When I got my first puppy, it was a complete disaster.
She was having accidents everywhere,
chewing everything up and she just wouldn't listen.
Now eventually my vet mentioned to me that I needed to go for some dog training.
He suggested that I come over here to McCann dogs, and that's where I met kale.
It's also where I learned the four puppy training rules that changed my life.
Now, after all of these years, as a professional dog trainer myself,
I've seen thousands of students have their own lives transformed by these four
rules. And in this video,
Kayl is going to outline exactly what these rules can do for you.
I'm Ken Steepe, welcome back to McCann Dogs.
Here in our training facility,
we've helped more than a hundred thousand dog owners to overcome the same dog
training challenges that you had. So if this is your first time on the channel,
make sure you hit that subscribe button so that we can help you to have a well
behaved four-legged family member.
We're just going for a walk around the property with some of our dogs.
And we're talking about the series that we're currently doing here on YouTube
with our puppy Euchre.
And it reminded me of my first puppy and all of the mistakes that I'd made.
And when I learned these four rules,
that we're about to talk about how I could apply them to every single skill I
was working on.
And you're going to see in each one of our videos that we're applying these four
rules to our puppy training. So let's get to the first rule. Now,
the first rule we need to talk about is don't overwhelm your dog with
challenges. It's something that so many people do.
It's definitely something that I did. And you won't see,
you don't see little Euchre out here with us on our walks with our other dogs,
because she is so interested in these dogs that there's no chance that she could
be successful.
If we were going to try to work with on something like response to name,
not pulling on leash, these things just wouldn't happen.
Let's talk a little bit about what you've done instead of taking Euchre on these
walks to make sure that she can be successful. And so that she'll still listen.
Yeah. So I, you know, before we put her in this scenario,
we want to sort of teach her first,
what she supposed to do so independently on her own, I have been working,
you know, bringing her out here on a long line with her favorite toys,
her favorite treats,
and working on teaching her to respond to her name and making it very valuable
to listen to me.
And I've actually progressed to being able to take her for a walk with one other
dog, a boring old dog,
like Funkee Monkee who doesn't really care too much about the puppy.
So it's less distracting for her, which means it's, you know,
a little bit more distracting for the pup for Euchre,
but she still has an opportunity to be successful. And if she's not,
I can control the environment and help her to be right.
And as she starts to show me that she knows what to do and that she can be a
good listener,
then we're going to give her more and more opportunity if we would love for her
to be able to walk with her other dogs and have everybody come all together.
But what we don't want to do is sacrifice our training and do all of this hard
work to teach her, to have a reliable recall,
and to listen to us and then put her in a scenario where she thinks, okay, well,
I have to, I can listen to the kitchen,
but when I go for a walk on the property,
I just get to be a hellion and do my own thing.
So we're taking the necessary steps by controlling it,
to help her to be successful and learn to do it the right way and.
Figuring out what is the challenge level for your dog is something that you're
going to have to figure out on your own,
but you're definitely gonna want to start at the easiest level.
So for example Kayl has spent some time in the kitchen working with Euchre and
Funkee Monkee in a very controlled situation. Remember,
your dog is going to do whatever they find rewarding.
So if we were to bring Euchre out here with all these dogs running around,
she would find it very rewarding to chase after those dogs,
to not pay attention to us because, you know, what can we,
what can we possibly offer her? That's better than chasing the dog.
So I'm gonna show it roll a clip right now of Kayl training,
Euchre around funky monkey and really insisting on getting some,
some attention really showing Euchre that Kayl is quite valuable.
There's value in paying attention to her when there's another dog around.
And that's a really important starting point for any puppy.
So how does this apply to you now? Kayl mentioned,
we've talked a little bit in the past about finding,
finding friends or food or family members. Nice jump buddy,
who might have a dog.
And let's talk a little bit about maybe choosing the right dog for you to work
on with your puppy.
Yeah. You know, having your,
your young dog around other dogs is really great for socialization as long as
it's in a controlled manner.
So if you do have friends or family that have a pretty chill dog or a dog that
has had some training,
that's definitely gonna make your life with your untrained puppy a little
easier, but if you don't have access to that, because lots of people don't,
and you know, you do there, you just keep going and keep making an appearance.
And you do have, if you don't have access to that,
the other thing you could do is, you know, go to a local place that has,
you know, maybe some dogs or kids at a park or whatever, and utilize the 3d's.
So distance, duration, distraction, those three things.
Typically you can always control.
So maybe you go to the park and instead of going right up to where all the other
dogs are, you try to get some control at a distance.
So your dog can see all that other action,
but at a distance where your dog is at a threshold where they can be successful
and then slowly go forward, or maybe the level of distraction,
maybe you go when there's like only a few kids playing versus like in the
afternoon on a Saturday when like everybody and their brother is at,
is at the park. And then duration don't overwhelm yourself.
You always want to start small, short, short,
little increments of success and then pull the plug while it's going great.
Sometimes people just do things too long and it starts off well,
and then it starts to fizzle up because we've worked the puppies a little bit
too long, so short and sweet. So distance duration and distractions.
Rule, number two, don't overuse your commands.
This is definitely something I did with my first puppy.
I'd be calling her and calling her and she wouldn't be coming in or, you know,
she'd be in some other room in the house and I'm asking her to come with me and
it just wasn't happening,
but it can really have a damaging effect on your dog's training,
as well as your relationship.
Let's talk a little bit about what follow through means following through.
Yeah,
I think people often over overused commands before they've actually really taken
the time to teach dog how to respond to the command.
And I think some people are really surprised at how many repetitions do you
actually need to take it before a command can really be just used in everyday
life without any teaching involved with it.
Things like recall or their name is a big one.
A lot of people overuse dog's names,
and then it just sort of gets watered down over time because the dog hears it so
much that they don't really think they have to react to it all of the time.
So you want to try to make sure that,
especially when you have a young dog in training,
regardless of whether they're a puppy or even an older dog that that you don't
use commands,
unless you're ready to sort of follow through and make sure they happen.
And that follow through could be in the teaching phase,
maybe associating their name with using some treats to get your dog's attention,
or with Euchre.
One thing that we talk about a lot in our puppy series is that she's not super
food motivated, but thank goodness she loves a toy.
So we would often say her name and then I'd run away,
dangling a toy to get her a little bit more motivated to hear that word and then
want to respond. And then from there, you know,
when they get a little bit more trained and a little bit more reliable,
you need to be prepared for when you call their name or ask them to do
something.
And they decide that sniffing the floor or barking at the neighbor's dog is more
important than listening to you,
that you have a way of actually following through because that's where people
start to repeat themselves or get more angry or start like the point.
And then by that point, you know, it's going in one,
one of your dog's ears and out the other, like they don't,
they don't really care. So the follow through.
For sure, having something like a leash or a line on your dog,
and allowing getting them away from that distraction,
and then maybe you can set them up in a situation where they can be successful.
If you know that this tree over here,
that your puppy really wants to sniff it and they're not responding,
then you need to,
the 3d is you need to get some distance from that tree and you can practice it
again. If the dog doesn't respond,
then you figure out how you're going to get them redirected away from that.
And you're going to go farther away and practice it again,
but make sure that you're not calling over and asking over and over again,
because it really waters down what that word means.
And it really teaches your dog that not listening to you is an option. Now,
the next puppy training rule,
it's going to change your life is practicing great management with your puppy.
Now we talked a little bit,
just a moment ago about redirecting the dog away from a tree, for example, well,
how are you going to do that? It's pretty exciting for your puppy.
If every time you need to get them away from something that you need to run up
to them and chase them around and somehow take hold.
The best puppy game of all time is catch me if he can.
And not one that you ever want them to learn exists.
Especially in the house.
But what does management mean when it comes to our series with Euchre?
What are some of the things that we've been doing consistently so that if she
does make the wrong choice, we're able to redirect?
Yeah, we've really had to do a lot of management with her because she is,
she can be pretty wild and crazy, sometimes fun, loving for sure,
but pretty well and crazy.
So when she's out of her crate and we're giving her some free time
in our home,
it's not actually entirely free as of yet being a four month old puppy.
So when she's out of her crate, we will, you know,
do management decisions like keep a leash or line on her when she's out of her
crate. So that, you know, if she tries to jump up on the counter,
as I'm trying to make dinner and see what's there,
we can use the line to redirect her off and then maybe get her to sit instead
and teach her that that's what she should do. You know,
if she's trying to get at the shoes at the front door again,
the line on allows me to stop her and get the shoe out of her mouth and,
and redirect her to a different location and show her what she should be doing
differently. So that line is such a lifesaver.
The other management tool that we utilize a lot in our house is we restrict what
room she's allowed to go into. So if we're in the kitchen.
We have her be in the kitchen with us. So we have baby gates up.
So she can't just wander into the living room and get into mischief while we're
not paying attention. Now, eventually, you know,
we will give her access to maybe two rooms and then three rooms,
and then we'll progress from there. Once we see that, you know,
she has a little bit more training and can kind of chill out a bit more
independently, but we're a ways off from that because she's a puppy.
So those are two of the things that we do.
What do you do if you can't supervise 100% of the time? Now we all have lives.
We all have things that we need to do. So you,
it's impossible to be able to keep our eyes on our puppy 100% of the time.
So what do you do in the times when you can't supervise?
Well,
I know what we do and that is we happily utilize our crate and we have a crate
in the central location of our house that we actually have a really great,
a YouTube video on crate locations and where you can move the crate to help
things go along a little bit more smoothly. But, you know,
we can't watch her all of the time. You know, we,
we have very busy lives as I'm sure you guys do.
And knowing that when she's in the crate, she can't be rehearsing bad things.
She can't be eating something that could hurt her.
She can't have accidents in the house.
It allows us to make sure that when she is out of the crate,
that she's just being, you know, drilled with good information.
This is what you need to do. This is how you do this, instead of just saying,
well, I have to go have a meeting now.
I sure hope she's okay in the kitchen on her own and then come down and,
you know, she's renovated the cupboards for us. So, you know,
the crate is such a great way to keep your dog out of mischief until you have
more training. And they have the ability just to hang out. You know,
we don't use crates very much with our older dogs because they've learned how to
be a well-behaved dog in the house.
But when you have a puppy being able to manage them is so important.
But if you need the time help,
because you can't manage them every two seconds of the day,
the crate is just the most amazing thing that you can do for the dogs.
And if you teach it right, a lot of dogs just, they actually seek their crate.
They, they want to go and chill out, Funkee, actually the dog on his table,
she's 13 years old.
And how many times do we find her curled up in the back of a crate?
She usually has a crate and her doors just open. She can freely go in it,
but even at 13,
she still wants to go in there and have a nap and just have some time to
herself. So I think some people view it as, you know,
a bad thing or something that is not going to be.
Something well, it is restrictive, not quite intentional.
Your puppy can only make good choices. And that was, that was even at a two.
And I introduced the crate to Deegan. It changed everything.
Here's the other thing,
here's the little secret that those of you who are watching this video are going
to get what's.
The great thing about the crate is every time that puppy or dog comes out of
their crate, you're there, you're there to do something with them,
so that they think every time that they they're out,
that you're the most engaging thing in the room that you,
you bring all that's good. And that's such a powerful.
Thing for motivation.
And relationship.
And it's really something that you can take advantage of so that you get a dog
who listens and isn't distracted by the slightest thing.
When you go out and you start in the real world training.
The next puppy training rule that changed my life entirely was to remember,
to be consistent.
This is one of the most crucial parts of your puppy training.
One of the most challenging ones for people,
because unfortunately humans are not.
Consistent. Yeah. And that includes some patience.
So let's talk about some of the things that we've been working on with Euchre
that have required us to be really consistent about it.
Especially you need to be consistent about you know,
managing there's that management word again behaviors that dogs find very self
rewarding. So um,
I think one of the big ones with Euchre is that she is really interested in
jumping on top of her crate to where she knows we have a little toy been up
there with some of the toys that we'll use from time to time.
And she's very curious about getting up there.
So we have to be very consistent on making sure that when she goes over towards
the crate and starts air scenting, that's our cue.
That means she's probably going to try to jump up and then we can stop her.
But if we're not paying attention to her and she gets up and she gets to steal
that toy, you know,
every couple of days that behavior is going to keep going because we're not
being consistent.
Yeah. And, and, you know, consistency means throughout your household too.
So if I, for sure, if I allowed Euchre to jump up on me,
or if I allowed you her to jump up on her crate,
but Kayl insisted that she didn't,
that wouldn't be fair to Euchre and dogs need really black and white
information. You're allowed to do this. She's not allowed to do this for sure.
So, you know, consistency throughout your household is just as important.
That also applies to things. For example,
we were talking about not taking you out in this walk with other dogs,
she'll get her own walk, but you know,
we don't want her to have the first few months of her life allowed to pull on
leash until she chokes to dragging herself around the property.
We want to make sure that she's getting great information.
So we're going to be consistent about our expectations for her pulling on her
leash. We're going to set her up so that she's not in a situation that's too
distracting.
And we're going to work on skills in a smaller area where she's rewarded for not
pulling on her leash, where she finds,
she's motivated to make sure that leash is loose, you know,
this consistency when you start you know,
through puppy with that kind of consistency, your adult, dog trains faster,
they know that you're someone who's going to be consistent when you have one
expectation that stays throughout time. And that is so important.
And it's really where I see a lot of students that come in for classes they'll
really excel. And you know that the kinds of people,
you can usually tell them the first couple of classes that are really
consistent, they set high expectations of their dog and they maintain those.
Yeah. And I think another thing with consistency is repetition.
I think I mentioned this earlier dog learn through repetition,
and then they learn even better if you do consistent repetition. So for example,
I'm trying to teach Euchre currently how to be focused when there are
cars driving past the end of our driveway. She's a Border,
a young Border Collie, and she's very interested in cars going past. So I've,
that's my goal for this week. And the last two weeks,
actually I've every day gone out, even if it's just been for two minutes,
if that's all the time I have to work on it,
I just go over a couple of minutes and we just stand at the end of the driveway,
or we go down to the corner of our road and I work a sit or a down,
and I just reward her for being calm as the cars go by.
And I've probably had, I don't know, five or six sessions you know,
really good sessions now.
And I cannot believe the difference between now and the very first time that I
did it because I've consistently practiced and get gotten her,
given her good information. So you see the progress go.
But if you only do things sometimes,
and then other times you just sorta let them do their own thing.
You're not going to see the same type of results.
So consistency is massive in dog training,
but it needs to be consistency of the right things.
If you're consistently letting things happen the wrong way,
then that's going to work.
If you're consistently teaching your puppy,
that they can get the toilet paper roll, that's a bad thing.
They'll go quickly learn that the toilet paper rolls.
In any particular direction. Now these four rules are just the beginning.
And if you're looking for some help on how to use these rules and so much more
in your particular puppy's training,
make sure you check out our online puppy essentials course.
The link for that is down below.
Now,
if you're looking for some ideas of how to apply these four rules in your puppy
training, check out this card right here. It's a 24 hour period with our puppy.
Euchre in our new puppy series on that note. I'm Ken and I'm Kayl.
This is Funkee Monkee, Happy Training.