There's a lot of dog training tools on the market,
but did you know some of the best ones you can get you can get at Walmart?
The interesting thing is you're not gonna find it in a pet section.
Let's go see what we can find.
Now you may be wondering,
why wouldn't I just go to the pet store to get my pet training devices? Well,
I'll tell you for a few reasons. Over the years, I've hit a number of problems,
clients with problems where some ordinary household items were able to
solve those problems and I found there's value for everyone. And if you know me,
I love problem solving. Now the other thing is I can save a lot of money.
Sometimes when things are branded for dogs,
the price tag goes way up and some of those ordinary items that I can get in any
store or you may have in your house are gonna save you a lot of money.
Wondering what I've got in the bag? Well,
the first one I'm gonna start with today is an item you can find in pretty much
any household.
I'm gonna start with either a spatula or a spoon. And I think for today
I'm gonna go with my spoon.
I like this one because it had some holes and some definition to it.
So it's great for catching that peanut butter.
It's gonna take her a little longer. So do you have a dog that you know,
when you try and brush them, they're spinning around, they don't like it.
You use treats,
but it's hard to sort of wrangle those treats and the second you're not giving a
treat, they're spinning around again. Well, this tool's great.
I can put peanut butter, I could put some, uh,
a little bit of yogurt at anything on here, a little soft dog food,
and I'm gonna let my dog just lick.
And a lot of the dogs that are worried about being handled or brushed or having
nails done, they're quickly going to get one treat,
but then they're worrying again. Whereas with this,
they may be thinking what's going on,
but they can't tear themselves away from that peanut butter.
Now that was perfect for doing my brushing,
but with nail trimming and some other tasks, if I was looking for takes,
I might need two hands. So I can get my trustee zip tie,
I can zip tie this to the stove or to a drawer handle.
I can then put my thing down. It leaves me two hands. My dog goes to work.
Now I've got the nail trimmers.
Some dogs are gonna get nervous if they've previously been scared.
So maybe the first time I'm just gonna hold these things,
let my dog lick with that spoon. Then I gotta put them both away.
And I might do that a few times. So my dog says, oh, I don't mind this spoon.
And once they're absorbed in that peanut butter,
dogs that are nervous of being handled or that trimming,
one treat won't cut it,
but they just can't tear themselves away from that peanut butter sometimes. Now
you may think the Pringles are for the dog trainer to eat, and yes they are.
However, the dog training tool is simply the lid.
We're gonna teach a nose target. I know you smell those.
Those aren't for you. This is for you. Now why do I want a nose target?
Do you have one of those dogs that doesn't like to come in to get their leash
on?
How many times do we leash our dogs or out in a park they like to bounce around
just sort of at arms reach. Well,
I'm gonna teach my dog it is super fun to come in all using this target because
it's something quite visual, I can build huge value.
I'm gonna present this target.
Most dogs that I've worked with go straight for it. They're very inquisitive.
So what's in that hand? Plus, yes,
lots of times those hands hold treats. Notice I don't keep it out there because
then she wouldn't keep looking at it. But when it gets presented, yes,
and I'm going to yes and reward right beside that. So yes, Mark's sitting,
it is great. Then I'm providing the reward right there.
I'm careful not to hit her nose. She's doing it right off. Yes,
good girl. So right away she's doing it. Most dogs will.
If your dog's not as quick at doing that,
maybe they're a little nervous of it or sensitive,
then you could try a couple of things. One,
sometimes just putting it on the ground. Yes, good girl. So there's your treat.
Good. So I put it on the ground. Yes. So some dogs when it's out of our hand,
might mark sometimes you can put a little bit of peanut butter,
something to get them going on it so that they do that initial touch so that we
can yes. And reward. Now initially I may do it anywhere. Um,
as my dog gets comfortable, I'm gonna move it closer and closer to my body. Yes.
So you can see she's now willing to come, right? Yes. Good girl.
Right inside I'm gonna put tons of value. Um,
then I'm gonna start to use it while I'm taking that collar or adding a leash.
If it's just a matter of getting my dog comfortable coming in close so I can
take that collar or the leash,
eventually I can just fade that off my dog's just saying it's so much fun coming
in. Or I can actually continue to put this on command as a target.
Now let's just watch, if I say target and put my hand out,
I think she might just check out my hand. Target. Yes. Good girl.
So I'll start to say that command when I know my dog's gonna touch,
they're gonna learn, target means touch this thing,
it's gonna transfer pretty easily to my hand and my dog knows to come in.
As you can see, Lucy learned so fast. She's a great problem solver.
If you want your dog to become a better problem solver,
you might be interested in our online training.
If you wanna work with myself and the rest of our online team,
check out the link in the description below.
This little device offers a number of advantages.
#1 I don't need a pocket full of kibble.
That's going to leave a lot of dust and residue and now it's gonna be in there
when the clothes need to be washed.
The other thing is if you happen to live where you have a winter climate,
your hands get pretty cold reaching for those treats or you have a dog that
those individual treats just aren't enough. So this little device can be a
little more interesting because it's a little different. Marketing for dogs!
The thing is it makes a little snap so it can excite my dog that something is
coming. So that anticipation may help my dog walk much more nicely at my
side. Now I can put anything I want in here.
I need something that's actually going to squeeze out.
So it could be a peanut butter,
it could be a soft dog food a yogurt is often great.
I like to use a non-fat unsweetened yogurt. It can be anything you want.
You might wanna start with small amounts first, make sure whatever it is,
works well for your dog. When we're walking and Lucy is on a loose leash.
Now she's not now, so I'm just gonna stop. Yay. What a good girl.
When she's on a loose leash, I can, yes, I'm gonna get my, oh,
you like the container. I'm gonna get my container out.
I'm gonna give a little squeeze and you can see, oh,
that's still got her attention.
Then I got several looks and a lot more attention.
Whereas a piece of kibble or a cookie,
they're gonna swallow it and forget all about it.
Is this tool right for you and your dog If you've got issues with your fingers?
I do. You know, delivering those treats to your dog could be difficult.
If you have a dog that's kind of "nippy" and takes those treats roughly,
that can avoid,
you can either train through that or you can use something like this. Now,
I was using as a reward, not a requirement all the way along on my walk,
but if I've got a young dog,
this may be the way I'm teaching them because it's so interesting to walk at my
side and then I'm going to wean off this.
One of the things I got was this little pencil case,
which I can do a ton of things with. Funny enough,
the first time I got one of these was probably over 20 years ago and I got it
for dogs that weren't very interested in toys because I could open this
up, I could put food in.
So I could teach dogs to be toy motivated or to tug or to retrieve.
Now interestingly enough, we now make our own toy.
It's got a bungee on it and it opens up annd same idea.
I can put my food in the little pouch so I can interact with my dog,
teach them to love toys and teach them how to retrieve.
If you'd like to get one of these, check out our online store.
We talked a little bit about handling and grooming in this video,
and one thing I noticed is that Lucy is not totally comfortable with those feet
being touched. Do you find nail trimming frustrating?
Is your dog a little stressed? If so, this video is for you. On that note,
I'm Instructor Carol. This is Lucy. Happy training.