Episode 33: Errors! Oh No!

hi everybody welcome to the canine connection
podcast um today laurie and i are going to talk
about mistakes because i think this is becoming
like a really hot topic controversial um and
i think it's i don't know sometimes swinging
too far in i my opinion the wrong direction um
i think the first and foremost we need to talk
about reality we as humans we make mistakes all
the time like I know that I make mistakes I made
a mistake at the seminar I said oh I think your
dog this is the problem and then I went no that's
not the problem do I care that I made a mistake
no I said I made him oh nope I was wrong okay
let's Try again. Let's try more things to get
to the root of the problem. I make mistakes in
life. I've, you know, messed up my days, messed
up appointments, like messed up all kinds of
things. And for sure, I make mistakes in training.
When I'm learning something new, I make mistakes.
So like I love learning new things. Because it
reminds me in real time, it refreshes the whole
learning process. And I have never in my life,
and I've learned a lot of different things, learned
a new thing without making mistakes. Same. And
it doesn't bother me. Like, I don't get upset
about it. I don't freak out about it because
I understand that, A, mistakes are just part
of life. Right. And they're for sure part of
the learning process. And then a lot of times
it's very valuable information. So like a perfect
example was agility. I can mimic people. I can
mimic motor patterns. So if you, the instructor,
shows me how to handle a section, right, if she
demonstrates it, I can execute it perfectly.
does that mean I learned it no I mimicked right
ask me then so then I would say don't show me
how to do it because that's a waste of time because
I'm not learning from that let me try and do
it my try and figure it out and so what would
happen is I would think I would in my mind I'm
sending my dog forward let's say and my dog goes
left The second the dog goes left, in that moment,
I freeze and I go, oh, I know why he's going
left because my arm is saying go forward, but
my feet are pointing left. Got it. On the next
strap, I line my feet up correctly and my dog
goes straight. So that error was incredibly valuable
information to me. I was like, oh, that was perfect
that that happened because now I understand what
I did wrong. Now I can fix it. And now I retain
that information. Right. That was incredibly
positive in my mind. Right. Yeah. And I just,
I'm the same way. Like I. I used to be, I used
to not handle mistakes well. Like that, the reality
is like, I didn't like mistakes. And I, I always
felt it was a reflection on my intelligence or
my capabilities of doing things, which I think
is pretty common with a lot of people, right?
Their relationship with mistakes. Also growing
up, I know both of us grew up in really like
households that had super high expectations and
standards put on us. um we were and we're both
like super we came from competitive sports and
all that stuff so that made mistakes like not
really yeah they were uncomfortable and not I
don't know like if you made a mistake you were
judged or I don't know I judged myself I was
a hard I was super hard on myself well but also
So the key here is because mistakes, though,
were treated in a negative way. Right. So, for
example, like in my household, like if I breathe
wrong, I was in trouble. Right. Right. So therefore,
a mistake has bad consequences. It has negative
consequences. Right. So therefore, mistakes now
in my mind until I figured it out. Same. Are
bad. Right. There's a bad relationship with them.
Yeah. So that that was hard for me. Like that's
hard for a lot of people, you know, because you
hear people they'll be like, oh, but I feel so
stupid, you know, like that's so common. Yeah.
So I think, yeah, what's important is people
need to recognize that they're doing that. Right.
Because my students do that all the time. And
I'm always like, you know what? No. Like, you
need to get over that. Like, it's just like,
it's just, you know, and I think once people
understand. Oh, I get it. I am pairing negative
emotions with the mistake. Right. Because of
whatever reason, doesn't matter why. I don't
need to do that. Then they can change the narrative.
Yeah. And you can learn. You can teach yourself
that a mistake is not a bad thing. Right. A mistake
is just a mistake. Right. And a mistake at times,
it just is what it is. And at times it can be
a positive. It can. And it also can be like if
it's a repetitive mistake, then that's going
to make you like. halt and be like all right
something needs to change like you know what
i mean like that's gonna make you like be like
re -evaluate right yeah it's information yeah
it's information like that's on the human side
but then the big thing i see is dogs making mistakes
and everybody has a fucking heart attack that
the dog made a mistake right because well because
i think for I think it occurs for a number of
reasons. I think one, a lot of times when a mistake.
So I think one thing is there's this perception,
right? That dogs shouldn't make mistakes. Like
if we're good enough trainers or if everything's
good, like everything should just be good. Like
everything in the world and in life and in training,
it should just all be good. And I should just
show my dog what to do. And my dog should just.
learn it and then we should progress. And then
that's how it should be. And if it doesn't go
that way, then something's terribly wrong. Either
I, as a trainer, I'm a terrible trainer or the
dog's just not listening, blah, blah, blah. And
then we have this thing in our heads that it's
a, it's the whole thing is a negative. It's a
failure because everybody else out in the universe
is not having these problems. Exactly. Yeah,
exactly. I like a big one is like, if you go
to a mat, that big ones, I go to a match, I'm
in the ring and my dog makes a mistake. I can
hear everybody go. Or they're like your dog,
you know, your dog just did that. Right. And
I'm like, yeah, I know. Like who cares? Like
you made a mistake. Like it's not the end of
the world. I see it. I'm going to fix it. Not
a big deal. They're allowed to make mistakes
for whatever reason they made the mistake, but.
That's how it's perceived. It's like, holy hell,
the fucking world's freezing over. The dog made
a mistake. I know. I think that, so Zest, leave
it. I think that, A, as a human, as the trainer,
you need to reframe your relationship with errors,
right? You need to say that they just are what
they are. They're information, right? Because
really that's what they are. They're information.
The dog doesn't understand it or the dog is confused
or something's going on. Okay. It's just information.
It means you need to do something different or
maybe the dog's just puzzling it out. Let him
puzzle it out for God's sakes. Like stop managing.
Like it creeps me out because I was micromanaged,
right? So I know what that feels like. It's annoying.
Like you never get to do anything on your own
because as soon as you're like, oh no, no, no,
don't do it like that. Oh no, here, let me help
you. Oh, let me fix it. Holy Hannah, let me make
a mistake. And then I'll go, oh, that didn't
work. Let me try it this way. Oh, okay, I figured
it out. Guess what? Now I feel really good about
myself because I solved the problem. I figured
it out, right? But you're constantly robbing
me of that opportunity. Because you're like,
oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God. Don't make a
mistake. Oh, you made a mistake. Oh my God, oh
my God. Everybody just relax. Everybody just
chill out, right? Let the dog make a mistake.
Don't treat it like it's the end of the world,
right? If you don't know what to do when the
dog makes a mistake in that moment in time, release
the dog and tell them they're good. Guess what?
You will not ruin your training. But I'll just
have told my dog that. I'll just have praised
or told them that was right. And it was wrong.
It was wrong. Oh, my God. Get over yourself.
Right. Like what would happen to you? How would
you feel if you made a mistake and someone got
on your case about it? Right. Like I had employees
that they wouldn't. I can think of a specific
example. Employee made a mistake. Right. pretty
big mistake. They knew they made the mistake.
They were so upset with themselves. What am I
going to gain by saying to this person, you know,
you shouldn't have done that. She fucking knows
she's already putting herself up over it. Right.
Right. Right. So I just said, it's fine. It's
okay. Don't worry about it. I get it. So the
next day we sat down as a group and I said, What
are things we could do moving forward that would
prevent this from happening? Like, let's come
up with a productive strategy as a team so that
we can do things so this doesn't happen again.
No blame, no shame, no beating her up. It's a
waste of time. It's going to accomplish nothing.
So everybody was supportive. Everybody came up
with a plan. And guess what? Knock on wood, that
was like years ago and it has not happened again.
Right. And everyone is now hyper motivated to
be better. Yeah. Instead of being nervous and
afraid of making a mistake, which means more
than likely you're going to make a mistake. Yeah,
definitely. Because that's that, you know, you
have that weird relationship with mistakes if
you're like that. And then you get weird about
it and make the mistake. Right. So a mistake
when you train your dog is information. And I
think there's different types of mistakes, right?
Like if my dog is in the learning process, like
if my dog is learning and it makes a mistake,
I'm not going to be worried about it because
maybe I'm just going to let you muddle through
and you actually figure it out on your own. Right.
And that's brilliant because now you're becoming
empowered, right? You're learning to solve the
problem. So a simple example is because someone
just did this. Their dog did the glove exercise
and they put a bag of cookies sealed like between
the gloves, right? Dog runs out, picks up the
glove. She says, good job. The dog drops the
glove, which it's allowed to do, and goes over
and checks out the cookies in the bag. What should
I do? I said nothing. Like it didn't get it did
its job. Number one. Number two, after you released
it and went and looked at the bag of cookies.
Right. Why this bag of cookies here? It's not
usually out here when I do gloves. Call the dog.
Come on, get over here. I would have laughed
if my dog did that. Honestly, I would have been
like, get over here. Leave the cookies alone.
Right. Right. Next strap. Dog runs out, gets
the glove, comes back. acted like as if it never
even saw the cookie bag because it figured it
out. Oh, I guess mom just decided to put a bag
of cookies in this picture. I said, if you keep
putting different items out, your dog's going
to ignore them. He's going to go, oh, sometimes
there's stuff out here. All right. Just ignore
it. Do my dad. Right. That's it. Not a big deal.
No worries. Dog figured it out all on their own.
Shocking. Right. Countless. examples where when
we add some challenges to exercises, the dog
will make an error. And I tell the handlers,
just don't make a big deal about it. Do another
wrap. The dog does an extract perfectly. What
does that tell you? The dog learned on its own.
It solved the problem. Why does that matter?
You're creating a dog that's not that's not nervous,
that's not worried because it doesn't get in
trouble for making mistakes. Right. And it's
allowed to make mistakes, which makes the dog
free and the dog figures it out. Now the dog's
becoming resilient and the dog's gaining confidence
because the dog goes, I can solve this problem.
So now when the dog's competing and it's under
pressure or the task is really challenging. Instead
of the dog melting and freezing and falling apart.
The dog's like, I can solve this problem. Right.
And the dog can push through. Yeah. And that's
worth its weight in gold. Cause that's what.
That's what we want. And that's, that's what,
you know, that's what I'm doing with salty right
now. Like I, you know, I'm, I don't want to micromanage
him and I'm, I'm putting him already in like.
fair, challenging situations. That's what I want
to say. How do I want to say it? Cause I'm not,
you know, I don't want to scare him. I don't
want to over, over face him, but I'm not, you
know, I'm already putting him in like problem
solving situations, you know, letting him work
it out, even if he's going to make some mistakes,
you know, cause that's what people worry about,
you know, like with articles. I don't care if
there's shit all over the floor like the toy
I don't pick it up like I'm not gonna I'm just
doing it a little differently like I'm already
putting him in with distractions I'm already
putting you know leaving the toy on the floor
the bag of cookies on the floor or somebody's
like training pretty close by like I'm not gonna
put him in a really sterile situation I want
him to be challenged a little bit and I want
him to learn to problem solve. But people, you
know, they get, they've watched me and they're
like, but he went out to the toy and he picked
it up. And then he, but I'm like, but then he
put it down and he came back to the pile and
he worked the pile and he brought it in. And
I said, yes, like, I'm not worried about that
stuff. Like, I want him to problem solve on what's
going to be, you know, what's going to get him
the reinforcer. You know, I'm not going to have
a heart attack over it. You know, and that's,
I think, what people get worried about. They
want to make sure right off the bat, like, no
matter what, my dog needs to be right. My dog
needs to be right. Right. And it needs to do
it perfectly. And it's like, yeah, wait a minute.
Like, the problem is trial environments are not
pristine. No way. And so then the dogs get out
there and they struggle. Because they're used
to everything being pristine and everything manufactured
and created in a way where they're right all
the time or they have instructions all the time.
Like, like at the seminar this weekend, like,
and this is, I get students like that. I can
tell immediately, like their dogs cannot solve
a single problem because they can't shape. They've
never been shaped. They've been micromanaged.
So when they're, you're trying to teach them
something, they just stand there with this blank
look on their face. Cause they're like waiting
for, I don't know. Yes. I need instructions.
Like, I don't know how to figure this out. Right.
And as soon as they get stuck, they freeze. They
literally just stand there and don't move. And
then what happens is the owner goes, see, my
dog is stuck. They can't do it. And they immediately
go in and help them. So it creates this vicious
cycle where the dog, you know, the handler becomes
an enabler and the dog develops literally learned
helplessness. Like it doesn't know what to do
and that's not good. And usually. What happens
is I sit there and I go just, you know, I create
a scenario and I go, wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait. And the handler is so uncomfortable. And
I'm like, just wait. And then all of a sudden
the dog goes, how about this? Yeah. And I'm like,
yes. And the handler is shocked. Oh, he did it.
Yeah. You like, I feel like we're treating the
dogs like they're idiots. I know. I know. And
you know, Oh, dumb. Like, and dude, these dogs
are so freaking smart. They're so smart. They're
so smart. And they're like. I feel like dogs,
they're opportunists. Like they want, they have,
there's an end goal. Like they want the reinforcer.
Like they want to get to solve the problem to
get to the reinforcer. So let them figure it
out. And what's been fascinating with Salty is...
He's six months old now. And since I've been
doing this, since he was a puppy, I know more
about who he is and who he's going to be as a
dog. Now, like than I ever did with ever in stormy,
like, because I'm why I really get to see like
the raw, like how he is, how he's going to handle
adversity, how he's going to handle like. the
challenge, you know, when it gets a little tough,
how he handles pressure, how he, like, I am like,
cause I'm just, it's been absolutely fascinating
on what I've learned on who this dog actually
is just by letting him. like freeing him up to
solve it, like letting him make the mistakes,
letting him blunder, you know? And that's what
I do with my puppies is like, it looks on the
surface, like I'm teaching them all these quote
unquote skills, like competition skills, right?
Like precursors to competition skills. That's
not what I'm like I am, but what I'm really doing
the whole time is I'm shaping a ton and I'm seeing
how does my dog learn? How does my dog handle
frustration? Does my dog push through? Does my
dog quit? Like what motivates my dog? What does
my dog find challenging? How does my dog handle
pressure? How does my dog handle? you know, noises.
Like that's a big one, you know, like crazy.
It's so good. Yeah. It's so fascinating. And
then like you were saying, my training partner
with her dog, she's a little over a year now,
but like from the beginning, we're like, look.
You train this puppy. Like when we train together,
we train adult dogs. Obviously we have some pretty
advanced dogs, right? So we'll put, set something
up and we'll have, you know, different toys out.
Like we have all kinds of shenanigans going on.
Right. So her puppy just, we didn't pick it up.
We didn't move the crazy loud toy, make a noise.
We just left it out there. If the puppy gets
up and goes over and checks it out. Go check
it out. Puppy comes back, keeps working, right?
I have a student now in my one class with a super
young puppy. She started the class with the puppy
at like eight weeks old, right? I said to her,
no, no, no, no. You're not training in your house.
Bring that dog to class. So she brings a dog
to class, right? It's outside the ring. There's
stuff going on in the ring. Dog's crated. She
sends a dog to the platform. Dog runs to the
platform. Dog gets distracted, runs over to the
side, goes to check something out. She doesn't
interfere. She lets it check it out. Dog, all
of a sudden, in the middle of checking it out,
it's hilarious, flips its head around and goes,
oh, wait, I was supposed to go to the platform.
Runs to the platform. And goes, look, I went
to the platform. She's like, yes, next trap.
Dog runs to the platform, runs back to her. Problem
solved. She did not interfere at all. It was
fascinating. And the dog's done this now with
multiple things. I think she was doing like baby
articles. The dog like leaves the pile, goes
in. I don't even know what it was doing. Yes,
she's done this. I'm like, I don't know what
the dog's doing. And then all of a sudden. It
goes, it like flips his head and goes, wait,
I was doing articles. It goes back, finds the
right thing. You know, it's not full adult articles.
People don't have a cow. It's a little scent
exercise. Finds the right thing. She goes, yes.
Next rep runs to the pile, finds the right thing,
runs back. This puppy is already showing. And
I guarantee you, by the time this puppy is like
several months old, like. It's it's learning
to be resilient. It's learning to solve problems.
It's learning to be an independent problem solver.
She's learning to just let it figure it out.
Right. My training partner's dog at a year, a
little over a year. Mind boggling, mind boggling
what this dog can do. And it's because of how
this dog is being trained. You know, the dog
makes a mistake. It doesn't have a meltdown.
It's like, whoopsie, messed that up. Okay. Bounces
back immediately, figures it out, does the right
thing. Now, am I saying we leave the dog out
to dry or we overwhelm the dog? No. Are the dogs
making eight mistakes in a row? No. Right. Right.
We're not, we're being good, smart about what
we're doing. It's exactly like you said, fair
challenges, right? Where the dog's not. And if
it's too hard, we'll help you out. If you get
stuck, of course, we're going to help you. Right.
But we're letting you be free. Yeah. And we're
teaching you to be resilient. And I think that's
a gigantic hole in competition training across
the board. Because we've tilted in the direction
of. making everything so easy and doing so much
for the dogs that we're doing them a giant disservice.
Yeah. I also think there's a, you know, I think
part of it might also be that it is, I mean,
I'm fairly new. Like I wasn't showing back and,
you know, I mean, I've only been doing this for
about nine years now. I feel that in my, our
area, New England, like it is so highly competitive,
right? Like there are times where we're trialing,
where like you get a 198 and you're not even
in the ribbons. Like there, I mean, I don't know
how it was back then, but. No, it's been, Northeast
is, and I'm not saying it's only the Northeast,
but the Northeast has been, has always been.
Yeah. And I feel that. the training has tilted
to like obtaining perfection right out of the
womb like immediately yeah yeah like we must
get everything perfect before the dog is this
old like you know what I mean I think that I
when I first started this I felt that I was like
wow like I was shocked that people were putting
dogs in the ring at like a year old like um Or
just the way they were training and it was like
the dogs, you know, mistakes were like you don't
make mistakes and the dogs need to be set up
to be perfect. I was like that was a big like
I noticed that a lot. And that's where like over
the years I've been doing it. I'm just like I
I find it and I know you do, too. Like I love
the whole aspect of the training piece of just
watching the dogs figure stuff out. Like I find
it fascinating how. how, like how they puzzle
it out, how they get the answer, um, what behaviors
they display, like before they actually ever
find the answer. I just think the whole thing
is freaking incredibly fascinating. And yeah,
just, I don't know the whole perfection thing
early. It's so true. Like, for example, I have
a front and finish class running right now. Right.
And it's like, this is so common. Like I shape
my fronts, which means my dogs are going to make
mistakes, which is fine. I break it into a million
different pieces. And it's like event. I like,
I don't expect my dog to consistently be giving
me perfect fronts for literally years. Right.
Right. Yeah. And so I'm teaching the class and
it's like week two. And it's like, my dog's not,
it's still coming. It's still not straight. Dude.
it's week two like what is happening like oh
god you know and dog and like step one all right
is when i move the dog should move its hind end
and if it moves its hind end even a little bit
mark and feed what do people want immediately
yeah i move the dog's hind end should be perfectly
centered like that that's that thing you talked
about where immediately it should be perfect
right right no no no no i explicitly say in this
piece of that we're doing right now your dog
does not need to find center but people ignore
that piece because they can't get past that it
must be perfect right away right or i'm not i
must not be doing talk about pressure what if
i said that to you as a trainer Right. Like what
if every mistake you made, I was completely intolerant
of was like, no, that's not right. Right. No,
that's not right. What are you like? First of
all, let's be real here, people. I tell students
the same thing 30 ,000 fucking times. And you're
still doing it wrong. Are you being a jerk? No,
you're learning. And it takes a long time to
learn these things. Right. So. why should it
be different for your dog? Why are you so completely
intolerant of that in your dog training when
you're doing it yourself? Yeah. Yeah. So true.
It's so true. Like 8 ,000 times. I know. And
so don't still say it to me. Oh my God, you've
told me this a thousand times. Why am I still
doing it? I don't know. It's hard. It is hard.
It is hard. And then like, I've got students
who are like, they they'll catch themselves.
I go, Oh, I did it again. Like, it's hard. Like
it's going to take however long it's going to
take. So why do you have a different expectation
for your dog? I don't know. Like, I'm just like,
Oh, I don't know. I don't know. Right. That's
what people need to think of. Like. I think they
just, the dog's experience is actually very similar
to our human experience, but we don't connect
the two. Yeah. You know what I mean? We don't
think about what this animal is experiencing
because in a lot of things, in a lot of ways,
it is actually not very different from us. And
if we thought like that, I think we would be
more patient, tolerant, empathetic, understanding.
Yeah, for sure. God, let him make mistakes for
God's sake. The thing, this is what's so funny
because you said the match thing, right? I'm
in a match. I remember this. Zesty was young,
right? And I can't even remember. He did something
wrong. And he's like, he moved his foot. I'm
like, yep, I know. Yes, good boy. Like, and I
reward, like, sometimes I reward mistakes and
people have, like, really have a meltdown. Then
I remember, I don't know, he did something. Let's
pretend, I don't know, I'll make it up. He moved,
right? And the quote unquote judge was standing
right next to the dog and people were around.
It must have happened near the stewardship. And
everyone's like, oh, he moved. He moved. And
he's like, oh, my God, what did I do? And I'm
like, and I looked at them. I go, would you stop
it? He's leave him alone. No. And I'm like, yes,
good boy. Don't listen to them. I'm like, you're
a you're a puppy. You're allowed to make mistakes.
Yeah. Cause he actually was picking up on their
like energy of like, you're wrong. And I'm like,
Oh my God, like he's a baby. Like leave him alone.
Like I don't care. And then my dogs will make
mistakes or I'll make a mistake that causes my
dog to make a mistake. And, you know, some people
are like, it doesn't matter if you messed up
your footwork. If you stop, your dog should sit.
That's what they believe. I don't believe that.
I take responsibility for my part. I'm a teammate.
If I make a mistake, my dog should not pay for
that. Yeah. And people are like, oh, my God,
there she goes again, rewarding her dog for doing
the wrong thing. Like, how does she ever get
her dogs to do anything? Oh my gosh. Oh my God.
Somehow my dogs managed to learn. It's a miracle.
I don't want my dogs, you know, I don't want
someone beating me up constantly. Like my dogs
are trying. Well, the other thing too, when you
think about like that is, is, you know, how you
react when the dogs make mistakes, you know,
you got to be careful because you're going to
create, you're going to pair that with an, you
know, like a emotional response to mistakes.
I have a couple of students who've had some history
of how mistakes were handled incorrectly with
their dogs. And that's. I mean, I find that incredibly
hard to turn around once those dogs have that
kind of relationship with making errors. Especially
dogs who are more sensitive and care so much,
you know, that you got to watch that a little
bit. Because then you can see when the dog does
make an error and they know they messed up. Oh,
my fucking God. The poor dog is like already
shoveling the hole for itself. Well, and I think
that like what I want to see with my dog, right,
is that when my dog makes a mistake and knows
they made a mistake. That they go, oh, shoot,
I messed up, but they're not like freaked out.
They're not upset about it. Or if I say to my
dog like. I say no to Zesty because he needs
that. He wants me to say it. So when I don't
say no, like, and I didn't say no to him for
a really long time, just because I got out of
the habit of saying no. And all of a sudden one
day I just kind of said it by accident. I was
like, no, buddy, don't do that. Cause I was like,
geez, he keeps doing this mistake over and over
a session, but you know, in multiple sessions
over weeks. So there's. what is happening so
finally I just go buddy no don't do that and
he went well why didn't you tell me yeah yeah
and it was it made it so clear to him yep well
to him the word no means don't do that do something
else so when I say no to him he does not get
upset right he goes oh okay and then I follow
it always by saying you're supposed to do this
right So I, if he looks away, I go, no, leave
it up here. He goes, oh, okay. Don't look away.
Look at you. Got it. Right. Right. Some dogs,
you can't say no, even if it's neutral because
they're just like zeal is inherently that kind
of dog. But if he made a mistake, I would stop,
tell him how to be right. And he learned over
time that, oh, okay, nothing bad happens. She
gives me good information. Then we do it again
and I'm right. And he learned to handle mistakes,
right? So he learned to stop like having a nervous
breakdown, self -imposed because I did not. I
did two things. One is I didn't make a big deal
about it. I was like, you're fine. Don't worry
about it. And then I would do something like
I do tricks and feed the tricks. So he'd be in
a happy state. And I always gave him really good
information. Right. So if it was a true mistake,
right, then I would just say, you should have
done this. And I think the two things people
go rise. Well, three, one, they micromanage.
Two, When a dog makes a mistake, they either
give the dog no information. So now the dog's
like stressed out because the dog goes, I don't
even know what just happened. Or they're like,
they give the dog negative information. So now
the dog goes, I make a mistake. That's bad. Yep.
The dog makes a mistake. They'll say that was
wrong or indicate in some way, shape or form
that a mistake occurred, but they don't tell
the dog how to be right. They assume the dog
knows. Well, if the dog knew it wouldn't have
done it for God's sakes, people stop it. The
dog didn't know. Oh, it makes me crazy. Just
stop it. The dog didn't know. So give the dog
good information in that. moment, right? So I
tell my dog to down, dog doesn't down. I say
to the dog, either no, down, or if I don't say
no, I say to the dog, buddy, down. You're supposed
to down. That's it. There you go. You down. Good
dog. Let's try that again. Not no or not. Let's
do that again. Well, what makes you think the
dog's going to down the next time? Right. Didn't
give it any information. Right. They're so quick.
I find that like they they they indicate the
mistake and then quickly they're like off and
running. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are
you doing? You need to stop and tell the dog
like they're like, oh, they don't even think
about that part because they do. I think they
just assume the dog should have known how to
do it. Correct. That's a piece for sure. That's
a thing. It's huge. And I find if they actually
communicate to the dog, this is what you should
have done and make sure the dog registered that,
which is case in point, which is a huge point
of you. What you just said is stop. Yeah. Stop.
Just stop. People stop. Stop. communicate with
the dog give them good information then the dog
knows what to do and it does it right on the
next thing and you can move on right it's when
you don't give information that the dog does
a mistake again then you get frustrated because
the dog's being stupid dog's not lit you know
all the things we say and then you know you gotta
too like if you're gonna have a reoccurring mistake
it keeps happening then you gotta be like You
got to put your dog down and you got to reevaluate.
Like, why is that mistake keep happening? Is
that a, you know, like something's going on?
Does my dog even really know it? Did I train
it well enough? So make sure you're, you know,
that's your insanity rule. Patriots fucking talks
about. Well, the definition of insanity, doing
the same thing over and over, expecting a different
result. Right? Right. That insanity has run rampant
in the dog training community. Yes, it has. Over
and over. I'm like, oh, my God, what are you
doing? Stop it. So I always say two errors in
a row change something. Two. That's it. But it
goes back to people not being able to count.
Right. How many times did the dog just do this
wrong? I'll ask them how many times. Three. Try
six. Try five, right? Two people, two. One, two.
My dog makes a mistake. I give them information,
makes a mistake again. Guess what? My information
wasn't good. That's it. It's that simple. One,
two. No more complicated than that. Stop. Do
something different. Stop saying the dog knows
it. The dog should know all those things you
say. Stop it. The dog doesn't know it. change
something it's that simple you're making it way
more complicated than it needs to be right right
now you need to put on your detective hat your
problem solving hat why does my dog not understand
it and so on that's a whole nother like episode
but the point being give the stop give the dog
good information slowly make sure the dog registered
it release the dog Do it again. Dog does it right.
Great. You gave it good information. Dog does
it wrong. Re -evaluate. Yeah. And really all
errors are on us. So stop getting annoyed with
the dog. It's the dog's only doing what you trained
it to do. Sorry. Bad news. It's our fault. It's
so true. Oh my gosh. It's so true. Um, and I
think we, we see a lot of times when the dog
makes an error, the person just freezes and does
nothing. That's another one. Yes. They don't
know, which is, you know, I think just a confidence
issue in the handler, not knowing exactly. Oh,
I will. I would, I would actually say, I always
go back to what's the, what's your criteria on
that behavior, right? I think that's a big one
when people don't know what to do. They don't
even know if it was a mistake. Let's go there.
That's one. They don't really know. The dog will
do something and then they'll look at me and
go, was that right? And I'll go, I don't know.
Right? Like that's a big one. They don't know
if that was the correct behavior on their dog.
They're not sure because they don't know the
criteria on that behavior. And that's what I'll
say to them. Well, what's your criteria on that?
Well, I think it was good. Well, then you don't
know your criteria because it's either black
or white. It's either right or it's wrong. There's
no in between. Right. That's, I think, a big
one that causes people to not even they don't
even know what they're looking at because they
don't know if it was a mistake because they don't
know what the criteria is supposed to even be.
Right. And then you're giving your dog confusing
information because sometimes you're saying it's
right and sometimes you're saying it's wrong.
And then the dog has no idea because you're not
being clear. So set the criteria in your head.
This is right. Everything else is wrong. Right.
That's clear. That's fair. That's clarity. Right.
If you do, there's professional sports. You either
kick the goal or you didn't. It's not like, oh,
it came close. So you get a point. No. But they're
always getting it in the basket. That's typical
though. They'll be like, no, that was pretty
good. Pretty good. That was pretty good. I'm
like pretty good. Like that was correct. I think
so. I'm like, well, then you don't have your
criteria set. That's huge. Like, how do you,
how do you mark a mistake if you don't know if
the dog even did it right or wrong? And the poor
dogs are standing there like, hello. I know.
And then your information's really delayed because
you're standing there trying to decide. So you're
standing there doing nothing. And the dog's like,
was it right or wrong? And you're like, I don't
know. Let me think about this. Should I reward
or should I tell him it's wrong? Well, by now
it's too late anyway. I know. I'm like, just
throw your dog a fucking cookie and tell him
he's a good boy. Or they don't know how to fix
the problem. So I always say if in that, look,
it's happened to me where something happened
unexpected and I'm like, I don't even know what
happened right now or I don't even know what
to do with this. what's your default good boy
good girl released a dog give him a cookie because
why should they pay for me having a senior moment
yeah yeah or you just don't you just don't know
what to do in that second like you you just need
time to process on how to handle it just be like
good dog cookie cookie put him away and be like
how the fuck do I handle that Right. And then
figure it out and then go back and do it. Right.
Yeah. Yeah. And then you do need to develop a
plan like for my for this particular dog, because
all dogs are different. Right. This is how I'm
going to handle it when my dog makes a mistake.
And there are different mistakes, right? Like
my my dog just made a mistake, but it's a learning.
So I can't really hold the dog accountable for
that because the dog's still learning. It's not
really an error error, which is different from
Zaina. If I at this point in her career, if I
turn around to look at her and she's staring
at something to the right, that's a completely
different error. I would handle that differently.
Yeah. Right. Versus a dog that's making an error
because it's really nervous. Yeah. I'm going
to handle that differently. So I need to have
ahead of time a plan for if my dog is nervous,
I'm going to do X. If my dog is fully trained,
not nervous, just being naughty, I'm going to
do Y. If it's being naughty, I'm going to handle
it differently than, well, I can't even say because
you'll just wouldn't be naughty. But I'm going
to handle it differently than perhaps a different
dog or a dog in a different stage of their learning
or whatever. Dogs are rarely naughty. It's a
dog that's super confident and super uber, you
know, whatever, like Zaina, who will blatantly
be naughty because she really just could care
less. Right. That's where the majority of dogs
really aren't even being naughty. They're just,
you know, just a training issue. how am i going
what is my strategy going to be so i know ahead
of time so i'm not caught standing there going
oh shoot i don't know what to do yeah but if
you're still green and you may even have a plan
and then in the moment freeze that's okay again
i i forgive you you are allowed as a human to
make that mistake so just say to the dog It's
okay, buddy. I'm releasing you. I forgot. I don't
remember what to do. So here, let's just, you
know, let this go right now. And don't worry
about it, but don't leave the dog sitting there.
Because while you're indecisive, the dog reads
that you're indecisive and the dog gets nervous.
Well, then they could totally interpret it as
a mistake, too. So you got to watch that, you
know, because that's like, oh, fuck something.
When you stop and do nothing, the dogs are like,
what happened? Like they do. They notice that.
That's like a month right there. So they get
worried because you're supposed to be in charge
theoretically. Right. We're supposed to have
our act together. Right. Right. Theoretically.
And then they're like, ah. Yeah. So, yeah. So
I think, you know, we make mistakes. It's no
big deal. Dogs make mistakes. Stop making it
a big deal. Yeah. You know, learn your dog. Learn
to learn your dog. What the heck did I just say?
That's because you've been talking for four days
straight. Learn. you know, who your dog is, how
your dog handles things, teach your dogs to teach
your dog. You can teach your dog to handle mistakes.
You can teach your dog to be resilient. Yeah.
It's important. And if your dog is making mistakes
in learning, give them really good information.
And if they don't understand, they're not being
bad. They're not being obstinate. They're not
dumb. They don't understand. You need to, you
need to change what you're doing. Right. You're
not being clear. Sorry. I mean, I've had dogs
like now I'll take zest. How long have I been
training? How many dogs have I had? I have certain
things like where he didn't understand it. And
for like years I worked on it. I tried this.
Didn't work. Tried that. Didn't work. Tried the
other thing. Tried like a million different things
before I figured out what made sense to this
dog in this situation. Right. And all that whole
time I'm saying, God, I know it's on me. Like,
I know he just doesn't understand. I know that
it's I am not communicating what I want. Right.
Because I know that if he understood it, he would
do it. Right. Exactly. That's on us. And that's
and the thing is, instead of taking that as a
negative, like I'm a failure, you know, it's
just part of dog training. Like it's not we're
not failures. We're not bad trainers. We're just
humans trying to communicate with a different
species that has that communicates differently
and processes information and sees the world
differently. And that's hard. It's super hard.
And that's true. Very true. All right. That was
good. That was good. Thanks, everybody. Till
next time. Bye.