Answering Your Dog Training Questions

If you enjoy the K.I.S.S. Dog Training Podcast and want to help support what we do, you can become a monthly supporter for as little as $3 a month. K.I.S.S. Dog Training is my full-time job, and producing the podcast, blogs, videos, and other educational content takes time away from that work. Your support helps me continue putting out solid, science-based, positive-reinforcement dog training information.

Support the podcast here:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1353841/supporters/new

This episode is all about answering real dog training questions from clients.

Why does K.I.S.S. Dog Training only do in-home training?

Why do I usually put two weeks between training sessions?

And how do I decide whether a dog needs puppy training, standard dog training, or a more complex behavior program?

Why In-Home Training?

Most of the problems people call me about happen in the dog’s actual world: inside the house, at the front door, in the backyard, or out on a neighborhood walk.

That is where I want to see the dog.

Private in-home training also gives us a chance to build a foundation before asking a dog to work around the distraction of several other dogs and people in a group setting.

I am not against group classes. I just think they often make more sense as a finishing step after the basic skills are already in place.

Why Two Weeks Between Sessions?

Because the real training happens after I leave.

You need time to practice, make mistakes, ask questions, build routines, and figure out what is and is not working.

In a typical progression, we may start with management, crate work, hand feeding, and attention. Then we add leash skills, Stay, Leave It, and recall. Later we move into neighborhood walks, controlled dog distractions, and eventually busier public environments.

Trying to cram all of that into a few days does not give the dog—or the owner—enough time to actually learn it.

What Kind of Training Do I Offer?

K.I.S.S. Dog Training generally works in three areas:

• Puppy training — socialization, potty training, crate work, hand feeding, and early foundation skills.
• Standard dog training — common problems such as leash pulling, jumping, recall, and reactivity.
• Complex cases — bite histories, city-mandated cases, separation anxiety, and other situations that need a slower, more detailed process.

Complex cases usually begin with a phone evaluation and a detailed behavior history before we ever start in-home work. Those cases also usually need more time between sessions because we are dealing with a marathon, not a sprint.

The common thread through all three is simple:

Training takes time, practice, consistency, and realistic expectations.

K.I.S.S. Dog Training
Dog Training Ain’t Cheap... Experience Counts.
https://kissdogtraining.com/

If you found this episode helpful, please take a minute to leave a review. Reviews are one of the best ways to help other dog owners find the podcast. Follow the show so you do not miss future episodes, and share this one with somebody who has a dog training question of their own.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to another Kiss Dog Training Podcast episode with professionally certified dog trainer Mike Deith. You have dog training questions? Mike has dog training answers. Mike is coming up with all the info. Stay tuned. As promised, Mike has answers to your questions. In this mailbag episode of the podcast, he's going to tackle some specific questions from you, the client. The first question for you, Mike, is why do you only do in-home training?

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Great question from a potential client via email. They wanted to know why I only do in-home training. Well, honestly, at this point in my career, I have decided that that's how I can help most dogs. The flip side of that is most problem behaviors that clients want help with happen inside their house or out on a walk, but somewhere geolocated around their world. And I need to be inside that world to see the problems, come up with solutions, coach the clients, and help them through the process. When I started this dog training adventure about 18 years ago, I worked for PetSmart and I did teach a lot of group classes. And what I found was that a lot of people would quit showing up to class around week three or four. And what I kind of found out over the years is the dogs were not ready for the amount of distraction and impulse control and frustration tolerance that it took to be inside a group class. So when I started KISS Dog Training 15 years ago, I did do group classes, but I kind of flipped the script and said you had to do some private training with me so that we could get things squared away and going in the right direction at home so that we stood a chance that the dog can handle the distraction of six or eight other people and six or eight other dogs in a small confined space because it would be like putting a bunch of preschoolers into a in a classroom expecting them to do, you know, third grade math. So I really think that private instruction is where folks ought to start because the problems are happening there at their home. And group classes should be more of a finishing class to where, okay, let's see how you do with impulse control and frustration tolerance of being in a room full of dogs and see how you handle it. So it's a really long answer to a short question, but really and truly, because I'm the only person here at Kiss Dog Training who does the training, it's just a one-horse business. Um, I found that I could help more clients by doing just private instruction. But if you're gonna do a group class, because maybe it's cheaper, things like that, invest in one, two, maybe three private and private sessions with a trainer and get the basics down so that you can work on what's really important, and that is working under distraction, redirection, impulse control, and frustration tolerance in a group class, but when they're ready, not at the very beginning. Okay, so it's Mike with Kiss Dog Training, another great question from a client. Hopefully that helps you guys make some dog training decisions in your world.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Great info, Mike. Here's client question number two. Why at KISS Dog Training do we put two weeks between sessions?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

We got a phone call from a client today that we're gonna cover. And I think before we talk about that, we ought to talk about how I do my private instruction. Um, if we're talking basic dog training, which is what we're talking about right now, I have a silver, a gold, and a platinum package. The silver is one session. It's for if you've got one situation you need to work on and you're gonna be the person that can handle the consistency and frequency of doing the homework without an accountability buddy showing up every two weeks, the silver's perfect for you. The gold package is three sessions, and I always put two weeks between the sessions, which brings us to our question, because I want clients to have time to practice daily for a couple of weeks and really get down to brass tacks and figure out what they can and can't do. Gives them a chance to email me, ask questions, call me. It also gives them a chance to get used to the work and to kind of go with it, okay? Um, and then the platinum package is five sessions, and I'll get back to the one, three, five here in a minute, but again, two weeks in between sessions. So if I was gonna work with somebody on less a leash reactivity, that would be a platinum package, five sessions. The first session, we might talk about crate training, management, doggy daycare, and the beginning of the hand feeding process with about 15 different games to play. That's plenty of work for a client. If I was trying to show up three days later, the client's head would explode because they wouldn't have had a chance or the dog wouldn't have had a chance to get things going. When I show up for the second session after two weeks, this gives me a chance to say, okay, now let's get the leash out and let's work with the leash inside the house. Then we might take a long line into the backyard and we might sit out in the driveway with a long line and work on recall. But it's the introduction to leash skills. We'll work a little bit on stay, we'll work a little bit on leave it, we'll do some different things, but it's basically that introduction to the leash. And again, I give them two weeks so that they can get the work done. They also know that I'm coming back in two weeks, so I become a little bit of an accountability buddy. Now, let's say that third session, that's where we're gonna go for a walk in the neighborhood. If I just walk directly into that person's house and tried to do a walk right out of the chute, the dog wouldn't be able to handle it. That's why they called me. That's the problem they're having. Why would we want to go out on a walk in that first session and practice the behavior that we so desperately want to get rid of? We need to lay the foundation in sessions one and two so that we stand a chance in session three on a walk. But in session three, we're still going to kind of avoid distractions. If we see a dog, we're gonna cross the street, we're gonna put them in a set, we're gonna do a watch meet, we're not meeting, we're not talking to the other people, we're kind of avoiding distractions at this point, but getting the client out on the road to where they can kind of start working on this out in the world of distractions. Again, I leave, I give them two weeks of practice because the next time I come out in session four, I'm gonna bring one of my dogs who is non-reactive and doesn't care if a dog barks at him. And I'm gonna kind of float behind two or three driveways behind so that my client can practice or see what it's like to try to do a leave it when there's another dog present. And if things get squirrely, I put my dog back in the car, the car's running, dog's getting heating or air conditioning, getting to listen to some really good music, and we coach, we try, I get the dog out, we try again. That's that fourth session. The fifth session goes one of two ways, depending on how the client wants to. We'll meet at a busy city park or a place where dogs are on leash, not a dog park, um, or we'll go visit a Home Depot and a Pet Smart that are in the same parking lot. And we'll take that level level, excuse me, of distraction to the next level. Sorry, too many levels. But that is what we're gonna be doing. So when you look at how I do basic dog training, it's gonna be a silver, a gold, and a platinum. And I'm just using leash reactivity because it's one of the common things that I deal with as a topic, but it really depends on how complicated the situation is. If it's something we can handle in three sessions, we'll do that. If it's something we can handle in five, but I really don't recommend trying to do any of this work without at least two weeks in between sessions. And in fact, I'll tell some clients, hey, look, you got you got your hands full. It might be the kids in the family, the work schedule, this. Let's put a month. Now, this also means that you have to be consistent and frequent with the practice. So if you're somebody who's not going to put in the time or the effort and practice being consistent and frequent, this little plan isn't gonna work for you. But over the last 15 years of kiss dog training, I have figured out that this seems to be the best technique for me to teach and the owners to learn. So that was a great question that came across, and we are going to just go with that. Okay, you guys have a good one? Keep those questions coming, and we'll keep the ideas coming back the other direction, and we'll all meet in the middle and we'll have a better relationship with our dogs.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

If you love the topics you've been listening to, remember that Mike has written tons of books on dog training, and all are available on Amazon.com. Plus, you can also find them all on audible.com as audiobooks, and you can even get them in print on Mike's website, kissdogtraining.com. Just search the web for KISS Dog Training or Mike Death, D-E-A-T-H-E. Before we get to Mike, allow us to take a quick pledge break. Buzz Sprout hosts our podcast, and you can find us at any of your favorite podcast providers by simply searching for Kiss Dog Training or Mike Deeth. You can also find a direct link to our podcast on our website, KissDogtraining.com, by looking in the About tab and just clicking on the word podcast. It's at that link where you'll find a subscription link where you can donate as little as $3 a month to help us provide monthly podcasts and information on positive, science-based training methods for dogs and their owners. And we would appreciate that help so much. Mike is back now to help answer even more training questions. And client question number three today for you, Mike. My dog has a specific issue. What kind of training do you offer?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

In this particular situation, it was a dog that had a bite history. And it brought about, well, what kind of training do you do? So with Kiss Dog Training, I guess you could put us in three different categories. Number one, it would be puppy training. That would be a dog anywhere from eight weeks to 20 weeks. The real key to puppy training is lots and lots of socialization, lots and lots of monkey see, monkey do, hand feeding games to play so that they can start getting kind of a foundation of some basic skills and getting crate training and potty training under control. Usually I either do a tiny diamonds package, which is a one-time in-home session where I can help with the logistics setup, give you lots of homework to work on, and tell you, okay, here, give me a call in a month, month and a half, and we will kind of look at going into some dog training, more specific obedience type stuff. Other people will pick the tiny diamonds plus package, which will be four sessions, and it will take you all the way from puppy to adolescence. You might still need some help down the road once the dog becomes an adult if you have bad behaviors that crop up, but usually that tiny diamond plus helps a lot. What about adult dogs? This is usually when I get the phone calls of my dog pulls on a leash, my dog's reactive on leash, my dog won't come when called, um, the dog's jumping all over people at the front door, and these will be more of your typical dog problem behaviors. And we do silver, gold, or platinum. And silver is one session, gold is three sessions, platinum is five sessions. Now, the ironic part is those will have two weeks worth of practice in between. Same scenario with the puppies. I still put two weeks in between. Um, I know there's some people out in the dog training community, they'll come out to somebody's house three times a week. If my clients had to listen to me three times in one week, their heads would explode. I need to give them homework. I need to do this is what we're gonna work on, this is what the goal is by the time I come back, and give them plenty of time to practice. They may have a rough week at work, they may only be able to invest 15 minutes on Monday, but I can do 30 minutes on Tuesday. We skipped Wednesday because we had soccer practice. Over the years, I have figured out people need that time. Well, the client that called me with a dog with the bite history is the third category of dog training that we do here at Kiss Dog Training, and that would be more complex case type stuff. That would be dogs with a bite history. Um, city mandated training, which usually comes from a bite, um, could be separation anxiety, but it would be a more complicated scenario. And usually the way that session works is the very first thing you sign up for is a 30-45-minute phone evaluation with me where you filled out a really detailed behavior history, and I will go through that behavior history before we talk, highlight things, things I want to cover, things that we're gonna talk about, and then I send you a big long complex case phone evaluation um training um syllabus, basically, notes, and it will have books I want you to read, videos I want you to watch, blogs I want you to read, um, I want you to wrap your head around the situation that you're having. After we've done that phone call, I usually give clients anywhere from three to four weeks to digest all the information that I've sent to them. Then we start doing complex case sessions, which will happen about once a month, okay? Where I don't really do two-week sessions for regular dog training or puppy training. These complex cases have month-long intervals in between. But you also have plenty of time to call, email, ask questions. Why is this working? What's going on? What we really find when you're dealing with complex cases is you're dealing with a marathon, not a sprint. It's usually not a quick fix. And the quicker we try to force a change on a dog, sometimes the behaviors get worse, not better. So I figured this was a good time to maybe just describe how and what kind of sessions I offer. You know, it's puppy, it's regular, it's complex, how they work, how much time goes in between. And I will be honest with you, I am also a very transparent trainer. All the prices are on the website. I have fine print and frequently asked questions that clients actually have to electronically sign before I'll allow them to sign up with me. I want to under-promise and over-deliver to my clients. I don't want to try to sell you dog training because if I do, I'm usually going to over-promise and under-deliver. So if you got any questions, fill out one of those contact us forms on the website and let us know what you want to hear next or if you need help. And we're right here ready to help. Talk to you later. Bye-bye.