uniform.

186
00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,840
And I hate to say it because I know it's
a little bit of a hot point right now,

187
00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:57,160
but these are basically disposable clothes
so I can move freely

188
00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:02,120
and not worry about if they get dirty
or stained or if I leave the jacket

189
00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,320
on the back of a chair and a dog chews
the pocket out, I won't lose my mind.

190
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,800
My fifth and final tip is to have someone

191
00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,920
to switch out the puppies for you
when you're training.

192
00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:18,960
This is probably the biggest single thing
you can do

193
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:24,120
to condense training sessions
into an impressively small amount of time.

194
00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,400
So be set up in your training area
with the first puppy.

195
00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:31,880
Set your timer or count out your treats.

196
00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,440
However, you're limiting your session
with the puppies.

197
00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:40,280
Start training and have someone go
to the weaning pen to get the next puppy.

198
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,520
You'll find that it takes
as long or longer for your assistant

199
00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:50,760
to replace and retrieve the puppies
than it does for you to train them.

200
00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:53,840
It's a huge time savings

201
00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:57,720
and the beauty of it is
it takes zero skill.

202
00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:01,680
Anyone, even a non dog person can help
you do this.

203
00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:04,680
Any friend, spouse or child

204
00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:08,160
old enough to carry a puppy
safely can do this.

205
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,280
So that's my top five tips.

206
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:16,520
But I also want to read you
some of the member responses on the thread

207
00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,120
because they had some other
great tips and insights.

208
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:23,000
So let's look at this.

209
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,240
Number one,
break them into groups for things

210
00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,200
like resource guarding and crate training.

211
00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,960
And a number of people mentioned this
and what they said they do

212
00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:41,280
is they set up two areas; a weaning
pen, the regular weaning pen,

213
00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,840
and then a second pen, which is a crate

214
00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,760
training play training space.

215
00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,240
And the consensus was

216
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,560
they break them into groups
of about three puppies,

217
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,680
and those puppies spend half days

218
00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:00,360
in that training crate training area.

219
00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,320
You keep a notebook or you use
the worksheets in the Puppy Culture

220
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,040
Workbook to keep track of which ones
you'd work, what you've worked with,

221
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,680
and you cycle through the entire litter.

222
00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:16,440
So even a huge one
you can get through in a couple of days.

223
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,760
Some things like resource guarding,
it is easier to break them

224
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:26,040
into small groups so you can keep track of
who, who's gotten exchanges.

225
00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,160
When you do your formal first resource
guarding in the big group, it's

226
00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:31,960
fine, right?

227
00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:36,280
Because you're definitely giving them
all bones and checking

228
00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,480
and making sure that you have done
an exchange with that puppy.

229
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,880
But when you're, you know, moving on
and just doing your drive by resource

230
00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,520
guarding exchanges, just going
in, taking, exchanging quickly,

231
00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:52,680
whenever you happen to see a puppy,
you know, into something, it you know, in

232
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,440
a litter of 15, it's really hard to know
which you've done in which you haven't. So

233
00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:58,560
when you

234
00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:02,840
break them out into that smaller group
for these sort of drive by protocols,

235
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,440
it's easier to know that each puppy
has gotten some work.

236
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,160
And, you know, another protocol
that works much better

237
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,880
with only a few puppies in a pen
are things like the,

238
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,360
what we call the advanced
manding in Puppy Culture.

239
00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,360
But really it's teaching an alternate
behavior in the face of arousal.

240
00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,280
And, you know,
you have to catch the puppies

241
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,120
in the act of doing the alternate behavior
and reinforce them on the spot.

242
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,800
And it's just easier
to do with three than it is with 15.

243
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,120
It's not really even feasible
to do it with 15

244
00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,320
because you just can't get in there
fast enough to reinforce them all.

245
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:45,960
So in fact, several people commented
that they initially did

246
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:51,120
this dual set up deal
as a management thing with a huge litter,

247
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,280
but found it
so productive that they continued doing it

248
00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,760
with subsequent litters
that weren't particularly large.

249
00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,240
And you know, the final thing
I'll say about this as an advantage

250
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,840
is that you don't have to spend a fortune
on individual crates for everybody.

251
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:08,880
And you also don't

252
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:13,200
have to have to have like
an enormous bank of crates against a wall.

253
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,120
I mean, think about it.

254
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,800
Some of these people, they had multiple
litters where they had 20 or more puppies.

255
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,200
You know, you'd have to have
a garage full of crates.

256
00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:27,960
So it's just it's an easier and more
economical way of breaking this all down.

257
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:34,000
Then, you know, we got some really good
responses on high grooming breeds.

258
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,440
And this one woman wrote
in Poodle Breeder,

259
00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,400
and I'm going to read this response to you

260
00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:47,800
because it's such a good recitation
of correctly balancing priorities.

261
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,840
So here's here's what she says.

262
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,360
Part of the training for our breed,
standard

263
00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,800
poodles, is accepting clipping.

264
00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:01,240
We start them off at four weeks
with the squeeze pack of baby food.

265
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,840
And as they get older, we cut up treats.

266
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,000
By six weeks of age.

267
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,040
It's basically a touch up every week.

268
00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,080
So we have it down to 6 to 8 minutes
for most puppies

269
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,440
and up to 10 minutes for a few.

270
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,560
But that translated into at least 2 hours,

271
00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,360
up to three
or more hours of just clipping time.

272
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,120
Then there is the gather of the grooming
table, clippers, two different clippers.

273
00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,000
Make sure there are two of us.

274
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,040
Get in the weaning pen,
put one puppy down, gather another, etc.

275
00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,960
So it's more like
at least a 3 to 5 hour ordeal.

276
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,960
And I'm just, this is me again, but,

277
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,680
so what she just said, that
all goes back to some of our tips

278
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,280
that we got
in the early part of this podcast. Okay.

279
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:48,880
So you can cut down on that.

280
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,400
But it's the reality.

281
00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,120
There's other stuff
other than just the clipping.

282
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,480
Okay, back to her post.

283
00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,400
And of course,
there are always interruptions for puppy

284
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,240
that needs cleaning
or cleaning a fresh poo out of the box.

285
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:08,520
On these spa days,
no other training gets done, but I feel

286
00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:12,760
this training is much more important
than almost anything else.

287
00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,280
So it has to get done and it does.

288
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:21,240
Then you have the weekly spa days
bathing and blow drying.

289
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,880
Yes, We also do a C.E.R.

290
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:25,280
with the blow dryer.

291
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,800
That day is even longer.

292
00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:31,080
So now you have two days of the week
spoken for.

293
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,200
Then there may be a day
we have to take someone to the vet.

294
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,680
This litter
we had a puppy with intussusception

295
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:43,120
which was secondary to diarrhea
and straining, requiring surgery.

296
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,240
So she had numerous vet visits.

297
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,960
And our vet is almost 30 minutes away,

298
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:52,760
so an hour round trip
and the visit time, etc..

299
00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,080
So that's another day
gone out of the week.

300
00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,200
With large litters we find we prioritize

301
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,240
what training gets done and which doesn't.

302
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,120
Plain and simple.

303
00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:08,600
We can't do it all.

304
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:09,840
And this is me again.

305
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,200
Absolutely

306
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,680
perfectly stated.

307
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,120
This is why Puppy Culture

308
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:23,520
is customizable and we encourage you
to evaluate your circumstances

309
00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:25,800
and set your own priorities.

310
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,400
Training is training.

311
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,120
Conditioning is conditioning.

312
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,520
Anything you do with your puppies
makes them better.

313
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,160
So when she says no other training
gets done on those days,

314
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,480
I mean, she is training
and she's doing a lot.

315
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,440
She's teaching those puppies
to be handled.

316
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,600
She's teaching them to accept
grooming and restraint.

317
00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,640
She's creating C.E.Rs to all of this.

318
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,680
And that will generalize and benefit
the puppies

319
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,840
just like any other Puppy
Culture protocol.

320
00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,360
So absolutely, she is training
those puppies on those spa days

321
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,480
time is always a finite

322
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:14,400
resource
and learning to allocate that resource is

323
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,240
part of what makes a masterful breeder.

324
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,640
Again, in the workbook,
we asked you to reflect on the challenges

325
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:28,400
your puppy owners typically have
and allocate extra resources toward that.

326
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,720
For most breeds
and for sure for bull terriers

327
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,640
learning to walk on leash
and not assault people by

328
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,640
jumping on them is a top priority.

329
00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,960
But learning to accept a clipper on
their face

330
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,800
is not a priority for us
because we don't clip their faces.

331
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:53,040
For a non-coated breed they'll probably
never need to have a blow dryer on them.

332
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,240
But for a poodle,
these are top priorities,

333
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,320
so that can cause huge problems
for the average pet owner.

334
00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,560
And maybe poodles aren't
as ramey as a bull

335
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,040
terrier and may be a little
easier to manage on leash.

336
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:09,560
So if she

337
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:13,920
shifts a little bit more of her time
toward grooming and a little less

338
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:19,200
of her time toward leash training,
that's a good judgment call for her.

339
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,440
So this is a great example

340
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,960
of balancing priorities
and time resources.

341
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,560
I'm not saying that leash walking

342
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,000
is not important for poodle puppies
to be exposed to.

343
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,200
And I'm not saying that the bull terriers
don't

344
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,880
need to learn to be bathed and groomed.

345
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:44,160
I'm just saying that the relative amount
of energy that you put into

346
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,760
those things is going to be very different
depending on your priorities.

347
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,880
And that's good time management.

348
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,600
So, okay, to the point, here's
another great response where the member

349
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:02,640
has similar time constraints
but a very different set of priorities.

350
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,840
And here's what she says.

351
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,600
I have a litter of eight puppies
that are now nine weeks old,

352
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,240
and I really had to think hard on
what protocols I focused on

353
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:19,680
as I had a week away for a child's event
and then a couple of medical emergencies

354
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,440
with my father that had me in
and out of the hospital for a few weeks.

355
00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,920
When thinking about which protocols
to focus on, I thought about

356
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,960
what would be the most impactful
for the puppy in the new home.

357
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,640
So I focused on powering up the clicker,

358
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,880
box game, resource guarding,

359
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,120
house training, introduction to the crate

360
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,600
and handling for nails
and vet appointments.

361
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,680
We didn't get to do as many trips out
as I hoped

362
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,560
we would, but we were able to do some.

363
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:57,360
Writing this out, seems like
I did do a large amount of work,

364
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,440
but I would have loved to have spent
more time

365
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:04,880
one on one with the puppies
to work on healing and leash training.

366
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,360
I did gift
the new owners the With Open Arms program

367
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:14,160
to help with the continuation of training.

368
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,800
And now this is me again.

369
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,080
Yes, you did do a lot.

370
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,360
And that brings us to the next things
that I want to talk about,

371
00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:29,120
which are addressing
expectations and goals.

372
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,880
And I'm going to start

373
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:34,920
specifically with what

374
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,160
your goals are as a breeder.

375
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,440
You're not handing over

376
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,520
fully trained puppies.

377
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:48,400
You're handing over
just a little bit more than a blank slate.

378
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,880
You want the puppy primed
so the puppy owner can move forward

379
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,960
without getting stuck
in behavior modification boot camp.

380
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,000
You're not handing over
fully crate trained puppies.

381
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,360
You're not handing over fully socialized
puppies.

382
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,440
You are not handing over
competition, obedience, trained puppies.

383
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,240
You want to have worked with these puppies
just enough

384
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,600
so that the puppy doesn't freak out
the first time he's in the crate,

385
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,120
in the car, meeting dogs, the first time

386
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:25,440
he has a leash and collar on, etc.

387
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,760
When you boil it all down, the core Puppy

388
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,120
Culture
protocols are really not a lot of work.

389
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,040
There's anti separation anxiety protocols,

390
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,840
which is essentially individual attention.

391
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,680
There's take a treat,
powering up the clicker, box

392
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,400
game, manding, anti resource guarding,

393
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,160
leash walking, recall,

394
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:58,360
so really eight core protocols
where you're going to be spending

395
00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,600
a lot of individual time with the puppies

396
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,920
but still no more than two

397
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:09,320
maybe three sessions of each protocol
and no more than 2 minutes per puppy.

398
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:10,760
So that

399
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,880
16 individual sessions per puppy,
somewhere

400
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,960
around 30 to 35 minutes of actual

401
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,600
hands on one on one per puppy.

402
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,400
So let's call
it 40 minutes spread out over

403
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,480
approximately seven weeks.

404
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,400
If you have 15 puppies,

405
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:35,200
that's 10 hours over seven weeks,

406
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,600
just a little more than an hour a week

407
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,680
or 12 minutes per day.

408
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,960
Not a lot of time.

409
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,600
And then you add to that a day
for the puppy party,

410
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,760
an hour for a big dog visit

411
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,640
and let's say for excursions.

412
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,400
Again, all of this becomes

413
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,000
much easier if you plan ahead

414
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,040
as soon as you have an ovulation date,

415
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,200
you can start penciling things
in lining people up.

416
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,680
People love to help with puppies,

417
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:19,360
but people are also scheduled out
for weeks or months in advance.

418
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,920
They will say yes and give you

419
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,200
the time if you ask now.

420
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,520
Circling back to my earlier comment,

421
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,680
get your puppy party
equipment lined up inventory and lay up

422
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,640
any supplies and food
that you can both for you and the puppies.

423
00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,800
If you do all these things,
you're going to find

424
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,040
this is very doable.

425
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:46,840
But still,

426
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,320
I understand

427
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,560
you have a big litter
and you have anxiety.

428
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:57,000
So I'm going to talk a little bit
now about the sources

429
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,080
of that anxiety
and see if we can't deconstruct it

430
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,880
a little bit for you
and make you feel better.

431
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:06,200
First of all,

432
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:10,360
a lot of people think that they have to do
a lot more than they have to do.

433
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,560
In the workbook, for instance, you know,

434
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:19,440
we folded in all the things, all the Puppy
Culture programs that we have.

435
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,440
And a lot of this is specialized work
that either you don't have to do

436
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,520
or you don't have to do initially

437
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:28,560
to raise

438
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:33,720
behaviorally sound puppies up things
like scent work, show training,

439
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:38,280
attention is the mother of all behaviors,
shaping emotional responses.

440
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,960
Those are all add on modules.

441
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:45,000
Okay, so, you know,
you may get on again, social media,

442
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:46,280
you may get on the discussion

443
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,920
group, the Puppy Culture discussion group
on Puppy Culture on Facebook.

444
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,080
And you may see people
doing all kinds of stuff

445
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,120
and it can give you sort of anxiety
like, oh,

446
00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:59,760
I'm not FOMO,
you know, I'm not doing enough.

447
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:01,360
You are doing enough.

448
00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:03,800
Okay? It's not as much as you think
it is, okay.

449
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,960
It can be as you
as you get more proficient, it's fun.

450
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,560
You can add on stuff.
There's the sky's the limit.

451
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,280
But just take a deep breath
and focus on the fundamentals.

452
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,560
You know,
the fundies, let's let's do that.

453
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,000
Also different breeds, okay?

454
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,440
Like if you are working with bull
mastiffs, I mean, you're not probably

455
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,400
going to get as far as somebody
who's breeding border collies again,

456
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,360
you know what people tend to post

457
00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:38,560
are photos of, you know, ten puppies
lined up sitting perfectly.

458
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,960
And we regularly get

459
00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,720
people writing in saying,
Oh, something's wrong with my puppies.

460
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,480
They won't all sit together, as like
come on, do

461
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,640
you know that
that's not a reasonable goal?

462
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,600
I mean, of course if it happens,

463
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,280
people are going to post, they're proud
and I celebrate that with them.

464
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,920
But you don't that's not
that's not a goal for you.

465
00:28:57,920 --> 00:28:58,680
Okay?

466
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,120
You know, you don't need
to have 14 puppies sitting in a row.

467
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:02,880
You just want to prime the pump.

468
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,320
You just want to smooth the way
for the puppy owner.

469
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:09,720
And, and a lot of the stuff that you see
people doing is fun.

470
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,560
I encourage you
as you become more proficient, try it out.

471
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,280
But it's not part of the core curriculum.

472
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,880
I also want to say that ultimately

473
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,720
most of Puppy
Culture is not as much about doing

474
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:29,760
specific things or protocols
as it is about interacting

475
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:34,560
with your puppies in an observant
and responsive way.

476
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,760
Most of that is really done

477
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:40,960
in your daily interactions with the puppy.

478
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:46,680
It's more about a way of interacting
with the puppies than specific protocols.

479
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:48,120
So the

480
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,920
reality is that it doesn't take
significantly more time

481
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,840
to raise a litter
with Puppy Culture than any other way.

482
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,920
What's probably bothering you,

483
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,600
especially if you're newer to Puppy
Culture,

484
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,680
is that you have to think about things
a lot at first,

485
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:06,800
and you'll also find yourself

486
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,600
needing to consult with others a lot
because you don't yet

487
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:16,080
have a huge frame of reference
for what's normal and what's not normal.

488
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,200
What your expectation should be
or shouldn't

489
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,120
be in any given situation and so forth.

490
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,440
It's just not automatic for you yet.

491
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,600
And then if you have a huge litter,
those feelings are increased

492
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,320
exponentially.

493
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:33,400
You feel like,

494
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,720
you know, you could sort of punt
if you only have a couple of puppies,

495
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,320
but you really need to be on
top of your game and have everything

496
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,640
sewn down with a big litter
and that's a big brain suck.

497
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,120
But experience is the

498
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,400
only way to get over those feelings.

499
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,400
So if you're having a big litter

500
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,640
and you're feeling panicked,

501
00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,920
unpack that feeling.

502
00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:03,920
Look it in the eye and say, I see you.

503
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,800
You have a right to be here,

504
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,000
but you are not going to stand in my way.

505
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaking of feelings,
I'd like to close this conversation

506
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:21,480
with a chat about the emotions
surrounding this topic, those feelings

507
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,720
of not getting it all done, of thinking
we could have done more.

508
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,640
That underlying sense of dread
that something

509
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,440
has not quite been finished.

510
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:39,560
We all, myself included,
regardless of the size of the litter,

511
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:44,280
clutch up a little bit when those puppies
get to be 8 to 9 weeks old

512
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,120
because things are going so fast
and the puppies are growing so fast

513
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,320
and you want to button things down
totally, but the puppies are almost

514
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:59,880
literally popping
through your fingers and moving on.

515
00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,400
You will always have that feeling,

516
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,600
but with experience

517
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,160
you'll
know that feeling is just a feeling.

518
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,880
It's not that you didn't do enough
or could have done more,

519
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,560
it's just that it really does
go by so fast

520
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,920
and human nature
wants us to produce perfection

521
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:27,000
rather than accepting
that there are limitations

522
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,360
on what we can accomplish.

523
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:34,440
Multiple people on the thread commented
something to the effect

524
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:39,520
that perfection is the enemy of progress.

525
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,880
And that's my ultimate message to you.

526
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:44,520
Don't be daunted.

527
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,200
Don't let your fear of not getting it done

528
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,800
spoil your joy with your puppies.

529
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:55,000
Break it down into little pieces, plan
as best you can

530
00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,080
and put one foot in front of the other.

531
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,880
Keep reminding yourself of everything
that you have done

532
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,240
with your puppies,
not what you might have missed.

533
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:08,680
I guarantee

534
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,520
you, when
those puppies go to their new homes,

535
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,560
if you shared that list of things
that you did with the puppies,

536
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,640
people would be super impressed with you

537
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,920
and you should be super impressed

538
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,600
with you to.

539
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:27,560
Well, that's it for this time.

540
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:31,440
If you have any questions or something
you'd like me to talk about on the air,

541
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,760
join us on the Puppy Culture
discussion group on Facebook

542
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,800
or visit the show page at madcapradio.com

543
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,960
and drop your question there.

544
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:44,520
Thanks for listening.

545
00:33:44,520 --> 00:34:04,920
Bye bye.