Webinar Transcript Notice
Welcome to our unique transcript feature for webinar replays at the Animal Training Academy. We’re excited to offer this tool, designed to enhance your experience with our content.
Purpose of the Transcript: These transcripts are generated using AI technology and serve a specific function. While they are not polished written content and might be challenging to read directly due to their raw nature, they hold a valuable key to unlocking our extensive webinar library.
How They Work: The primary role of these transcripts is to aid in searchability within our website. When you use the search function, these AI-generated texts allow you to locate relevant points in our webinars. They are your tool to quickly find rough timeframes for specific information or topics discussed in our video content.
How to Use Them: To get the most out of these transcripts, use them in tandem with our search function. Enter the topic or keyword you’re interested in, and the search results will guide you to the approximate segment in the webinar where this topic is addressed. This way, you can jump directly to the parts of the video that are most relevant to your interests or needs.
Please Note: We recommend using these transcripts as navigational aids rather than standalone educational resources. For a complete and enriched learning experience, we encourage you to watch the full webinar videos, crafted thoughtfully with our commitment to force-free animal training.
Please note: The search bar below searches our entire website, not just this page.
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 6:50 – 33:32)
Okay all right okay so thank you Ryan for the invite. I guess today I wanted to talk about the consultation process
So, I thought I’d kind of tell you a little bit about myself, for those that I haven’t maybe met before. So, I am a dog trainer here in Perth, Australia.
I’ve worked at Morley Vet Centre, which is my place of work. I’ve worked there for over 20 years. I’m the head trainer there.
We’re really lucky that we’ve got a team. There are five trainers on the team, and our boss is a vet behaviourist, so we’re super fortunate. We run heaps of training, right from baby puppies all the way through to working with behaviour consults, and also working within the vet team for kind of cooperative care style training. I’m also part of the education team for the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers here in Australia, and I also get to create some content for Fear Free for their trainers’ courses. So, that’s something I love working on as well, so lots of different hats.
But, I thought this consultation process, this kind of topic, was one that definitely, when I entered the training world, was hard to get experience around.
I think that as a trainer entering the industry, if you’re thinking about running group classes, kind of group workshops, that kind of thing, for most of us, there’s quite a lot of opportunities out there to go along and maybe shadow some classes, to assist, to volunteer, maybe at the local dog club, to kind of reach out for a friend. Absolutely, I think that if we’re wanting to get into group-style classes, we can kind of get out there and see kind of how it’s done, and find what’s going to fit with us as we kind of build and go, and then, you know, run our own classes.
I also think that that then leads us to consultations, so this is where predominantly we’re going into people’s homes, we’re helping them with one-on-one training support, and that can often be one that’s harder to get experience around, having a process and knowing, like, the ins and outs, you know, what works, what doesn’t work.
Again, today, this is what works for me, and what I share, there’s always, you know, more than one way to do anything, so this isn’t, I’m not saying that this is how everyone has to do it, but hopefully, there are some ideas in here that can kind of help, you know, shed some light on either building skill in consults, or if you are already offering consults, maybe some new ideas, some fresh ideas that you can kind of add to your kind of toolbox.
So, I guess the reason it’s hard to get that experience, to go out and observe, you know, kind of experienced trainers running consults, is that, I guess, one, we’re going into people’s homes, so kind of bringing a student along can be a little more difficult than just having, you know, a person, you know, a student at the park while classes are running. Also, when it’s one-on-one training, not all of the time, but a lot of the time, they’re reaching out because, you know, there’s a serious problem going on, and so it’s almost a little bit of a counselling session, especially that first one. Emotions can be running high, the dogs and the people, right, but emotions can be running high, and so having someone there, kind of observing, when we want that client to really open up, like give us all the information, let go of that baggage so that we can kind of build on and start training, can be hard having that extra person there.
So, I guess, I think that’s why I thought this was, you know, a good topic, and again, from students and trainers I’ve worked with over the years, it’s definitely one that I get asked a lot of questions around.
So let’s have a look at the topics we’re going to talk about today. So we’re going to have a talk about so what we do with initial contact, ideas around that, history gathering, how we’re going to meet the client and the dog, then some possibly daily routine adjustments, management strategies, training solutions, then wrapping up the console on time right here, learn from my mistakes, booking in revisits, and also report writing, like what, what does that look like, what should we be kind of doing there.
So let’s start with initial contact. So, I think again, there’s no one size fits all. It’s about finding what suits you best.
Are you going to have a phone number that they can call, ask questions, you can give them information that way? Or, my personal preference is that it’s done via email. I find for me, email is more, I can be more efficient and more time efficient. And again, I was going to Ryan before, like about balancing work-life, so I definitely find I much prefer, personally, email. And then that way, what we can do is we can give them that information, so they make, and then we can kind of within those reply emails, what we’re sending through, so what documents, so explaining the process, explaining what costs are involved, absolutely explain your credentials, we’re professionals, and so around that.
And by all means, if it’s something that they’re having, you know, an issue with, we don’t want that animal rehearsing the behavior any more than they already have. And so, and we may not be able to book them in tomorrow, you know, hopefully, you know, we’re going to see them fairly quickly, but by all means, if we need to, we could offer a couple of little management strategies. I think that that’s important that we can do that. Against the dog doesn’t rehearse it, but we shouldn’t be giving any guessing training advice. And sometimes that can be hard because the client, especially if they’re on the phone, ask a lot of questions. They want to know how they can solve this. They’re stitched out because it’s an issue. But I guess, as professionals, it’s really important that we, we can’t provide that specific training advice without a detailed history, so we’re kind of, we’re guessing, you know.
The classic example that I’ve kind of, I’ve used is, someone contacts you and says that the dog is pulling on a leash. And so, if you started to give some training, it will, why, again, ATA community, we all, you know, love Susan Friedman and function of behavior. So pulling on a leash, so that’s where we need that detailed history, right? Um, in our head, we might pop to, oh, he’s pulling on a leash because he’s trying to access smells at the park. Okay, so it’s a little loosely walking kind of case that we’re going to take on. And great, we could do that. But without a history, we don’t know that. Or is the dog pulling on a leash because he’s trying to get away? Right, so he’s trying to escape and in some a trigger in the environment. Or is he pulling on a leash because he’s trying to be around other dogs? Right, and using some distance-increasing behaviors to try and make that other dog go away by pulling on a leash, you know, and and kind of lunging towards that other dog. So again, without a detailed history, we really are second-guessing any advice that we give. So super important that if we’re going to have a chat with clients before we actually meet and get that history, we just again help them with a little bit of management, um, short term.
If you are going to use the phone, again, some people love it, and you know, a great option, um, my challenge though is timing it. Like, keep, when you hang up that phone, have a look and see how long that phone call was. Was it five minutes? Awesome, okay, cool, five minutes. Let’s see, more at, are we starting to look at, are giving too much advice? It’s kind of, it’s taking up a lot of our time, um, have they actually committed and booked in? Um, so again, have a think about that initial contact, what’s going to kind of suit you, um, but, um, um, do think about again, what strategies we’re kind of giving those clients without jumping into any training just yet. Oh yeah, I just saw, absolutely, I just saw your comment. The phone does, it takes up so, you know, I don’t have, I don’t have a work, me personally, I don’t have a work mobile. It’s all via email, again, everyone is different, um, but I find I can be much more efficient with my time, um, if, yeah, if it’s done via email. Again, everyone’s different, but I’m trying not to spend too long on the phone. It can take up, take up big chunks of your day.”
I guess history taking, and again, I guess, if we use that example of the dog who’s pulling on lead. If we go, ‘Oh, it’s just a point, oh it’s just a dog, he’s just pulling on lead,’ and we don’t spend the time, you know, taking that historic history, then, you know, we’re not going to have a successful training plan because we’re going to get there and be like, ‘Oh, this is not what I prepared for.’ Um, so really important we do spend that time taking history.
Um, so things to think about. So, they’re going to complete a questionnaire. It’s how clients contact me. So, I send them a questionnaire. Complete general areas that we’re kind of looking for, um, you know, so obviously carer details. Um, I do like to, um, kind of ask a question around what their profession is. Um, what that does is, helps me when I actually go into the home and start talking with them, is I can sometimes give them examples of their experience in their industry, and how it’s relatable to what we’re doing training the dog. So, I sometimes find that that helps when I’m trying to make dog training relatable.
Um, children in the house, regular visitors, um, so, you know, um, do they have family that come around often, friends that come around often. Um, do they have, uh, you know, a cleaner, do they have someone that cleans their pool, like, you know, are there other influences that kind of come in. Obviously, dog’s details, um, how the long they’ve owned the dog, and where they got the dog from. Um, some questions around diet, obviously always checking our medical history. Um, what kind of, um, type of exercise is the dog getting, how often that kind of thing. Um, what the client wants, so what they want from the dog. Um, and some observations of the issues. So, what, what have they kind of seen.
Then, we can kind of get a bit more specific. Okay, so context, when does the behavior happen? So, is it a night, day, when they’re left alone, is that when someone’s present, is in a specific place. Um, we’re looking at attachment figures, um, so who feeds the dog, who exercises the dog, who does the dog seek out. Um, on set of signs, so when did the, um, when did the carer start noticing, um, kind of the behavior issue. Um, why did, why, why did the, um, why did they notice it, you know, um, was it it’s a barking, you know, it’s a barking complaint from the neighbors, and that’s where they, and they didn’t even know that the dog was barking when they were out. Um, and so that’s why they’ve been prompted to contact you. Um, a list of known triggers, um, and then what the carers have tried. Um, so ask that in detail, because if we don’t kind of check that, and then check the specifics around the kind of advice that they have tried before, um, is that you can go in with, ‘Oh, yep, cool, I’m going to do my training plan,’ and you go through all of this with the client, and then they’re like, ‘I’ve tried that, it didn’t work,’ you know, that kind of could, you know, hit you in the guts, you’re like, ‘Oh, okay.’
Um, so instead, like, ask what, what have they tried, and then there can be, and if it’s something where you go, ‘What, that sounds, you know, that sounds good, why didn’t that work,’ we’re going to ask more questions around that. Okay, um, did they do all the training, um, did they, you know, like how much time did they commit, you know, um, that kind of thing. Um, and then a few more questions within our history taking. The severity of the signs in detail, um, does the dog have a safe space that they kind of gravitate towards. Um, and we’re going to look at that a little bit more as we look at kind of daily routine with the dogs.
Um, any relationships with other animals in the household. Um, first time, worst time, last time, so how serious is this issue. Um, and is video evidence available. Um, now this is one that clients will, they’ll be like, ‘I can get video,’ and I very much like, I, if they don’t have video, I’m like, ‘Please don’t, I don’t need it, you can talk me through it and explain it, I don’t want the dog put in a situation again where they’re going to prefer viral behaviors,’ right. Um, from, um, a welfare standpoint, especially like, I’m not, you know, I don’t want to stress the dog out again. Um, so they absolutely don’t need to, because they would, ‘Oh, I can get video.’ Um, so if they have already videoed it, sure, I’d like to have a look. Um, but I’m not one to kind of encourage them to set the dog up, so that just so they can get video for me. I can ask lots of questions, um, and get a clear picture in my head with, without video evidence.
So then we’ve gotten our questionnaire back. We’ve got our kind of details, um, we’ve kind of gone through it, and have an idea in our head, um, about what the consult might involve. Um, then I think it’s important to think about what knowledge would be beneficial for the consult. So, what would you like the client to know before you go? So, have a think about, if you’ve been running training classes, you’re running consults, or you talk to dog people, because it’s what we do, um, what, what things have you said over and over again? Like, what foundation skills do you, you know, you always kind of rattle off, you know, um, so for me, um, body language, body language, more body language, um, a little bit about how dogs learn, in nice, kind of simple, understand, simple to understand terms. Um, and that way, we have some kind of, we have clients when we go out, they already have that bit of knowledge there.
So, how are you going to provide that? Um, so for me, um, and by all means, if you want to jump on, uh, Molly Vet Center website, you can find the video there, center.com.au if you want to check it out, um, so I have a video, um, it is an hour long, um, but it’s all about again, body language, a little bit about how dogs learn, um, there’s a little bit in there about enrichment, a daily routine, um, and so all of my clients watch that before I see them. So, whether it be someone coming puppy class, a group class, um, or a one-on-one training session, or a training consultation, um, they all watch it. So, I feel that way, especially the body language, um, they see, they’ll have seen some subtle signs that they maybe didn’t know about before, um, and instead of me spending a chunk of time during the consult going through all of that information, um, I’ve given that to them ahead of time. Um, so think about that. Are you going to do a little video? Um, are you going to do a handout? You know, your style of teaching. Um, if you kind of go, ‘Oh geez, Laura, I don’t know if I can do a one-hour video on body language,’ um, then by all means, another nice one which I know quite a lot of trainers use is the, um, Fear-Free Pets, uh, Dog Body Language 101. Um, so it’s a really nice body language video, um, that you could use, share with your client and ask them to watch that before you come out.
So, by all means, there’s, you know, there’s so many great resources out there that you could use, um, or you could absolutely create something of your own as well.
Um, then have a think about what you’re going to take in the, um, to with the kit bag. So, I thought, um, if we maybe use the chat, I reckon let’s give this a go and see if it works. So, let’s have a bit of a, I guess, a problem solved together. Let’s create a bit of a list about, so your kit bag, if you’re going to a training consult in someone’s home. Anyone want to write some things in the chat there about what you might have in that kit bag of yours? Yep, cool, Ryan’s got your tripod, phone, absolutely, always a clicker. Yeah, Nikki, I love that, absolutely. So, an example, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, you could have, um, yeah, yeah. So, you’ve got your basket muzzle there, in there, long line, absolutely. Um, you might have a, like a, you know, um, yeah, cool, you guys are beating me to it. I’m like, I’m waiting, and then you guys are giving me the answers. I love it. So, some enrichment toys, um, absolutely, treats, some different kind of treats, um, for that. Anyone got anything else you might add in there? Yeah, you guys coming up with awesome ideas, yeah, I love it, um.
So, think about the other thing I’ll have. So, I’m gonna have the questionnaire there, um, is it on your tablet, so you can take notes that way, or are you a pen and paper person, um, which is me, I’m pen and paper still. Um, so I’ve got that there, so absolutely, um. So, oh yeah, toys and, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and Ryan, you take your laptop, yeah, absolutely, um. So, so think about those kind of things, what are you going to have in, in that, in that training bag, um, and again, you may not use it all at every, at every, um, consult, but be prepared, have it there, kind of ready to go, um. The last thing you want to do, I guess the muzzle is a great one, that is that you’re going around, and you’ve got nothing there that you can use, um. And again, you don’t have to have a basket muzzle, you could have, you know, a couple of size, different size, kind of cups that you could use for, like, to start muzzle training, right. So, you could kind of maybe have that in there as well, um.
Yeah, Jan, I love that, some videos, so using different toys on your phone, yeah, absolutely. So, having that to be able to show them. So, it might be a resource that you’re going to show them, um, or maybe it’s going to be, so let’s say for a, uh, like a puppy consult, and you’re talking to them about creating a safe space for puppy, and you’re talking about a puppy playpen. Um, if it’s brand new puppy owner, they may not be able to picture it in their head. So, you might, you know, so this is what it looks like, this is how you’re going to set it up, um. So, absolutely, you’ve kind of those resources that you’re going to kind of, that you can use to show them. Awesome job, all right.
So we have our questionnaire completed. We’ve given our clients some kind of, um, bite-sized little bits of knowledge, especially around, get that body language in there, um, before we go out to see them, um, we’ve got to go. Um, and now we’re thinking about meeting the client and the dog, um. So, I guess a few safety considerations around this, um. So, one, touch wood, I’ve never had it, but I am, it’s always sits in the back of my mind, um, I’ve never felt uncomfortable in someone’s house, um, but we are going into strangers’ houses, so we need to make sure that we are safe. So first of all, um, let someone know where you are, right, especially if you live alone, like you know, let a family member know, let someone know, like give them your list of, you know, especially if you’ve got a few consults back to back, at this time, this is where I’m gonna be, um. There’s some really good apps out there, I thought I’d just pop one up, so Life 360, so that is on your phone, uh, and your family members can access that, so you are at all times, um. So again, you could maybe have something like that, and well and truly, hopefully, you’ll never need it, um, but better to be prepared, um.
Have an exit strategy, okay. So, think about, if you’re starting to feel uncomfortable in that house, um, how, how are you going to leave, um. For me, I’ve always left something in the car, okay. So, it might be, for um, I’ll take out of it, and I’ll leave the long lead there, um, or I’ll take out some of the treats and leave in my car, right. So again, I’ve never needed to use it, but in my head, I have this plan, that if I feel uncomfortable, I can go, ‘Oh, I left those treats in the car, hold on, I’m just going to go get them, okay, I could, I can leave, okay.’ Again, hopefully none of us ever, ever need it, but I think better to be safe than sorry, so think about having that exit strategy and make sure people know where you are.
So, that’s the human side of it, then the dog side of it, um. So, again, depends on what kind of cases we’re taking on here, but still, think about suitable clothing, um, and that sounds, you know, but absolutely, like, it’s coming, it’s summer here in Australia, it is getting warm, um, but still, if I go to a consult, I don’t wear shorts, even like baby puppy nails jumping and scratching on your legs is not pleasant for anyone, um. So, right from baby puppies, obviously up to, you know, larger dogs that absolutely can do some damage if they’re kind of, they, you know, jump up at you, think about what instructions you’ve given to the client, okay. So, when you arrive, where do you want the dog to be, um. If you’re entering the house, do you, are you happy for the dog to greet you at the front door with the client, and again, your history taking through and kind of guide you there, um. Are going to ask the dog is outside, um, on lead behind a baby gate, um, or potentially, maybe you’re not meeting, not entering the house to start with, you’re meeting them somewhere else. So, you’re meeting at a park, um, and you’re going to meet there and then you’ll walk back towards the house, um. Again, that way, the dog’s got more space, you can observe from more, um, of you know, that distance, um, as you and that approach can be slower versus you just walking in through the front door.
And then, having to think about, so safety and equipment. So, like I mentioned, is the dog on a lead, behind a baby gate, um, does it have to be muzzled, like is that part of your, you know, your request, especially for human-directed aggression, um, is the dog going to be muzzled before you arrive, um. I know for us, we actually do, so our training team, um, especially but you know, we don’t get many, but for those dogs where we are seeing that, and that we kind of go, the dog needs to be muzzle trained, um, we do quite a lot of, um, zoom consults these days. So, we actually have worked with the client and trained, and and taught them the skills, um, you know, before you kind of, um, you even kind of enter that house, you know, you’ve done the muzzle training, you know, but you’re on the other side of a computer screen. So, again, have a think about, about that.
Okay, so let’s see, everything’s gone well, we’ve entered the house, and so now it’s about having that conversation with the client. So, I guess, first of all, it is about sitting down and chatting with the client. Yes, you’ve got the questionnaire, but they are going to want to talk. They’re going to want to dump everything because obviously, most of them are running high, it’s why they’ve called you. They haven’t booked you in to show you how amazing their dog is, um, wouldn’t that be nice. Um, so think about what the dog’s going to do while you speak to the client. Um, so, I really encourage everyone to take enrichment opportunities into the house. Um, within that, you’ve got to think about, are there other animals in the house, what’s going to happen with them, is it a multi-dog household, is that right, so all these little things we’ve got to prepare ahead of time. Um, but enrichment opportunities is a nice one. Um, I guess, first it demonstrates to clients, um, some, you know, simple enrichment strategies they may be able to add into that kind of, um, daily kind of routine. Um, always double check though, and it should be within that history gathering, but double check for any allergies before you start going in and handing out the food enrichment and getting those puzzles out. Um, but absolutely give the dog something to do while we’re chatting with the client.
Um, I am one that, if the client offers me a cup of coffee, tea, water, coffee, could you imagine if you had a coffee at every consult, I’d come home like shaking, um, but well and truly, um, I’m like, too much caffeine, um, but by all, I’ll be like a glass of water would be lovely, thank you, you know. Um, so we then can, um, sit down with the client. Um, so if they offer it, awesome, if they don’t, it’s fine. Um, but I think it’s a nice opportunity, that it gives the client time to kind of relax into a little bit, they’ve just had someone new come into their house, and then they can do something familiar, they can pop the kettle on, um, kind of have that little kind of, um, you know, chit-chat, you know. Um, it gives you time to observe the environment. Um, so you can kind of see, as you kind of think about what management strategies you might be kind of preparing, for those routine adjustments, you know, you kind of, you kind of scanning the environment and having a look at how that house is set up. And you can also, um, you know, even just within a few minutes, start to observe the interactions between that dog and client, you know, that can give you a nice kind of little picture about, about that relationship, like how, how badly is this bond damaged, that we need to kind of repair.
Um, so kind of have a think around, kind of, by all means, have that cup of coffee or that glass of water, and then listen, let them talk. Um, gather further information. So, you kind of go through the questionnaire, we’re not asking the questions again, you know, we’ve already done that, but there’ll be sections in there, that you kind of want a little bit more information on, so you’ll go through, and you’re going to kind of expand on, you know, things that you feel are important, and you need some more history around. Um, so kind of have that kind of idea about getting that nice history before it started.
Um, what we want to do is, we want to think about, oh, Brian, my eyes fine, but I just, where my face is just changed. That was visible, that’s all right, I mean, my IMDT read anyway, it’s all fine, I was like, oh, I moved it, I do that just to, yeah, yeah, make sure I’m paying attention, so it’s fine, right. Um, so we go to conversation. So, I think a few things while we’re sitting, having that cup of coffee with client. Um, think about using leading questions. Um, often, and I’m sure you’ve all had it before, is that you’ll come, that client comes with a big long list of, um, I don’t want my dog to, okay. Um, so, um, you know, I don’t want him to jump on visitors, I don’t want him to bark at the postman, I don’t want, right, so that’s often, and I think it’s us humans, right, we want this, um, and so they’ll kind of do that, um. And then, I think that what we can do instead, is kind of shift that thought, um, and think about asking questions around, so tell me more about when the behavior occurs, right. So again, if we put our, our, our geeky hats on, right, um, we’re looking for antecedents, right, but again, I’m not, I’m not going to use that word with, with my pet dog client, but I’m going to ask them about, you know, when does the behavior occur, like paint me a picture around that, um. Then questions around why, so why do you think he’s doing that, any ideas what, you know, and often I’ll use things like wording around, do you think he’s trying to access something, or do you think he’s trying to avoid something, um. And again, that, and so I kind of want them problem-solving and being an active active in this, instead of me just telling them, this is why he’s doing this, um, I want them engaged, um. And so using those questions work nicely, um. And then we shift that focus, we’ve kind of, kind of looked at, okay, so when it happens, um, the clients kind of come up with some ideas, and we can absolutely guide them as well, about why the dog might be doing the behavior, um. And then we can kind of focus on what we would like that dog to do instead, um. So, as we kind of ask that, we’re shifting focus, um, to behavior, desirable behaviors, right, and that’s where, happy days for us, we’re like, cool, get out the truck, let’s train, okay, we can train what they, what they’ve kind of requested, as long as it’s within, you know, it’s, um. So, have those questions with them, and see if you can get them almost to come up with answers, um, because then that’s going to, they’re going to be more motivated, if they, if they come up with it themselves, instead of being told, um. For most people, they’re more engaged, and they’re, they’re more of an active participant in it, um. So kind of have a think about shifting, shifting that client’s kind of train of thought away from the, I don’t want, and get them thinking about when it happens, why it happened, what they’d like the dog to do instead, um. And that kind of, you know, again, they’re like, oh yeah, so I’d like to do, you know, and it’s great, you see these kind of ideas popping in their head, and I love it when they start brainstorming themselves, and they come up with their own training plan, I guess, in a little way. I absolutely, that’s not the end, right, um, but I will then help them with the formal training plan, but they’ve kind of come up with it on themselves, um, with themselves, which is lovely.
Okay, so then, before we get training, and I think that this can be hard because we’re trainers, right? We’re the geeks, the ones who want to train everything, and we get super excited about training, and we love it, um, is that we need to kind of do a few things first for the training to be successful. First of all, we need to think about daily routine adjustments, okay. So, things, um, within that routine, um, that we can kind of make little changes to, um. So, it might be conversations around enrichment, okay. So, what are we going to do, is the behavior, um, that we’re seeing, is it exacerbated because the dog’s not being given natural behavior, like natural opportunities to practice being a dog, um. So, can we talk about around that, okay. So, dog’s needs, um, how we can use enrichment for foraging, feeding behaviors, so we’re using scenting to find food, problem-solving activities to access food, working to consume the food once they’ve found it, um. So, having those kind of conversations, um. And again, those pet dog clients, they don’t have to go and spend a fortune, um, they can’t, what some are keen, um, but you know, really simple, um, you know, enrichment strategies that, that they can fit into their daily routine is really help with a successful training plan, because we’re starting to fulfill some natural needs for that dog.
Um, we can also have some little, um, conversations and again, I try not to geek out too much with my clients because I, I often have to tell myself to stop overwhelming, um. But can we give them opportunities, so things within enrichment, chewing, licking, that kind of, like, as we know, right, they release really nice feel-good chemicals, and so, um, you know, it’s a really nice, kind of, you know, happy brain when they’re kind of doing those really nice, kind of chewing, licking behaviors. So, can we get the clients thinking about those opportunities on a daily basis for their dog, um. And always, always, we know it with enrichment, um, to consider some safety. So, make sure that we just let the clients know, like, what are we going to do, what, uh, enrichment opportunities that need to be supervised, um, and what strategies can they do unsupervised. So, again, just keeping like that little safety, safety kind of discussion in there as well.
Then we move on to exercise, okay. Um, as we know, for us as well, not just our, um, not just our animal learners, um, it stimulates neuronal growth factors and stimulates the neurotransmitter serotonin, okay. So, as we know, right, there’s heaps of health campaigns, I’m pretty sure much all over the world, about telling us to, you know, find 30. I know is one here, we get a lot about, you know, for us as humans, getting out and getting that exercise, it’s really good for our health. So, making sure we have conversations with our clients around that, like what kind of exercise is it, and is it suitable. Um, again, as humans, as well, heaps of really cool studies out there, you know, and again, all of the, you know, health messages out there about us getting good sleep and how that can really impact our own well-being and our own emotional well-being. So, making sure that our dogs are, like, getting good quality sleep. Um, gosh, I think about if we go to, um, like, let’s say for a baby puppy, um, clients can be shocked, you know, that those baby puppies need so much, so much sleep. Um, and that puppy has a little bed in the main living area, and throughout the day, you know, it’s a busy family, there’s kids coming and going, um, the, you know, there’s just, it’s a busy, so that puppy isn’t getting quality sleep. Um, and if we know, and I know Ryan will know because he has a little one, and I have, you know, so, my little daughter, she’s eight now, she’s a bit older, but um, overtired children, oh my goodness, that’s hot, like, their little brains, uh, you know, are absolutely really hard for them, adults, we think about when we’re overtired. So, having conversations with the clients about that, the importance of that kind of, you know, that dog having that safe space to get that quality, that quality sleep.
Um, and finally, with exercise, giving them some outlets around instinctive behaviors. So, absolutely, around being a dog, right. So, using those enrichment strategies to give them opportunities to, to be, what, what we love, our amazing dogs, um. But also looking at, within breeds, like, what purpose was that dog originally bred for, what part of the predatory motor pattern have we amplified, um, altered, um, for a working role, and now that dog is living in a pet dog home. Um, but that predatory motor pattern has still been, you know, of, you know, that dog’s been bred for a working role, and so they may not have a suitable outlet. Um, so giving them those opportunities to practice those again can be really help with a successful training plan. Um, so again, having to think about, you know, what we can provide them on, like, a breed basis, and always knowing, as well, right, with our breeds, there’s always exceptions to the rule, even within the breeds. Um, so I have four border terriers, um, three of them very terrier. Um, my sweet little Milani, she, she looks like a border terrier, but she is, um, she’s not as terrier, if that makes sense, right. So, there’s always exceptions to the rule.
Um, a few little ones, I just thought I’d kind of pop in a few, um, a few little, um, videos here about some really simple little games, um, that we can kind of help clients, um, think about, um, exercise, but kind of, um, giving the dogs the opportunity to kind of practice a little bit of that, that predatory motor pattern, and be a dog, but in a suitable way, um, instead of, um, let’s say the border collie who goes, ‘Well, I’m gonna herd traffic,’ you know, um, or the terrier who is after the neighborhood cats, right. So, giving them opportunities to practice, um, you know, being a dog, um, and being that dog, um, in a desirable way again, can have a really big impact.
So, um, Ryan, when you’re ready, are you happy to press play for ‘Pounce on the Mouse’, please. Alright, okay, so that one, again, it’s really simple, like, it is just flicking treats, um, but so, there’s no training, like the dog doesn’t need to know how to sit or do a nose touch or anything like that just yet. It absolutely can, um, it can absolutely kind of work with, um, you know, right from a baby puppy, a new rescue who’s, you know, not had any training, um. We can just get that, so you saw them, they kind of did that little orientate, and then it was just a really simple little, um, chase and then kind of grabbed the treat, um. So, a simple little game, um, that we can get kind of clients playing with. I think, as well, it starts to help relationship building, um, because again, they’re starting to play with their dog again, um. Again, the reason they’ve often called us out is that there’s, there’s an issue, um, dog, and so, you know, we need to find kind of nice little ways to, um, get them kind of, you know, enjoying time with their dog again.
Um, so I’ve got a few more cute little videos. Um, so this funny sheep wasn’t a Lawrence game. Um, so Buzz is the border collie that I’m working here with this one. Um, so Ryan, when you’re, um, ready, um, are you happy to play ‘Sheepballs’ for me please? Favorites. And I don’t know what, you know, there’s so many people in different parts of the world here today which is amazing. Um, but, and I’m guessing for most of us, it’s the same, but we have a lot of herding breeds that live in suburban environments, and that can be really, really hard for them. So giving them these kind of games can be super, super beneficial. Um, so I love, you going to use it. Um, so that video is, um, and same with the ‘Pounce on the Mouse’, um, they are on the IMDT Australia YouTube channel. So by all means, if you want to jump on, um, and, um, yeah, they are there to access if you would like to watch them yourself or share them. By all means, jump on and do that.
Um, then absolutely, so I have, because I can’t help myself, I had to put a border terrier video in, because otherwise it wouldn’t be one of my presentations. Um, so this is, we’re just using a little bit of, um, we’re just doing a little flirt poll game here. So this is a little rogue. Um, and we’re just kind of having a play. So again, helping clients play games with their dogs. It’s giving them that relationship building. We’re also giving dogs an outlet for being a dog, being that breed of dog. Um, and it’s giving them some nice little aerobic exercise as well. So Ryan, when you are ready, yeah, I’ll try not to passion talk too much about border terriers. Play the video before I do.
Good boy, microphone back on. Um, so again, nice little outlet, um, for them. Um, I don’t know what the video is, all of my cues were like very late. I’m gonna blame the video and not my mechanics.
Yeah, it is right. I am, I’m, I’m pretty gorgeous. I’m on, I’m on two acres, and if you can see because that screen is still up. So it’s the leopards, um, beachhead for my horses. So I’m not carriers, get to practice a lot of terrier behavior in there. We don’t do video of that though.
Yeah, all right, okay. So, they’re just again a couple of little ideas, but helping those clients kind of meet those dogs’ needs, um, both being a dog, um, but also thinking about, um, you know, again, do we need to give some outlets for that breed as well. Um, then when daily routine, we’re looking at the safe space, um, so we want it away from that high traffic area. Um, we want, if possible, somewhere the dog already chooses to relax, um, and we want it to be off limits to visitors, children, that kind of thing. Um, and it gives dogs choice, right. They can move away if they’re uncomfortable, they can go where, you know, they can relax, they can get that quality sleep.
Um, so again, I had to throw in some more video. So, this is, so, um, Steve Man, he’s head of IMDT, um, he has, so in his, um, ‘Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy’ book, he talks about Den Wizard, and I love, I love the analogy. So, this is a little puppy. So, this is, already the Den Wizard has been, so the Den Wizard magically appears, and the den becomes full of all of these magical things. So, toys, enrichment activities, and the puppy then kind of wanders through and finds it on their own, and the Den Wizard’s been, it’s like magic. Um, so let’s, um, when you’re ready, um, can we play this one, please Ryan? It’s one of my trainers to set this, like video up. So, this is actually her sister’s little pup. And so, he was even, near puppy was like, oh my goodness, what’s happening. So, we’re creating this really nice safe space for this little puppy, right, to be able to relax in, feel confident, build independence, they can be away from their person in that safe space, um, and puppy, um, so, you know, have a kind of a think about, you know, that safe space and how we’re going to do with that. And again, I love Den’s analogy, clients seem to, you know, they kind of, they’re like, oh yeah, my puppy really looks forward to going into their little safe space, um, so Ryan, when you’re ready, we can probably flick to the next one, just when you’re ready, or we can watch puppy being cute for a little bit longer.
That’s what you wanted, yeah, please, thank you. That toe stretch just melts my heart. Okay, so I had to show that really little one. So, this is Kira, she was a rescue. So, I thought I’d show a puppy video of safe space, um, all the way. So really important for them, but all the way through, that was, um, a rescue. She went from foster home to foster home to foster home, um, and finally found her forever person, um, who is now one of my trainers, um, funny how that happens. Um, and this is her safe space and just how calm and comfortable she is. And again, that little toe stretch and then falling back to sleep, just, um, but you know, makes everything worth it, right, especially with these rescue dogs that, um, you know, have, you know, they’ve struggled in their lives. So it’s, um, yeah, yeah, it’s absolutely right, it is, it’s such a lovely, lovely story.
Okay, so we still haven’t done any training, and that can sometimes be hard for us trainers. But let’s have a look at management strategies. So, we need them to be effective, um, and we need to put them in place to prevent rehearsal of the undesirable behaviors, right? Because if we don’t do that, they continue to be reinforced. With undesirable behaviors, by definition, they’re going to continue to, um, kind of occur. So, really important that, um, we set that foundation for a successful training program. So, help clients to kind of make a list and kind of actively avoid those triggers. So, I just have a few examples on this next one.
So, it might be a dog whose triggers are unknown dogs, okay. So, management strategies without training, um, just yet, it might be that we’re going to limit their walks for, you know, again, short-term, um, these enrichment training games within the home. Uh, we might recommend that they walk at quieter times of the day, or walk in different areas. So, things like commercial or industrial areas, like out of work hours, can often be a really nice quiet place for them to go. Um, you may be fortunate and have a private training area in your air, like in your, you know, um, close by, that they can kind of hire. Um, and I’ve popped rucksack walks in there. Um, I didn’t have time to kind of go through, because it’s a whole presentation on its own, but there’s an amazing, if you haven’t heard of a rucksack walk, another amazing invention by Steve Man. Um, look up, again, IMDT YouTube. So sorry, IMDT Australia YouTube, um, and jump on there, look for rucksack walk. Um, and it, life-changing, I’m gonna leave it at that, life-changing, check it out. Um, so you can see, we kind of get them to think about what triggers maybe, and now for management, short-term, what we’re going to do instead.”
Okay, then we get to train, right? Yay, that’s what we want to do. This is where, and again, learn from my mistakes, this is where we can often overwhelm clients because we are training nerds. We love training, we want to train everything, um, but often pet dog people, you know, it’s not their priority. They want a well-mannered pet dog, um, but they have other, um, motivations, they have other things in their life that take up time, um, and so they may not spend as much time training as what we would. So, this can be a challenge, but what I want you to do is, with your clients, have a think about getting them to list their training goals, then help them prioritize it. Like, what are we going to get started with, and start, I know, Ryan, two behaviors only, two, um, it is hard, um, but keep it simple, okay. Focus on, with your first session with your client, you are only going to teach two behaviors. What we can then do is, we want two behaviors trained to fluency, right? Instead of trying to teach too many things, um, none of them become fluent, so we’re not successful with our training, and the client feels really overwhelmed because there’s too much to do. So, give them success early by giving them two achievable exercises, um, that we can again, then start to build to fluency.
So, some foundations that we can kind of think of, I’m depending on the behavior, okay, so depends on what the priorities are, what the issue is with the dog, but think about what two foundation behaviors are going to help the most with this case, first off, right. So, nose touch, right, think about all the different applications for a nose touch. We can use a nose touch to get our dog to move away from things, we can use a nose touch for greetings, so if it’s a jumping up on people, you know, you present your hand down low, and you teach the dog to go and nose touch to say hi to people. So, you know, awesome, cool, um, use nose touch. Oh my goodness, for a recall, right, stick your hand out, say touch, my dog’s come flying to kind of mush that nose onto, onto my hand. So, we can do that. We could also use a nose touch for moving them through environments, so I need to get them up onto the scales of the vet clinic, I need to get them closer to me as we walk along a busy footpath, and there’s other people walking by, um, so there’s so many benefits of a nose touch, right. So, it might be that you’re like, yeah, cool, for this one, we’re going to start teaching a nose touch, and these, this is, you know, what we’re going to do, um, that training, super useful, right. Think about all the different places that we can take and use that. Um, if you know, if our dog can like settle on their mat in different locations, think about how much that’s going to help around the house, when they take their dog out and about, when they go to the vet clinic, um, if they’re going to start doing crate training, it’s a great progression, right. We do a little bit of mat training, and then look at that, the mat now goes in the crate, and the dog goes, oh yeah, I know this game, right, um, so again, mat training might be one that, for that case, you go, yeah, cool, we’re going to start with that.
Um, a reflex to name, okay, so teaching the dog, whenever they hear their name, good things come from their person, again, it might be that that’s, for so, recall, calling away from distractions, right, awesome, are we going to do a reflex to name, um, or is it eye contact, we’re going to start with, right. So, giving that eye contact, can you focus on this, on your person, um, in different positions, in different locations, um, so think about what exercises, and it can be hard, and sometimes I go, oh, I want to train everything, um, but pick two for your first, okay, build those foundations, and then by all means, um, we can start to introduce new behaviors in further sessions, um, but see if you can pick two, um, again, for most pet dog people, that’s setting them up to succeed, okay. They’ve got two things that they can new exercises that they can practice with their dog.
Then as we go through that, think about the what, why, and how. I think, really important, if I really quickly dive back to a nose touch, um, new, um, like new client, they’ve never had a dog before, maybe they have had dogs before, but you say, you’re going to teach a nose touch, and you demo it, and you get training, and they’re like, why are we, what, I don’t know why we’re doing this, and they may, um, go through the motions and do the training while you’re there because you’re telling them to do it, um, but if they don’t know the benefits of it, chances are, they’re not going to practice, right, when we kind of leave, so always talk about the why. I think the nose touch is a massive one because I think that, outside the training world, it’s not a well-known behavior to teach a dog, um, but again, once you’re in the training world, like for me, like, I joke, but like, nose touch is life, I’m like, if in doubt, let’s do a nose touch, right, um. Then what we’re going to do is, we’re then going to start training, okay, and we’re going to think about that, we have two learners in front of us. So, we have, obviously, the dog, and we have the human as well, so approach both of them, kind of, almost the same, right. We’re looking for little slivers of behavior, little achievable bits of behavior that they can get, okay, um. So, think about setting up the client, often, you’ll be giving instruction around mechanics, so how are we delivering the reinforcement, is there a lead involved, how are we holding the lead, um, marker timing, what are they using, are they using a clicker, are they using a marker word, is it a deaf dog, we’re doing a hand signal, um. Often, we’re not actually, like, we’ve got to kind of spend time there first and get the kind of, those mechanical skills with the client, and then the rest is going to start to follow on with the dog.
When we’re training the client, as well, this is one that I have to tell myself on a regular basis, um, is to train more, talk less, still in my head, every consult, um. So, for example, I’m going to give the client instruction about what they’re going to do, so they’re introducing a nose touch, so I’ve kind of demoed it with my hand, they’re then going to have a go, and I zip my mouth, and I let them do it. So, I’m gonna say, okay, so let’s get 10 treats out, and give it a go. So, as they do it, I’m gonna let them train, and then once they’re finished, I will then say, okay, let’s drop a few treats on the snuffle mat for the dog to cut while we have a chat, or, um, let’s get a licky mat, or let’s scatter some treats on the grass, give the dog something to do, so they know the training session, that little 10 rep has finished, then I can chat to the client, the dog has something to do, but then I can give the client more instruction, because if we try to give instruction to the client while they’re trying to train a new skill, they’re oftenly, often not hearing all of the information that’s going in, um, yeah, I know, Ryan, made me zip my mouth, it is hard, um. So, think about giving them clear moments of training, and then what are you going to do, are we lowering criteria because there was kind of a little issue, or did that go really nicely, we’re going to stick, or are we going to go up, and we’re going to push criteria a bit, but have clarity around when you’re giving instruction, and when you’re allowing the client to train
Then, positive feedback is a really nice one to keep the client motivated. So, we can often say, you know, and again, as positive reinforcement trainers, you know, I think we do it really nicely, um, obviously with our animal learners, but when it comes to our humans, things like, if someone said to me, ‘Oh, good job,’ well, thank, thank you, that kind of makes me feel, you know, kind of nice, um, but what was it? What did I do well? Okay. So, be specific with, like, specific with those clients. So, for example, you might say, ‘Great job, I loved your marker timing, spot on.’ Oh, okay, cool, my marker timing’s well, awesome, good, you know, um. Or you might say, ‘I really loved how, um, you delivered that treat right down to his mouth because he’d been jumping up a bit, right, to get the treat, but you delivered it straight to his mouth, and that kept him on the ground, like really nice training.’ So, think about being specific with that positive feedback for your clients.
Then, by all means, check understanding, open questions, and then give them some clarity around their homework as well. So, how often are you wanting them to practice this, in what locations, right? Um, just because we’ve taught a nose touch in the lounge room doesn’t mean we’re going to go out and about and practice it outside, you know, school pickup time, right. So, give them, because again, they may not, they may not know. So, have a think about that, and see if you can fit it into the client’s daily routine. Um, you know, I kind of, um, I kind of joke, but it’s a nice one, you know, if you’ve got a busy mum and we’re doing mat training with a little puppy, and you give her permission that she gets to sit down and have a cup of tea and do mat training with her puppy, like, as a busy mum, I’m like, ‘Yes, please,’ right. So, see if you can kind of fit it in, um, and kind of have a think about that.
All right, okay, we are, we’re, we’re kind of getting towards the end of it, so keeping to time, okay, um, the struggle is real. Um, I think that we are super passionate about what we do, we love training, and many of us have spent years learning, right. We are, we all have this knowledge around in our heads, and then what we want to do is because we want to help this client as much as we can, and there’s so much that they need to know, that we can often, right here, me, can try to jam that into a one-hour consult, um. And again, when I first started this, I was like, what, client, they were just overwhelmed, they were like, whoa, that was way too much information, okay. And that’s where you’ll get thoughts around them kind of going, oh, this is too much work, this is too hard, I don’t know if I can do this, I don’t understand. And so, we’re planting kind of self-doubt into our clients because we’re overwhelming them with too much information, um, at once. So, stick to time. So, what I suggest you do is, you’ve done your training, you’ve obviously done, we’ve kind of gotten up to where we’ve talked about today, but then with 10 to 15 minutes to go, we’re going to start summarizing, um. Again, I used to try this with five minutes to go, didn’t work, right, well and truly, that five minutes was not enough time, okay. So, think about that 10 to 15 minutes, okay, you’re going to start summarizing. So, I like to use my body language a little bit, so we’ve kind of been training, and then I’ll start to just pick up a few things. If I’ve had my training kit there, I’ll start to kind of pick that up, and I’ll kind of, like just little things about making it, like okay, we’re kind of coming to the end. We don’t mean to say it, show it through your body, that we’re kind of wrapping up. Summarize the session, so kind of go through what we’ve kind of, um, trained today, um. Ask any little, um, questions around checking that understanding, um. Avoid giving any new information in that 10 to 15 minutes. You may, something will pop in your head, and like if it’s urgent, sure, but really stop and go, no, I’m going to overwhelm them, they’re not going to hear it, okay, it’s too much. So, don’t give any new information, you’re just summarizing, and let them know about how you’re going to send them resources, okay. So, what are you, you know, you can email them that kind of thing. Are you sending, um, notes, reports, which we’re going to get to in a second, so kind of some sum that up, um, at the end, and kind of have that conversation, that way we’re going to get out on time.
And I think the other thing that again, um, I struggled with, um, when I first started, was booking the next session. It was always something that you kind of feel awkward about because it’s almost like you feel like a bit, like a salesy person, that you’ve got, you’ve got to book, get the next sale, um, but instead, what I do now is, I kind of think about other professionals, and I’m going to use my physiotherapist as a great example. So, that’s what he is amazing at, um, and so when I go to see him, when we finish, he doesn’t leave with the, like, we don’t finish the session, ‘Oh, so let us know if there’s anything else you need, okay, see you later,’ you know, which is often what, as you know, some, as a trainer, that’s how I would kind of do it back in the day, um. He was very good at, he’d summarize, he’d give me, so, ‘This is what we’ve worked on today, these are the exercises I need you to do at home, Laura.’ He would walk with me to his receptionist’s area, um, and he goes, ‘Okay, so I need to see you in a week’s time,’ and he’d say to his receptionist, um, ‘So can you book an appointment, um, for Laura, um, get some time, like this time next week, um.’ So, and he did a bit, like, it was very, and I was like, ‘Okay, cool.’ He, he knows that my neck is still sore and I need to come back for another treatment, and I, you don’t question it, right? He’s the professional, and he says, ‘This is how many treatments, like, so we need to come back.’
So, I think if we can kind of have that in our head, there’s not many cases where you can say, you can go out and solve it in one session, right, um. So, we know that, so we need to say to the client, ‘We need to come back.’ Um, so practice the booking conversation. I know that it’s one that you kind of feel a bit awkward with, so find ways to practice that, and find what’s going to work for you. So, practice with a friend, a family member, a colleague, one of the ATA members, um, in front of a mirror, if whatever works, right? Build our fluency around having the conversation about booking that next session. Um, my wording, and again, it’s weird because again, like, environment is different, I don’t have a client in front of me, how funny that it is now, it feels awkward and not fluent, um, but it is around that, ‘Okay, so I’d love to see you in two weeks’ time. So, Friday at 2 p.m. worked really well for you this week. Would Friday in two weeks suit you again? Should we look at, you know, let’s put that booked in.’ So, have a kind of think about how you’re going to book that next session. We know we need to go back and help them, like I said, there’s not many cases where you can go out of there doing a little happy dance and you’ve solved everything in one, in one visit.
Okay, so then, oh man, the writing of the reports, do we do it, do we not, like, it’s up, right? What are the, kind of, again, this is just what my thinking is, um. So, think about how long it takes to write a report, um, mine used to be five, six pages, um, anyone write anything longer, um, ask yourself, will the client read it, um. Again, if so, let’s say, I’m gonna use Ryan, if Ryan came and did a consult, he flew to Perth and did a consult with me, I am a dog geek, if he wrote me a 10-page report, I would sit there and I would read it, and I would love it. But I am a fellow dog, may not have the time and motivation to read it all. So, short and sweet is much better, okay. So, have some clear sections for them, so, the presenting issue, um, those little adjustments to daily routine, again, some little dot points around management and a little bit around training, um. I tend to find, for me, um, I like dot points, it helps with me keeping it short and sweet, um. You might have some links to some videos, so again, you saw, like, the sheet ball video, it might be for the border collie owner, that I’ve popped that in there, um. I have, like, like, two, three-minute little videos about how to introduce, like, how to practice, for example, um. So, it might be a video to that, or you’re going to use someone, you know, there’s so many amazing YouTube channels out there with training, it might be that you use a resource that’s already, kind of, created out there, um. See if you can do two pages, absolutely maximum, absolute max. If you do shorter, like, that’s an amazing celebration, um. But again, if we overwhelm a client, chances are they, ‘make this is too hard,’ okay.
Um, the last little point I’ve got on here about writing the report, um, is obviously, get the client’s permission first, but do send it to the vet, even if it is a puppy toilet training consult, okay. And you’re like, ‘Well, the vet doesn’t need to know about that,’ um, I still think it’s a nice way to make connections with other professionals, um. So, let’s say you saw, so, I’m going to use that cute little puppy, um, that was in the Den Wizard, so that’s little Percy. So, let’s say we’ve done a consult with Percy for toilet training, and so I’ve sent the report to the client, I’ve sent it through to their vet, and asked, um, ‘So, I saw Percy on this date, we worked on toilet training issues, here’s my report, could you please put on his, um, file, right?’ So, they pop it on his file at the vet clinic, like other professionals would do, right. They’re going to send referral, um, notes and things back to the vet. And then don’t get me wrong, vets are super busy, super amazing, and super busy, so chances are they’re not going to read that report, um. But our team’s receptionists, they got the email from you, they saw the report, they popped it on the history. So then, next time, someone walks into the vet clinic with a new little puppy, and it’s like, ‘I’m really struggling with this toilet training,’ um, whose name pops into their head, right? Yours, because you just helped one of their clients with some toilet training. So, I think it’s a really nice way to let vets know what you’re doing, and that you’re in their area, and so that they can refer to you. And I think you’re absolutely right, I think it’s a great marketing strategy, um, you know, instead of the, you know, like, ‘Can I put my business cards on the desk?’ But they don’t really know what you do, um, I think, instead, like, I let you know, let your consult speak for you. That you’ve been out to a client, one of their clients, help that client, you obviously a profession, very professional because you’re sending them the report, and reaching out and making contact. So, I think it’s a really, really nice way to make connections with vet teams out there.
All right, okay, we’re on the homeward straight, okay. So, a few common issues, I just thought I’d kind of, um, summarize up with. So, I guess, when to refer, and who, um. I guess when we’re first starting out, or even if we’ve been doing it for a long time, we’re going to have areas that we have more experience in, and we always have to put the dog’s welfare first. So, if there is hesitation around whether you can take on this case, go, ‘Oh, do you have skills, um, then that’s, that’s definitely refer, okay, refer on to. And again, who, who’s it going to be? Is it going to be a trainer who specializes in that area, um, is it a veterinary behaviorist, um. I think it’s really lovely that now, and I guess COVID has kind of forced it more on us, um, is that there’s so many trainers, vets, everyone, like professionals out there offering online, so they can consult online. So, especially for those maybe kind of, you know, I used to get, you know, ‘I live remotely, I don’t have any other trainers near me, what, you know.’ So again, you can reach out, um, and again, Animal Training Academy, like, such an amazing, amazing community to be able to reach out to, right, um. So, know our skills, but also know our limitations, we have to consider the dog’s welfare first.
Also, know that we aren’t the perfect fit for every person, um. So, I kind of, um, I joke, I have a lovely trainer friend, um, here, we did Karen Pryor, um, together, he’s also IMDT, and, um, he is German Shepherd man, loves his Shepherds. And so, don’t get me wrong, if there’s a guy contacts me, and I, maybe that sounds really, you know, but I think that, and he’s got a young, you know, an adolescent Shepherd, then I’m like, well, yeah, I could do that, but you know what, Frank’s a man, like, he’s, like, he’s you, he’s like all for it, so he’s like, yep, send Shepherds, um. And then I get the terriers, people like Laura will take the terriers. So, you know, know that you’re not the perfect fit, and, um, and that’s okay, um. And I also think, and again, this is one that I’ve had to learn over the years, um, is that if a client does see you, maybe has one session with you, um, and then you kind of didn’t kind of work out, kind of beat yourself up, doubt yourself, all of those emotions, um, and then you hear they’ve gone to another trainer, right, and you totally sell, like, total self-doubt city, right, um. I think that again, it’s something that I have had to, to learn, is to not take it too personally, um. Sometimes that client, it may be a completely different way of training, it may be something that, it’s hard for them to take on new information that maybe challenges what they’ve, they’ve done in the past, and so, I’ve maybe planted the first little seed, but they weren’t ready to kind of embrace change just yet, and that, and that’s okay, like we all get there, um. But I think that, it can’t be waiting, that you hear that they go see another trainer, um, but I think, celebrate that you planted a seed, and sometimes they need to go and hear it from several people, possibly very, very similar advice, right, um, that they’ve got to take the time, and they’ve got to find out from several people, um, and, ‘Oh yeah, okay, you know, they’ve got it until it starts feeling more comfortable with them,’ um. And also, I think, sometimes they need to go find out that none of us have a magic wand, okay. Wouldn’t that be lovely, whoever invents the dog training magic wand, you know, all right, um, but I think sometimes they need to go and find out that, ‘Oh okay, so no, we are going to have to put some time and effort into this, and there is no quick fix,’ um.
So, I think, um, when you have things, when you have that stepped out, and you have times where the training doesn’t go to plan, it’s so important to have that community around you. And, um, Ryan and I chatted the other day about it, about community, and it was a lovely, it was a lovely conversation, and I think it’s so important that it is there, because a lot of us as trainers are working on our own. I’m lucky, I work in a team, but a lot of trainers are out there on their own, and so they can feel quite isolated. And so when challenges do come up, like, who do you reach out to? So, I think it’s like, it’s lovely, lovely, so that we have Animal Training Academy, like, you know, this is our community that we can reach out to, um. And obviously, that’s all on the amazing Ryan, who I am going to pass back to now, and hope that he’s feeling a little bit better, and, um, maybe open up to a few questions, Ryan, you know, I was really.
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:20:55 – 1:21:52)
you know i was really worried about doing this but it’s been good because it’s taken my mind off just a narrative that oh my god i’m so sick i don’t know if you’ve ever had that narrative but it can um can make you focus on that so it’s been really really good to um have such an engaging presentation i really like your focus on approximations everything was broken down into small approximations one example to learn from you and be specific that i’m thinking of is choosing two behaviors to train at the start and really enjoyed your starting with you know it took us a long time to get to training and i think that’s just so at a law let me put it that way
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:21:53 – 1:21:55)
thanks that is that is a very lovely compliment
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:21:57 – 1:22:25)
um hey we had a few questions in the chat so um which might have marked us as an answer mickey says she’d like to bring the nose touch back into her rotation more often but she struggles with clients getting stuck with it there’s a point early on when a dog has had some early success but then stops engaging with the hand just stores out have you encountered this if so what tricks have
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:22:25 – 1:24:32)
you learned to deal with it yeah sure you know i must admit i kind of there’s one thing i see that happens a lot is that they’re teaching because especially especially in puppies because i think maybe they’re going to puppy classes or something like that as well but it happens with other dogs is that they do the so they get the nose touch but then the dog’s also learning that sit gets some stuff so then the dog so instead of the dog being in a standing position right to go to nose touch they’re now looking at their person and sitting and then when we present the hand we think about like it’s a completely different behavior it’s not just i’m standing move towards it they’ve got to lift bottom up off the ground and move towards it and so sometimes splitting that down so sometimes my mind’s like if in doubt throw food so throw food on the floor to kind of reset so that they kind of that they go oh my bottom isn’t glued to the ground i can get up so that’s one thing that i i sometimes find that that’s where i can see it gets stuck is that the dog is in a sit position and then they kind of they’re like i i don’t know how to move to that hand um so i think we need to kind of break that down and kind of train train that i think clients and i think with so many behaviors they’re keen to add distance in super fast so you think about a recall when you talk about like a pet dog like they’re teaching a recall the first thing they want to do is to move away from the dog like let’s add distance um but in actual fact i’m going to get them to stay close but use another d right so our three d’s and i’m actually going to add some distractions first so i’m going to add some little challenges for them um so maybe we’re going to practice it in a slot you know in a different room or maybe um we’re going to have the tv on or you know like little things like that but i’m not going to actually add any distance because i’ll say you know so i sometimes find that helps because i think sometimes the clients jump to adding distance too soon cool hopefully that provides some good ideas
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:24:32 – 1:24:47)
and if you let us know that if you want to discuss them um he also says for client materials how much do you utilize standardized handouts email templates etc yeah yeah absolutely a lot
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:24:48 – 1:25:22)
yeah absolutely so um yeah a lot of templates um even how like i reply and obviously i then personalize it um it’s not copy pasted um but i think it it does save a lot of time for those things that you’re kind of saying over and over so like the daily routine we’re creating a safe space all of that that that can be a handout or a template like you don’t need to do a separate you know specific wording for that individual dog and how did how did you choose what questions to
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:25:22 – 1:25:32)
include uh and you’re sharing about that um right at the beginning the questionnaire yeah yeah cool
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:25:32 – 1:26:29)
so i guess i’ve had um many mentors around me um so again what the vet behaviorists used but again pulling out bit that i as a trainer i feel i don’t i don’t need but definitely using those um also um i guess using others so steve man again is a massive influence of mine so um borrowing not stealing borrowing his ideas sharing his right so um but by all means i’m more than happy if anyone wants to see my questionnaire i’m happy for anyone to email me i’m happy to share it if it helps anyone like i i don’t you know i’m all about the sharing so well the email is right there so if anyone does want to they absolutely can if they want to see what kind of questions i i do but i think and maybe something like share with others kind of ask like you know and kind of um and share that and brainstorm together
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:26:30 – 1:26:43)
so i’m making sense thank you and and natalie asks do you check that people have watched the intro video before your sessions and how how do you go about asking that question they do a quiz
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:26:45 – 1:27:37)
okay so it’s literal there are six questions it’s like short short quiz but they need to email me back the quiz before i before they come to a class or before um so it works and again it’s not they’re not having to write short answers or do an essay or anything like that it’s like fill in the blank right um and it’s really simple but i find that that makes sure that they’ve watched it because i understand it because otherwise will they so that that’s the way i do i suppose if you find someone that doesn’t or you don’t want to go down that path um ask at the start i guess of the consult did you manage to watch that and if they didn’t well you know that’s fine you’re going to spend a bit more time talking there and then say i’ll send you you know i’ll send you the resource again and again the benefits why you want them
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:27:37 – 1:28:03)
to watch it yeah and i can um resonate it’s worth that feeling i remember going back to your chiropractor example and then as we’ve moved around me and sapphire we’ve utilized different chiropractors but our recent one who i love when i started he put me in a room he’s like watch this video i was like man i’m in pain i don’t care about this video just saw my back out
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:28:05 – 1:28:10)
i love that isn’t that amazing though my yeah mine hasn’t done i’m gonna i’m gonna tell him
Ryan Cartlidge
(Timestamp: 1:28:10 – 1:28:41)
he needs to be i was just on my phone i was just like are they are they not gonna treat me if i don’t watch this video um hey uh just want to invite you to if you if you want to talk about imdt and then for those australian who are watching um what will they find when they go to imdt.com.au what kind of resources do you offer yeah absolutely oh now you’ve given me you’ve
Laura Ryder
(Timestamp 1:28:41 – 1:30:30)
given me a platform right i’ll give a short suite um so here’s imdt australia so imdt um is um worldwide um but obviously here in australia so we have so we have our um youtube channel so lots of nice videos on there by all means jump on remember the rucksack walk life-changing um i encourage everyone to watch it there’s no quiz but i encourage everyone to please watch it um i’m also um also we have um quite a lot of webinars on there so um you know short little light-sized um webinars um for resources there and then we also offer quite a lot of in-person courses so we have a lot of one day um two day and four day courses um so we’ve got like perfect puppy body language we’ve got career as a dog trainer uh we’ve got practical instructors course which is about how to kind of get out there practical skills of getting out there and teaching group classes and then our students can then um sit out so we have assessments um to become an imdt trainer and then lastly super excited um next year we are running so we’ve got the new cert 4 in animal behavior and training here in australia and so imdt are um offering that um so super excited we’ve got um perth enrollments opening got quite a few people i’m saying they’re going to travel over which is super excited applying to come um and we’ve got um there’s a big group in tasmania that are super keen to get us out so we’re in kind of conversations around that as well so i’ve never been to tasmania so that’s kind of cool if i can head down that way yeah i guess there’s some tassie devils yeah yeah yeah i’d love to love to go so here’s hoping so yeah but by all means the website is there and if anyone has any questions like crowd out um yeah awesome well hey
End of Webinar
(Timestamp 1:30:30 – 1:32:06)