June 26, 2025 • 48 mins
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Thinking of bringing a new dog into your life? In this episode, Chrissy and Cara discuss the key considerations for adopting versus shopping for a dog. They emphasize the importance of self-reflection, understanding breed characteristics, and assessing lifestyle compatibility before bringing a dog home. The conversation covers the challenges and rewards of adoption, the significance of patience and trust-building, and the need to gather information about a dog’s background. Listeners are encouraged to be honest about their capabilities and to prepare for a long-term commitment, ensuring both the dog and owner can thrive together.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Dog is love Like the roofs of the trees and the stars
up above Dog is love Hey
SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
there, everyone.
Thanks so much for joining Karaand I on the Dog is Love
podcast.
We have been getting a lot ofgreat feedback.
We hope you feel like we've beena fun addition to your doggy
loving world.
If you have listened to theprevious episodes, we all have a
little bit more insight intounderstanding the language of
(01:01):
dog.
So we were thinking some of youmay be at square one.
That's right.
And you need to get a dog.
For some, it may be the veryfirst time.
And for others, it may beexciting to go on another
journey with a new furry friend.
So I think...
(01:22):
But what we should do is beforewe get like into the nitty
gritty of what we want to talkabout is when you're trying to
find an option for yourself.
Right.
I think we want to pause andreally think about what like
you, the listener, what we careand I, if we got a new dog can
offer our dog.
Right.
(01:42):
Right.
What kind of relationship thatwe can give them?
SPEAKER_03 (01:46):
It's
SPEAKER_02 (01:47):
important to answer because the more I think we're
honest about with thatinformation, the more we're
honest that we can be withourselves, the more successful
you will be in choosing acompanion, right?
To be your best bud.
Of course.
So I think some good questionsmaybe to ask, we can just like
kind of throw them out there toget you, the listener, to just
(02:10):
maybe start thinking about that.
I
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
think
SPEAKER_02 (02:13):
the first one is just like, what kind of person
are you?
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (02:16):
Right.
Some of our clients are veryactive.
Totally.
They love, you know, marathonrunners.
They're hiking on the weekendswith their family and stuff.
And then we have some that arejust chilling on the weekend,
might be a retired couple.
Yeah.
Or,
SPEAKER_01 (02:35):
you know, if you're Let's say you do you work from
home or is your dog going to bea working dog?
You know, is your dog going tobe able to go to work with you?
SPEAKER_02 (02:43):
Yeah.
So how much time you can putinto like the training and the
interacting with.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Absolutely.
And deciding if you need like acompany like us to come in and
help.
Huge one.
Which is the difference betweenmaybe getting a small dog versus
like a large dog.
Yep.
Maybe how a new dog might impactyour current lifestyle.
You know how it's going tochange greatly.
(03:04):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
that too and what is this what is life like in your
household um if you bring do youhave a dog and then you're
getting a second dog so how isthat going to adjust the the
energy of your yeah that's
SPEAKER_02 (03:19):
like a good point because of the timing too you
know is your dog too old or tooyoung to have like a little
furry mate you gotta time that
SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
right in that little sweet spot
SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
yeah totally um And then you want to make sure that
you, you know, understand whatcharacteristics that you do want
versus what you don't want.
So, you know, if you're buying,if you want to be hunting with
your dog, you know, you want todefinitely a bird breeder, like,
you know, a pointer or likelabs, retrievers that can go out
(03:53):
and hunt with you.
You know, this is so funnybecause I remember we had a
customer who, that loved thelook of a German wire-haired
pointer.
And...
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
Do you know?
No, but I'm just laughingbecause they're like the most
high-strung dogs on the planet.
They're beautiful.
SPEAKER_02 (04:20):
They're absolutely so good looking.
And I think that's like what shekind of fell in love with was
the look of the dog.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
But Lord have mercy.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
Totally did, you know, just overlooked the high
energy of what that dog camefrom.
So instead of you know, goingout and like hunting, he stayed
inside and basically ate thewhole house.
Right?
I mean, it's kind of likedating, right?
(04:49):
Like just like not seeing thered flags and just going
straight
SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
in.
No, red flag after red flag.
So cute.
So cute.
So handsome.
Yeah.
He's going to ruin your life.
SPEAKER_02 (05:05):
Right?
So we really just have to askthese questions.
and get really honest withourselves, what we can provide
and what we're ready for.
Oh my gosh, it's so funny howit's so relatable.
Oh God, yeah.
I know.
So where?
So I think first, where tostart?
(05:25):
I think a great place to startis the AKC.
They have a website, akc.org.
And Why that is because it's sodynamic.
SPEAKER_01 (05:35):
Yes, you can.
It's so specific.
SPEAKER_02 (05:38):
Yeah.
And it's what's really cool isyou can start looking into the
breeds.
Obviously, they've even broughtin their breed line now to like
mutts and a couple otherdifferent types of these
crossbreeds that are going on.
But what's important is that youcan take those.
breeds and do like a comparisonon it which is so cool and then
(05:58):
they like they line up whattheir personalities will be so
that you can really figure outwhat would make sense for you or
you and your family right
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
right and you can do this this applies to whether or
not you want to shop a dog froma breeder or if you want to
adopt a dog
SPEAKER_02 (06:16):
absolutely because you want to understand what the
breed lines are going to come
SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
yeah and and like what personality you're going to
get or maybe a hybridpersonality.
So you at least can sort of see.
SPEAKER_02 (06:29):
And they do have breed recommendations on there
or breeder recommendations.
But we all are they.
I really think you should justkind of get that word of mouth.
Yeah.
You know.
So once you have a better senseof what kind of owner you'll be.
Right.
And then also what you'relooking for in a type of breed
to bring in, then comes the mostimportant question, which is
(06:52):
what we're talking about todayis to adopt or shop.
Right.
Right.
And I think the conversation, wemight split this up into two.
So today we'll start talkingabout the adopting because
people are very passionate aboutboth sides.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
A thousand percent.
And it should be, it should gowithout saying that we don't,
necessarily have an opinion.
We're not coming here with anopinion about either one.
SPEAKER_02 (07:16):
Absolutely.
Because we really see thatthere's pros and cons to both.
Sure.
On both sides.
SPEAKER_01 (07:21):
And there are a lot of dogs out there that do need
homes.
So we can go ahead and put thatout there.
So if you find yourself in aposition where you are able to
adopt, that's pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (07:32):
So we have shelters.
We have breed specificorganizations.
Rescues.
Uh-huh.
Rescues.
So if you have a specific breedthat you found, you can actually
find them out in the big worldwide web
SPEAKER_01 (07:46):
of
SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
the organizations that are specific to a breed.
Then we also have or have seenwhere these travel buses go and
rescue dogs go.
And from kill shelters that aremaybe down in the South, and
then they bring them back andthey have sort of these adoption
events go on, which is really,really cool.
(08:10):
And there are so many dogsavailable for adoption.
And if you know what you'redoing, you can be an integral
part of rehabilitating a dogback to their nature, natural
self, their primitive self,which is pretty amazing
experience to be a part of.
But we would stress theunderstanding of the importance
of the foundational principlesof dog that we've already talked
(08:33):
about
SPEAKER_03 (08:33):
and
SPEAKER_02 (08:35):
being the pack leader because it will help you
establish that trust that youneed when you're actually
adopting a dog.
Right.
Because they're so attuned to usthat the right environment, the
experiences are required toactivate that potential of like
(08:55):
a really good dog.
To bring out what their naturalinstinct is.
Am I making sense?
SPEAKER_01 (09:00):
Yeah.
So, and it's, I mean, we havetalked about this in a lot of
our episodes and basically justthe importance of being, the
importance of you being the packleader is going to help lay that
foundation of trust.
Yeah.
And then you need, you have tohave that, especially with a dog
who's ended up in the shelterbecause that is going to be
(09:22):
something they're not going tobe This is a blanket statement,
but they're not maybe notnecessarily going to be as
trusting.
SPEAKER_02 (09:30):
Correct.
SPEAKER_01 (09:31):
And they're going to be fearful.
Yeah.
And
SPEAKER_02 (09:35):
they might seem like aloof, right, to us as a dog.
But it's not that they'relacking.
It's just a matter of thatthey've had, you know, some
experiences go on in their worldalready.
Yeah.
And so, you know, don'toverlook.
Yeah.
The aloof, you know, if you'recapable, if you have the ability
to, you know, spend that extratime with the dog.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
Have you seen that Subaru commercial?
She rescues a dog and the dog'sin a crate in the back of the
car and he won't come out of thecar.
So she sleeps in the car andthen she has to slowly.
earn his trust yeah and then bythe end of the commercial
they're walking happily on theleash yeah i mean but she really
(10:19):
she's like it's okay and he'sreally like her yeah just
nervous a lot of nervous anxiety
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
what a good
SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
yeah and so she just really you know slowly gains
that i'm here it's a steadybenevolent leadership like i'm
here you take your time you
SPEAKER_02 (10:38):
But
SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
I'm ready when you are.
And then ultimately, she winshim over.
It's a sweet commercial.
SPEAKER_02 (10:46):
My brother-in-law adopts all his work dogs.
And one thing I think whenyou're going into adoption, if
you're doing it in a mannerthat's, I think, on the smarter
side, is that you take time.
And in that time, though, thedownfall is...
(11:08):
that you might lose a dog thatyou're looking at.
And so this is what mybrother-in-law does is that
he'll go and he'll sit with thedog and just kind of really
observe them.
Then he might go another day andinteract with them, right?
Taking them for a walk orsomething like that.
He might even go back on like arainy day or a stormy day to see
like how their temperament isand different like
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
conditions.
So smart.
SPEAKER_02 (11:32):
Yeah.
Then he'll bring his family in.
Right.
And so this is multiple visitsto the same dog.
And there has been times wherehe's watched a dog and then lost
him.
So I think you just have to kindof have faith to just know that
the dog that's meant for youwill be the dog that you get.
Right.
In this type of situation.
SPEAKER_01 (11:52):
Sure.
So when you're looking, one ofthe best questions to ask is.
Where did this dog come from?
SPEAKER_02 (12:01):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (12:02):
Try to find out as much information as you can from
the shelter or the rescue or thefoster, whoever it is.
Ask stories about the past ofthat animal, if they have it.
at least try to get as muchinformation as you can.
SPEAKER_02 (12:22):
Yeah.
So like where they picked up asa stray or, you know, and they,
so they might not have anyobedience yet.
SPEAKER_01 (12:30):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (12:31):
Or were they, you know, surrendered by their owner
and might come with like greatmanners already.
SPEAKER_01 (12:36):
Right.
Or they might have been asurrender because they don't
have great manners.
And just because they don't havegreat manners doesn't mean they
can't be Correct.
Correct.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
Just
SPEAKER_01 (13:13):
roll right past that red flag.
I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_02 (13:19):
Well, let's talk about some of those like little
T traumas or big T traumas thatthey come with.
I think when I see dogs inshelters, I see so much trauma.
insight into the livingexperience I think without like
a secure and now we're talkingabout like older dogs sometimes
there's puppies in sheltersright but I'm talking about like
(13:41):
an older dog so without like asecure attachment to like it's
mother or a pack leader or acaregiver I think that dogs
can't acquire the tools thatthey need to regulate right
SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
yes
SPEAKER_02 (13:58):
So, you know, for forceful instances of like
conflict or neglect can reallyshock the dog into a fight,
flight or freeze standpoint.
SPEAKER_01 (14:12):
So interesting because it, I mean, this is so
connected to the humanexperience.
Not that I'm a scientist, butyeah, or a psychologist.
No, it's
SPEAKER_02 (14:25):
how we all operate.
I think all like living beingsbeings operate like this,
SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
right?
Yeah, but just the wholediscussion about like a secure
attachment and what that meansfor further development is
really fascinating.
Yeah.
And it can apply to dogs.
SPEAKER_02 (14:40):
So when they're in that fight, flight or freeze
with repetition, the triggersbecome embedded into their
memory.
SPEAKER_03 (14:46):
And
SPEAKER_02 (14:47):
so that if they have sight of someone or something or
the tone of somebody or naturesounds or a body movement, you
know, can provoke a pup.
SPEAKER_01 (15:02):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (15:02):
Right.
And a harmless gesture if you'rean adoption place and you reach
out to go pet them or maybeyou're getting closer to them.
they can provoke a powerful andat times unconscious anxiety in
the dog.
Sure.
Leading to either fearaggression or true territorial
aggression.
And you see a lot of that indogs.
(15:22):
And that's why dogs get left inshelters.
Right.
And this is, type of processstretches them like from when
they're young all the way intoadulthood.
Right.
And so it's what they learnbecomes what actually they do in
relationships with people orwith other dogs.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (15:41):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (15:42):
So even having a conscious awareness as like a
dog owner coming in to aspecific trigger that this dog
has.
So you're asking these questionsto the shelter or the foster
parent.
Right.
Even though you know this of thedog owner, Right.
Right.
(16:17):
the weeks that you're going tobe with your new pup, it might
be a lot of uncertainty, right?
They may stay further away fromyou.
They might not want to eat rightaway.
But if you go back to like thatroutine and consistency and pack
leadership role that wediscussed in the other episodes,
(16:38):
using the language of dog, thepup will start to to start
trusting and like new memoriesoverride the old processes,
right?
And so the patterns are replacedwith those new experiences and
(17:02):
then yeah, the trust is builtand you're in the healing
process.
SPEAKER_01 (17:07):
Right, so I mean, it takes time and patience and you
have to be willing to put in thework.
SPEAKER_02 (17:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (17:18):
You have to put the work in.
SPEAKER_02 (17:19):
And like us, like healing can come when we give
our shelter pups self-worth,right?
We were all born with inherentworth, right?
And so to our dogs.
We don't learn this if we're notnurtured, affirmed, or have had
appropriate boundaries.
So make sure to affirm theiranxieties when you're with them.
(17:42):
their realities, like don'tignore them, right?
Nurture them so they will learnthat they are important part of
your family structure.
And then also give them limitsthrough boundaries and
moderation, right?
It's always just baby steps.
SPEAKER_01 (18:00):
Can you give examples to the listener of
something like that?
SPEAKER_02 (18:05):
Yeah, so we've had several of these type of dogs
that have come with these youknow, insecurities.
Sure.
And it just takes time.
So we have an incredible dog,Dexter, who I adore.
Yeah.
Right.
And the family got us to come inand Dexter would growl and not
(18:29):
let me come up to him because hewas so spooked by new people,
you know, new environment,everything.
And so what we just did is wetook baby steps for like six, I
think it took a couple of weeksof me and him doing this every
day.
And so I wouldn't take him for awalk right away.
I didn't go in and just grab himand take him out for a walk.
(18:51):
Although I would have loved thatbecause that would have gotten
us there quicker.
SPEAKER_01 (18:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (18:55):
But I would have, I would have like injured him even
more.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Or the potential to have injured him.
Yeah.
It would have been there.
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Yeah.
Higher.
So what I did was we just openedthe door and, And then I would
sit down on the ledge and hewould be right in that hallway,
low growling at me and showingme all the body language, hair
sticking up, kind of like hisfront, like his head was like
(19:24):
lower to the ground than theback end of him.
Right.
And I would just sit in aposition with my back towards
him, which is not making eyecontact with him.
And that way he just would beable to set me.
SPEAKER_01 (19:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (19:39):
And then we would have that moment for, you know,
I would sit there for like 10minutes or so and then close the
door and come back another time.
SPEAKER_01 (19:50):
It's amazing that that is how he was at the
beginning.
Yeah.
Because now he walks with thepack.
He is so social.
SPEAKER_02 (19:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:58):
And he is such a chill, has such a chill
personality in any sort ofsetting with other people, with,
At least in my experience withhim.
SPEAKER_02 (20:10):
Absolutely.
And he's like a big breed dogtoo.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
he's, he's, I wouldn't mess with him.
He's intimidating looking.
SPEAKER_02 (20:17):
A lot of people are scared of him.
I think he has like shepherd inhim.
I think he has that Belgium.
What is it?
Malinois.
SPEAKER_03 (20:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:24):
And so when a lot of people see him, a lot of people
get like really scared, butthat's where like, but like, you
know, it was in him the wholetime.
He just needed to be thatnurtured baby step dog.
And his
SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
family did a really good job.
They're pretty amazing.
And then they rescued Poppy.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Yes, they have another rescue that kind of the
same thing, was a little nervousat first, but is doing really,
really well.
She's a cutie.
So I think another question toask is how many homes has the
dog already been in?
Because dogs get rehomed often,right?
And you know, if it's based onbehavior issues, you need to be
(21:06):
sure that you can handle those.
A
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
thousand percent.
And I think we, I think I mayhave said this before, but know
your own limits, right?
If you know your limits, youknow the, can you meet the dog
where the dog is?
So if the dog does havebehavioral issues, are they
simply, the dog's not pottytrained?
(21:30):
Do you have the time and theenergy to make sure that you can
You can work on that with thatdog.
Or is it aggressive with cats oraggressive with children?
Those kinds of behavioralthings, you are going to be
critical to know because if youare a household without any of
(21:53):
those things, then okay, youmight be able to establish a
much better relationship withthat dog and you might not have
any of the problems.
You know, that the previoushouseholds that would have had.
SPEAKER_02 (22:04):
Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
So, you know.
If you can get any insight,which actually it's important to
note, too, that I don't knowthat we have talked about this
too much.
If you can work with any sort ofrescue or shelter that fosters
shelter.
Or if you could considerfostering, that's another really
(22:26):
great option to see whether ornot you are not only compatible,
but you can take a dog out of ashelter and make space for
another dog.
And then you can foster andlearn your own limits.
Since it's in a short period oftime,
SPEAKER_03 (22:40):
you
SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
can say, okay, I know I can handle this.
I know I can't handle that.
You know what I mean?
And that can also be a reallygreat option for people.
SPEAKER_02 (22:52):
To kind of dip your toes into the whole idea.
SPEAKER_01 (22:54):
Exactly.
That's a good
SPEAKER_02 (22:55):
idea.
I never even thought about that.
SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (22:58):
Yeah.
I think another great questionto ask is like try to see if
they know what kind of breedsare in that specific dog that
you're going to choose.
Right.
Totally.
I always say like it's dogfirst, first and foremost.
Right.
Right.
But then things specificallycome out.
on the breed side so you'realways looking at the dog as a
(23:18):
dog first
SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
yeah
SPEAKER_02 (23:20):
and then you kind of start bringing in the breed line
and contemplating you know goingback to that pointer dog is that
like that's going to be a highenergy dog that won't be doing
well in a sedentary householdyou know absolutely so then what
they do is that energy comes outand other naughty behaviors that
(23:40):
you don't want like eating thehouse
SPEAKER_01 (23:43):
take it from someone who has done this Personally.
Yeah.
Moose was my first dog because Iwanted to get a dog when I
turned 21 and I was out on myown because I couldn't have a
dog growing up.
Our parents wouldn't let us havea dog.
Yeah.
Joanne and Toad didn't let youhave dogs?
Our father loved dogs, but he'slike, I'm not picking up after a
(24:04):
dog.
Who's, you know, he had thenumber of quips that he said
about it
SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
I didn't know that I just thought you guys weren't
dog people because Deirdre's nota dog person
SPEAKER_01 (24:11):
no she's just you know she's just not a dog person
because we never had dogsgrowing up so I want and I
always wanted a dog so as soonas I live by myself I got a dog
I didn't know what I was doing Imade so many mistakes yeah and
of course I get a dog from fromsomeone who breeds bird dogs she
(24:32):
was in an American lab not anEnglish lab she was an American
lab and she was bred Toretrieve.
She was driven, high energy,smarter than me, needed to work.
She needed a job.
She belonged in the home of abird hunter.
(24:52):
She lived with me for 15 years.
We adapted, but she ran my lifebecause I was clueless and it
took time.
All 15 years to learn.
I mean, it really, I didn'treally start to get a handle of
it until I started working foryou and started walking dogs and
learning, oh, you need to be thepack leader.
(25:14):
And there were so many thingsthat I had done incorrectly that
were hard to go back
SPEAKER_02 (25:20):
and fix.
Because it's already embedded inthere, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:23):
Right, because it's already embedded in there.
But there was a lot of stuffthat we worked on, you know, but
if you don't know your limits-You're
SPEAKER_02 (25:37):
going to get yourself in trouble.
SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
You're going to get yourself in trouble.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's
SPEAKER_02 (25:41):
why the questions are so, like the beforehand,
what we were talking about, howthe questions are just so
important to get to knowyourself first.
Yes.
And what you can offer, notnecessarily what the dog's going
to offer you, what you can offer
SPEAKER_01 (25:51):
to the dog.
What you can offer the dog.
And people don't ask thatquestion enough.
SPEAKER_02 (25:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:56):
People don't ask that question
SPEAKER_02 (25:57):
enough.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Because so I was like, oh, I want to get a dog.
Yeah, great.
That's great.
That's great in theory.
how is that going to affect yourlife in practicality?
SPEAKER_02 (26:05):
Yeah.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (26:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:06):
Also knowing the dog breed will tell you how like big
the dog could come become.
SPEAKER_01 (26:11):
Oh,
SPEAKER_02 (26:12):
good golly.
Yes.
And we've had that happen withHank.
And so like Hank was supposed tobe a 30 pound dog.
He ended up being like an 80 to90 pound dog, which is a
SPEAKER_01 (26:23):
huge difference.
Rest in peace.
SPEAKER_02 (26:26):
Yeah.
Which is a huge differencebetween, you know, so it's, If
you're not asking exact...
And sometimes they don't know.
Sometimes that happens andthat's fine.
Sure.
But if you just...
it's good to ask the questionjust in case that they do know.
Yeah.
Right.
And this day and age, you can dothe DNA testing to see, but you
won't be able to do that untilthey have,
SPEAKER_01 (26:46):
I was going to say, can you do that?
I don't think you can do the DNAtesting until it's your dog.
But yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (26:51):
so that's why it's important to understand like
what breed, what mixed breed.
So yeah, exactly.
So you're matching them withwhat you can handle and also
that you're, there's nosurprises of what you're going
to get.
Totally.
I think also, um, taking inconsideration to ask about the
dog's health.
Right.
And important to know what levelof veterinary care they've
(27:12):
received.
SPEAKER_01 (27:13):
If they're able to give you that information.
Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (27:16):
Yeah.
So if their vaccinations are upto date, you need to ask if they
spayed or neutered quite yet.
You know, sometimes you can askfor, you know, make sure you ask
for copies of their records ofwhat they've gone through.
And then most importantly, Ithink it's like, hey, how did
they act when they were gettingvaccinated?
looked at by a vet because youwant to know, you know, what
(27:39):
they're going to do when you gointo a vet and it's going to be
important.
And I've seen that happen whereyou get these dogs, clients of
ours that have like adopteddogs.
And then when they go to thevet, it's like a whole thing.
And the dog is shaking.
The dog gets super sick.
SPEAKER_01 (27:55):
I know.
And it's so upsetting.
SPEAKER_02 (27:57):
Yeah.
But what you can do is you can,again, go back to those baby
steps and really work with yourvet And so the process would be
you walk into the door of thevet and then you walk out and
you do that.
And they just get kind of usedto the smells.
And then you leave and you gohome.
And then you come back the nextday and you might go even
(28:18):
further where like the people atthe desk come over and say hi to
the dog.
And you're just doing it by babysteps to baby steps to baby
steps.
SPEAKER_01 (28:28):
And what I'm hearing you say is you just have to have
the time and the patience andthe energy to put in the work.
SPEAKER_02 (28:37):
Yeah, you got to put in the work.
SPEAKER_01 (28:39):
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (28:40):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (28:41):
Um, I think also, yeah, well, putting in the work.
Yeah, that's it.
Yes.
Okay.
So here's one of the cons.
If you don't put in the work,it's all wonderful when you want
to rescue a dog.
But like, if you don't put inthe work, then you're actually a
disservice to the very effortthat you were trying to do in
(29:02):
the first place.
Yes.
Did I make sense
SPEAKER_01 (29:05):
saying that?
Like, yes, you're doing adisservice to the dog you're
trying to save.
Yes.
If you're not going to put thework in.
SPEAKER_02 (29:13):
Yeah.
And I've seen that happen a lotof times.
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (29:17):
And it's just and it's like, yeah, well, it's
great that you love to rescuedogs.
But when you bring them home andyou don't do anything with them
and, you know, it's just like,well, what's the whole point of
rescuing them then?
SPEAKER_01 (29:30):
Right.
Right.
Because then you're justreaffirming.
You're just putting your dog,putting that dog through the
trauma again.
that they have already been putthrough.
And then if that dog ends backup in the shelter, good grief.
You know, I mean, no.
SPEAKER_02 (29:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:50):
You know, no, that's not fair.
It's not fair.
SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
No, it's not at all.
And then like, yeah, going backto like the traumas, you're
just, you're not, you're notrecreating those, you're not
altering those cells, right?
Those memory cells of them.
You're not recreating theseroutines, these new memories to
get them out of those liketrauma spaces, right?
So yeah, I just think that's,when I hear people be like, oh
(30:19):
no, I'm not gonna buy, I'm gonnaadopt.
And then they don't put anytime.
So it's really understandingthat with these older dogs that
you do, you need to put time in.
SPEAKER_01 (30:31):
Is the situation less so with adopting a puppy?
SPEAKER_02 (30:34):
Well, I think, yeah.
When you have a puppy, you'reable just to take them home and
start from the very beginning.
SPEAKER_01 (30:43):
But you probably will find that some puppies may
or may not still have some ofthat Like if it's a puppy that
comes from a puppy mill or apuppy that's been ripped away
from its mother before thateight weeks.
I mean, you may you may run intosome attachment issues.
You may run into some anxiety,that kind of thing.
Yeah, maybe easier to navigate.
(31:04):
But still.
SPEAKER_02 (31:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I never even thought about that.
Yeah, I guess so.
I guess you you would still youmight you might find some things
pop up.
Yeah.
And also like in thisconversation too, there are so
many dogs that you can rescuethat are just like easy dogs to
rescue, right?
I just want to make sure youunderstand that as well, the
(31:28):
listener as well.
Like there are some incrediblestories where people get lucky
with rescues and it's like yousupply an awesome home for the
dog.
you know, doing some fun thingsand it's a really great
experience.
SPEAKER_01 (31:44):
Don't you always feel, I, I don't know if, if
this is real, this is probablynot real, but I have always felt
like the dogs who are rescuedknow it and they are like,
thanks.
You know what I mean?
It's almost like they have this,this like, twinkle in their eye
(32:08):
that they just really are happyto be at peace.
SPEAKER_02 (32:15):
Well, of course.
I mean, think about it.
Yes, I think that's true.
SPEAKER_01 (32:18):
Maybe it's not a true thing, but I just feel like
all the ones that are the rescuedogs that are in these much
better scenarios are kind oflike...
SPEAKER_02 (32:32):
This is great.
I won the lottery.
Yes, yes, yes.
Of course.
I mean, you could think about itfor yourself, right?
If that happened to you and youhad all this fight or flight and
freeze and then all of a suddenyou're in a space that's safe
and secure and you don't havethat anxiety and those feelings
anymore, of course, dude, you'regoing to be like, hit
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
the high left here.
SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
Yeah.
So I think we were, we got alittle off topic, but I think we
were talking about, um, youknow, asking about that care and
making sure, you know, that, youknow, of anything in their
history.
Sure.
Um, most importantly, like ifthey have murmurs or, you know,
if they've broken bones beforeand stuff, cause then you need
to really pay attention to thelongterm, um, responsibility
(33:22):
there and that could be a lot ofmoney that you have to fork out
you know and then there's thatdecision maybe you should be
getting pet insurance ratherthan going into that that
expansive time of somebody witha long history of a health does
that make sense yeah absolutelyyeah okay I think like what's
the dog's personality A lot offoster parents will have that
(33:45):
like spot on.
Yes.
You know, so, you know, and askthe shelter staff.
They'll know it, too, becausethey've been interacting with
these dogs.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
And I think you can go into a lot of shelters will
love when people want to comeand take the dogs out for walks,
which can give you a lot ofinsight.
Yeah.
Personality of a dog.
Yeah.
If you're on a walk with them.
UNKNOWN (34:10):
Mm hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (34:10):
Of course, is the dog potty trained?
Sure.
Yeah.
You know, all dogs are probablygoing to have accidents at
first.
Sometimes if you have had dogsin your house before, they might
be marking.
SPEAKER_01 (34:22):
They might mark,
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
yeah.
So you just got to be preparedfor that.
Yeah.
And then sometimes dogs, they'vebeen living in a house and
they've never been able to gooutside or living in a crate.
So you just have to like reallyunderstand that and see, again,
what is ahead for you?
SPEAKER_01 (34:42):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (34:42):
And how much time and effort do you really have
and how much time and effortdoes this dog really need?
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01 (34:50):
Right.
We definitely touched already onchildren.
Yeah, we did.
We didn't so much touch onstrangers, but.
You know, if you are adopting adog because you want to, you
know, bring your dog to work,but you know that your dog gets
(35:11):
super anxious or maybe reactivearound strangers, you know,
that's something to take intoaccount because that might not
be the dog for you.
Or the situation for you.
SPEAKER_02 (35:23):
Yeah, it's happening right now.
Actually, I know a family thatrescued a dog.
Sweet, sweet dog.
Right.
And but to strangers.
Yeah.
She gets anxious.
Sure.
And so she goes into like a fearaggression.
And fear aggression can be justas impactful as like a
(35:44):
territorial aggression.
Yeah.
So it can still have a big bite,all that jazz.
And yeah, so I had the boys withme.
And, you know, we came to thehouse and all of a sudden the
dog is like barking at us, butbarking in a way that I know is
fear aggression.
Yeah.
And so, you know, the ownerdidn't really maybe understand
(36:08):
as much of like, you know, it'sOK.
They were just kind of tell meit's OK.
She just gets this way and stufflike that.
But it's like, no, you reallyneed to take that space and give
her.
And it's really not about us.
It was really like I didn't wantmy boys to get close to her
because she really needed tohave that space.
I was looking out for her moreso than I was looking out for
(36:29):
us.
SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
Yeah.
Does
SPEAKER_02 (36:30):
that make sense?
Yes.
But yeah.
So like.
And that's when you need to comein as a dog owner and make those
corrections.
And so those are the boundariesand the limitations we're
talking about and not allowingthem to stay in that mindset of
these old habits, these oldroutines, right?
(36:50):
You really want to come in andshift that for the dog.
And I think maybe in the end, italmost looked like we were kind
of like anxious to be there withthe dog, but it wasn't.
It was like, I wanted to makesure that this dog understood
that we're going to give you thespace that you need because
you're showing us that.
SPEAKER_01 (37:07):
So here's my question in that specific
situation.
And probably you would knowthis.
This goes back to the energyepisode, right?
So you're feeling, so I can onlyhelp, I can only wonder, right?
What kind of energy washappening in that specific
scenario?
Because then you have this veryanxious dog.
(37:28):
You have an owner that's notquite 100% sure what the
reaction is going to be.
She doesn't think that the dog'sin a strike, but maybe the dog's
in a strike.
And if that is the case, thenyou know that that person was
probably holding some amount ofanxiety about that situation.
So that is affecting the energyall around in the whole room,
right?
And then you have your kids whodon't know the dog, maybe
(37:52):
blissfully unaware, but thenalso cautious because you're
saying be cautious so you'reprobably there's probably a bit
of tension I imagine that washappening right there
SPEAKER_02 (38:03):
yeah I guess so yeah for sure
SPEAKER_01 (38:05):
so what ended up happening so what was the result
SPEAKER_02 (38:09):
so the result was that they ended up like not
correcting the dog in a way thatmaybe would have been more
beneficial
SPEAKER_01 (38:16):
so not a firm enough boundary
SPEAKER_02 (38:18):
yeah and then they took away the dog from the
situation so what happens is bytaking the dog with away from
the situation, yes, it's easier,but then the dog doesn't
actually learn anything.
SPEAKER_01 (38:29):
Yeah.
So the dog's not able toactually navigate it and come to
the other side
SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
in
SPEAKER_01 (38:35):
a positive way.
SPEAKER_02 (38:36):
Correct.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:37):
So she holds on to that fear aggression towards
strangers.
SPEAKER_02 (38:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:42):
Because in her experience, she's being removed
from the situation as almost ifto affirm,
SPEAKER_02 (38:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:49):
Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02 (38:50):
And it keeps on happening.
It keeps on happening to everyperson that comes over to their
house that's new.
SPEAKER_01 (38:56):
So what should they have done?
What should they do?
SPEAKER_02 (38:58):
Well, I would have really liked to have seen them
like before guests arrive tomaybe take the dog for a walk or
a run, obviously, to get thatenergy out of them.
And then I think also, you know,correcting the behavior rather
than their position was holdingthe dog back rather than
(39:19):
actually giving the dog acorrection.
So either having a prong collaron the dog to give it that mama
bite that we've talked about tocorrect for the behavior that
you don't want
SPEAKER_01 (39:31):
and
SPEAKER_02 (39:32):
give it like a leave it command, just so that we can
snap her psychology out of thatfight, flight or freeze mode and
and kind of back into this likesettle next to me, I've got this
as the pack leader.
Does that make sense?
So it's either utilizing hercollar or using her prong collar
(39:54):
to give her a correction.
on that and have her stop thebarking, intercept that mindset.
You want to have thatpsychological snap for her.
SPEAKER_01 (40:03):
So could they have used treats or some other kind
of positive affirmation as well?
They could have.
But
SPEAKER_02 (40:09):
again, remember if you're retraining, reaffirming
this dog in a way for like abehavior that you don't want.
You don't want to accidentallyreward
SPEAKER_01 (40:19):
the behavior that you don't want to see.
SPEAKER_02 (40:21):
Correct.
So in that sense is that youwant to do the correction and
then give a command.
So it's a correction.
She settles down.
You can say, leave it.
Right.
And then you wait and, and havethe person maybe come a little
bit further into the space.
And if she reacts again, yougive a correction again.
So those are the moments whereyou have to give a little bit of
(40:44):
a time before you can actuallyreward a dog for doing the right
thing for making, you need themto have that like little switch
in their brain go, Oh, This iswhat I'm supposed to do.
I'm supposed to say right herenext to my owner, you know, not
barking, not getting aggressive.
And when they make that littleswitch, when they get it, then
(41:04):
that's when you go ahead and youcan give them like a good boy,
good girl or a treat.
SPEAKER_01 (41:08):
And you can physically see that switch
happen.
SPEAKER_02 (41:11):
Yeah, you can.
If
SPEAKER_01 (41:12):
you're paying attention, you can watch the
dog.
It's almost like they willshift.
They'll relax.
I mean, you'll see them relax a
SPEAKER_02 (41:20):
little
SPEAKER_01 (41:22):
bit.
So you can pick up on it if youyourself are relaxed.
SPEAKER_02 (41:26):
Yeah.
And that's going to take manytimes over and over and over
again.
You might not get her to thatpoint like on the first try.
SPEAKER_01 (41:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (41:35):
But if you keep on intercepting the behavior that
shouldn't be or you don't want,then, you know, that consistency
and repetitiveness, the dog willcatch on and learn a new way
about going about seeing,meeting a new stranger.
SPEAKER_01 (41:51):
You're creating new neural pathways in the brain of
the dog.
SPEAKER_02 (41:55):
Yeah.
It's
SPEAKER_01 (41:55):
like a new, a new habit when you're trying to make
a habit.
SPEAKER_02 (41:58):
Yes, it's absolutely is.
Yeah.
So, and that's, again, that'sthat healing process.
And if you're not doing that,then what's the point of
rescuing the dog?
Right.
You know?
SPEAKER_01 (42:09):
Right.
Yeah, I get it.
I'm with you.
SPEAKER_02 (42:12):
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (42:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (42:13):
All right.
So are there any other, youknow, bullet points that you
want to look out for?
You know, just I think we'vetouched on.
I
SPEAKER_02 (42:21):
think a big thing is, will the shelter or the
place that you take it, willthey, you know, take the dog
back?
SPEAKER_01 (42:30):
Oh, God, that's a good one,
SPEAKER_02 (42:31):
because that's a lot.
It just it's there's it's ait's.
It's a hard one.
I don't want anybody ever takinga dog back to the shelter.
I mean, that's what I don'twant.
I want you to learn how to be apack leader.
I want you to learn the languageof the dog.
I want you to take the time.
This is with any dog.
(42:52):
I want you to take the time withthe dog, put in effort and so
forth and really build that bondand trust with them.
I don't want to ever see a dogrehome, but does it happen?
Yes.
And that's okay becausesometimes people fail.
find out that like oh gosh Ididn't make the right decision
for this dog and for us you knowso you want to make sure that
(43:14):
can that shell or just ask justso you know will they take the
dog back if it doesn't work outyou know or will they help you
rehome the dog to somebody elselike you could keep the dog and
kind of go back into a fostersituation right yeah or you can
you know ask you know obviouslyrehome to a good family in the
community or something like thatby word of mouth but You know, I
(43:36):
think that's a little bit harderthan actually asking the shelter
to go back.
They have a lot more resources.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (43:42):
Okay.
So to tie it all up together.
And
SPEAKER_02 (43:47):
remember, these questions aren't designed for
finding the perfect dog.
They're to find the perfect dogfor you.
SPEAKER_01 (43:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (43:53):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (43:54):
In the end.
What we're going to be lookingfor if you're going to adopt a
dog is to just get really,really honest with oneself about
what it is that you are able tooffer that dog before you go in
and make any decisions.
And then from there, there are anumber of questions you need to
find out if you're able aboutthat dog's background or if you
(44:19):
go to a shelter or a foster orwhat have you.
try to get as much informationas you can to see if you guys
are gonna be good, compatiblecompanions.
And I think that that, like wehave said repeatedly, if you're
willing to put in the time andthe energy, then you could be a
(44:44):
part of watching thetransformation of a dog who ends
up as a shelter dog to bringinga whole new life to that animal.
And that's a beautiful gift.
So if you're able to do that,and I think anybody, if this is
a journey that you're on, youare able to do it.
(45:06):
You just have to be willing toput in the time and the
SPEAKER_02 (45:09):
energy and the work.
And bravo to you for doing it,you know, because there's so
many dogs that do need to find
SPEAKER_01 (45:17):
a home.
Yes, yes, yes.
And like I always said, I dothink that the pound puppies,
There's always a special littletwinkle in their eyes.
SPEAKER_02 (45:26):
There really much is.
It's
SPEAKER_01 (45:28):
like they know.
And
SPEAKER_02 (45:29):
then in our next episode, what we'll do is we'll
bounce onto the other side ofthis conversation, which is to
shop.
SPEAKER_01 (45:37):
Right.
So if you've made the decisionthat maybe adopting is not for
you and you want to start with apuppy that you get from a
breeder, what do you do then?
SPEAKER_02 (45:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (45:49):
So that'll be for next time.
SPEAKER_02 (45:51):
okay all right until then we'll see you later dog is
love dog is love
SPEAKER_01 (45:58):
If this podcast aligns with you, it would mean
so much to us if you would take30 seconds to do these three
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First, follow or subscribe toDog Is Love so you don't miss an
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(46:22):
While you're there, give a fivestar rating and review why you
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Dog is Love is
SPEAKER_02 (46:33):
created and hosted by Chrissy Waltman and Cara
Kelly in partnership with K9to5.
Our show is produced by TonyKelly at Baltimore Podcast
Space.
Our original theme song waswritten and recorded by our very
SPEAKER_01 (46:47):
own Cara Kelly.
We could pretend That we havethe answers Or we could lean
into the light Cause mancomplicates The stillness of
(47:17):
nature While dogs humbly watchwith awe in their eyes We're not
supposed to struggle alone Afriend for a lifetime To guide
(47:59):
you wherever you roam Dog islove Like the roots of the trees
and the stars up above Dog islove Judgment free
unconditionally
Dog is love Like the roofs of the trees and the stars
up above Dog is love Hey
SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
there, everyone.
Thanks so much for joining Karaand I on the Dog is Love
podcast.
We have been getting a lot ofgreat feedback.
We hope you feel like we've beena fun addition to your doggy
loving world.
If you have listened to theprevious episodes, we all have a
little bit more insight intounderstanding the language of
(01:01):
dog.
So we were thinking some of youmay be at square one.
That's right.
And you need to get a dog.
For some, it may be the veryfirst time.
And for others, it may beexciting to go on another
journey with a new furry friend.
So I think...
(01:22):
But what we should do is beforewe get like into the nitty
gritty of what we want to talkabout is when you're trying to
find an option for yourself.
Right.
I think we want to pause andreally think about what like
you, the listener, what we careand I, if we got a new dog can
offer our dog.
Right.
(01:42):
Right.
What kind of relationship thatwe can give them?
SPEAKER_03 (01:46):
It's
SPEAKER_02 (01:47):
important to answer because the more I think we're
honest about with thatinformation, the more we're
honest that we can be withourselves, the more successful
you will be in choosing acompanion, right?
To be your best bud.
Of course.
So I think some good questionsmaybe to ask, we can just like
kind of throw them out there toget you, the listener, to just
(02:10):
maybe start thinking about that.
I
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
think
SPEAKER_02 (02:13):
the first one is just like, what kind of person
are you?
SPEAKER_01 (02:15):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (02:16):
Right.
Some of our clients are veryactive.
Totally.
They love, you know, marathonrunners.
They're hiking on the weekendswith their family and stuff.
And then we have some that arejust chilling on the weekend,
might be a retired couple.
Yeah.
Or,
SPEAKER_01 (02:35):
you know, if you're Let's say you do you work from
home or is your dog going to bea working dog?
You know, is your dog going tobe able to go to work with you?
SPEAKER_02 (02:43):
Yeah.
So how much time you can putinto like the training and the
interacting with.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Absolutely.
And deciding if you need like acompany like us to come in and
help.
Huge one.
Which is the difference betweenmaybe getting a small dog versus
like a large dog.
Yep.
Maybe how a new dog might impactyour current lifestyle.
You know how it's going tochange greatly.
(03:04):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
that too and what is this what is life like in your
household um if you bring do youhave a dog and then you're
getting a second dog so how isthat going to adjust the the
energy of your yeah that's
SPEAKER_02 (03:19):
like a good point because of the timing too you
know is your dog too old or tooyoung to have like a little
furry mate you gotta time that
SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
right in that little sweet spot
SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
yeah totally um And then you want to make sure that
you, you know, understand whatcharacteristics that you do want
versus what you don't want.
So, you know, if you're buying,if you want to be hunting with
your dog, you know, you want todefinitely a bird breeder, like,
you know, a pointer or likelabs, retrievers that can go out
(03:53):
and hunt with you.
You know, this is so funnybecause I remember we had a
customer who, that loved thelook of a German wire-haired
pointer.
And...
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
Do you know?
No, but I'm just laughingbecause they're like the most
high-strung dogs on the planet.
They're beautiful.
SPEAKER_02 (04:20):
They're absolutely so good looking.
And I think that's like what shekind of fell in love with was
the look of the dog.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
But Lord have mercy.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
Totally did, you know, just overlooked the high
energy of what that dog camefrom.
So instead of you know, goingout and like hunting, he stayed
inside and basically ate thewhole house.
Right?
I mean, it's kind of likedating, right?
(04:49):
Like just like not seeing thered flags and just going
straight
SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
in.
No, red flag after red flag.
So cute.
So cute.
So handsome.
Yeah.
He's going to ruin your life.
SPEAKER_02 (05:05):
Right?
So we really just have to askthese questions.
and get really honest withourselves, what we can provide
and what we're ready for.
Oh my gosh, it's so funny howit's so relatable.
Oh God, yeah.
I know.
So where?
So I think first, where tostart?
(05:25):
I think a great place to startis the AKC.
They have a website, akc.org.
And Why that is because it's sodynamic.
SPEAKER_01 (05:35):
Yes, you can.
It's so specific.
SPEAKER_02 (05:38):
Yeah.
And it's what's really cool isyou can start looking into the
breeds.
Obviously, they've even broughtin their breed line now to like
mutts and a couple otherdifferent types of these
crossbreeds that are going on.
But what's important is that youcan take those.
breeds and do like a comparisonon it which is so cool and then
(05:58):
they like they line up whattheir personalities will be so
that you can really figure outwhat would make sense for you or
you and your family right
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
right and you can do this this applies to whether or
not you want to shop a dog froma breeder or if you want to
adopt a dog
SPEAKER_02 (06:16):
absolutely because you want to understand what the
breed lines are going to come
SPEAKER_01 (06:20):
yeah and and like what personality you're going to
get or maybe a hybridpersonality.
So you at least can sort of see.
SPEAKER_02 (06:29):
And they do have breed recommendations on there
or breeder recommendations.
But we all are they.
I really think you should justkind of get that word of mouth.
Yeah.
You know.
So once you have a better senseof what kind of owner you'll be.
Right.
And then also what you'relooking for in a type of breed
to bring in, then comes the mostimportant question, which is
(06:52):
what we're talking about todayis to adopt or shop.
Right.
Right.
And I think the conversation, wemight split this up into two.
So today we'll start talkingabout the adopting because
people are very passionate aboutboth sides.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
A thousand percent.
And it should be, it should gowithout saying that we don't,
necessarily have an opinion.
We're not coming here with anopinion about either one.
SPEAKER_02 (07:16):
Absolutely.
Because we really see thatthere's pros and cons to both.
Sure.
On both sides.
SPEAKER_01 (07:21):
And there are a lot of dogs out there that do need
homes.
So we can go ahead and put thatout there.
So if you find yourself in aposition where you are able to
adopt, that's pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (07:32):
So we have shelters.
We have breed specificorganizations.
Rescues.
Uh-huh.
Rescues.
So if you have a specific breedthat you found, you can actually
find them out in the big worldwide web
SPEAKER_01 (07:46):
of
SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
the organizations that are specific to a breed.
Then we also have or have seenwhere these travel buses go and
rescue dogs go.
And from kill shelters that aremaybe down in the South, and
then they bring them back andthey have sort of these adoption
events go on, which is really,really cool.
(08:10):
And there are so many dogsavailable for adoption.
And if you know what you'redoing, you can be an integral
part of rehabilitating a dogback to their nature, natural
self, their primitive self,which is pretty amazing
experience to be a part of.
But we would stress theunderstanding of the importance
of the foundational principlesof dog that we've already talked
(08:33):
about
SPEAKER_03 (08:33):
and
SPEAKER_02 (08:35):
being the pack leader because it will help you
establish that trust that youneed when you're actually
adopting a dog.
Right.
Because they're so attuned to usthat the right environment, the
experiences are required toactivate that potential of like
(08:55):
a really good dog.
To bring out what their naturalinstinct is.
Am I making sense?
SPEAKER_01 (09:00):
Yeah.
So, and it's, I mean, we havetalked about this in a lot of
our episodes and basically justthe importance of being, the
importance of you being the packleader is going to help lay that
foundation of trust.
Yeah.
And then you need, you have tohave that, especially with a dog
who's ended up in the shelterbecause that is going to be
(09:22):
something they're not going tobe This is a blanket statement,
but they're not maybe notnecessarily going to be as
trusting.
SPEAKER_02 (09:30):
Correct.
SPEAKER_01 (09:31):
And they're going to be fearful.
Yeah.
And
SPEAKER_02 (09:35):
they might seem like aloof, right, to us as a dog.
But it's not that they'relacking.
It's just a matter of thatthey've had, you know, some
experiences go on in their worldalready.
Yeah.
And so, you know, don'toverlook.
Yeah.
The aloof, you know, if you'recapable, if you have the ability
to, you know, spend that extratime with the dog.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
Have you seen that Subaru commercial?
She rescues a dog and the dog'sin a crate in the back of the
car and he won't come out of thecar.
So she sleeps in the car andthen she has to slowly.
earn his trust yeah and then bythe end of the commercial
they're walking happily on theleash yeah i mean but she really
(10:19):
she's like it's okay and he'sreally like her yeah just
nervous a lot of nervous anxiety
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
what a good
SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
yeah and so she just really you know slowly gains
that i'm here it's a steadybenevolent leadership like i'm
here you take your time you
SPEAKER_02 (10:38):
But
SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
I'm ready when you are.
And then ultimately, she winshim over.
It's a sweet commercial.
SPEAKER_02 (10:46):
My brother-in-law adopts all his work dogs.
And one thing I think whenyou're going into adoption, if
you're doing it in a mannerthat's, I think, on the smarter
side, is that you take time.
And in that time, though, thedownfall is...
(11:08):
that you might lose a dog thatyou're looking at.
And so this is what mybrother-in-law does is that
he'll go and he'll sit with thedog and just kind of really
observe them.
Then he might go another day andinteract with them, right?
Taking them for a walk orsomething like that.
He might even go back on like arainy day or a stormy day to see
like how their temperament isand different like
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
conditions.
So smart.
SPEAKER_02 (11:32):
Yeah.
Then he'll bring his family in.
Right.
And so this is multiple visitsto the same dog.
And there has been times wherehe's watched a dog and then lost
him.
So I think you just have to kindof have faith to just know that
the dog that's meant for youwill be the dog that you get.
Right.
In this type of situation.
SPEAKER_01 (11:52):
Sure.
So when you're looking, one ofthe best questions to ask is.
Where did this dog come from?
SPEAKER_02 (12:01):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (12:02):
Try to find out as much information as you can from
the shelter or the rescue or thefoster, whoever it is.
Ask stories about the past ofthat animal, if they have it.
at least try to get as muchinformation as you can.
SPEAKER_02 (12:22):
Yeah.
So like where they picked up asa stray or, you know, and they,
so they might not have anyobedience yet.
SPEAKER_01 (12:30):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (12:31):
Or were they, you know, surrendered by their owner
and might come with like greatmanners already.
SPEAKER_01 (12:36):
Right.
Or they might have been asurrender because they don't
have great manners.
And just because they don't havegreat manners doesn't mean they
can't be Correct.
Correct.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
Just
SPEAKER_01 (13:13):
roll right past that red flag.
I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_02 (13:19):
Well, let's talk about some of those like little
T traumas or big T traumas thatthey come with.
I think when I see dogs inshelters, I see so much trauma.
insight into the livingexperience I think without like
a secure and now we're talkingabout like older dogs sometimes
there's puppies in sheltersright but I'm talking about like
(13:41):
an older dog so without like asecure attachment to like it's
mother or a pack leader or acaregiver I think that dogs
can't acquire the tools thatthey need to regulate right
SPEAKER_01 (13:57):
yes
SPEAKER_02 (13:58):
So, you know, for forceful instances of like
conflict or neglect can reallyshock the dog into a fight,
flight or freeze standpoint.
SPEAKER_01 (14:12):
So interesting because it, I mean, this is so
connected to the humanexperience.
Not that I'm a scientist, butyeah, or a psychologist.
No, it's
SPEAKER_02 (14:25):
how we all operate.
I think all like living beingsbeings operate like this,
SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
right?
Yeah, but just the wholediscussion about like a secure
attachment and what that meansfor further development is
really fascinating.
Yeah.
And it can apply to dogs.
SPEAKER_02 (14:40):
So when they're in that fight, flight or freeze
with repetition, the triggersbecome embedded into their
memory.
SPEAKER_03 (14:46):
And
SPEAKER_02 (14:47):
so that if they have sight of someone or something or
the tone of somebody or naturesounds or a body movement, you
know, can provoke a pup.
SPEAKER_01 (15:02):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (15:02):
Right.
And a harmless gesture if you'rean adoption place and you reach
out to go pet them or maybeyou're getting closer to them.
they can provoke a powerful andat times unconscious anxiety in
the dog.
Sure.
Leading to either fearaggression or true territorial
aggression.
And you see a lot of that indogs.
(15:22):
And that's why dogs get left inshelters.
Right.
And this is, type of processstretches them like from when
they're young all the way intoadulthood.
Right.
And so it's what they learnbecomes what actually they do in
relationships with people orwith other dogs.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (15:41):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (15:42):
So even having a conscious awareness as like a
dog owner coming in to aspecific trigger that this dog
has.
So you're asking these questionsto the shelter or the foster
parent.
Right.
Even though you know this of thedog owner, Right.
Right.
(16:17):
the weeks that you're going tobe with your new pup, it might
be a lot of uncertainty, right?
They may stay further away fromyou.
They might not want to eat rightaway.
But if you go back to like thatroutine and consistency and pack
leadership role that wediscussed in the other episodes,
(16:38):
using the language of dog, thepup will start to to start
trusting and like new memoriesoverride the old processes,
right?
And so the patterns are replacedwith those new experiences and
(17:02):
then yeah, the trust is builtand you're in the healing
process.
SPEAKER_01 (17:07):
Right, so I mean, it takes time and patience and you
have to be willing to put in thework.
SPEAKER_02 (17:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (17:18):
You have to put the work in.
SPEAKER_02 (17:19):
And like us, like healing can come when we give
our shelter pups self-worth,right?
We were all born with inherentworth, right?
And so to our dogs.
We don't learn this if we're notnurtured, affirmed, or have had
appropriate boundaries.
So make sure to affirm theiranxieties when you're with them.
(17:42):
their realities, like don'tignore them, right?
Nurture them so they will learnthat they are important part of
your family structure.
And then also give them limitsthrough boundaries and
moderation, right?
It's always just baby steps.
SPEAKER_01 (18:00):
Can you give examples to the listener of
something like that?
SPEAKER_02 (18:05):
Yeah, so we've had several of these type of dogs
that have come with these youknow, insecurities.
Sure.
And it just takes time.
So we have an incredible dog,Dexter, who I adore.
Yeah.
Right.
And the family got us to come inand Dexter would growl and not
(18:29):
let me come up to him because hewas so spooked by new people,
you know, new environment,everything.
And so what we just did is wetook baby steps for like six, I
think it took a couple of weeksof me and him doing this every
day.
And so I wouldn't take him for awalk right away.
I didn't go in and just grab himand take him out for a walk.
(18:51):
Although I would have loved thatbecause that would have gotten
us there quicker.
SPEAKER_01 (18:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (18:55):
But I would have, I would have like injured him even
more.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Or the potential to have injured him.
Yeah.
It would have been there.
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Yeah.
Higher.
So what I did was we just openedthe door and, And then I would
sit down on the ledge and hewould be right in that hallway,
low growling at me and showingme all the body language, hair
sticking up, kind of like hisfront, like his head was like
(19:24):
lower to the ground than theback end of him.
Right.
And I would just sit in aposition with my back towards
him, which is not making eyecontact with him.
And that way he just would beable to set me.
SPEAKER_01 (19:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (19:39):
And then we would have that moment for, you know,
I would sit there for like 10minutes or so and then close the
door and come back another time.
SPEAKER_01 (19:50):
It's amazing that that is how he was at the
beginning.
Yeah.
Because now he walks with thepack.
He is so social.
SPEAKER_02 (19:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:58):
And he is such a chill, has such a chill
personality in any sort ofsetting with other people, with,
At least in my experience withhim.
SPEAKER_02 (20:10):
Absolutely.
And he's like a big breed dogtoo.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
he's, he's, I wouldn't mess with him.
He's intimidating looking.
SPEAKER_02 (20:17):
A lot of people are scared of him.
I think he has like shepherd inhim.
I think he has that Belgium.
What is it?
Malinois.
SPEAKER_03 (20:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:24):
And so when a lot of people see him, a lot of people
get like really scared, butthat's where like, but like, you
know, it was in him the wholetime.
He just needed to be thatnurtured baby step dog.
And his
SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
family did a really good job.
They're pretty amazing.
And then they rescued Poppy.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Yes, they have another rescue that kind of the
same thing, was a little nervousat first, but is doing really,
really well.
She's a cutie.
So I think another question toask is how many homes has the
dog already been in?
Because dogs get rehomed often,right?
And you know, if it's based onbehavior issues, you need to be
(21:06):
sure that you can handle those.
A
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
thousand percent.
And I think we, I think I mayhave said this before, but know
your own limits, right?
If you know your limits, youknow the, can you meet the dog
where the dog is?
So if the dog does havebehavioral issues, are they
simply, the dog's not pottytrained?
(21:30):
Do you have the time and theenergy to make sure that you can
You can work on that with thatdog.
Or is it aggressive with cats oraggressive with children?
Those kinds of behavioralthings, you are going to be
critical to know because if youare a household without any of
(21:53):
those things, then okay, youmight be able to establish a
much better relationship withthat dog and you might not have
any of the problems.
You know, that the previoushouseholds that would have had.
SPEAKER_02 (22:04):
Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
So, you know.
If you can get any insight,which actually it's important to
note, too, that I don't knowthat we have talked about this
too much.
If you can work with any sort ofrescue or shelter that fosters
shelter.
Or if you could considerfostering, that's another really
(22:26):
great option to see whether ornot you are not only compatible,
but you can take a dog out of ashelter and make space for
another dog.
And then you can foster andlearn your own limits.
Since it's in a short period oftime,
SPEAKER_03 (22:40):
you
SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
can say, okay, I know I can handle this.
I know I can't handle that.
You know what I mean?
And that can also be a reallygreat option for people.
SPEAKER_02 (22:52):
To kind of dip your toes into the whole idea.
SPEAKER_01 (22:54):
Exactly.
That's a good
SPEAKER_02 (22:55):
idea.
I never even thought about that.
SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (22:58):
Yeah.
I think another great questionto ask is like try to see if
they know what kind of breedsare in that specific dog that
you're going to choose.
Right.
Totally.
I always say like it's dogfirst, first and foremost.
Right.
Right.
But then things specificallycome out.
on the breed side so you'realways looking at the dog as a
(23:18):
dog first
SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
yeah
SPEAKER_02 (23:20):
and then you kind of start bringing in the breed line
and contemplating you know goingback to that pointer dog is that
like that's going to be a highenergy dog that won't be doing
well in a sedentary householdyou know absolutely so then what
they do is that energy comes outand other naughty behaviors that
(23:40):
you don't want like eating thehouse
SPEAKER_01 (23:43):
take it from someone who has done this Personally.
Yeah.
Moose was my first dog because Iwanted to get a dog when I
turned 21 and I was out on myown because I couldn't have a
dog growing up.
Our parents wouldn't let us havea dog.
Yeah.
Joanne and Toad didn't let youhave dogs?
Our father loved dogs, but he'slike, I'm not picking up after a
(24:04):
dog.
Who's, you know, he had thenumber of quips that he said
about it
SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
I didn't know that I just thought you guys weren't
dog people because Deirdre's nota dog person
SPEAKER_01 (24:11):
no she's just you know she's just not a dog person
because we never had dogsgrowing up so I want and I
always wanted a dog so as soonas I live by myself I got a dog
I didn't know what I was doing Imade so many mistakes yeah and
of course I get a dog from fromsomeone who breeds bird dogs she
(24:32):
was in an American lab not anEnglish lab she was an American
lab and she was bred Toretrieve.
She was driven, high energy,smarter than me, needed to work.
She needed a job.
She belonged in the home of abird hunter.
(24:52):
She lived with me for 15 years.
We adapted, but she ran my lifebecause I was clueless and it
took time.
All 15 years to learn.
I mean, it really, I didn'treally start to get a handle of
it until I started working foryou and started walking dogs and
learning, oh, you need to be thepack leader.
(25:14):
And there were so many thingsthat I had done incorrectly that
were hard to go back
SPEAKER_02 (25:20):
and fix.
Because it's already embedded inthere, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:23):
Right, because it's already embedded in there.
But there was a lot of stuffthat we worked on, you know, but
if you don't know your limits-You're
SPEAKER_02 (25:37):
going to get yourself in trouble.
SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
You're going to get yourself in trouble.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's
SPEAKER_02 (25:41):
why the questions are so, like the beforehand,
what we were talking about, howthe questions are just so
important to get to knowyourself first.
Yes.
And what you can offer, notnecessarily what the dog's going
to offer you, what you can offer
SPEAKER_01 (25:51):
to the dog.
What you can offer the dog.
And people don't ask thatquestion enough.
SPEAKER_02 (25:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:56):
People don't ask that question
SPEAKER_02 (25:57):
enough.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Because so I was like, oh, I want to get a dog.
Yeah, great.
That's great.
That's great in theory.
how is that going to affect yourlife in practicality?
SPEAKER_02 (26:05):
Yeah.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (26:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:06):
Also knowing the dog breed will tell you how like big
the dog could come become.
SPEAKER_01 (26:11):
Oh,
SPEAKER_02 (26:12):
good golly.
Yes.
And we've had that happen withHank.
And so like Hank was supposed tobe a 30 pound dog.
He ended up being like an 80 to90 pound dog, which is a
SPEAKER_01 (26:23):
huge difference.
Rest in peace.
SPEAKER_02 (26:26):
Yeah.
Which is a huge differencebetween, you know, so it's, If
you're not asking exact...
And sometimes they don't know.
Sometimes that happens andthat's fine.
Sure.
But if you just...
it's good to ask the questionjust in case that they do know.
Yeah.
Right.
And this day and age, you can dothe DNA testing to see, but you
won't be able to do that untilthey have,
SPEAKER_01 (26:46):
I was going to say, can you do that?
I don't think you can do the DNAtesting until it's your dog.
But yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (26:51):
so that's why it's important to understand like
what breed, what mixed breed.
So yeah, exactly.
So you're matching them withwhat you can handle and also
that you're, there's nosurprises of what you're going
to get.
Totally.
I think also, um, taking inconsideration to ask about the
dog's health.
Right.
And important to know what levelof veterinary care they've
(27:12):
received.
SPEAKER_01 (27:13):
If they're able to give you that information.
Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (27:16):
Yeah.
So if their vaccinations are upto date, you need to ask if they
spayed or neutered quite yet.
You know, sometimes you can askfor, you know, make sure you ask
for copies of their records ofwhat they've gone through.
And then most importantly, Ithink it's like, hey, how did
they act when they were gettingvaccinated?
looked at by a vet because youwant to know, you know, what
(27:39):
they're going to do when you gointo a vet and it's going to be
important.
And I've seen that happen whereyou get these dogs, clients of
ours that have like adopteddogs.
And then when they go to thevet, it's like a whole thing.
And the dog is shaking.
The dog gets super sick.
SPEAKER_01 (27:55):
I know.
And it's so upsetting.
SPEAKER_02 (27:57):
Yeah.
But what you can do is you can,again, go back to those baby
steps and really work with yourvet And so the process would be
you walk into the door of thevet and then you walk out and
you do that.
And they just get kind of usedto the smells.
And then you leave and you gohome.
And then you come back the nextday and you might go even
(28:18):
further where like the people atthe desk come over and say hi to
the dog.
And you're just doing it by babysteps to baby steps to baby
steps.
SPEAKER_01 (28:28):
And what I'm hearing you say is you just have to have
the time and the patience andthe energy to put in the work.
SPEAKER_02 (28:37):
Yeah, you got to put in the work.
SPEAKER_01 (28:39):
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (28:40):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (28:41):
Um, I think also, yeah, well, putting in the work.
Yeah, that's it.
Yes.
Okay.
So here's one of the cons.
If you don't put in the work,it's all wonderful when you want
to rescue a dog.
But like, if you don't put inthe work, then you're actually a
disservice to the very effortthat you were trying to do in
(29:02):
the first place.
Yes.
Did I make sense
SPEAKER_01 (29:05):
saying that?
Like, yes, you're doing adisservice to the dog you're
trying to save.
Yes.
If you're not going to put thework in.
SPEAKER_02 (29:13):
Yeah.
And I've seen that happen a lotof times.
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (29:17):
And it's just and it's like, yeah, well, it's
great that you love to rescuedogs.
But when you bring them home andyou don't do anything with them
and, you know, it's just like,well, what's the whole point of
rescuing them then?
SPEAKER_01 (29:30):
Right.
Right.
Because then you're justreaffirming.
You're just putting your dog,putting that dog through the
trauma again.
that they have already been putthrough.
And then if that dog ends backup in the shelter, good grief.
You know, I mean, no.
SPEAKER_02 (29:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:50):
You know, no, that's not fair.
It's not fair.
SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
No, it's not at all.
And then like, yeah, going backto like the traumas, you're
just, you're not, you're notrecreating those, you're not
altering those cells, right?
Those memory cells of them.
You're not recreating theseroutines, these new memories to
get them out of those liketrauma spaces, right?
So yeah, I just think that's,when I hear people be like, oh
(30:19):
no, I'm not gonna buy, I'm gonnaadopt.
And then they don't put anytime.
So it's really understandingthat with these older dogs that
you do, you need to put time in.
SPEAKER_01 (30:31):
Is the situation less so with adopting a puppy?
SPEAKER_02 (30:34):
Well, I think, yeah.
When you have a puppy, you'reable just to take them home and
start from the very beginning.
SPEAKER_01 (30:43):
But you probably will find that some puppies may
or may not still have some ofthat Like if it's a puppy that
comes from a puppy mill or apuppy that's been ripped away
from its mother before thateight weeks.
I mean, you may you may run intosome attachment issues.
You may run into some anxiety,that kind of thing.
Yeah, maybe easier to navigate.
(31:04):
But still.
SPEAKER_02 (31:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I never even thought about that.
Yeah, I guess so.
I guess you you would still youmight you might find some things
pop up.
Yeah.
And also like in thisconversation too, there are so
many dogs that you can rescuethat are just like easy dogs to
rescue, right?
I just want to make sure youunderstand that as well, the
(31:28):
listener as well.
Like there are some incrediblestories where people get lucky
with rescues and it's like yousupply an awesome home for the
dog.
you know, doing some fun thingsand it's a really great
experience.
SPEAKER_01 (31:44):
Don't you always feel, I, I don't know if, if
this is real, this is probablynot real, but I have always felt
like the dogs who are rescuedknow it and they are like,
thanks.
You know what I mean?
It's almost like they have this,this like, twinkle in their eye
(32:08):
that they just really are happyto be at peace.
SPEAKER_02 (32:15):
Well, of course.
I mean, think about it.
Yes, I think that's true.
SPEAKER_01 (32:18):
Maybe it's not a true thing, but I just feel like
all the ones that are the rescuedogs that are in these much
better scenarios are kind oflike...
SPEAKER_02 (32:32):
This is great.
I won the lottery.
Yes, yes, yes.
Of course.
I mean, you could think about itfor yourself, right?
If that happened to you and youhad all this fight or flight and
freeze and then all of a suddenyou're in a space that's safe
and secure and you don't havethat anxiety and those feelings
anymore, of course, dude, you'regoing to be like, hit
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
the high left here.
SPEAKER_01 (32:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
Yeah.
So I think we were, we got alittle off topic, but I think we
were talking about, um, youknow, asking about that care and
making sure, you know, that, youknow, of anything in their
history.
Sure.
Um, most importantly, like ifthey have murmurs or, you know,
if they've broken bones beforeand stuff, cause then you need
to really pay attention to thelongterm, um, responsibility
(33:22):
there and that could be a lot ofmoney that you have to fork out
you know and then there's thatdecision maybe you should be
getting pet insurance ratherthan going into that that
expansive time of somebody witha long history of a health does
that make sense yeah absolutelyyeah okay I think like what's
the dog's personality A lot offoster parents will have that
(33:45):
like spot on.
Yes.
You know, so, you know, and askthe shelter staff.
They'll know it, too, becausethey've been interacting with
these dogs.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
And I think you can go into a lot of shelters will
love when people want to comeand take the dogs out for walks,
which can give you a lot ofinsight.
Yeah.
Personality of a dog.
Yeah.
If you're on a walk with them.
UNKNOWN (34:10):
Mm hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (34:10):
Of course, is the dog potty trained?
Sure.
Yeah.
You know, all dogs are probablygoing to have accidents at
first.
Sometimes if you have had dogsin your house before, they might
be marking.
SPEAKER_01 (34:22):
They might mark,
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
yeah.
So you just got to be preparedfor that.
Yeah.
And then sometimes dogs, they'vebeen living in a house and
they've never been able to gooutside or living in a crate.
So you just have to like reallyunderstand that and see, again,
what is ahead for you?
SPEAKER_01 (34:42):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (34:42):
And how much time and effort do you really have
and how much time and effortdoes this dog really need?
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01 (34:50):
Right.
We definitely touched already onchildren.
Yeah, we did.
We didn't so much touch onstrangers, but.
You know, if you are adopting adog because you want to, you
know, bring your dog to work,but you know that your dog gets
(35:11):
super anxious or maybe reactivearound strangers, you know,
that's something to take intoaccount because that might not
be the dog for you.
Or the situation for you.
SPEAKER_02 (35:23):
Yeah, it's happening right now.
Actually, I know a family thatrescued a dog.
Sweet, sweet dog.
Right.
And but to strangers.
Yeah.
She gets anxious.
Sure.
And so she goes into like a fearaggression.
And fear aggression can be justas impactful as like a
(35:44):
territorial aggression.
Yeah.
So it can still have a big bite,all that jazz.
And yeah, so I had the boys withme.
And, you know, we came to thehouse and all of a sudden the
dog is like barking at us, butbarking in a way that I know is
fear aggression.
Yeah.
And so, you know, the ownerdidn't really maybe understand
(36:08):
as much of like, you know, it'sOK.
They were just kind of tell meit's OK.
She just gets this way and stufflike that.
But it's like, no, you reallyneed to take that space and give
her.
And it's really not about us.
It was really like I didn't wantmy boys to get close to her
because she really needed tohave that space.
I was looking out for her moreso than I was looking out for
(36:29):
us.
SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
Yeah.
Does
SPEAKER_02 (36:30):
that make sense?
Yes.
But yeah.
So like.
And that's when you need to comein as a dog owner and make those
corrections.
And so those are the boundariesand the limitations we're
talking about and not allowingthem to stay in that mindset of
these old habits, these oldroutines, right?
(36:50):
You really want to come in andshift that for the dog.
And I think maybe in the end, italmost looked like we were kind
of like anxious to be there withthe dog, but it wasn't.
It was like, I wanted to makesure that this dog understood
that we're going to give you thespace that you need because
you're showing us that.
SPEAKER_01 (37:07):
So here's my question in that specific
situation.
And probably you would knowthis.
This goes back to the energyepisode, right?
So you're feeling, so I can onlyhelp, I can only wonder, right?
What kind of energy washappening in that specific
scenario?
Because then you have this veryanxious dog.
(37:28):
You have an owner that's notquite 100% sure what the
reaction is going to be.
She doesn't think that the dog'sin a strike, but maybe the dog's
in a strike.
And if that is the case, thenyou know that that person was
probably holding some amount ofanxiety about that situation.
So that is affecting the energyall around in the whole room,
right?
And then you have your kids whodon't know the dog, maybe
(37:52):
blissfully unaware, but thenalso cautious because you're
saying be cautious so you'reprobably there's probably a bit
of tension I imagine that washappening right there
SPEAKER_02 (38:03):
yeah I guess so yeah for sure
SPEAKER_01 (38:05):
so what ended up happening so what was the result
SPEAKER_02 (38:09):
so the result was that they ended up like not
correcting the dog in a way thatmaybe would have been more
beneficial
SPEAKER_01 (38:16):
so not a firm enough boundary
SPEAKER_02 (38:18):
yeah and then they took away the dog from the
situation so what happens is bytaking the dog with away from
the situation, yes, it's easier,but then the dog doesn't
actually learn anything.
SPEAKER_01 (38:29):
Yeah.
So the dog's not able toactually navigate it and come to
the other side
SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
in
SPEAKER_01 (38:35):
a positive way.
SPEAKER_02 (38:36):
Correct.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:37):
So she holds on to that fear aggression towards
strangers.
SPEAKER_02 (38:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:42):
Because in her experience, she's being removed
from the situation as almost ifto affirm,
SPEAKER_02 (38:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:49):
Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02 (38:50):
And it keeps on happening.
It keeps on happening to everyperson that comes over to their
house that's new.
SPEAKER_01 (38:56):
So what should they have done?
What should they do?
SPEAKER_02 (38:58):
Well, I would have really liked to have seen them
like before guests arrive tomaybe take the dog for a walk or
a run, obviously, to get thatenergy out of them.
And then I think also, you know,correcting the behavior rather
than their position was holdingthe dog back rather than
(39:19):
actually giving the dog acorrection.
So either having a prong collaron the dog to give it that mama
bite that we've talked about tocorrect for the behavior that
you don't want
SPEAKER_01 (39:31):
and
SPEAKER_02 (39:32):
give it like a leave it command, just so that we can
snap her psychology out of thatfight, flight or freeze mode and
and kind of back into this likesettle next to me, I've got this
as the pack leader.
Does that make sense?
So it's either utilizing hercollar or using her prong collar
(39:54):
to give her a correction.
on that and have her stop thebarking, intercept that mindset.
You want to have thatpsychological snap for her.
SPEAKER_01 (40:03):
So could they have used treats or some other kind
of positive affirmation as well?
They could have.
But
SPEAKER_02 (40:09):
again, remember if you're retraining, reaffirming
this dog in a way for like abehavior that you don't want.
You don't want to accidentallyreward
SPEAKER_01 (40:19):
the behavior that you don't want to see.
SPEAKER_02 (40:21):
Correct.
So in that sense is that youwant to do the correction and
then give a command.
So it's a correction.
She settles down.
You can say, leave it.
Right.
And then you wait and, and havethe person maybe come a little
bit further into the space.
And if she reacts again, yougive a correction again.
So those are the moments whereyou have to give a little bit of
(40:44):
a time before you can actuallyreward a dog for doing the right
thing for making, you need themto have that like little switch
in their brain go, Oh, This iswhat I'm supposed to do.
I'm supposed to say right herenext to my owner, you know, not
barking, not getting aggressive.
And when they make that littleswitch, when they get it, then
(41:04):
that's when you go ahead and youcan give them like a good boy,
good girl or a treat.
SPEAKER_01 (41:08):
And you can physically see that switch
happen.
SPEAKER_02 (41:11):
Yeah, you can.
If
SPEAKER_01 (41:12):
you're paying attention, you can watch the
dog.
It's almost like they willshift.
They'll relax.
I mean, you'll see them relax a
SPEAKER_02 (41:20):
little
SPEAKER_01 (41:22):
bit.
So you can pick up on it if youyourself are relaxed.
SPEAKER_02 (41:26):
Yeah.
And that's going to take manytimes over and over and over
again.
You might not get her to thatpoint like on the first try.
SPEAKER_01 (41:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (41:35):
But if you keep on intercepting the behavior that
shouldn't be or you don't want,then, you know, that consistency
and repetitiveness, the dog willcatch on and learn a new way
about going about seeing,meeting a new stranger.
SPEAKER_01 (41:51):
You're creating new neural pathways in the brain of
the dog.
SPEAKER_02 (41:55):
Yeah.
It's
SPEAKER_01 (41:55):
like a new, a new habit when you're trying to make
a habit.
SPEAKER_02 (41:58):
Yes, it's absolutely is.
Yeah.
So, and that's, again, that'sthat healing process.
And if you're not doing that,then what's the point of
rescuing the dog?
Right.
You know?
SPEAKER_01 (42:09):
Right.
Yeah, I get it.
I'm with you.
SPEAKER_02 (42:12):
Yeah.
UNKNOWN (42:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (42:13):
All right.
So are there any other, youknow, bullet points that you
want to look out for?
You know, just I think we'vetouched on.
I
SPEAKER_02 (42:21):
think a big thing is, will the shelter or the
place that you take it, willthey, you know, take the dog
back?
SPEAKER_01 (42:30):
Oh, God, that's a good one,
SPEAKER_02 (42:31):
because that's a lot.
It just it's there's it's ait's.
It's a hard one.
I don't want anybody ever takinga dog back to the shelter.
I mean, that's what I don'twant.
I want you to learn how to be apack leader.
I want you to learn the languageof the dog.
I want you to take the time.
This is with any dog.
(42:52):
I want you to take the time withthe dog, put in effort and so
forth and really build that bondand trust with them.
I don't want to ever see a dogrehome, but does it happen?
Yes.
And that's okay becausesometimes people fail.
find out that like oh gosh Ididn't make the right decision
for this dog and for us you knowso you want to make sure that
(43:14):
can that shell or just ask justso you know will they take the
dog back if it doesn't work outyou know or will they help you
rehome the dog to somebody elselike you could keep the dog and
kind of go back into a fostersituation right yeah or you can
you know ask you know obviouslyrehome to a good family in the
community or something like thatby word of mouth but You know, I
(43:36):
think that's a little bit harderthan actually asking the shelter
to go back.
They have a lot more resources.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (43:42):
Okay.
So to tie it all up together.
And
SPEAKER_02 (43:47):
remember, these questions aren't designed for
finding the perfect dog.
They're to find the perfect dogfor you.
SPEAKER_01 (43:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (43:53):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (43:54):
In the end.
What we're going to be lookingfor if you're going to adopt a
dog is to just get really,really honest with oneself about
what it is that you are able tooffer that dog before you go in
and make any decisions.
And then from there, there are anumber of questions you need to
find out if you're able aboutthat dog's background or if you
(44:19):
go to a shelter or a foster orwhat have you.
try to get as much informationas you can to see if you guys
are gonna be good, compatiblecompanions.
And I think that that, like wehave said repeatedly, if you're
willing to put in the time andthe energy, then you could be a
(44:44):
part of watching thetransformation of a dog who ends
up as a shelter dog to bringinga whole new life to that animal.
And that's a beautiful gift.
So if you're able to do that,and I think anybody, if this is
a journey that you're on, youare able to do it.
(45:06):
You just have to be willing toput in the time and the
SPEAKER_02 (45:09):
energy and the work.
And bravo to you for doing it,you know, because there's so
many dogs that do need to find
SPEAKER_01 (45:17):
a home.
Yes, yes, yes.
And like I always said, I dothink that the pound puppies,
There's always a special littletwinkle in their eyes.
SPEAKER_02 (45:26):
There really much is.
It's
SPEAKER_01 (45:28):
like they know.
And
SPEAKER_02 (45:29):
then in our next episode, what we'll do is we'll
bounce onto the other side ofthis conversation, which is to
shop.
SPEAKER_01 (45:37):
Right.
So if you've made the decisionthat maybe adopting is not for
you and you want to start with apuppy that you get from a
breeder, what do you do then?
SPEAKER_02 (45:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (45:49):
So that'll be for next time.
SPEAKER_02 (45:51):
okay all right until then we'll see you later dog is
love dog is love
SPEAKER_01 (45:58):
If this podcast aligns with you, it would mean
so much to us if you would take30 seconds to do these three
things.
First, follow or subscribe toDog Is Love so you don't miss an
episode.
To do this, just go to Dog IsLove show page on Apple
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(46:22):
While you're there, give a fivestar rating and review why you
liked our episode and share anepisode We would be so grateful.
Dog is Love is
SPEAKER_02 (46:33):
created and hosted by Chrissy Waltman and Cara
Kelly in partnership with K9to5.
Our show is produced by TonyKelly at Baltimore Podcast
Space.
Our original theme song waswritten and recorded by our very
SPEAKER_01 (46:47):
own Cara Kelly.
We could pretend That we havethe answers Or we could lean
into the light Cause mancomplicates The stillness of
(47:17):
nature While dogs humbly watchwith awe in their eyes We're not
supposed to struggle alone Afriend for a lifetime To guide
(47:59):
you wherever you roam Dog islove Like the roots of the trees
and the stars up above Dog islove Judgment free
unconditionally
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