March 5, 2024 • 41 mins
Tired of chaotic encounters with unruly dogs in public spaces?
Bringing your dog out in public shouldn’t feel like you’re bracing for battle. But without clear rules, training, and awareness, even a simple walk can turn into a mess of pulling, barking, and awkward run-ins.
This episode breaks down how to build better dog etiquette, so you and your pup can navigate the world with confidence and calm.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- How to decode your dog’s body language before things escalate
- What to know about breed-specific behaviors and unique quirks
- The unwritten rules every dog owner should follow in public
If you’ve ever wished your dog could just “act right” at the park, vet, or coffee shop patio, this episode is your go-to guide for respectful, well-behaved outings.
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OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
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P.S. You may hear us refer to the show as Starlight Pet Talk during this episode. That was our previous name before we embraced the fur, mess, and mayhem. Same show, same mission—just a name that fits better now.
Love the show? Share with a pet parent who needs less chaos and more clarity and please leave a 5-star review to help more pet parents find support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amy Castro (00:00):
As a dog mom to several dogs of my own, as well
as many foster dogs, I prettymuch know which ones are good to
go when going out in public andwhich ones either need to stay
home or need a lot more work.
Unfortunately, many pet parentsdon't know that their dog's not
ready for prime time and maybedon't even realize the etiquette
for being in public with theirdog.
(00:21):
So that's what we're talkingabout today so that you and your
dog can travel out in the worldand get along and get things
done.
So stay tuned.
My guest today is Nancy Hassel.
(01:19):
Nancy is the president andfounder of American Pet
Professionals, which is abusiness, networking,
educational and multimediaorganization for the pet
industry with members from allareas of the world.
I'm so happy to be here today.
Thank you so much for having me, amy.
(01:43):
I'm so happy to be here today.
You know, I was so glad thatwhen we were talking about the
pet business.
Nancy Hassel (01:53):
It was something that really helped me understand
what it means to be a petparent.
Amy Castro (01:57):
I'm so glad that when we were talking about the
possibility of having you on theshow, that you brought up this
subject today, because ithappens to be a personal pet
peeve of mine.
Like I told you, before westarted recording, I had a
Doberman, pinscher, who was verywell trained, but it was my
fault, he was not really greatlydog socialized.
So you know, there were just somany times where I either
couldn't take him out in publicbecause other people couldn't
(02:19):
control their pets, or even justgoing to the vet would be a
hassle, because we'd be sittingin our corner and he'd be mining
his business.
And you know people, without acontrol, dogs on my least
favorite leash, the Flexi leash,would just cause chaos.
And then it was always my dog'sfault, because he was, he was
barking, yeah, and you got thedirty look yeah, I got the dirty
look and then it perpetuatesthe negative image of my poor
(02:43):
dog's breed as well.
So you know, it's definitely atwo way street, I think, when it
comes to this bringing our dogsout in public and being
respectful.
So what would, what would beand I know you taught classes on
this to people what are somegeneral messages about just
taking your dog out amongsthumans and other dogs?
And then I want to get intosome specific scenarios.
Nancy Hassel (03:05):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I did teach responsible dogownership class.
It was just for people as aclass that came out of a knee
jerk reaction of me beingfrustrated with seeing yet
another law being passed againstdogs.
Amy Castro (03:17):
And.
Nancy Hassel (03:18):
I was complaining to a friend and I said you know,
would be nice if, instead ofjust having another law, they
actually educated dog owners.
And she's like why don't youteach a class?
This is back in 2008.
And I was like what?
And then it just perpetuatedfrom there.
But one of the main things thatI always said in every single
class we had dog trainers in theclass and veterinarians.
I started the class off and wehad no dogs in the class.
(03:41):
It was just educating petparents and about to be pet
parents.
We had a lot of people thatcame that were about to adopt
the dog or thinking aboutadopting a dog or buying a dog
or whatever they were doing.
However, they were gettingtheir dog.
But, one of the main things thatI always said is know your dog
and know your dog's breed, evenif you have a mixed breed,
because a lot of the differentbehavioral issues you know,
(04:03):
people thought they werebehavioral issues and it was
really just what the dog wasbred for, right?
Our dog keeps getting out andrunning away, our dog keeps
doing this and I'm like, well,that's part of the dog's breed
or that's part of your dog'smixed breed, and know your dog,
right, don't be in denial aboutyour own dog's personality,
their behaviors, you know.
Are they a dog that might bereactive on leash, but they're
(04:25):
not actually, you know, it's notaggression, they just might
have a reaction on a leash.
Are they overzealous?
Ah, so excited, you know, andjumping on everybody because
everybody likes to blame the dogand like 99% of the time, it's
not the dog.
It's rare when there's aninstance when it's really the
dog's fault, right?
So know your dog and know yourbreed or mixed breed of dog,
(04:46):
what they were bred for.
Know your dog's own individualpersonality, what their limits
are if they have limits.
So that's something that I'vealways said and I think you know
a lot of people have neverreally heard that that we talked
about in the class.
They'd be like oh, I didn'tthink about it that way and I'm
like, yes, it's nothing againstyou or your dog, you're here to
learn, right, and I always.
(05:07):
The other thing I always saidin the class was no question is
a stupid question or a sillyquestion, because you are here
to learn.
We are not going to make youfeel bad about stuff that you
might have done incorrectly inthe past or anything like that.
We want you to learn and havethe best outcome for you and
your dog, or you're about to bea dog.
So that's some of the thingsthat we always said in the class
(05:28):
.
Amy Castro (05:30):
Yeah, you know, I think one of the things that I
find with pet parents and we'vedone several episodes that have
kind of hit on this issue isthat too many times we focus so
much on what we want.
You know, I'd love to be able totake my dog, Guinevere, out in
public and she's overallbasically a good dog, but she
gets so overly excited, she getsso wound up and then she just
(05:51):
then, she just doesn't listen aswell.
And, yes, I probably shouldhave taken her out more when she
was younger.
I didn't, you know, I didn'thave her from when she was a
little puppy.
I had her when she was prettymuch a year old.
But okay, you know.
So I either need to, you know,work on that gradual increase of
getting her out and about, butyeah, or just not take her out
in public but to just basicallysay, oh, I'm going to take her
(06:13):
to an all day, you know, eventfor dogs in the park.
It's just not a good idea foranybody involved.
It's going to be miserable forher, it's going to be miserable
for me, miserable for otherpeople.
Nancy Hassel (06:23):
Yeah, so you knew your dog.
You knew that it wouldn't be agood situation.
Yeah.
Amy Castro (06:27):
Right, so so what is the?
You know what would be some ofthe basic etiquette things.
Like I said, you know about theflexi leash, you know, to me
one of the things would be thatyour dog should be, you know,
within your eyesight and knowingwhat it's doing, and keeping it
within a certain distance fromyourself because, yeah, once it
gets past that, you're losing abit of control.
Nancy Hassel (06:48):
I mean, first of all, the basic etiquette is if
you're out and about, if you'rein a park or anywhere in a town
that there's a leash requirement, get a really good six foot
leash and keep your dog leash.
I do not care how well behavedyour dog is.
My dog is super well behaved.
He has an awesome recall.
He's never going to be offleash where he's not allowed to
be off leash and even in areaswhere, like at the beach,
(07:09):
there's some a lot of beacheshere on Long Island on the east
end that are dog friendly.
I put him on a 30 foot biothaneleash because, like he might
jump in the waves, I need topull him out.
You know that kind of thing.
He has been off leash at an offleash dog beach away from dogs.
He is super dog friendly.
But I don't know the other dogsif they're dog friendly or not.
So you know, leash your dog,follow the law.
(07:32):
You know, every single day whenI'm out walking my dog, there's
a loose dog and my last dogbehind me, mr Max.
He was actually attacked by agolden retriever in a park where
the dogs were supposed to beoff leash and it was one of the
scariest things that I wentthrough and I had my Doberman at
the time and the owners, youknow, unfortunately just adopted
(07:54):
it and had it off leash andwere really far away from the
dog and they just assumed thedog was friendly.
Luckily my dog didn't getreally hurt.
He had some puncture wounds.
But for me to then recover, tothen retrain my dog it was a it
took a long time because Irealized a lot of times my
reaction would go right down theleash and it would set him off.
He wasn't aggressive, he was avery nervous dog.
(08:17):
So leash your dog.
I mean, like I know a lot ofpeople hate that and a lot of
people really give you a hardtime.
If you ask nicely, a lot oftimes I'll just stop with my dog
, cody.
Now Cody could care less aboutany dog, like he will ignore 99%
of the dog.
He'll say hello to dogs that weknow that are dog-friendly, on
leashes and stuff.
But if I see a loose dog, nowyou know I just put him in a sit
(08:38):
and then I say to them hey, canyou leash your dog?
Or you know, I just make itreally obvious that my dog is in
a sit, stay and I just stare atpeople.
A lot of times that works, but alot of times they just don't
care, and it's that you knowthat part of it is really
frustrating for responsible dogowners who aren't just letting
(08:59):
their dogs run ahead of them andnot paying attention,
especially in parks wherethere's people jogging and
biking and running, horses goingthrough the trails like all
kinds of things.
I think leaching your dog isfor your dog's safety, Dog
forbid.
Your dog ran up to another dogon leash that was aggressive and
that dog on the leash diddamage.
(09:20):
You're the one that'sresponsible.
Of course it depends on thestate you're in, but here in New
York you would be responsible.
Yeah, and you should be, in myopinion, you're all good for
being, you know, beingpotentially hurt or run or chase
something.
Yeah, it's just, you know.
I know people that have reallygreat control of their dogs and
I see them off leash and I don'tsay anything, I don't make a
fuss.
You know, I can also spot adog's body language from afar
(09:44):
and be like, oh, that dog'stotally fine and see if the
owner has it under verbalcontrol.
But it's just frustrating whenyou're trying to go out and
enjoy your walk and you feellike a loose dog or two you know
, way ahead of their dog.
It's like, oh my God put yourdog on leash.
Amy Castro (09:59):
Well, it's interesting too.
It starts at home you remindedme of.
You know I used to in order toget my Doberman good exercise,
because even when I was thinnerI couldn't run long enough or
fast enough to get him reallygood exercise.
So I had a bike attachment andwe would ride around the
neighborhood and inevitably onany given on any, any given trip
.
And I remember a neighbor twohouses down had two golden
(10:20):
retrievers and she had them outon the driveway off leash.
You know she's screaming theirnames to come back and you know,
she's yelling to me they'refriendly, they're friendly and
it's like, yeah, but I'm tryingto ride my bike with my dog, who
doesn't?
want your dog charging up to usand, you know, ends up pulling
the bike over, you know,breaking the bike attachment,
and you know it's just like okay, now I'm around every corner.
(10:41):
And then another instance whichI got and I shouldn't probably
even admit this on the air, butI got a little tiny bit of
satisfaction out of this one isthat I came around the corner
and this lady was working in herfront yard and her dog was in
the front yard with her offleash and her kid was kind of
like sitting on the dog's back.
And I thought to myself okay,when I come around this corner,
I hope that dog sits where he'ssupposed to sit, but if he
(11:04):
doesn't, that kid's going to goflying.
And sure enough, I come aroundthe corner, the dog jumps up,
the kid gets dumped on theground.
I mean, he didn't get hurt, itwas on the grass, but it's like
you know.
And here comes a dog out in themiddle of the street and it's
like what if I'd been on theopposite side of the street and
a car was coming?
Nancy Hassel (11:17):
down.
Oh, what if a car was coming?
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Amy Castro (11:21):
So you know it starts.
I think you're right.
I mean, no matter how good yourdog's recall and most people's
dog's recall is not good at allyou know it might come to them
in the house if they've got atreat, but other than that it's
not good.
But you never know whatsituation is going to trigger
them not to hear you or not tolisten.
Nancy Hassel (11:38):
Yeah, and a lot of times dogs are super friendly,
happy, go lucky.
And I want to preface this bysaying it's nothing against
Golden's.
I love all dogs.
Right, it could care less whatkind of breed you have.
We just happen to have certainto your own situations with
those different dogs that wouldbe Golden's.
I love all dogs, Cody loves alldogs.
But it's just, you know, it'sjust frustrating when you're
(12:01):
being the responsible dog ownerand here comes a dog running
down the street or something.
I had a neighbor not too longago that never leashed a dog.
Dogs were always loose.
He would scream at them.
It was terrible.
It was a terrible situation.
Thankfully he moved away, but Ifelt bad for the dogs.
The dogs were nice but likepeople would be jogging by and
they would go running up to thejogger and the jogger would be,
(12:21):
like you know, terrified and I'mlike, oh my God.
So yeah, leash your dogs, yeah.
You know if you're in an areathat, like you're in a farm or
you're in an area that there'sno leash, it might be a
different way of life.
I'm talking about exuberbia,city of life that's, you know
really, where there's laws thatyour dog should be leached.
Amy Castro (12:41):
Yeah, well, you know , and having living on a seven
acre farm, ish, you know I stillget frustrated with people up
and they'll literally tell mebecause I had a volunteer that
picked up somebody's dog,thinking it was a stray and
needed needed rescue, because itwas wandering down the street
and it's like you know theexcuse is it's a farm dog.
It's like okay, then keep yourdog, farm dog on your farm, not
(13:02):
on my farm, not pooping in myyard, not chasing my dog, not
chasing my pony, you know, andso you know, even then it's a
it's a respect thing, I think,and it's you know it's it's
important to follow the rules.
You had mentioned body languageand I think it's really that's a
really important topic.
Can you talk to the issue ofyou know being able to you know
(13:22):
read your own pets body language, but also reading the body
language of the other.
You know the other dog andpeople too when you're out with
your dog.
Nancy Hassel (13:30):
Yeah, so this is a big deal.
I always talked about this inour classes because when I had
my sweet Max, he was a nervousdog and if there was a dog 20
feet ahead on a, on a flexi orretractable leash, or just
people not paying attention, Iwould have to move myself over
to the side of the trail, puthim in a sit, you know, make him
pay attention to me, whateverit was, and they would not watch
(13:53):
me or my dog's body languageand they would always say my dog
is friendly and I'm like he wasattacked.
And they'd be like, oh my God,anybody that is a dog parent.
You know, we'll, we'll addressthe person's body language first
.
If you see somebody that iswalking their dog and they do
what I did and like with my olddog Max, I'd be like, I'd be
like into the woods at somepoint and people are still be
(14:13):
lining up.
I'm like, no, no, no, no, like,pull your dog back.
Watch the person's bodylanguage, as you'll see, the
person will get really nervousand they're stiffing up, they're
pulling their dog's leashbecause they know their dog
might have a leash reaction.
So you can see somebody reallytense.
Right, if they're tense, iftheir body language is tense if
they moved over, if they crossedthe street you know, I used to
(14:35):
have to cross the street.
Sometimes they're like puttingtheir hand out.
I just think that, especiallynow, it's even worse because
we're all a lot of people are ontheir phones and not paying
attention.
Just the other day I was outwalking and where I am there's a
winter break, so there was afamily walking with their very
happy go lucky, beautiful, andit was a golden and a dog was
awesome and the dog was justlike you know, excited, and my
(14:58):
dog very friendly.
But the mother was not payingattention to her dog.
She was trying to put the hoodsomething back on her kid.
So I just stopped to give themspace to let them finish.
She didn't even see me and thenshe turned around and her dog
was like pulling, pulling,wiggling every part of his body.
It was really cute and I justsaid, oh, he's friendly.
(15:19):
I'm just you know, I don't knowabout your dog just giving you
some space to walk by because itwas a narrow trail.
And she's like, oh sorry, and Iwas like you know, no, it's all
right, I didn't have to stop.
But for me to stop and give herthat space, I think it's
respectful because she's a momwith two young kids.
They're out walking their dogon a beautiful day.
I just want to give them spacebecause I don't know if her dog
(15:40):
is friendly, her dog is pulling,is the dog going to pull her
down?
So for me that's what I do.
I'm always going to be moreprotective of my dog than
anything else, right?
And she said, you know, I askedher, was he a puppy?
He looked like he's a puppy andshe said a year and I said I
could tell.
And you know, we had a niceexchange and she went on her way
and I went on my way.
But that was a little bitdifferent situation.
(16:01):
But most people are just notpaying attention.
They're not looking at theperson's body language and I
think that you know if you havea reactive dog or not.
A friendly dog like Cody.
You know everybody that isbeing responsible out and about
walking their dog has the rightto walk their dog leashed If
their dog is reactive and yourdog you're not paying attention
(16:22):
and their dog has a little bitof a barking.
You can't get mad at that,right?
You want to be able to respectother people out walking their
dog.
I just think pay attention tothe body language.
So that's the one thing that wewould always address is like
watch the people and then watchyour own dog's body language.
Right, are his hackles going up?
Are you tense on the leash?
Where you're so tense that thedog's like what's going on, I
(16:46):
have to do something right.
When I adopted Cody, he's justthe like you know they say
bombproof dog Like that's justalways how he is.
He's happy to go lucky.
You take him almost everywhererespectfully and I had to learn
with him not to tense up on theleash.
But when I first got Cody therewas a couple of times that I
was like oh my God, I'm sorry,because you know old habits die
(17:07):
hard.
Like 13 years of a nervous dogis a lot to overcome.
Then you get a happy, go luckydog again.
You know I'd had to payattention to my own body
language and walking my dog.
But my dog, cody, won't reactto anybody Like he'll cry, cry
like little baby cries to say hi.
He's always like that golden,he's like wigglin' and happy.
So you know, pay attention tothe person's, like their body,
(17:30):
pay attention to their dog.
You know, if you see a dogwagging the tail, but maybe
their lip is curling and they'relooking at your dog intensely,
maybe don't go say hi, yeah, Idon't know.
Yeah, I think that over the topwith protection with Cody, but
I really could care less.
Amy Castro (17:47):
No, I think it's better better to be.
You know the old adage betterto be safe than sorry.
Exactly so.
You know, watching the person'sbody language is well I mean
the dog body language, obviously.
That's huge too.
But, you know, even if you'reout and about and let's say you
are walking in the park andthere aren't other people with
dogs, but watching the bodylanguage of the person that's
walking, you know, coming yourway, did you know?
(18:08):
Did they look like they'retrying to?
Because this is another thingthat I've seen is that you know,
it's very obvious the persondoesn't want to have contact
with the other person's dog,watching that other person's
body language because maybe theyjust don't like dogs, that
they're afraid of them.
So if they're moving out ofyour way to be disrespectful and
let your dog go over to themanyway, you know and saying, oh,
(18:29):
that's okay, my dog's friendly.
You know, I don't care if yourdog's friendly, I'm not afraid
of most dogs anyway, but I don'tnecessarily want your dog
jumping on me or slobbering onmy pants or whatever it might be
.
So get the hint.
You know it's like keep yourdog with you.
Nancy Hassel (18:44):
I will tell you one of the things that I say to
people when I can tell thatthey're like be lining towards
us and I will say, oh, not today, we're doing some training, but
your dog is beautiful or he'sadorable and I just keep walking
this way kind of stops them intheir tracks and dismisses them,
and most people are like, oh,okay, and then you could see
their wheels spinning, a littlelike I didn't even realize that
(19:04):
I should, you know, or sometimesI'll be like, oh, you know, you
should just always ask if yourdog can say hi, because, you
know, I don't know if their dogis going to try to attack my dog
, right?
So that's kind of I try todiffuse the situation, because
people can just get real nastyto each other.
But yeah, that whole payingattention is just so smart and
teacher kids that pay to, oh,you know, maybe their dog was
(19:27):
attacked in the past or maybethey're really nervous, like you
said, of a dog, a bigger dogcoming over to their smaller dog
.
You know.
Amy Castro (19:35):
Yeah, so so we've been talking about being out in
in parks and things like that,and that makes me think about
dog parks.
You know I am very opposed todog parks for a lot of different
reasons.
I bet I'd be curious to hearwhat your thoughts are about
taking your dog.
You know, let's say you have areally good manner dog, does
that mean it's a good idea totake your dog to a dog park?
Nancy Hassel (19:55):
So I'm also not a big fan of dog parks.
I know a lot of people that goand never have an issue, and I
also, you know, stood there andwatched dogs get into pretty big
bites on the outskirts.
I think it's a great place totrain your dog outside the dog
park.
I have a video that I just didof Cody during this training, as
he's sitting and all the dogsare playing in that park.
(20:16):
They all seem to get.
They all seem to be respectfulof each other.
The people I'm not a big faneither, just because of what we
were just talking about Peoplenot knowing body language, not
understanding dog body language.
I think every dog parent aboutto be dog parent should take a
course on dog body languagebehavior, If there's a book,
whatever there is learn it.
(20:37):
Learn it from a trainerbeforehand, like what are the
things I should be looking for?
That was one of the trainers,rolissa from Dog U Canine
Academy.
She was a breeder, owner,handler and competed all over
the world and her stories andher information were fascinating
about what the mother dog wouldteach the puppies and that you
know those certain things asmost dog parents don't know that
(21:00):
because maybe they haven't beenthere.
I think any pet parent can, ordog parent could learn that and
really learn a lot.
And I just think you know youcan assess the situation right.
There's a agility dog park nextto a dog park, in a park where
you can walk the trails withyour dog and when there's nobody
in the agility park I'll bringmy dog in there to do a little
(21:22):
quick agility and then we'llleave.
But you know, it's temptingbecause there was a Doberman in
the dog park one day and he wasdoing the agility and there was
nobody in there and I was like,oh man, I really want to take
like Cody, play with that doby,because I could just tell the
doby was like perfection, right,and the guy was super nice and
(21:42):
as I was like this close tosaying, okay, I'm going to like
Cody in there and play with thatdog, they're going to have a
blast, and he's never been in adog park ever.
And just I heard a car doorshut and I looked and I see
somebody being dragged by likefour big dogs and like two
people being dragged by four andI was like, yeah, have a nice
day.
I'm not even going to take achance Now.
(22:03):
The dogs could have just beenexcited.
But you know, I think that thepart of the problem with the dog
parks is that people are notpaying attention to their dogs
and you'll see a smaller dog,even if it's a big dog, run and
it is big dog, getting pummeledby 20 other dogs or they get
that chasing factor.
So I think you know, if you'rea dog parent and like that's the
(22:25):
only option maybe you live in acity and, like New York City or
you want to go to the dog parkgo and watch the dog park first,
get to know some of the peoplein there.
There might be times, if youwant to go into the dog park,
that there are certain dogs thatare always there that get along
great and there's no scuffles.
I will never bring my dog to adog park.
I don't want to set him up forfailure.
I don't want him to getattacked.
(22:46):
You know he's just too justwould never do it, he's too,
friendly.
I knew a dog that got ruined bybeing brought to a dog park.
She was the happiest dog, andafter a few times of going there
she was a different dog.
So it's not all dogs that'sgoing to happen to, but I just
think, assess it.
But yeah, I think it's.
You know, there's no realstructure in a dog park.
(23:07):
There's a sign.
Nobody reads the rules.
Amy Castro (23:08):
So All right, what about you know, one of my
personal challenges that Ialways used to have was going
into the vet's office, becauseyou're kind of limited in space
as to how much space you can,how much space you can maintain
there, and I don't feel like the.
You know they separate, theymight separate.
You know the dog side versusthe cat side, so that helps a
(23:30):
little bit.
But any particular advice forwhen you're taking your dog to
the vet and there are going tobe a bunch of other animals in
that space.
Nancy Hassel (23:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean I think we kind oflearned this through the
pandemic is that wait, wait inthe car with your dog and have
him call you when they're readyto go in?
If your dog, even if your dogis just excited, right, like
like that's how Cody is, he'slike who who at the vet, he's
probably one of the few dogs.
But if your dog is happy, golucky and excited, you know, and
you're trying to control ayoung puppy and you're in that
(24:00):
vestibule, which they're neverbig enough, right, right, and
people are coming out andthey're trying to pay and all
the things you can always justsay to this, hey, I'm going to
wait outside with my dog and canyou just call me when we're
ready.
And then if you have a dog thatis reactive or you know they
will, a good vet staff will tellthe people that are like maybe
by the door, like somebody'scoming in, and we're going to
(24:21):
bring a dog back.
I think that's just the easiestthing to do is wait outside and
then just be respectful.
You know, not everybody wantsyour dog jumping on them, right?
Or you know, sometimes there'scats in a cat carrier and you
can have a dog that doesn't seeit and then all of a sudden gets
a whiff.
That is like really excitedabout an animal and a cat and a
carrier, even if it's anotheranimal, a bunny or something
(24:43):
else, and if they have preydrive, that could you know
really be intense.
So, I would just say ask thestaff like hey, I'm just going
to hang out outside with my dog.
I am very fortunate that Ididn't have to stay outside ever
during the pandemic with my dog.
They just scheduled theappointment so you could go in
as soon as you got there.
Amy Castro (25:02):
Yeah.
Nancy Hassel (25:02):
He just called it was pretty awesome, yeah.
So I think you know, I think wemake it harder than it actually
is, right, yeah.
Amy Castro (25:11):
I mean, it's so easy for them to just text or call
you when it's you know when theywant you to come in, when
they've got an exam room open.
You know the other thing I'llsay.
You mentioned the thing aboutthe cats, and it's not always
necessarily about your dog andhow your dog reacts to cats,
because this is a little petpeeve of mine, not only at the
vet, but also we have our catsin cages, condos we'll call them
condos at a local pet suppliesplus and we, you know, we love
(25:34):
to have the ability to show thecats there.
But you know people think, oh,my dog is friendly, my dog likes
cats.
That doesn't mean those catsaren't terrified of dogs.
They may not have been arounddogs, so just because your dog
is good with cats doesn't mean Iwant you charging up to my cat
carrier when I'm sitting in thelobby at the vet, or to my cat
kennels at the pet supplies.
(25:54):
Plus, you know, it justtraumatizes them.
So that's another little bit ofadvice for everybody.
It's not, it's not your dog'stesting ground to see how your
dog reacts to cats, please.
You can do that at home withyour own cat.
Nancy Hassel (26:06):
Yeah, and I go with Cody and he goes, oh, so
you get excited, and the cat,literally, oh, like, whatever,
it's so funny.
But we just walk by and I'mlike, all right, don't make too
much noise, we just keep going.
But yeah, I agree with that,that's so funny.
Amy Castro (26:21):
That's funny.
So what about?
We talked also before a littlebit about pet friendly stores,
because I've been seeing somerumblings.
You know, when I look atneighborhood Facebook pages and
things, like that where you'vegot, you know people who are
very pro, you know bringingtheir dogs to the Home Depot's
and pet stores and Lowe's andother places like that.
(26:41):
And then you've got other people, whether they've got pets or
not, that are like oh, there'sno reason for that dog to be
there, and I can see both sidesand the benefits to bringing
your dogs to places like that.
So how can we do that withoutpissing people off?
Nancy Hassel (26:53):
basically, yeah, so I will say anybody's
listening or watching oranything like that that knows me
.
I bring Cody almost everywhere.
Obviously he doesn't go intoevery store with me and I tell
him that you can't go into thestore.
You don't have to go into thestore, you have to stay home,
right?
So that's the first thing.
If it's not dog friendly andyour dog is not a certified
service dog that you, legally,you know you have to help you
(27:16):
leave your dog at home.
If it's not a dog friendly store, some of the dog friendly
places like we recently went toLowe's because they're dog
friendly and I double check, Itriple check, I check all the
signs, I look online because Idon't want to bring my dog into
a store even though it says it'sdog friendly.
That's really only service dogfriendly, right.
But we went at dinner time whenthere was nobody really there.
(27:38):
It was like freezing cold andthat's the only reason why we
went and we walked around.
We did training and respectfulof the store and they also have
Petco now in a lot of Lowe's.
So it is, some of them are petstores.
They did have a whole petsection but it wasn't an actual
pet go, so we walked around.
I actually had to get a coupleof things at Lowe's.
It wasn't just like me goingthere to bring the dog, to bring
(27:58):
the dog to walk around.
And then I ended up getting somepet stuff too and just have to
be respectful.
Don't let your dog chew on thewood, don't let your dog pee,
you know like.
Amy Castro (28:09):
Make sure that you're being respectful that
peeing one is a huge pet peeveof mine because Again, it's
people being oblivious, they'renot watching what's going on.
You know, if you know you havea male dog, you know, even if
it's neutered, the odds are someother male dog has lifted.
Nancy Hassel (28:25):
My leg on the corner of that display.
Amy Castro (28:27):
Yeah, so for you to live, and it's so preventable.
Don't allow your dog to standover there and sniff that spot.
I mean, yeah, if you, if youunderstand body language, you
know it's gonna be sniff, sniff,sniff.
Take a step and then the legsgonna go up.
Prevent it and it's just.
It's shocking to me the peoplethat will and I've seen this so
many times sitting at the petsupplies plus, where People will
just be oblivious and it's, youknow, peeing, peeing on the
(28:50):
floor.
And I get it if it's a puppy,but if you've got a male dog and
then and then it's lifting theleg on a 70 pound bag of dog
food, that I don't want to buy.
Nancy Hassel (28:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah so rude, so disrespectful
and I can't imagine being in thestores and that happening.
There used to be a pet store Ithink they're still there and it
said no male dogs allowed inthe store because for that
reason, yeah, I mean.
But yeah, I think it's all goesdown to training, knowing your
dog, paying attention to yourdog, keeping your dog On that
six foot lead.
(29:20):
Don't let the dog wander.
When I was walking aroundLowe's with Cody, he was right
next to me.
He wasn't allowed.
I wasn't allowing him to sniffstuff.
So you know, just pay attentionto your dog, like you said it's
.
I think it's just so.
Like I said before you, we makeit more difficult than it has
to be.
If you have your dog on alonger leash and the dog is
ahead of you and you're lookingat something else, your dog may
(29:42):
go to the bathroom and you mightnot see it.
But, if your dog was not on thatlonger leash and was trained in
a sit-stay or to pay attentionto you.
Bring the tools with you tomake the dog make you the most
exciting part of that yeah.
I have treats in my bag, I havea squeaker with my old dog, mac,
and that he didn't go into anyof those stores I have.
(30:03):
I haven't had a tennis ball.
He likes to hold a tennis ball.
So you know, like find out whatyour dog is going to be paying
attention to.
You train your dog Look, codyknows the term, don't pee on
that.
And I walk him and I pull himto me and my feel, don't pee on
that.
Like I took him yesterday topet smart, just to walk around,
because he was bored and Ibought him a toy and I wasn't
(30:24):
doing training, I was just there, was nobody in there, was just
letting him like do his things,that hello to one or two people,
but there was a two spots thatI could see and I was like that
over here to me.
You wouldn't, you know?
Add to that.
So, yeah, you know, I think itall depends on your situation.
Are you the only person withyour dog?
You're gonna have more time todo that.
Are you a family with your dogand you want to go out and about
?
You know, maybe your dogdoesn't need to go to those pet
(30:47):
friendly stores I get for peoplethat are like you know, not
wanting the dogs there.
I think for me, my biggest petpeeve is being respectful of
service dogs, because I Justdon't understand.
If you see a service dog withsomebody, don't bring your
overzealous dog up to them.
Don't bring your dog like intheir vicinity.
(31:08):
I just think it's not thatdifficult to be respectful when
you see that, and right, it'spretty clear that you could tell
the difference between aservice dog and a fake service
dog, right?
Amy Castro (31:19):
We did a whole episode on that, yeah, so we're
not even to get into it.
Nancy Hassel (31:22):
But it's pretty clear because I've seen a few of
the fakes and I've even said oh, that's not a real service dog.
You know, and it could tell,because the dog wasn't a puppy
in training.
It was, you know, like goingcrazy.
But um, I Don't know the wholestore thing is.
You know, I love to bring Codyto pet friendly places.
But yeah he's trained and he'swell behaved.
My last dog I didn't bring himbecause I never knew what the
(31:46):
situation was gonna be ifsomebody else had a dog.
There's actually a store hereon Long Island that did an
amazing thing recently.
It I kind of went viral ontheir Instagram.
She had a special shopping dayfor a reactive dog.
She closed the store and letthe dog have.
It's a small boutique, let thedog have his shopping day and
celebrate the birthday and I waslike that is such an amazing
(32:09):
idea.
In 20 plus years in the petindustry I have never seen
anybody do that.
So I hope that takes off andmore and more stores do that.
Because, like I never broughtMacs to any kind of pet store,
you know, it's just there was noway I was gonna put him in that
situation.
He was nervous, so there wasjust there's no way I was gonna
do that.
Amy Castro (32:27):
So part of that.
You know we've been talkingabout etiquette and not taking
your dogs on place if they'renot trained.
But there's also that wholeside of it of then.
How do you get them trained tobehave in public if you can't
bring them out in public?
And and I do want to addressthat as we kind of come into the
tail end but I, yeah, I want tohit on something you said about
Going to the store with yourtreats and your squeaker and
(32:48):
whatever, because that's anotherthing with the pet etiquette in
being in a pet store Is thatyou know my, my dog knew the
word leave it.
Actually, all my yeah prettymuch know the word leave it,
yeah, and I see people goingdown the aisle, you know Picking
up a bully stick and you knowit's an ow, it's in the dog's
mouth, putting it back and it'syeah, okay, yeah.
I hope they're vaccinated and Ihope they don't have this and I
(33:08):
hope they don't have that andit's like Reason, though.
Nancy Hassel (33:11):
You know I always Cody's term for that.
He knows, leave it, but it'sdon't shoplift, you know there
you go, he can sniff, but he'snot allowed to pick up anything,
so it's kind of funny.
Amy Castro (33:19):
If you lick it, you buy it.
That should be the rule.
Nancy Hassel (33:24):
Hilarious right should be a sign there.
But you know, I did a videowith him recently of him we're
online waiting and he's in asick day and the lady behind me
was like you hot, can I hire youfor training?
And I was like no, I said it'sjust patience and Repetitiveness
.
You know, and Cody is veryexcited to be at a pet store.
(33:44):
I have some pretty funny videosof his feet on the counter of
him.
But, like you know, it's apeople and they encourage it.
They were like, oh, he can youknow?
And I'm like no, sit.
And they're like okay, and I'mlike, oh, that's one other thing
that's frustrating.
If your dog is like overzealousand wants to jump up and say hi,
jump up and say hi, don't lethim do that.
And people respect the petparent and say you know, if I'm
(34:06):
like no off, don't jump,whatever.
Don't say it's okay, yeah it'snot okay, I know we want to, as
you know, get in there andreally say hi to the dog, but
you know you really shouldn'thave a dog jumping on other
people and you, as a dog person,if you love it, you shouldn't
be letting other dogs jump onyou.
Amy Castro (34:25):
Um, I always tell people when we have foster dogs
and you know people are comingto meet them and they, you know,
they're in the process of beingtrained or maybe they don't
have any training in it's yeah.
When they say, oh, it's okay, Idon't mind, and it's like you
know what, that's so great.
But then you know the nextperson that come along might
mind, or he might get adopted bysomebody that has an elderly
person in their House and wedon't need him jumping on
(34:45):
somebody's grandma, so let'sdiscourage that.
You know.
Nancy Hassel (34:47):
Help, help me out by discouraging that.
Amy Castro (34:49):
And then they usually will get it, but that's
that's a really good point.
Nancy Hassel (34:53):
I just want to make one other point of the
training that I've done withCody over the years.
I mean, I've had him for eightyears now but and I got him when
he was about 10 or 11 months.
He was a shelter dog, lives inthe shelter for six months, but
he was kind of chilled out,which is really funny.
I was like what's going on withyou?
You're so common here and he'sa Exuberant happy.
You know he howls at everybody,he's just the happiest dog.
(35:14):
But he still needed trainingwith that.
You know like I couldn't justhave like craziness the whole
time.
But what I would do is outsideof any place.
I'm gonna bring him in petstore.
Anything like that is Sit, stay, because he's like he knows he
knows doggy store.
Right, like, I'm gonna go tothe doggy store and he's super
excited.
But you have to get thatexcitement under control and you
(35:37):
know it took a while and ittook a lot of Repetitiveness,
because the door is open and thedoor is closed.
People come in, people go out,right, and he would be, you know
, like, let's go, I want to getin there, and the fifth day and
so I get it would put him in afifth day, wait 30 seconds.
Maybe if he pulled now backinto a Sid's day.
I think that really helps withlike, yes, they're gonna be
(35:58):
excited to go into the store,but they should also be under
your control, right, right,somebody commented on a video on
his TikTok saying I could neverbring my dog into a pet store
Cuz you'd be too excited.
And I'm like, yeah, cody wasvery excited, he's still excited
, but you know you have to takewhat that is, right, you're
gonna have some training andyou're gonna have some
excitement right.
(36:18):
So you have to figure out whatit is, because Cody just loves,
loves, loves other people.
He loves other animals too, butyeah, so excited to see people
and I take them to a lot of likeoutdoor events and stuff like
that.
He sees a pop-up tent now.
He thinks it's something that heshould be going to and when we
leave when we leave, heliterally sometimes will stop
his body and look at me like I'mruining his life.
(36:40):
I'm like we've been two hours,let's go, yeah.
Other thing I would say to thatpoint, being at events Like you
were saying you didn'tnecessarily bring your doberman
to events is watch your dog'sbody language.
Like I can say to Cody, I knowwhen he's done, like it's we've
been here long enough Even ifhe's wants to stay and gives me
(37:00):
that sad face and stops likedoesn't want to walk.
You have to be that responsibleperson, just like if you had
human kids to say Like it's timeto go, you're gonna have a
meltdown, right, you've seen thelittle kids having meltdowns
because they've been there toolong or they ate too much sugar.
With Cody I'm like we got to go,that's it.
Yeah, we had fun.
We were here for two hours.
You know like let's go.
(37:20):
It might take some treat,encouragement, but you have to
be that advocate of your dog andpaying attention to when they
are done, because when they'retired, when they're stressed, if
it's just stressful situation,it's not gonna be good for your
dog.
So Cody has a threshold,usually never more than two
hours.
I used to bring him to petexpose and be there for a long
time now we do no more than liketwo hours and I'll say, coach,
(37:43):
do you want to go home?
And he goes oh, he'll lose me.
I'm like oh.
Amy Castro (37:48):
But that's, that's a good point.
You know it's, it's, it's twoends of the spectrum there.
So it's knowing, you knowknowing when your pet, who is
used to these things, yeah hashad enough, because even those
pets can be pushed beyond alimit.
But I think that whole idea ofknowing your pet and knowing
those limits starts at thebeginning too.
You know, maybe the whole thingstarts with, and I think this
(38:09):
is what my key would need to bewith with Guinevere is we?
You know if, if I was trying toget her to the point where she
could go to a two-hour pet eventwithout, you know, losing her
mind or dropping dead of a heartattack because she is a bulldog
and so she just gets?
Nancy Hassel (38:23):
so worked up and yeah, yeah, pink, and she scares
yeah.
Amy Castro (38:27):
So you know, getting her in the car first and just
taking her out, not necessarilygetting her out of the car, go
for a short car ride.
Then maybe it's a quick run into grab one thing at the store
and out, not hanging out for 30minutes, but you build up to
what you've done with Cody.
It doesn't doesn't start fromthe beginning like that and I
think that's important forpeople to know is where are you
on that spectrum and build up tothe bigger.
(38:50):
You know bigger outings.
Nancy Hassel (38:52):
Absolutely.
I love that you said that.
It's so true because you'llhear people say, like my dog
Hates the car.
This you know.
He only associates the car withgoing to the groomer, to the
vet, you know.
Yeah, well, my dog, becausethat's all that happens.
Yeah, my dog has never seenoutside the fence because they
don't walk the dog.
And then they wonder why, likehey, we want to go to this event
in town and the dog is likefreaked out.
(39:13):
So yeah small increments is soimportant with dog training,
with getting your dog used tothings.
And of course it goes back toyour dog, right?
You can have a dog that's justlike happy, go, lucky, like Cody
, ready to go.
Or you can have a dog that'slike he wants to go or she wants
to go, but like your dog, cody,gets red too.
People are always like what'swrong with his eyes.
I'm like nothing, he's justexcited.
(39:33):
I think it's a bully thing, youknow.
But you know the same thing,it's just.
That's such a great point to mebecause it really you know,
really you wouldn't bring yourdog, your new dog, to a pedex
bow for eight hours and expectto have the most perfect Right
so right.
Amy Castro (39:52):
Well, nancy, thank you so much for being with us
today.
This was really, really.
I know it helped me because Ihave allowed me to get some
stuff off my chest.
But I think but I think theadvice that you shared is gonna
be really helpful to ourlisteners and I hope that people
are able to identify like, yes,this is me, that's this are.
These are the mistakes that I'mmaking, possibly, and and how
they can go about remedying them.
(40:13):
So I really appreciate yourtime and sharing all of that.
I'm so happy to be here.
Thank you so much for having me, and if you have family members
or friends who you know theyhave these issues, you know,
share this episode with them,because you know it.
Really, when you get to thatpoint where you've got a
well-trained dog that you canTake out in public and
comfortable with your knowledgeand with their behavior, it's
(40:35):
just so much less stressful whenyou're when you're doing it and
it'll be so much more enjoyable.
And that's what you that's thewhole point of you taking your
dog out and about is to have agood time right, yes and can.
Nancy Hassel (40:45):
I say one more point.
I know we'll go on for hours.
Higher dog trainer right, yeah,sure how to do it.
Higher dog trainer interviewdog trainers.
You may not find the first dogtrainers, the dog trainer for
you or for your dog or for yourfamily situation.
Interview them, get to knowthem and have them work with you
on Areas that your dog needshelp in.
If there are those areas, Ifeel like there's so many
(41:06):
amazing dog trainers in thiscountry that can help you.
So go hire a dog trainer, youknow, even if it's a one-time
thing.
Amy Castro (41:15):
All right.
Well, I think that's a great, agreat piece of advice to end
with, and again, thank you somuch for being here today and
thank you to everybody forlistening to another episode of
Starlight Pet Talk.
Thanks, amy, thanks forlistening to Starlight Pet Talk.
Be sure to visit our website atwwwstarlightpettalkcom for more
resources and be sure to followthis podcast on your favorite
(41:38):
podcast app, so you'll nevermiss a show.
If you enjoyed and found valuein today's episode, we'd
appreciate a rating on Apple, orif you'd simply tell a friend
about the show, that would begreat too.
Don't forget to tune in nextweek and every week for a brand
new episode of Starlight PetTalk, and if you don't do
anything else this week, giveyour pets a big hug from us.
As a dog mom to several dogs of my own, as well
as many foster dogs, I prettymuch know which ones are good to
go when going out in public andwhich ones either need to stay
home or need a lot more work.
Unfortunately, many pet parentsdon't know that their dog's not
ready for prime time and maybedon't even realize the etiquette
for being in public with theirdog.
(00:21):
So that's what we're talkingabout today so that you and your
dog can travel out in the worldand get along and get things
done.
So stay tuned.
My guest today is Nancy Hassel.
(01:19):
Nancy is the president andfounder of American Pet
Professionals, which is abusiness, networking,
educational and multimediaorganization for the pet
industry with members from allareas of the world.
I'm so happy to be here today.
Thank you so much for having me, amy.
(01:43):
I'm so happy to be here today.
You know, I was so glad thatwhen we were talking about the
pet business.
Nancy Hassel (01:53):
It was something that really helped me understand
what it means to be a petparent.
Amy Castro (01:57):
I'm so glad that when we were talking about the
possibility of having you on theshow, that you brought up this
subject today, because ithappens to be a personal pet
peeve of mine.
Like I told you, before westarted recording, I had a
Doberman, pinscher, who was verywell trained, but it was my
fault, he was not really greatlydog socialized.
So you know, there were just somany times where I either
couldn't take him out in publicbecause other people couldn't
(02:19):
control their pets, or even justgoing to the vet would be a
hassle, because we'd be sittingin our corner and he'd be mining
his business.
And you know people, without acontrol, dogs on my least
favorite leash, the Flexi leash,would just cause chaos.
And then it was always my dog'sfault, because he was, he was
barking, yeah, and you got thedirty look yeah, I got the dirty
look and then it perpetuatesthe negative image of my poor
(02:43):
dog's breed as well.
So you know, it's definitely atwo way street, I think, when it
comes to this bringing our dogsout in public and being
respectful.
So what would, what would beand I know you taught classes on
this to people what are somegeneral messages about just
taking your dog out amongsthumans and other dogs?
And then I want to get intosome specific scenarios.
Nancy Hassel (03:05):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I did teach responsible dogownership class.
It was just for people as aclass that came out of a knee
jerk reaction of me beingfrustrated with seeing yet
another law being passed againstdogs.
Amy Castro (03:17):
And.
Nancy Hassel (03:18):
I was complaining to a friend and I said you know,
would be nice if, instead ofjust having another law, they
actually educated dog owners.
And she's like why don't youteach a class?
This is back in 2008.
And I was like what?
And then it just perpetuatedfrom there.
But one of the main things thatI always said in every single
class we had dog trainers in theclass and veterinarians.
I started the class off and wehad no dogs in the class.
(03:41):
It was just educating petparents and about to be pet
parents.
We had a lot of people thatcame that were about to adopt
the dog or thinking aboutadopting a dog or buying a dog
or whatever they were doing.
However, they were gettingtheir dog.
But, one of the main things thatI always said is know your dog
and know your dog's breed, evenif you have a mixed breed,
because a lot of the differentbehavioral issues you know,
(04:03):
people thought they werebehavioral issues and it was
really just what the dog wasbred for, right?
Our dog keeps getting out andrunning away, our dog keeps
doing this and I'm like, well,that's part of the dog's breed
or that's part of your dog'smixed breed, and know your dog,
right, don't be in denial aboutyour own dog's personality,
their behaviors, you know.
Are they a dog that might bereactive on leash, but they're
(04:25):
not actually, you know, it's notaggression, they just might
have a reaction on a leash.
Are they overzealous?
Ah, so excited, you know, andjumping on everybody because
everybody likes to blame the dogand like 99% of the time, it's
not the dog.
It's rare when there's aninstance when it's really the
dog's fault, right?
So know your dog and know yourbreed or mixed breed of dog,
(04:46):
what they were bred for.
Know your dog's own individualpersonality, what their limits
are if they have limits.
So that's something that I'vealways said and I think you know
a lot of people have neverreally heard that that we talked
about in the class.
They'd be like oh, I didn'tthink about it that way and I'm
like, yes, it's nothing againstyou or your dog, you're here to
learn, right, and I always.
(05:07):
The other thing I always saidin the class was no question is
a stupid question or a sillyquestion, because you are here
to learn.
We are not going to make youfeel bad about stuff that you
might have done incorrectly inthe past or anything like that.
We want you to learn and havethe best outcome for you and
your dog, or you're about to bea dog.
So that's some of the thingsthat we always said in the class
(05:28):
.
Amy Castro (05:30):
Yeah, you know, I think one of the things that I
find with pet parents and we'vedone several episodes that have
kind of hit on this issue isthat too many times we focus so
much on what we want.
You know, I'd love to be able totake my dog, Guinevere, out in
public and she's overallbasically a good dog, but she
gets so overly excited, she getsso wound up and then she just
(05:51):
then, she just doesn't listen aswell.
And, yes, I probably shouldhave taken her out more when she
was younger.
I didn't, you know, I didn'thave her from when she was a
little puppy.
I had her when she was prettymuch a year old.
But okay, you know.
So I either need to, you know,work on that gradual increase of
getting her out and about, butyeah, or just not take her out
in public but to just basicallysay, oh, I'm going to take her
(06:13):
to an all day, you know, eventfor dogs in the park.
It's just not a good idea foranybody involved.
It's going to be miserable forher, it's going to be miserable
for me, miserable for otherpeople.
Nancy Hassel (06:23):
Yeah, so you knew your dog.
You knew that it wouldn't be agood situation.
Yeah.
Amy Castro (06:27):
Right, so so what is the?
You know what would be some ofthe basic etiquette things.
Like I said, you know about theflexi leash, you know, to me
one of the things would be thatyour dog should be, you know,
within your eyesight and knowingwhat it's doing, and keeping it
within a certain distance fromyourself because, yeah, once it
gets past that, you're losing abit of control.
Nancy Hassel (06:48):
I mean, first of all, the basic etiquette is if
you're out and about, if you'rein a park or anywhere in a town
that there's a leash requirement, get a really good six foot
leash and keep your dog leash.
I do not care how well behavedyour dog is.
My dog is super well behaved.
He has an awesome recall.
He's never going to be offleash where he's not allowed to
be off leash and even in areaswhere, like at the beach,
(07:09):
there's some a lot of beacheshere on Long Island on the east
end that are dog friendly.
I put him on a 30 foot biothaneleash because, like he might
jump in the waves, I need topull him out.
You know that kind of thing.
He has been off leash at an offleash dog beach away from dogs.
He is super dog friendly.
But I don't know the other dogsif they're dog friendly or not.
So you know, leash your dog,follow the law.
(07:32):
You know, every single day whenI'm out walking my dog, there's
a loose dog and my last dogbehind me, mr Max.
He was actually attacked by agolden retriever in a park where
the dogs were supposed to beoff leash and it was one of the
scariest things that I wentthrough and I had my Doberman at
the time and the owners, youknow, unfortunately just adopted
(07:54):
it and had it off leash andwere really far away from the
dog and they just assumed thedog was friendly.
Luckily my dog didn't getreally hurt.
He had some puncture wounds.
But for me to then recover, tothen retrain my dog it was a it
took a long time because Irealized a lot of times my
reaction would go right down theleash and it would set him off.
He wasn't aggressive, he was avery nervous dog.
(08:17):
So leash your dog.
I mean, like I know a lot ofpeople hate that and a lot of
people really give you a hardtime.
If you ask nicely, a lot oftimes I'll just stop with my dog
, cody.
Now Cody could care less aboutany dog, like he will ignore 99%
of the dog.
He'll say hello to dogs that weknow that are dog-friendly, on
leashes and stuff.
But if I see a loose dog, nowyou know I just put him in a sit
(08:38):
and then I say to them hey, canyou leash your dog?
Or you know, I just make itreally obvious that my dog is in
a sit, stay and I just stare atpeople.
A lot of times that works, but alot of times they just don't
care, and it's that you knowthat part of it is really
frustrating for responsible dogowners who aren't just letting
(08:59):
their dogs run ahead of them andnot paying attention,
especially in parks wherethere's people jogging and
biking and running, horses goingthrough the trails like all
kinds of things.
I think leaching your dog isfor your dog's safety, Dog
forbid.
Your dog ran up to another dogon leash that was aggressive and
that dog on the leash diddamage.
(09:20):
You're the one that'sresponsible.
Of course it depends on thestate you're in, but here in New
York you would be responsible.
Yeah, and you should be, in myopinion, you're all good for
being, you know, beingpotentially hurt or run or chase
something.
Yeah, it's just, you know.
I know people that have reallygreat control of their dogs and
I see them off leash and I don'tsay anything, I don't make a
fuss.
You know, I can also spot adog's body language from afar
(09:44):
and be like, oh, that dog'stotally fine and see if the
owner has it under verbalcontrol.
But it's just frustrating whenyou're trying to go out and
enjoy your walk and you feellike a loose dog or two you know
, way ahead of their dog.
It's like, oh my God put yourdog on leash.
Amy Castro (09:59):
Well, it's interesting too.
It starts at home you remindedme of.
You know I used to in order toget my Doberman good exercise,
because even when I was thinnerI couldn't run long enough or
fast enough to get him reallygood exercise.
So I had a bike attachment andwe would ride around the
neighborhood and inevitably onany given on any, any given trip
.
And I remember a neighbor twohouses down had two golden
(10:20):
retrievers and she had them outon the driveway off leash.
You know she's screaming theirnames to come back and you know,
she's yelling to me they'refriendly, they're friendly and
it's like, yeah, but I'm tryingto ride my bike with my dog, who
doesn't?
want your dog charging up to usand, you know, ends up pulling
the bike over, you know,breaking the bike attachment,
and you know it's just like okay, now I'm around every corner.
(10:41):
And then another instance whichI got and I shouldn't probably
even admit this on the air, butI got a little tiny bit of
satisfaction out of this one isthat I came around the corner
and this lady was working in herfront yard and her dog was in
the front yard with her offleash and her kid was kind of
like sitting on the dog's back.
And I thought to myself okay,when I come around this corner,
I hope that dog sits where he'ssupposed to sit, but if he
(11:04):
doesn't, that kid's going to goflying.
And sure enough, I come aroundthe corner, the dog jumps up,
the kid gets dumped on theground.
I mean, he didn't get hurt, itwas on the grass, but it's like
you know.
And here comes a dog out in themiddle of the street and it's
like what if I'd been on theopposite side of the street and
a car was coming?
Nancy Hassel (11:17):
down.
Oh, what if a car was coming?
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Amy Castro (11:21):
So you know it starts.
I think you're right.
I mean, no matter how good yourdog's recall and most people's
dog's recall is not good at allyou know it might come to them
in the house if they've got atreat, but other than that it's
not good.
But you never know whatsituation is going to trigger
them not to hear you or not tolisten.
Nancy Hassel (11:38):
Yeah, and a lot of times dogs are super friendly,
happy, go lucky.
And I want to preface this bysaying it's nothing against
Golden's.
I love all dogs.
Right, it could care less whatkind of breed you have.
We just happen to have certainto your own situations with
those different dogs that wouldbe Golden's.
I love all dogs, Cody loves alldogs.
But it's just, you know, it'sjust frustrating when you're
(12:01):
being the responsible dog ownerand here comes a dog running
down the street or something.
I had a neighbor not too longago that never leashed a dog.
Dogs were always loose.
He would scream at them.
It was terrible.
It was a terrible situation.
Thankfully he moved away, but Ifelt bad for the dogs.
The dogs were nice but likepeople would be jogging by and
they would go running up to thejogger and the jogger would be,
(12:21):
like you know, terrified and I'mlike, oh my God.
So yeah, leash your dogs, yeah.
You know if you're in an areathat, like you're in a farm or
you're in an area that there'sno leash, it might be a
different way of life.
I'm talking about exuberbia,city of life that's, you know
really, where there's laws thatyour dog should be leached.
Amy Castro (12:41):
Yeah, well, you know , and having living on a seven
acre farm, ish, you know I stillget frustrated with people up
and they'll literally tell mebecause I had a volunteer that
picked up somebody's dog,thinking it was a stray and
needed needed rescue, because itwas wandering down the street
and it's like you know theexcuse is it's a farm dog.
It's like okay, then keep yourdog, farm dog on your farm, not
(13:02):
on my farm, not pooping in myyard, not chasing my dog, not
chasing my pony, you know, andso you know, even then it's a
it's a respect thing, I think,and it's you know it's it's
important to follow the rules.
You had mentioned body languageand I think it's really that's a
really important topic.
Can you talk to the issue ofyou know being able to you know
(13:22):
read your own pets body language, but also reading the body
language of the other.
You know the other dog andpeople too when you're out with
your dog.
Nancy Hassel (13:30):
Yeah, so this is a big deal.
I always talked about this inour classes because when I had
my sweet Max, he was a nervousdog and if there was a dog 20
feet ahead on a, on a flexi orretractable leash, or just
people not paying attention, Iwould have to move myself over
to the side of the trail, puthim in a sit, you know, make him
pay attention to me, whateverit was, and they would not watch
(13:53):
me or my dog's body languageand they would always say my dog
is friendly and I'm like he wasattacked.
And they'd be like, oh my God,anybody that is a dog parent.
You know, we'll, we'll addressthe person's body language first
.
If you see somebody that iswalking their dog and they do
what I did and like with my olddog Max, I'd be like, I'd be
like into the woods at somepoint and people are still be
(14:13):
lining up.
I'm like, no, no, no, no, like,pull your dog back.
Watch the person's bodylanguage, as you'll see, the
person will get really nervousand they're stiffing up, they're
pulling their dog's leashbecause they know their dog
might have a leash reaction.
So you can see somebody reallytense.
Right, if they're tense, iftheir body language is tense if
they moved over, if they crossedthe street you know, I used to
(14:35):
have to cross the street.
Sometimes they're like puttingtheir hand out.
I just think that, especiallynow, it's even worse because
we're all a lot of people are ontheir phones and not paying
attention.
Just the other day I was outwalking and where I am there's a
winter break, so there was afamily walking with their very
happy go lucky, beautiful, andit was a golden and a dog was
awesome and the dog was justlike you know, excited, and my
(14:58):
dog very friendly.
But the mother was not payingattention to her dog.
She was trying to put the hoodsomething back on her kid.
So I just stopped to give themspace to let them finish.
She didn't even see me and thenshe turned around and her dog
was like pulling, pulling,wiggling every part of his body.
It was really cute and I justsaid, oh, he's friendly.
(15:19):
I'm just you know, I don't knowabout your dog just giving you
some space to walk by because itwas a narrow trail.
And she's like, oh sorry, and Iwas like you know, no, it's all
right, I didn't have to stop.
But for me to stop and give herthat space, I think it's
respectful because she's a momwith two young kids.
They're out walking their dogon a beautiful day.
I just want to give them spacebecause I don't know if her dog
(15:40):
is friendly, her dog is pulling,is the dog going to pull her
down?
So for me that's what I do.
I'm always going to be moreprotective of my dog than
anything else, right?
And she said, you know, I askedher, was he a puppy?
He looked like he's a puppy andshe said a year and I said I
could tell.
And you know, we had a niceexchange and she went on her way
and I went on my way.
But that was a little bitdifferent situation.
(16:01):
But most people are just notpaying attention.
They're not looking at theperson's body language and I
think that you know if you havea reactive dog or not.
A friendly dog like Cody.
You know everybody that isbeing responsible out and about
walking their dog has the rightto walk their dog leashed If
their dog is reactive and yourdog you're not paying attention
(16:22):
and their dog has a little bitof a barking.
You can't get mad at that,right?
You want to be able to respectother people out walking their
dog.
I just think pay attention tothe body language.
So that's the one thing that wewould always address is like
watch the people and then watchyour own dog's body language.
Right, are his hackles going up?
Are you tense on the leash?
Where you're so tense that thedog's like what's going on, I
(16:46):
have to do something right.
When I adopted Cody, he's justthe like you know they say
bombproof dog Like that's justalways how he is.
He's happy to go lucky.
You take him almost everywhererespectfully and I had to learn
with him not to tense up on theleash.
But when I first got Cody therewas a couple of times that I
was like oh my God, I'm sorry,because you know old habits die
(17:07):
hard.
Like 13 years of a nervous dogis a lot to overcome.
Then you get a happy, go luckydog again.
You know I'd had to payattention to my own body
language and walking my dog.
But my dog, cody, won't reactto anybody Like he'll cry, cry
like little baby cries to say hi.
He's always like that golden,he's like wigglin' and happy.
So you know, pay attention tothe person's, like their body,
(17:30):
pay attention to their dog.
You know, if you see a dogwagging the tail, but maybe
their lip is curling and they'relooking at your dog intensely,
maybe don't go say hi, yeah, Idon't know.
Yeah, I think that over the topwith protection with Cody, but
I really could care less.
Amy Castro (17:47):
No, I think it's better better to be.
You know the old adage betterto be safe than sorry.
Exactly so.
You know, watching the person'sbody language is well I mean
the dog body language, obviously.
That's huge too.
But, you know, even if you'reout and about and let's say you
are walking in the park andthere aren't other people with
dogs, but watching the bodylanguage of the person that's
walking, you know, coming yourway, did you know?
(18:08):
Did they look like they'retrying to?
Because this is another thingthat I've seen is that you know,
it's very obvious the persondoesn't want to have contact
with the other person's dog,watching that other person's
body language because maybe theyjust don't like dogs, that
they're afraid of them.
So if they're moving out ofyour way to be disrespectful and
let your dog go over to themanyway, you know and saying, oh,
(18:29):
that's okay, my dog's friendly.
You know, I don't care if yourdog's friendly, I'm not afraid
of most dogs anyway, but I don'tnecessarily want your dog
jumping on me or slobbering onmy pants or whatever it might be
.
So get the hint.
You know it's like keep yourdog with you.
Nancy Hassel (18:44):
I will tell you one of the things that I say to
people when I can tell thatthey're like be lining towards
us and I will say, oh, not today, we're doing some training, but
your dog is beautiful or he'sadorable and I just keep walking
this way kind of stops them intheir tracks and dismisses them,
and most people are like, oh,okay, and then you could see
their wheels spinning, a littlelike I didn't even realize that
(19:04):
I should, you know, or sometimesI'll be like, oh, you know, you
should just always ask if yourdog can say hi, because, you
know, I don't know if their dogis going to try to attack my dog
, right?
So that's kind of I try todiffuse the situation, because
people can just get real nastyto each other.
But yeah, that whole payingattention is just so smart and
teacher kids that pay to, oh,you know, maybe their dog was
(19:27):
attacked in the past or maybethey're really nervous, like you
said, of a dog, a bigger dogcoming over to their smaller dog
.
You know.
Amy Castro (19:35):
Yeah, so so we've been talking about being out in
in parks and things like that,and that makes me think about
dog parks.
You know I am very opposed todog parks for a lot of different
reasons.
I bet I'd be curious to hearwhat your thoughts are about
taking your dog.
You know, let's say you have areally good manner dog, does
that mean it's a good idea totake your dog to a dog park?
Nancy Hassel (19:55):
So I'm also not a big fan of dog parks.
I know a lot of people that goand never have an issue, and I
also, you know, stood there andwatched dogs get into pretty big
bites on the outskirts.
I think it's a great place totrain your dog outside the dog
park.
I have a video that I just didof Cody during this training, as
he's sitting and all the dogsare playing in that park.
(20:16):
They all seem to get.
They all seem to be respectfulof each other.
The people I'm not a big faneither, just because of what we
were just talking about Peoplenot knowing body language, not
understanding dog body language.
I think every dog parent aboutto be dog parent should take a
course on dog body languagebehavior, If there's a book,
whatever there is learn it.
(20:37):
Learn it from a trainerbeforehand, like what are the
things I should be looking for?
That was one of the trainers,rolissa from Dog U Canine
Academy.
She was a breeder, owner,handler and competed all over
the world and her stories andher information were fascinating
about what the mother dog wouldteach the puppies and that you
know those certain things asmost dog parents don't know that
(21:00):
because maybe they haven't beenthere.
I think any pet parent can, ordog parent could learn that and
really learn a lot.
And I just think you know youcan assess the situation right.
There's a agility dog park nextto a dog park, in a park where
you can walk the trails withyour dog and when there's nobody
in the agility park I'll bringmy dog in there to do a little
(21:22):
quick agility and then we'llleave.
But you know, it's temptingbecause there was a Doberman in
the dog park one day and he wasdoing the agility and there was
nobody in there and I was like,oh man, I really want to take
like Cody, play with that doby,because I could just tell the
doby was like perfection, right,and the guy was super nice and
(21:42):
as I was like this close tosaying, okay, I'm going to like
Cody in there and play with thatdog, they're going to have a
blast, and he's never been in adog park ever.
And just I heard a car doorshut and I looked and I see
somebody being dragged by likefour big dogs and like two
people being dragged by four andI was like, yeah, have a nice
day.
I'm not even going to take achance Now.
(22:03):
The dogs could have just beenexcited.
But you know, I think that thepart of the problem with the dog
parks is that people are notpaying attention to their dogs
and you'll see a smaller dog,even if it's a big dog, run and
it is big dog, getting pummeledby 20 other dogs or they get
that chasing factor.
So I think you know, if you'rea dog parent and like that's the
(22:25):
only option maybe you live in acity and, like New York City or
you want to go to the dog parkgo and watch the dog park first,
get to know some of the peoplein there.
There might be times, if youwant to go into the dog park,
that there are certain dogs thatare always there that get along
great and there's no scuffles.
I will never bring my dog to adog park.
I don't want to set him up forfailure.
I don't want him to getattacked.
(22:46):
You know he's just too justwould never do it, he's too,
friendly.
I knew a dog that got ruined bybeing brought to a dog park.
She was the happiest dog, andafter a few times of going there
she was a different dog.
So it's not all dogs that'sgoing to happen to, but I just
think, assess it.
But yeah, I think it's.
You know, there's no realstructure in a dog park.
(23:07):
There's a sign.
Nobody reads the rules.
Amy Castro (23:08):
So All right, what about you know, one of my
personal challenges that Ialways used to have was going
into the vet's office, becauseyou're kind of limited in space
as to how much space you can,how much space you can maintain
there, and I don't feel like the.
You know they separate, theymight separate.
You know the dog side versusthe cat side, so that helps a
(23:30):
little bit.
But any particular advice forwhen you're taking your dog to
the vet and there are going tobe a bunch of other animals in
that space.
Nancy Hassel (23:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean I think we kind oflearned this through the
pandemic is that wait, wait inthe car with your dog and have
him call you when they're readyto go in?
If your dog, even if your dogis just excited, right, like
like that's how Cody is, he'slike who who at the vet, he's
probably one of the few dogs.
But if your dog is happy, golucky and excited, you know, and
you're trying to control ayoung puppy and you're in that
(24:00):
vestibule, which they're neverbig enough, right, right, and
people are coming out andthey're trying to pay and all
the things you can always justsay to this, hey, I'm going to
wait outside with my dog and canyou just call me when we're
ready.
And then if you have a dog thatis reactive or you know they
will, a good vet staff will tellthe people that are like maybe
by the door, like somebody'scoming in, and we're going to
(24:21):
bring a dog back.
I think that's just the easiestthing to do is wait outside and
then just be respectful.
You know, not everybody wantsyour dog jumping on them, right?
Or you know, sometimes there'scats in a cat carrier and you
can have a dog that doesn't seeit and then all of a sudden gets
a whiff.
That is like really excitedabout an animal and a cat and a
carrier, even if it's anotheranimal, a bunny or something
(24:43):
else, and if they have preydrive, that could you know
really be intense.
So, I would just say ask thestaff like hey, I'm just going
to hang out outside with my dog.
I am very fortunate that Ididn't have to stay outside ever
during the pandemic with my dog.
They just scheduled theappointment so you could go in
as soon as you got there.
Amy Castro (25:02):
Yeah.
Nancy Hassel (25:02):
He just called it was pretty awesome, yeah.
So I think you know, I think wemake it harder than it actually
is, right, yeah.
Amy Castro (25:11):
I mean, it's so easy for them to just text or call
you when it's you know when theywant you to come in, when
they've got an exam room open.
You know the other thing I'llsay.
You mentioned the thing aboutthe cats, and it's not always
necessarily about your dog andhow your dog reacts to cats,
because this is a little petpeeve of mine, not only at the
vet, but also we have our catsin cages, condos we'll call them
condos at a local pet suppliesplus and we, you know, we love
(25:34):
to have the ability to show thecats there.
But you know people think, oh,my dog is friendly, my dog likes
cats.
That doesn't mean those catsaren't terrified of dogs.
They may not have been arounddogs, so just because your dog
is good with cats doesn't mean Iwant you charging up to my cat
carrier when I'm sitting in thelobby at the vet, or to my cat
kennels at the pet supplies.
(25:54):
Plus, you know, it justtraumatizes them.
So that's another little bit ofadvice for everybody.
It's not, it's not your dog'stesting ground to see how your
dog reacts to cats, please.
You can do that at home withyour own cat.
Nancy Hassel (26:06):
Yeah, and I go with Cody and he goes, oh, so
you get excited, and the cat,literally, oh, like, whatever,
it's so funny.
But we just walk by and I'mlike, all right, don't make too
much noise, we just keep going.
But yeah, I agree with that,that's so funny.
Amy Castro (26:21):
That's funny.
So what about?
We talked also before a littlebit about pet friendly stores,
because I've been seeing somerumblings.
You know, when I look atneighborhood Facebook pages and
things, like that where you'vegot, you know people who are
very pro, you know bringingtheir dogs to the Home Depot's
and pet stores and Lowe's andother places like that.
(26:41):
And then you've got other people, whether they've got pets or
not, that are like oh, there'sno reason for that dog to be
there, and I can see both sidesand the benefits to bringing
your dogs to places like that.
So how can we do that withoutpissing people off?
Nancy Hassel (26:53):
basically, yeah, so I will say anybody's
listening or watching oranything like that that knows me
.
I bring Cody almost everywhere.
Obviously he doesn't go intoevery store with me and I tell
him that you can't go into thestore.
You don't have to go into thestore, you have to stay home,
right?
So that's the first thing.
If it's not dog friendly andyour dog is not a certified
service dog that you, legally,you know you have to help you
(27:16):
leave your dog at home.
If it's not a dog friendly store, some of the dog friendly
places like we recently went toLowe's because they're dog
friendly and I double check, Itriple check, I check all the
signs, I look online because Idon't want to bring my dog into
a store even though it says it'sdog friendly.
That's really only service dogfriendly, right.
But we went at dinner time whenthere was nobody really there.
(27:38):
It was like freezing cold andthat's the only reason why we
went and we walked around.
We did training and respectfulof the store and they also have
Petco now in a lot of Lowe's.
So it is, some of them are petstores.
They did have a whole petsection but it wasn't an actual
pet go, so we walked around.
I actually had to get a coupleof things at Lowe's.
It wasn't just like me goingthere to bring the dog, to bring
(27:58):
the dog to walk around.
And then I ended up getting somepet stuff too and just have to
be respectful.
Don't let your dog chew on thewood, don't let your dog pee,
you know like.
Amy Castro (28:09):
Make sure that you're being respectful that
peeing one is a huge pet peeveof mine because Again, it's
people being oblivious, they'renot watching what's going on.
You know, if you know you havea male dog, you know, even if
it's neutered, the odds are someother male dog has lifted.
Nancy Hassel (28:25):
My leg on the corner of that display.
Amy Castro (28:27):
Yeah, so for you to live, and it's so preventable.
Don't allow your dog to standover there and sniff that spot.
I mean, yeah, if you, if youunderstand body language, you
know it's gonna be sniff, sniff,sniff.
Take a step and then the legsgonna go up.
Prevent it and it's just.
It's shocking to me the peoplethat will and I've seen this so
many times sitting at the petsupplies plus, where People will
just be oblivious and it's, youknow, peeing, peeing on the
(28:50):
floor.
And I get it if it's a puppy,but if you've got a male dog and
then and then it's lifting theleg on a 70 pound bag of dog
food, that I don't want to buy.
Nancy Hassel (28:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah so rude, so disrespectful
and I can't imagine being in thestores and that happening.
There used to be a pet store Ithink they're still there and it
said no male dogs allowed inthe store because for that
reason, yeah, I mean.
But yeah, I think it's all goesdown to training, knowing your
dog, paying attention to yourdog, keeping your dog On that
six foot lead.
(29:20):
Don't let the dog wander.
When I was walking aroundLowe's with Cody, he was right
next to me.
He wasn't allowed.
I wasn't allowing him to sniffstuff.
So you know, just pay attentionto your dog, like you said it's
.
I think it's just so.
Like I said before you, we makeit more difficult than it has
to be.
If you have your dog on alonger leash and the dog is
ahead of you and you're lookingat something else, your dog may
(29:42):
go to the bathroom and you mightnot see it.
But, if your dog was not on thatlonger leash and was trained in
a sit-stay or to pay attentionto you.
Bring the tools with you tomake the dog make you the most
exciting part of that yeah.
I have treats in my bag, I havea squeaker with my old dog, mac,
and that he didn't go into anyof those stores I have.
(30:03):
I haven't had a tennis ball.
He likes to hold a tennis ball.
So you know, like find out whatyour dog is going to be paying
attention to.
You train your dog Look, codyknows the term, don't pee on
that.
And I walk him and I pull himto me and my feel, don't pee on
that.
Like I took him yesterday topet smart, just to walk around,
because he was bored and Ibought him a toy and I wasn't
(30:24):
doing training, I was just there, was nobody in there, was just
letting him like do his things,that hello to one or two people,
but there was a two spots thatI could see and I was like that
over here to me.
You wouldn't, you know?
Add to that.
So, yeah, you know, I think itall depends on your situation.
Are you the only person withyour dog?
You're gonna have more time todo that.
Are you a family with your dogand you want to go out and about
?
You know, maybe your dogdoesn't need to go to those pet
(30:47):
friendly stores I get for peoplethat are like you know, not
wanting the dogs there.
I think for me, my biggest petpeeve is being respectful of
service dogs, because I Justdon't understand.
If you see a service dog withsomebody, don't bring your
overzealous dog up to them.
Don't bring your dog like intheir vicinity.
(31:08):
I just think it's not thatdifficult to be respectful when
you see that, and right, it'spretty clear that you could tell
the difference between aservice dog and a fake service
dog, right?
Amy Castro (31:19):
We did a whole episode on that, yeah, so we're
not even to get into it.
Nancy Hassel (31:22):
But it's pretty clear because I've seen a few of
the fakes and I've even said oh, that's not a real service dog.
You know, and it could tell,because the dog wasn't a puppy
in training.
It was, you know, like goingcrazy.
But um, I Don't know the wholestore thing is.
You know, I love to bring Codyto pet friendly places.
But yeah he's trained and he'swell behaved.
My last dog I didn't bring himbecause I never knew what the
(31:46):
situation was gonna be ifsomebody else had a dog.
There's actually a store hereon Long Island that did an
amazing thing recently.
It I kind of went viral ontheir Instagram.
She had a special shopping dayfor a reactive dog.
She closed the store and letthe dog have.
It's a small boutique, let thedog have his shopping day and
celebrate the birthday and I waslike that is such an amazing
(32:09):
idea.
In 20 plus years in the petindustry I have never seen
anybody do that.
So I hope that takes off andmore and more stores do that.
Because, like I never broughtMacs to any kind of pet store,
you know, it's just there was noway I was gonna put him in that
situation.
He was nervous, so there wasjust there's no way I was gonna
do that.
Amy Castro (32:27):
So part of that.
You know we've been talkingabout etiquette and not taking
your dogs on place if they'renot trained.
But there's also that wholeside of it of then.
How do you get them trained tobehave in public if you can't
bring them out in public?
And and I do want to addressthat as we kind of come into the
tail end but I, yeah, I want tohit on something you said about
Going to the store with yourtreats and your squeaker and
(32:48):
whatever, because that's anotherthing with the pet etiquette in
being in a pet store Is thatyou know my, my dog knew the
word leave it.
Actually, all my yeah prettymuch know the word leave it,
yeah, and I see people goingdown the aisle, you know Picking
up a bully stick and you knowit's an ow, it's in the dog's
mouth, putting it back and it'syeah, okay, yeah.
I hope they're vaccinated and Ihope they don't have this and I
(33:08):
hope they don't have that andit's like Reason, though.
Nancy Hassel (33:11):
You know I always Cody's term for that.
He knows, leave it, but it'sdon't shoplift, you know there
you go, he can sniff, but he'snot allowed to pick up anything,
so it's kind of funny.
Amy Castro (33:19):
If you lick it, you buy it.
That should be the rule.
Nancy Hassel (33:24):
Hilarious right should be a sign there.
But you know, I did a videowith him recently of him we're
online waiting and he's in asick day and the lady behind me
was like you hot, can I hire youfor training?
And I was like no, I said it'sjust patience and Repetitiveness
.
You know, and Cody is veryexcited to be at a pet store.
(33:44):
I have some pretty funny videosof his feet on the counter of
him.
But, like you know, it's apeople and they encourage it.
They were like, oh, he can youknow?
And I'm like no, sit.
And they're like okay, and I'mlike, oh, that's one other thing
that's frustrating.
If your dog is like overzealousand wants to jump up and say hi,
jump up and say hi, don't lethim do that.
And people respect the petparent and say you know, if I'm
(34:06):
like no off, don't jump,whatever.
Don't say it's okay, yeah it'snot okay, I know we want to, as
you know, get in there andreally say hi to the dog, but
you know you really shouldn'thave a dog jumping on other
people and you, as a dog person,if you love it, you shouldn't
be letting other dogs jump onyou.
Amy Castro (34:25):
Um, I always tell people when we have foster dogs
and you know people are comingto meet them and they, you know,
they're in the process of beingtrained or maybe they don't
have any training in it's yeah.
When they say, oh, it's okay, Idon't mind, and it's like you
know what, that's so great.
But then you know the nextperson that come along might
mind, or he might get adopted bysomebody that has an elderly
person in their House and wedon't need him jumping on
(34:45):
somebody's grandma, so let'sdiscourage that.
You know.
Nancy Hassel (34:47):
Help, help me out by discouraging that.
Amy Castro (34:49):
And then they usually will get it, but that's
that's a really good point.
Nancy Hassel (34:53):
I just want to make one other point of the
training that I've done withCody over the years.
I mean, I've had him for eightyears now but and I got him when
he was about 10 or 11 months.
He was a shelter dog, lives inthe shelter for six months, but
he was kind of chilled out,which is really funny.
I was like what's going on withyou?
You're so common here and he'sa Exuberant happy.
You know he howls at everybody,he's just the happiest dog.
(35:14):
But he still needed trainingwith that.
You know like I couldn't justhave like craziness the whole
time.
But what I would do is outsideof any place.
I'm gonna bring him in petstore.
Anything like that is Sit, stay, because he's like he knows he
knows doggy store.
Right, like, I'm gonna go tothe doggy store and he's super
excited.
But you have to get thatexcitement under control and you
(35:37):
know it took a while and ittook a lot of Repetitiveness,
because the door is open and thedoor is closed.
People come in, people go out,right, and he would be, you know
, like, let's go, I want to getin there, and the fifth day and
so I get it would put him in afifth day, wait 30 seconds.
Maybe if he pulled now backinto a Sid's day.
I think that really helps withlike, yes, they're gonna be
(35:58):
excited to go into the store,but they should also be under
your control, right, right,somebody commented on a video on
his TikTok saying I could neverbring my dog into a pet store
Cuz you'd be too excited.
And I'm like, yeah, cody wasvery excited, he's still excited
, but you know you have to takewhat that is, right, you're
gonna have some training andyou're gonna have some
excitement right.
(36:18):
So you have to figure out whatit is, because Cody just loves,
loves, loves other people.
He loves other animals too, butyeah, so excited to see people
and I take them to a lot of likeoutdoor events and stuff like
that.
He sees a pop-up tent now.
He thinks it's something that heshould be going to and when we
leave when we leave, heliterally sometimes will stop
his body and look at me like I'mruining his life.
(36:40):
I'm like we've been two hours,let's go, yeah.
Other thing I would say to thatpoint, being at events Like you
were saying you didn'tnecessarily bring your doberman
to events is watch your dog'sbody language.
Like I can say to Cody, I knowwhen he's done, like it's we've
been here long enough Even ifhe's wants to stay and gives me
(37:00):
that sad face and stops likedoesn't want to walk.
You have to be that responsibleperson, just like if you had
human kids to say Like it's timeto go, you're gonna have a
meltdown, right, you've seen thelittle kids having meltdowns
because they've been there toolong or they ate too much sugar.
With Cody I'm like we got to go,that's it.
Yeah, we had fun.
We were here for two hours.
You know like let's go.
(37:20):
It might take some treat,encouragement, but you have to
be that advocate of your dog andpaying attention to when they
are done, because when they'retired, when they're stressed, if
it's just stressful situation,it's not gonna be good for your
dog.
So Cody has a threshold,usually never more than two
hours.
I used to bring him to petexpose and be there for a long
time now we do no more than liketwo hours and I'll say, coach,
(37:43):
do you want to go home?
And he goes oh, he'll lose me.
I'm like oh.
Amy Castro (37:48):
But that's, that's a good point.
You know it's, it's, it's twoends of the spectrum there.
So it's knowing, you knowknowing when your pet, who is
used to these things, yeah hashad enough, because even those
pets can be pushed beyond alimit.
But I think that whole idea ofknowing your pet and knowing
those limits starts at thebeginning too.
You know, maybe the whole thingstarts with, and I think this
(38:09):
is what my key would need to bewith with Guinevere is we?
You know if, if I was trying toget her to the point where she
could go to a two-hour pet eventwithout, you know, losing her
mind or dropping dead of a heartattack because she is a bulldog
and so she just gets?
Nancy Hassel (38:23):
so worked up and yeah, yeah, pink, and she scares
yeah.
Amy Castro (38:27):
So you know, getting her in the car first and just
taking her out, not necessarilygetting her out of the car, go
for a short car ride.
Then maybe it's a quick run into grab one thing at the store
and out, not hanging out for 30minutes, but you build up to
what you've done with Cody.
It doesn't doesn't start fromthe beginning like that and I
think that's important forpeople to know is where are you
on that spectrum and build up tothe bigger.
(38:50):
You know bigger outings.
Nancy Hassel (38:52):
Absolutely.
I love that you said that.
It's so true because you'llhear people say, like my dog
Hates the car.
This you know.
He only associates the car withgoing to the groomer, to the
vet, you know.
Yeah, well, my dog, becausethat's all that happens.
Yeah, my dog has never seenoutside the fence because they
don't walk the dog.
And then they wonder why, likehey, we want to go to this event
in town and the dog is likefreaked out.
(39:13):
So yeah small increments is soimportant with dog training,
with getting your dog used tothings.
And of course it goes back toyour dog, right?
You can have a dog that's justlike happy, go, lucky, like Cody
, ready to go.
Or you can have a dog that'slike he wants to go or she wants
to go, but like your dog, cody,gets red too.
People are always like what'swrong with his eyes.
I'm like nothing, he's justexcited.
(39:33):
I think it's a bully thing, youknow.
But you know the same thing,it's just.
That's such a great point to mebecause it really you know,
really you wouldn't bring yourdog, your new dog, to a pedex
bow for eight hours and expectto have the most perfect Right
so right.
Amy Castro (39:52):
Well, nancy, thank you so much for being with us
today.
This was really, really.
I know it helped me because Ihave allowed me to get some
stuff off my chest.
But I think but I think theadvice that you shared is gonna
be really helpful to ourlisteners and I hope that people
are able to identify like, yes,this is me, that's this are.
These are the mistakes that I'mmaking, possibly, and and how
they can go about remedying them.
(40:13):
So I really appreciate yourtime and sharing all of that.
I'm so happy to be here.
Thank you so much for having me, and if you have family members
or friends who you know theyhave these issues, you know,
share this episode with them,because you know it.
Really, when you get to thatpoint where you've got a
well-trained dog that you canTake out in public and
comfortable with your knowledgeand with their behavior, it's
(40:35):
just so much less stressful whenyou're when you're doing it and
it'll be so much more enjoyable.
And that's what you that's thewhole point of you taking your
dog out and about is to have agood time right, yes and can.
Nancy Hassel (40:45):
I say one more point.
I know we'll go on for hours.
Higher dog trainer right, yeah,sure how to do it.
Higher dog trainer interviewdog trainers.
You may not find the first dogtrainers, the dog trainer for
you or for your dog or for yourfamily situation.
Interview them, get to knowthem and have them work with you
on Areas that your dog needshelp in.
If there are those areas, Ifeel like there's so many
(41:06):
amazing dog trainers in thiscountry that can help you.
So go hire a dog trainer, youknow, even if it's a one-time
thing.
Amy Castro (41:15):
All right.
Well, I think that's a great, agreat piece of advice to end
with, and again, thank you somuch for being here today and
thank you to everybody forlistening to another episode of
Starlight Pet Talk.
Thanks, amy, thanks forlistening to Starlight Pet Talk.
Be sure to visit our website atwwwstarlightpettalkcom for more
resources and be sure to followthis podcast on your favorite
(41:38):
podcast app, so you'll nevermiss a show.
If you enjoyed and found valuein today's episode, we'd
appreciate a rating on Apple, orif you'd simply tell a friend
about the show, that would begreat too.
Don't forget to tune in nextweek and every week for a brand
new episode of Starlight PetTalk, and if you don't do
anything else this week, giveyour pets a big hug from us.
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