February 25, 2025 • 29 mins
Ever felt the pangs of guilt from a noise complaint because your dog couldn't bear to be alone? Join us as Alice shares her deeply personal journey with her rescue dog, Bonnie, a German Shepherd and Cane Corso mix. After an unexpected noise complaint, Alice navigated the tricky world of separation anxiety, balancing the need to mend neighbourhood relations with the well-being of her gentle giant. Her story of flexibility and adaptability in the face of community challenges offers invaluable insights for dog owners everywhere.
Discover the transformative power of technology and structured training methods in tackling canine separation anxiety and reactivity. With Bonnie's journey as our guide, we explore how cameras and training programs like Absolute Dogs played pivotal roles in understanding and improving her behaviour.
Through Alice's experience, we emphasize the necessity of a calm and supportive environment, spotlighting how addressing emotional and physical health needs can dramatically enhance a dog's life. Bonnie's path, from potential euthanasia to stability and peace, underscores the profound impact of commitment and innovation in pet care.
Finally, we celebrate the strength in community support, which played an instrumental role in Alice and Bonnie's success. Alice not only acquired knowledge and motivation but also found support in what could have been an isolating journey. Her resolve and triumph over Bonnie's reactivity challenges serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration.
Whether you're a seasoned dog owner or new to the world of dogs and dog training, this episode offers a treasure trove of insights and encouragement to forge stronger relationships with our best friends, and the dogs we share our lives with.
If you’re loving the podcast, you’ll love our NEW Sexier than a Squirrel Dog Training Challenge even more! Get transformational dog training today for only £27!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel
podcast.
I'm Lauren Langman.
I'm one of the world's leadingdog trainers and it's my mission
to help owners become theirdog's top priority.
In each episode, you'lldiscover how to gain trust and
communicate with your dog likenever before, creating
unbreakable bonds that make youthe most exciting part of their
world.
Okay, separation struggles,separation, anxiety.
(00:32):
Separation can be stressful,and I'm speaking today to Alice.
Alice has experienced thisfirsthand, really.
So, alice, tell us your story,tell us about you and Bonnie.
Where did Bonnie come from andhow has separation really
affected your life with her?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, so my partner and I, we adopted Bonnie when
she was two and the informationthat the rescue centre had
really with their observationswas that she was a gentle giant
with no separation issueswhatsoever.
So we thought, ok, we canhandle a dog of that size if
that's the sort of temperamentwe're getting into.
And a few weeks or so after wegot Bonnie, we actually found
(01:16):
out that she had separationstruggles by way of getting a
complaint from the council aboutthe noise complaint from the
council about the noise.
So that was pretty mortifyingto suddenly realise that not
only had Bonnie been suffering,but also our neighbours as well,
and this was actually a reallyurgent issue that we needed to
fix.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Now, when you got that letter, because I've also
received one of those letters,so we're in good company, I feel
.
Alice, mine was from aneighbour who didn't like the
dog training centre here and Igenuinely don't believe there is
a noise issue and I think we'vegot to be realistic.
Is there a noise issue?
Isn't there a noise issue?
We have cameras here.
We have many security camerasaround the site.
It's just the nature of havingdogs, I think because I like to
(01:56):
make sure the site is secureknow that when I received that
letter, as much as I knew thatwe didn't actually have a big
struggle, it's a horriblefeeling when you receive the
letter, like your head just hitsthe floor, doesn't it?
Your stomach just drops.
You get that feeling of real.
It changes your whole day,doesn't it?
You tell me what you think, butI know when I received that
(02:16):
letter it hurt oh, absolutely itwas.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
it was utterly mortifying.
I felt like the worst dog ownerin the world, thinking that
Bonnie had been struggling and Ihadn't even known about it.
But we just it's one of those,when you know better, you do
better.
Like now, looking back, I think, yeah, there were signs there,
but at the time I didn't havethe knowledge that I have now
and so you know we had a lot oflearning to do and I mean I
(02:43):
wrote notes to all my neighboursto put through the door to say
we've been made aware.
We're terribly sorry.
Please know that we're nowworking on this as a priority,
try and mend those relationshipsand really kind of looked into
what sensible protocols therewere to help Bonnie with this
struggle.
But we were actually fortunatethat, um, because I'm
(03:06):
self-employed, I was able towork quite flexibly, so we were
able to actually eliminatepretty much all um absences,
like me and Chris, kind of like,were able to kind of juggle
looking after Bonnie whilst wefigured out what to do for the
longer term.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I love that you immediately wanted to look after
the relationship with yourneighbour too, like all your
neighbours.
I just think you're justgorgeous I know you sent me a
note in the past and gorgeouscards and just lovely sentiment
and you're great with words andI think that's something we've
got to address and I thinkyou've really hit the nail on
the head here.
You didn't just worry aboutBonnie, you actually worried
(03:41):
about your neighbourrelationships, because those are
also important, and know thatno neighbour in my opinion, is
out there just to be plaindifficult.
There is always a struggle ofsome sort.
I think my neighbours I don'tthink they like the busyness or
the traffic or the day-to-dayhubbub of a busy business.
When you've lived in a reallyrural, quiet area with no busy
business, I think it's adifferent thing.
(04:02):
Suddenly you've got a bit ofcommercial in a space that you
thought was potentially justresidential and for you.
Similarly, they've had nice,calm, quiet Alice neighbours and
suddenly they've got thismassive dog that they're
noticing anyway, because youknow what she's a noticeable dog
.
Just tell everyone what breedshe is and also maybe what other
struggles she's had, becausethis is not just any old big
(04:25):
gentle giant.
She's actually had hugestruggles.
She's not been completely whatshe said on the on the tin or
what she was sort of sold to as,because the rescue center is
still placing a dog.
She's actually come with a fewstruggles and I know you're in
such a good place now and I knowyou're going to share this
journey with our listeners andat the same time there have been
big struggles here oh for sure.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Like I think, if anybody, if any of our
neighbours, were concerned aboutthe noise, uh, and perhaps
didn't ideally want to complainto the council, I I kind of feel
like in their shoes we probablyweren't looking like the most
approachable people on thestreet.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Uh, bonnie is, frankly, nearly as big as I am
and uh, she's a I just have toadd here alice is quite little,
so she is quite sort of fine andpetite, but but bonnie is a
pretty hefty crossbred um, andshe would look like a fight
bread dog, right she would.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, she's a big brindle, uh, german shepherd
sort of canny corso cross.
So there's a bit of.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
It's a kind of mastiff, mega mutt like, yeah,
and that's that's how I describeher mastiff, and I love your
mega mutt added to the end there.
When you look at her, she looksmore mastiff than anything else
.
You don't really be the germanshepherd or anything else when I
look at her.
And what are the can Canicorsosbred for?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So you know, I guess generally for generations, you
know, they've been bred for sortof guarding duties really.
So Bonnie for sure has some ofthose ideal attributes of being
wary of strangers, wary ofmovement and sort of unfamiliar
(06:08):
things, being a bit of apessimist, those were all things
that actually if we'd wantedsort of our home or livestock or
what have you protecting, she'dbe ideal for the job.
But for a you know, a householdpet in a sort of suburban
environment there was definitelysome concepts that she was
(06:28):
lacking to sort of gel with thatenvironment that we've needed
to teach her and I love that youare so into games club and pro
dog trainer club.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You've got all the right language and you speak
about her in the right way.
But let's be honest, she's alot of people's nightmare when
they first got her home, likeshe was not the gentle giant
that she.
She came to with, just a coupleof the things that she she
would maybe do that were notideal as a pet dog yeah, so the
kind of three main areas.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
So, um, apart from first one being separation not
being able to leave on her own,as we quickly found out, but
also trying to have any sort ofvisitors to the house, having
anybody she wasn't familiar within our space, uh is is is
really a big problem for her.
Um, she needs to get to knowpeople quite gradually, as we've
(07:14):
learned, and that's kind ofthat's a work in progress, and
then out and about trying totake her out in public.
Um, she was reactive to justabout everything.
So you know we're talking, youknow not just other dogs or
strangers, you know psychics,children.
You know it was absolutelyterrifying, um, quite early on
(07:37):
when we got her, even just a bitof eye contact from somebody
she didn't know would be enoughto send her straight to kind of
level 100 kind of panic mode.
Um, and, like you say, likeshe's quite an eye-catching dog,
she's quite a noticeable dog.
Where we're in an environmentwhere there's a lot of cockapoos
and labradors and spaniels andkind of those types of sort of
(07:58):
dogs, much more kind of yourcommon sort of family dogs, she
stands out and so she wasgetting quite a bit of eye
contact and that was reallycausing us huge amounts of
stress, huge problems trying togo out for walks.
So we really had to kind ofwind it all back in and find a
good place to start and justbuilding her skills from a safe
(08:19):
environment before growing herworld again.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Now, before we go further, I think I can tell you
already, alice, we're going tospeak lots.
We're going to speak lots andthere's lots we get to do here
and I know the podcast listenersSex and the Squirrel listeners
people that are here are goingto love to hear your journey
with Bonnie, because it has beena journey, and I also know that
you've come out the other side.
So, yes, there's still work andyes, there's still things
you're training, but actuallyyou and her live a really cool
(08:43):
life, chris included, and yetChris is still with us, and I
think that's important.
Sometimes dogs can stress arelationship out like they
really can, and sometimes theycan cause.
It's almost like having a child, and I know that we have
discussions, matt and I.
Skittles now sleeps in thebedroom.
I don't know how it happened,but she sleeps in the bedroom
and we've not had a dog in thebedroom for years.
And you definitely can havethose discussions in
(09:10):
partnerships and relationships.
But separation let's tackleseparation today and I know
we're going to tackle lots morein the future and, with your
permission, of course and she'sit, she's up for it I want to
know separation.
Do you have a camera in thehouse or did you have a camera
in the house, or do you have anyway of monitoring her in the
house?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
We do now.
It was something we didn't haveto begin with and that's why
you know we were completelyunaware that there was problems
while we were out.
But that was one of the firstthings we did was to get a
camera sort of set up, just alittle app on our phones, so
that we could start doing littlekind of practices.
We're talking second time tobegin with so that we could see
(09:48):
how comfortable she was.
We could get better at readingher body language, um, and try
not to ever kind of push it toofar and and just kind of go at
her pace.
But the camera is definitely,um a good bit of kit if you're
having this struggle and you canget a little camera set up.
It really helped us.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yeah, no, absolutely, and I think it makes such a big
difference, like I really thinkit makes such a big difference.
Second thing for me, and Ithink this is really, really
important what did?
You're a massive absolute dogs,you're a fan, but you're also
(10:36):
so rooted in what we do and youget it, and you really do get it
.
I know you've completed thebadges and those of you that
haven't seen 10 Days to StopSeparation please, please,
please, join Games Club.
It's completely part of GamesClub.
You get all of our 10-daycourses and if you haven't
joined Games Club or you can'tjoin Games Club, then at least
get 10 days to stop separation.
To our listeners.
It's not £97.
(10:58):
It's just £27.
Right now you can head over tothe Absolute Dogs store.
It's absolute-dogscom.
Go and get it £27.
Absolute bargain.
Now, alice, you've done all ofthe courses and you've got
really, really, really grittywith it and you absolutely are
my perfect student.
But what probably your threebiggest games or three biggest
(11:18):
builds, or three biggest thingsthat you would do if you were
sort of advising someone else?
What really moved the needlefor you?
What really changed the gamefor you?
What really helped?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
calmness.
Calmness is king, absolutely.
I mean, like you say, I'm a fanof absolute dogs.
Simply because it works, Iwouldn't be here and I wouldn't
be gritty about the courses andI wouldn't still be doing it if
I wasn't benefiting from it, ifBonnie wasn't benefiting from it
, and with a lot of trainingstruggles, but with separation
(11:53):
included, calmness is just thething that needs to kind of
underpin everything and thatreally moved the needle for
Bonnie.
So, um, both with the separationand with her general reactivity
struggles, she was not gettingenough sleep.
She was waking up and goingfrom naught to 100 for a car
(12:16):
door slamming in the streetoutside, or we live on the same
street as a primary school andwhen we first got Bonnie, the
noise and commotion of schoolkids going in and out twice a
day was was catastrophicallyawful on a daily basis Until we
got that calmness to a levelwhere actually she realized, oh,
that's none of my business, Ican just chill.
(12:38):
Um, you know that sort ofdisengagement as well, kind of
the other concepts coming intoplay, but just being able to
actually switch off in the house, being able to have a nice
space where she could chill out,where she sleep, where she knew
she actually wasn't on guardduty for anything.
That definitely gave us theright platform to then build on
(13:01):
her other skills.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And I think that so many people don't have that
basic platform, like so manypeople are building from, I
suppose, a poor foundation.
If we've got no good foundation, then we really are going to
crumble, especially with a doglike Bonnie, who's had no
stability, who's had no earlyfoundation and he probably has
had a pretty poor start withoutus knowing too much Now.
(13:25):
I also know there have beenphysical problems for Bonnie.
What sort of physical problemshave you experienced with Bonnie
?
So these guys, I have to say, ifI was a person homing a dog,
you guys are the perfect home,like she couldn't have landed on
her feet anymore, like she issuch a lucky, lucky, lucky dog
and I know you feel lucky tohave found her.
(13:46):
But I just watched from theoutside, thinking this dog
really was heading one way andshe was only heading to put to
sleep, and I don't say thatlightly.
This dog was heading on a putto sleep route and she
absolutely I don't see herhaving made it in other worlds.
I really don't.
I I am so grateful that youguys cross paths, because I I it
(14:07):
gives me weird goosebumps whenI say things sometimes and I got
them then for me I only seethat she would have been put to
sleep.
I really can't see that she wasan easy home for anyone, not
just because of her separation,not just because of her um
struggles with other dogs, butalso her physical struggles.
So tell us a little bit morethere, alice yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So this was this is one of the other slightly nasty
surprises we got uh sort ofshortly after adopting her, was
that?
Um, she, uh she started to limpabout two or three months after
we got her.
So obviously we kind of gotinvestigated and, uh, long story
short, she needed both of hercruciate ligaments, um operating
(14:50):
on so from start to finishwhilst we were awaiting
treatment and then in betweentreatments and rehab after
treatment, um took about ninemonths.
So this was about nine monthsof um pretty much being on kind
of home rest or maybe going tolike a private hire secure field
(15:11):
for short exercise periods, aswe were starting to kind of
build a backup or um, you know,just very, very gradually, sort
of taking it very steadily, butum, in a way, weirdly, I think,
with specifically with the kindof the reactivity struggles.
It was almost a blessing indisguise because, one, we became
aware that actually herreactivity was partially being
(15:32):
contributed to by her physicaldiscomfort and two, uh, even
before we'd actually discoveredabsolute dogs, we were ditching
the walk as a matter ofnecessity, sort of sort of as
the vet had told us to do, andthen during that time I said, oh
, I'm gonna go mad if I can't doany dog training.
I can't do some learning whilstI'm going to go mad if I can't
do any dog training.
(15:52):
I can't do some learning whilstI'm stuck at home with her.
And I found you guys, and therest is history.
But yeah, we got into the kindof naughty but nice learning.
There was lots we could startto do at home.
So by the time we couldactually start taking her out on
walks and we could startexercising her a little bit at a
(16:13):
time and gradually building herback up physically.
We also had a few more skillsin the pot at that point which
were helping her to be lessreactive as well.
Um, so, um, yeah, there's, she'sbeen a challenging one and I
mean, uh, it's I.
I totally agree with what you'resaying, that she she could have
(16:34):
very easily been on a put tosleep list, and whether that was
before she was rehomed or evenafter, I mean, the vet was not
terrifically optimistic aboutwhat kind of outcome we would
have with her surgeries, justbecause she was so reactive that
there was a very good chancethat, say, I don't know, we get
a knock at the door, orsomething like that when she was
(16:54):
in surgery recovery.
She could have had an outburstthat might have damaged the
surgery site and that would havebeen pretty much it.
Um, so we, we sort of decided,we know we're going to go for it
, but we're going to, we'rereally going to do this properly
, you know.
So, uh, she wasn't able to dostairs so we kind of had the
mattress our mattress down onthe living room floor for about
(17:17):
three months and, um, anydeliveries we needed to get the
house, we got deliveredelsewhere.
And, yeah, we kind of turnedour world upside down to
accommodate everything we neededto get her through that period
and get her to a place where shewas going to be happier and
healthier.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I don't want to humanize or overhumanize dogs
that there is a space for stillthinking about this for me,
which is you know what, you knowwhen you're in pain and you
know when you're feeling indiscomfort, or you know when
you've even got like I've had itwhere I can't move my neck from
one way to the other.
Equally I can.
Today I've seen a chiropractor.
I love seeing a chiropractor,but when I haven't got that
(18:00):
range like you slept funny orthat can niggle you throughout
the whole day.
So say then you've got a dog whohas got a full bucket and
they've had a lot going on andactually they've also got this
neck range thing going or thisback pain or this like knee pain
or sort of any sort of stifle,injury or issue, and then you
leave them alone and they'realready full bucket.
You can see, even just from ahuman perspective, can't you
(18:23):
like I'm, I maybe, I don't knowfeeling well, and then your
partner leaves for the day andyou kind of think, and then he's
running late and then hedoesn't come back at all because
actually something's happenedat work or whatever.
You can see how that all paysin and you can see how that
dog's separation might alsoescalate when there's pain.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Absolutely Like you said.
Just the presence of anyphysical discomfort is already
pained the bucket so much thatthere's very little room for
anything else that's challengingbefore it just overflows.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And I think that's definitely the situation that we
were in with Bonnie for surethe other thing I think that's
worth considering here isactually how you probably change
Bonnie's feeding completely.
So how is Bonnie fed right now?
Because I know that there'll belike enrichment bowls and I
know that there'll be forms ofand I was thinking about this
the other day and this is reallyfunny, you'll like this, alice.
(19:16):
So my ponies have enrichment,my chickens have enrichment and
what I've realised is even mygoat has enrichment, like
everyone has enrichment, andit's become a bit of a passion
area for me.
It's a bit of a purpose spacefor me.
So, for example, I've got onehorse who's his spinal and space
is a little bit close.
He's got no issue.
He's got no, no awareness of ityet, but I've x-rayed it, so I
(19:37):
know.
So I try really hard to havehis food always low, because the
lower he is, the more it helpshis spine to be as stretched out
as it can be, whereas with mychickens I feed the little birds
that go in the front of thehouse, but my chickens have
taken to jumping in the air toget the bird food.
I'm on a meeting and all I cansee and I've got about 20
chickens, probably more.
Six came from the battery thisweek.
(19:59):
Actually They've got nofeathers.
They absolutely look horrific.
But I'm so excited for the lifethey're going to have and
they're hopping and they're notyet.
They won't even come out oftheir bed and but the others are
hopping and leaping in the airand like stealing all the food.
It just makes me laugh to seethem doing this level of
enrichment and, um, I reallylove it, like I love enrichment
for them.
But I also know that enrichmentis a huge part of why my dogs
(20:22):
settle when I leave, to thepoint that they don't really
notice that much when I evencome home anymore.
Like my dogs are pretty settled.
Like you might get like a niceyawn and a stretch like oh,
she's back, and but it's notmuch more than that.
I definitely don't get zoomies,I definitely don't get barking,
I definitely don't get a lot ofexcitement and I own 10 dogs,
so I'm not someone who's justgot one dog and to come home.
(20:42):
So I do have a multi-doghousehold and classic's probably
my noisiest or wild who have tograb a toy or like squeal, um,
but other than that they'repretty good and I would say like
, like a lot of the time theythey will barely get out of beds
.
They're like stretching andthen going back to sleep again.
Enrichment's what's helped me,and my feeding regimes, not
(21:03):
routines, because I ditched thebowl and I ditch the routine and
I ditch the walk as well.
They really all help me.
How about you?
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Oh for sure.
I mean whether we're talkingabout sort of training concepts
and building skills, or whetherwe're talking about when Bonnie
was on home rest in betweensurgeries and all the rest of it
home rest in between surgeriesand all the rest of it, having
games and having food enrichmentat home, um, and having those
options, um, really reallyhugely made a difference.
(21:33):
So, um, what started assomething we did out of
necessity when she was on homerest, like um, like getting her
to do a little sort of scentsearches around the house, sort
of finding little bits of foodor finding a toy and getting a
food reward, or whatever itmight be doing kind of scent
games, or whether it's having,you know, a filled cong that she
can enjoy in her bed, or havingan enrichment bowl with all
(21:56):
sorts of lovely little bits andpieces that she can sort of
snuffle out, you know, or justsort of playing games and sort
of learning new tricks andthings like that there's.
Why would she use a bowl whenthere's all those other options?
Speaker 1 (22:10):
It's just so much more fun for her and for me
frankly as well, and also, Ithink and I think you hit the
nail on the head so much morefun for her, but also for
yourself, and I think that'ssomething that we cover in our
10 Days to Stop Separation.
Actually, why on earth wouldyou put food in a bowl like?
Earlier?
I was moving and I've got acouple of dogs staying with us
their owner's gone away andlovely, lovely dogs, but for me,
(22:33):
I use all of their food to keepthem entertained throughout the
day, because, if not, it's afull-time job for me and I want
to be able to have like lots oftime for everything else, and so
it absolutely helps at everysingle layer and level to ditch
the bowl like it allows for myday to run almost it and and it
allows so much flexibility.
(22:53):
And what I've really noticed isI love working with flexible
people and I really struggle towork with inflexible people, and
I would say the same with dogs.
I love working with a flexibledog, whereas it's harder to work
with a dog who's not flexible.
What would you say?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
oh yeah, definitely, definitely, and it's.
And I think for anyonelistening who thinks, well, you
know, like my dog isn't flexible, but I can be taught, there's
games for that.
You know there's, that's,that's something that you know,
just because your dog might notbe used to not being fed from a
bowl, for example, if you'rekind of like approaching this
topic for the first time thatthat's can be grown, that can be
(23:28):
taught and um, you know that's.
That's certainly um, somethingin my experience that you know.
Bonnie is far more flexible nowthan she was when I sort of
started training um and um, andI think that it does, it allows
that and it's transferablebetween different contexts.
Then, isn't it?
If you've got that concept,then you end up with a dog
(23:50):
that's not only more flexiblewith their behavior out and
about, on a walk, for example,but maybe more flexible to the
home environment, like talkingabout separation if you're
present or if you're not, andlearning to actually be cool
with that and that thatdifference is is absolutely fine
and that they can still lay intheir bed and enjoy their Kong
(24:11):
whether you're in the room ornot.
Um, and you know, I think I'mconscious that maybe listeners
who are kind of thinking.
But this is an awful problemand people have told me it's
hard, people have told me it'shard to solve.
Is it ever going to get anybetter.
It seems like such a huge kindof step to think I could ever
leave my dog on their own fromwhere we are right now, where
(24:32):
they kind of literally cannot beleft for more than a few
seconds.
Um, and, and you can,absolutely.
I just want listeners to knowthat you can and it works,
because you just take it littlestep by little step and you know
you will see.
You will see that that skillbeing being built over time.
Um, I made a little kind of umtracker for myself to kind of
(24:55):
like help with that.
I was literally just about tobring it up.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
I've been here going yeah, here it is and I've been
looking at it and I absolutelylove the tracker and I'll make
sure we get an absolute dogsversion of your tracker, if
you're tracker, and I'll makesure we get an absolute dog's
version of your tracker ifyou're happy.
Yeah, we'll make it pretty andwe'll, well, we'll we'll make
sure that listeners can get holdof it.
So, um, keep, keep with us andwe'll make sure you can get hold
of it.
And definitely, if you're partof games club, you're part of
pdt club, we'll make sure youget hold of it.
But, um, I definitely,definitely, definitely know that
(25:20):
things like this really help.
So, on the separation tracker,you talk about, um, the safety
net.
You talk about disturbed orcalm.
Basically, where, where arethey in the head?
You talk about barriers,distance, employment and
duration, and no, you don't meanare you employing a new person?
You are employing this dog andwhat are they doing?
So you give barrier scores, yougive distance scores, you give
(25:41):
employment scores, and that isnot rating them on how
employable they are.
This is, uh, what is the dogdoing?
And duration scores.
So this is a really, reallynice one.
Now, I know that a lot of yourunderstanding and knowledge has
come from games club and pro dogtrainer club, and I'm so proud
of you.
As a student like I cannot sitlike this.
If I was to pick the perfectstudent, alice would be one of
them.
Now, alice, what would you sayto someone thinking about doing?
(26:03):
You put that crown on, lady, somove over.
Step aside, beyonce.
This is your crown.
What I would say is you're abrilliant student, but what
would you say to someone who'sthinking about Games Club or Pro
Dog Trainer Club, or wanting abit more support?
What would your advice be?
Speaker 2 (26:23):
If you can jump in, just do it, just just give it a
go, because, um, training a dogthat has separation struggles
can be quite a lonely space, um,and I've found that having the
community of games club and pdpclub um has been fantastic, just
(26:44):
I mean for my own mentalwell-being and motivation with
tackling the struggle and kindof continuing on with it,
because you've got a globalcommunity full of people who get
it, because they're eithertackling the similar thing to
you and you can kind of buddy upand help each other out and be
accountable to each other withyour training, or you've got
somebody who has successfullyovercome a struggle that they
(27:09):
can say, right, well, whatworked for me was this protocol,
this strategy or these, thissort of menu of games, um, and
can kind of help coach you, um,and it's just such a fantastic
space for knowledge sharing andsupport as well, because
everybody in that community is adog owner who has at least one
(27:30):
dog training struggle or had adog training struggle, that they
are now kind of living the dogowning dream and and they're
passionate to help others.
Um, so, yeah, if you, if you canjump in, just just do it, just
give it a go, because there'sthis incredible value to be had.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
And you really are, for me, my dream student.
Like I look at what you'redoing, you're such a good
student and I know that so manypeople are going to learn from
you.
So I know today is whistle stopon separation.
But, alice, are you willing tochat to us just a little more on
(28:11):
another episode or in thefuture on you, bonnie, your
journeys, your adventures andmaybe some of the other
struggles?
Because I know that you've alsotackled dog-dog reactivity and
you've tackled it at a levelwhere we know in the past that
actually there's been a prettyserious incident with Bonnie,
way before you had her andbefore she was in your hands,
and certainly wasn't beingmanaged well, but there's been a
pretty serious dog dog incident.
Are you happy to share that ona future podcast with us?
Absolutely, absolutely.
(28:32):
I thank you for being here.
That was this episode of theSex and Squirrel podcast.
I cannot wait to share more ofAlice and Bonnie's journey with
you because I know, most of all,it's a really successful one
and I know this is here for youtoo.
So, with that, listeners, sharethe podcast, tell your friends,
bring them all over here andmake sure you make it a great
(28:54):
day.
Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel
podcast.
I'm Lauren Langman.
I'm one of the world's leadingdog trainers and it's my mission
to help owners become theirdog's top priority.
In each episode, you'lldiscover how to gain trust and
communicate with your dog likenever before, creating
unbreakable bonds that make youthe most exciting part of their
world.
Okay, separation struggles,separation, anxiety.
(00:32):
Separation can be stressful,and I'm speaking today to Alice.
Alice has experienced thisfirsthand, really.
So, alice, tell us your story,tell us about you and Bonnie.
Where did Bonnie come from andhow has separation really
affected your life with her?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, so my partner and I, we adopted Bonnie when
she was two and the informationthat the rescue centre had
really with their observationswas that she was a gentle giant
with no separation issueswhatsoever.
So we thought, ok, we canhandle a dog of that size if
that's the sort of temperamentwe're getting into.
And a few weeks or so after wegot Bonnie, we actually found
(01:16):
out that she had separationstruggles by way of getting a
complaint from the council aboutthe noise complaint from the
council about the noise.
So that was pretty mortifyingto suddenly realise that not
only had Bonnie been suffering,but also our neighbours as well,
and this was actually a reallyurgent issue that we needed to
fix.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Now, when you got that letter, because I've also
received one of those letters,so we're in good company, I feel
.
Alice, mine was from aneighbour who didn't like the
dog training centre here and Igenuinely don't believe there is
a noise issue and I think we'vegot to be realistic.
Is there a noise issue?
Isn't there a noise issue?
We have cameras here.
We have many security camerasaround the site.
It's just the nature of havingdogs, I think because I like to
(01:56):
make sure the site is secureknow that when I received that
letter, as much as I knew thatwe didn't actually have a big
struggle, it's a horriblefeeling when you receive the
letter, like your head just hitsthe floor, doesn't it?
Your stomach just drops.
You get that feeling of real.
It changes your whole day,doesn't it?
You tell me what you think, butI know when I received that
(02:16):
letter it hurt oh, absolutely itwas.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
it was utterly mortifying.
I felt like the worst dog ownerin the world, thinking that
Bonnie had been struggling and Ihadn't even known about it.
But we just it's one of those,when you know better, you do
better.
Like now, looking back, I think, yeah, there were signs there,
but at the time I didn't havethe knowledge that I have now
and so you know we had a lot oflearning to do and I mean I
(02:43):
wrote notes to all my neighboursto put through the door to say
we've been made aware.
We're terribly sorry.
Please know that we're nowworking on this as a priority,
try and mend those relationshipsand really kind of looked into
what sensible protocols therewere to help Bonnie with this
struggle.
But we were actually fortunatethat, um, because I'm
(03:06):
self-employed, I was able towork quite flexibly, so we were
able to actually eliminatepretty much all um absences,
like me and Chris, kind of like,were able to kind of juggle
looking after Bonnie whilst wefigured out what to do for the
longer term.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I love that you immediately wanted to look after
the relationship with yourneighbour too, like all your
neighbours.
I just think you're justgorgeous I know you sent me a
note in the past and gorgeouscards and just lovely sentiment
and you're great with words andI think that's something we've
got to address and I thinkyou've really hit the nail on
the head here.
You didn't just worry aboutBonnie, you actually worried
(03:41):
about your neighbourrelationships, because those are
also important, and know thatno neighbour in my opinion, is
out there just to be plaindifficult.
There is always a struggle ofsome sort.
I think my neighbours I don'tthink they like the busyness or
the traffic or the day-to-dayhubbub of a busy business.
When you've lived in a reallyrural, quiet area with no busy
business, I think it's adifferent thing.
(04:02):
Suddenly you've got a bit ofcommercial in a space that you
thought was potentially justresidential and for you.
Similarly, they've had nice,calm, quiet Alice neighbours and
suddenly they've got thismassive dog that they're
noticing anyway, because youknow what she's a noticeable dog
.
Just tell everyone what breedshe is and also maybe what other
struggles she's had, becausethis is not just any old big
(04:25):
gentle giant.
She's actually had hugestruggles.
She's not been completely whatshe said on the on the tin or
what she was sort of sold to as,because the rescue center is
still placing a dog.
She's actually come with a fewstruggles and I know you're in
such a good place now and I knowyou're going to share this
journey with our listeners andat the same time there have been
big struggles here oh for sure.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Like I think, if anybody, if any of our
neighbours, were concerned aboutthe noise, uh, and perhaps
didn't ideally want to complainto the council, I I kind of feel
like in their shoes we probablyweren't looking like the most
approachable people on thestreet.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Uh, bonnie is, frankly, nearly as big as I am
and uh, she's a I just have toadd here alice is quite little,
so she is quite sort of fine andpetite, but but bonnie is a
pretty hefty crossbred um, andshe would look like a fight
bread dog, right she would.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, she's a big brindle, uh, german shepherd
sort of canny corso cross.
So there's a bit of.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
It's a kind of mastiff, mega mutt like, yeah,
and that's that's how I describeher mastiff, and I love your
mega mutt added to the end there.
When you look at her, she looksmore mastiff than anything else
.
You don't really be the germanshepherd or anything else when I
look at her.
And what are the can Canicorsosbred for?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So you know, I guess generally for generations, you
know, they've been bred for sortof guarding duties really.
So Bonnie for sure has some ofthose ideal attributes of being
wary of strangers, wary ofmovement and sort of unfamiliar
(06:08):
things, being a bit of apessimist, those were all things
that actually if we'd wantedsort of our home or livestock or
what have you protecting, she'dbe ideal for the job.
But for a you know, a householdpet in a sort of suburban
environment there was definitelysome concepts that she was
(06:28):
lacking to sort of gel with thatenvironment that we've needed
to teach her and I love that youare so into games club and pro
dog trainer club.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You've got all the right language and you speak
about her in the right way.
But let's be honest, she's alot of people's nightmare when
they first got her home, likeshe was not the gentle giant
that she.
She came to with, just a coupleof the things that she she
would maybe do that were notideal as a pet dog yeah, so the
kind of three main areas.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
So, um, apart from first one being separation not
being able to leave on her own,as we quickly found out, but
also trying to have any sort ofvisitors to the house, having
anybody she wasn't familiar within our space, uh is is is
really a big problem for her.
Um, she needs to get to knowpeople quite gradually, as we've
(07:14):
learned, and that's kind ofthat's a work in progress, and
then out and about trying totake her out in public.
Um, she was reactive to justabout everything.
So you know we're talking, youknow not just other dogs or
strangers, you know psychics,children.
You know it was absolutelyterrifying, um, quite early on
(07:37):
when we got her, even just a bitof eye contact from somebody
she didn't know would be enoughto send her straight to kind of
level 100 kind of panic mode.
Um, and, like you say, likeshe's quite an eye-catching dog,
she's quite a noticeable dog.
Where we're in an environmentwhere there's a lot of cockapoos
and labradors and spaniels andkind of those types of sort of
(07:58):
dogs, much more kind of yourcommon sort of family dogs, she
stands out and so she wasgetting quite a bit of eye
contact and that was reallycausing us huge amounts of
stress, huge problems trying togo out for walks.
So we really had to kind ofwind it all back in and find a
good place to start and justbuilding her skills from a safe
(08:19):
environment before growing herworld again.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Now, before we go further, I think I can tell you
already, alice, we're going tospeak lots.
We're going to speak lots andthere's lots we get to do here
and I know the podcast listenersSex and the Squirrel listeners
people that are here are goingto love to hear your journey
with Bonnie, because it has beena journey, and I also know that
you've come out the other side.
So, yes, there's still work andyes, there's still things
you're training, but actuallyyou and her live a really cool
(08:43):
life, chris included, and yetChris is still with us, and I
think that's important.
Sometimes dogs can stress arelationship out like they
really can, and sometimes theycan cause.
It's almost like having a child, and I know that we have
discussions, matt and I.
Skittles now sleeps in thebedroom.
I don't know how it happened,but she sleeps in the bedroom
and we've not had a dog in thebedroom for years.
And you definitely can havethose discussions in
(09:10):
partnerships and relationships.
But separation let's tackleseparation today and I know
we're going to tackle lots morein the future and, with your
permission, of course and she'sit, she's up for it I want to
know separation.
Do you have a camera in thehouse or did you have a camera
in the house, or do you have anyway of monitoring her in the
house?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
We do now.
It was something we didn't haveto begin with and that's why
you know we were completelyunaware that there was problems
while we were out.
But that was one of the firstthings we did was to get a
camera sort of set up, just alittle app on our phones, so
that we could start doing littlekind of practices.
We're talking second time tobegin with so that we could see
(09:48):
how comfortable she was.
We could get better at readingher body language, um, and try
not to ever kind of push it toofar and and just kind of go at
her pace.
But the camera is definitely,um a good bit of kit if you're
having this struggle and you canget a little camera set up.
It really helped us.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yeah, no, absolutely, and I think it makes such a big
difference, like I really thinkit makes such a big difference.
Second thing for me, and Ithink this is really, really
important what did?
You're a massive absolute dogs,you're a fan, but you're also
(10:36):
so rooted in what we do and youget it, and you really do get it
.
I know you've completed thebadges and those of you that
haven't seen 10 Days to StopSeparation please, please,
please, join Games Club.
It's completely part of GamesClub.
You get all of our 10-daycourses and if you haven't
joined Games Club or you can'tjoin Games Club, then at least
get 10 days to stop separation.
To our listeners.
It's not £97.
(10:58):
It's just £27.
Right now you can head over tothe Absolute Dogs store.
It's absolute-dogscom.
Go and get it £27.
Absolute bargain.
Now, alice, you've done all ofthe courses and you've got
really, really, really grittywith it and you absolutely are
my perfect student.
But what probably your threebiggest games or three biggest
(11:18):
builds, or three biggest thingsthat you would do if you were
sort of advising someone else?
What really moved the needlefor you?
What really changed the gamefor you?
What really helped?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
calmness.
Calmness is king, absolutely.
I mean, like you say, I'm a fanof absolute dogs.
Simply because it works, Iwouldn't be here and I wouldn't
be gritty about the courses andI wouldn't still be doing it if
I wasn't benefiting from it, ifBonnie wasn't benefiting from it
, and with a lot of trainingstruggles, but with separation
(11:53):
included, calmness is just thething that needs to kind of
underpin everything and thatreally moved the needle for
Bonnie.
So, um, both with the separationand with her general reactivity
struggles, she was not gettingenough sleep.
She was waking up and goingfrom naught to 100 for a car
(12:16):
door slamming in the streetoutside, or we live on the same
street as a primary school andwhen we first got Bonnie, the
noise and commotion of schoolkids going in and out twice a
day was was catastrophicallyawful on a daily basis Until we
got that calmness to a levelwhere actually she realized, oh,
that's none of my business, Ican just chill.
(12:38):
Um, you know that sort ofdisengagement as well, kind of
the other concepts coming intoplay, but just being able to
actually switch off in the house, being able to have a nice
space where she could chill out,where she sleep, where she knew
she actually wasn't on guardduty for anything.
That definitely gave us theright platform to then build on
(13:01):
her other skills.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And I think that so many people don't have that
basic platform, like so manypeople are building from, I
suppose, a poor foundation.
If we've got no good foundation, then we really are going to
crumble, especially with a doglike Bonnie, who's had no
stability, who's had no earlyfoundation and he probably has
had a pretty poor start withoutus knowing too much Now.
(13:25):
I also know there have beenphysical problems for Bonnie.
What sort of physical problemshave you experienced with Bonnie
?
So these guys, I have to say, ifI was a person homing a dog,
you guys are the perfect home,like she couldn't have landed on
her feet anymore, like she issuch a lucky, lucky, lucky dog
and I know you feel lucky tohave found her.
(13:46):
But I just watched from theoutside, thinking this dog
really was heading one way andshe was only heading to put to
sleep, and I don't say thatlightly.
This dog was heading on a putto sleep route and she
absolutely I don't see herhaving made it in other worlds.
I really don't.
I I am so grateful that youguys cross paths, because I I it
(14:07):
gives me weird goosebumps whenI say things sometimes and I got
them then for me I only seethat she would have been put to
sleep.
I really can't see that she wasan easy home for anyone, not
just because of her separation,not just because of her um
struggles with other dogs, butalso her physical struggles.
So tell us a little bit morethere, alice yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So this was this is one of the other slightly nasty
surprises we got uh sort ofshortly after adopting her, was
that?
Um, she, uh she started to limpabout two or three months after
we got her.
So obviously we kind of gotinvestigated and, uh, long story
short, she needed both of hercruciate ligaments, um operating
(14:50):
on so from start to finishwhilst we were awaiting
treatment and then in betweentreatments and rehab after
treatment, um took about ninemonths.
So this was about nine monthsof um pretty much being on kind
of home rest or maybe going tolike a private hire secure field
(15:11):
for short exercise periods, aswe were starting to kind of
build a backup or um, you know,just very, very gradually, sort
of taking it very steadily, butum, in a way, weirdly, I think,
with specifically with the kindof the reactivity struggles.
It was almost a blessing indisguise because, one, we became
aware that actually herreactivity was partially being
(15:32):
contributed to by her physicaldiscomfort and two, uh, even
before we'd actually discoveredabsolute dogs, we were ditching
the walk as a matter ofnecessity, sort of sort of as
the vet had told us to do, andthen during that time I said, oh
, I'm gonna go mad if I can't doany dog training.
I can't do some learning whilstI'm going to go mad if I can't
do any dog training.
(15:52):
I can't do some learning whilstI'm stuck at home with her.
And I found you guys, and therest is history.
But yeah, we got into the kindof naughty but nice learning.
There was lots we could startto do at home.
So by the time we couldactually start taking her out on
walks and we could startexercising her a little bit at a
(16:13):
time and gradually building herback up physically.
We also had a few more skillsin the pot at that point which
were helping her to be lessreactive as well.
Um, so, um, yeah, there's, she'sbeen a challenging one and I
mean, uh, it's I.
I totally agree with what you'resaying, that she she could have
(16:34):
very easily been on a put tosleep list, and whether that was
before she was rehomed or evenafter, I mean, the vet was not
terrifically optimistic aboutwhat kind of outcome we would
have with her surgeries, justbecause she was so reactive that
there was a very good chancethat, say, I don't know, we get
a knock at the door, orsomething like that when she was
(16:54):
in surgery recovery.
She could have had an outburstthat might have damaged the
surgery site and that would havebeen pretty much it.
Um, so we, we sort of decided,we know we're going to go for it
, but we're going to, we'rereally going to do this properly
, you know.
So, uh, she wasn't able to dostairs so we kind of had the
mattress our mattress down onthe living room floor for about
(17:17):
three months and, um, anydeliveries we needed to get the
house, we got deliveredelsewhere.
And, yeah, we kind of turnedour world upside down to
accommodate everything we neededto get her through that period
and get her to a place where shewas going to be happier and
healthier.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I don't want to humanize or overhumanize dogs
that there is a space for stillthinking about this for me,
which is you know what, you knowwhen you're in pain and you
know when you're feeling indiscomfort, or you know when
you've even got like I've had itwhere I can't move my neck from
one way to the other.
Equally I can.
Today I've seen a chiropractor.
I love seeing a chiropractor,but when I haven't got that
(18:00):
range like you slept funny orthat can niggle you throughout
the whole day.
So say then you've got a dog whohas got a full bucket and
they've had a lot going on andactually they've also got this
neck range thing going or thisback pain or this like knee pain
or sort of any sort of stifle,injury or issue, and then you
leave them alone and they'realready full bucket.
You can see, even just from ahuman perspective, can't you
(18:23):
like I'm, I maybe, I don't knowfeeling well, and then your
partner leaves for the day andyou kind of think, and then he's
running late and then hedoesn't come back at all because
actually something's happenedat work or whatever.
You can see how that all paysin and you can see how that
dog's separation might alsoescalate when there's pain.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Absolutely Like you said.
Just the presence of anyphysical discomfort is already
pained the bucket so much thatthere's very little room for
anything else that's challengingbefore it just overflows.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And I think that's definitely the situation that we
were in with Bonnie for surethe other thing I think that's
worth considering here isactually how you probably change
Bonnie's feeding completely.
So how is Bonnie fed right now?
Because I know that there'll belike enrichment bowls and I
know that there'll be forms ofand I was thinking about this
the other day and this is reallyfunny, you'll like this, alice.
(19:16):
So my ponies have enrichment,my chickens have enrichment and
what I've realised is even mygoat has enrichment, like
everyone has enrichment, andit's become a bit of a passion
area for me.
It's a bit of a purpose spacefor me.
So, for example, I've got onehorse who's his spinal and space
is a little bit close.
He's got no issue.
He's got no, no awareness of ityet, but I've x-rayed it, so I
(19:37):
know.
So I try really hard to havehis food always low, because the
lower he is, the more it helpshis spine to be as stretched out
as it can be, whereas with mychickens I feed the little birds
that go in the front of thehouse, but my chickens have
taken to jumping in the air toget the bird food.
I'm on a meeting and all I cansee and I've got about 20
chickens, probably more.
Six came from the battery thisweek.
(19:59):
Actually They've got nofeathers.
They absolutely look horrific.
But I'm so excited for the lifethey're going to have and
they're hopping and they're notyet.
They won't even come out oftheir bed and but the others are
hopping and leaping in the airand like stealing all the food.
It just makes me laugh to seethem doing this level of
enrichment and, um, I reallylove it, like I love enrichment
for them.
But I also know that enrichmentis a huge part of why my dogs
(20:22):
settle when I leave, to thepoint that they don't really
notice that much when I evencome home anymore.
Like my dogs are pretty settled.
Like you might get like a niceyawn and a stretch like oh,
she's back, and but it's notmuch more than that.
I definitely don't get zoomies,I definitely don't get barking,
I definitely don't get a lot ofexcitement and I own 10 dogs,
so I'm not someone who's justgot one dog and to come home.
(20:42):
So I do have a multi-doghousehold and classic's probably
my noisiest or wild who have tograb a toy or like squeal, um,
but other than that they'repretty good and I would say like
, like a lot of the time theythey will barely get out of beds
.
They're like stretching andthen going back to sleep again.
Enrichment's what's helped me,and my feeding regimes, not
(21:03):
routines, because I ditched thebowl and I ditch the routine and
I ditch the walk as well.
They really all help me.
How about you?
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Oh for sure.
I mean whether we're talkingabout sort of training concepts
and building skills, or whetherwe're talking about when Bonnie
was on home rest in betweensurgeries and all the rest of it
home rest in between surgeriesand all the rest of it, having
games and having food enrichmentat home, um, and having those
options, um, really reallyhugely made a difference.
(21:33):
So, um, what started assomething we did out of
necessity when she was on homerest, like um, like getting her
to do a little sort of scentsearches around the house, sort
of finding little bits of foodor finding a toy and getting a
food reward, or whatever itmight be doing kind of scent
games, or whether it's having,you know, a filled cong that she
can enjoy in her bed, or havingan enrichment bowl with all
(21:56):
sorts of lovely little bits andpieces that she can sort of
snuffle out, you know, or justsort of playing games and sort
of learning new tricks andthings like that there's.
Why would she use a bowl whenthere's all those other options?
Speaker 1 (22:10):
It's just so much more fun for her and for me
frankly as well, and also, Ithink and I think you hit the
nail on the head so much morefun for her, but also for
yourself, and I think that'ssomething that we cover in our
10 Days to Stop Separation.
Actually, why on earth wouldyou put food in a bowl like?
Earlier?
I was moving and I've got acouple of dogs staying with us
their owner's gone away andlovely, lovely dogs, but for me,
(22:33):
I use all of their food to keepthem entertained throughout the
day, because, if not, it's afull-time job for me and I want
to be able to have like lots oftime for everything else, and so
it absolutely helps at everysingle layer and level to ditch
the bowl like it allows for myday to run almost it and and it
allows so much flexibility.
(22:53):
And what I've really noticed isI love working with flexible
people and I really struggle towork with inflexible people, and
I would say the same with dogs.
I love working with a flexibledog, whereas it's harder to work
with a dog who's not flexible.
What would you say?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
oh yeah, definitely, definitely, and it's.
And I think for anyonelistening who thinks, well, you
know, like my dog isn't flexible, but I can be taught, there's
games for that.
You know there's, that's,that's something that you know,
just because your dog might notbe used to not being fed from a
bowl, for example, if you'rekind of like approaching this
topic for the first time thatthat's can be grown, that can be
(23:28):
taught and um, you know that's.
That's certainly um, somethingin my experience that you know.
Bonnie is far more flexible nowthan she was when I sort of
started training um and um, andI think that it does, it allows
that and it's transferablebetween different contexts.
Then, isn't it?
If you've got that concept,then you end up with a dog
(23:50):
that's not only more flexiblewith their behavior out and
about, on a walk, for example,but maybe more flexible to the
home environment, like talkingabout separation if you're
present or if you're not, andlearning to actually be cool
with that and that thatdifference is is absolutely fine
and that they can still lay intheir bed and enjoy their Kong
(24:11):
whether you're in the room ornot.
Um, and you know, I think I'mconscious that maybe listeners
who are kind of thinking.
But this is an awful problemand people have told me it's
hard, people have told me it'shard to solve.
Is it ever going to get anybetter.
It seems like such a huge kindof step to think I could ever
leave my dog on their own fromwhere we are right now, where
(24:32):
they kind of literally cannot beleft for more than a few
seconds.
Um, and, and you can,absolutely.
I just want listeners to knowthat you can and it works,
because you just take it littlestep by little step and you know
you will see.
You will see that that skillbeing being built over time.
Um, I made a little kind of umtracker for myself to kind of
(24:55):
like help with that.
I was literally just about tobring it up.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
I've been here going yeah, here it is and I've been
looking at it and I absolutelylove the tracker and I'll make
sure we get an absolute dogsversion of your tracker, if
you're tracker, and I'll makesure we get an absolute dog's
version of your tracker ifyou're happy.
Yeah, we'll make it pretty andwe'll, well, we'll we'll make
sure that listeners can get holdof it.
So, um, keep, keep with us andwe'll make sure you can get hold
of it.
And definitely, if you're partof games club, you're part of
pdt club, we'll make sure youget hold of it.
But, um, I definitely,definitely, definitely know that
(25:20):
things like this really help.
So, on the separation tracker,you talk about, um, the safety
net.
You talk about disturbed orcalm.
Basically, where, where arethey in the head?
You talk about barriers,distance, employment and
duration, and no, you don't meanare you employing a new person?
You are employing this dog andwhat are they doing?
So you give barrier scores, yougive distance scores, you give
(25:41):
employment scores, and that isnot rating them on how
employable they are.
This is, uh, what is the dogdoing?
And duration scores.
So this is a really, reallynice one.
Now, I know that a lot of yourunderstanding and knowledge has
come from games club and pro dogtrainer club, and I'm so proud
of you.
As a student like I cannot sitlike this.
If I was to pick the perfectstudent, alice would be one of
them.
Now, alice, what would you sayto someone thinking about doing?
(26:03):
You put that crown on, lady, somove over.
Step aside, beyonce.
This is your crown.
What I would say is you're abrilliant student, but what
would you say to someone who'sthinking about Games Club or Pro
Dog Trainer Club, or wanting abit more support?
What would your advice be?
Speaker 2 (26:23):
If you can jump in, just do it, just just give it a
go, because, um, training a dogthat has separation struggles
can be quite a lonely space, um,and I've found that having the
community of games club and pdpclub um has been fantastic, just
(26:44):
I mean for my own mentalwell-being and motivation with
tackling the struggle and kindof continuing on with it,
because you've got a globalcommunity full of people who get
it, because they're eithertackling the similar thing to
you and you can kind of buddy upand help each other out and be
accountable to each other withyour training, or you've got
somebody who has successfullyovercome a struggle that they
(27:09):
can say, right, well, whatworked for me was this protocol,
this strategy or these, thissort of menu of games, um, and
can kind of help coach you, um,and it's just such a fantastic
space for knowledge sharing andsupport as well, because
everybody in that community is adog owner who has at least one
(27:30):
dog training struggle or had adog training struggle, that they
are now kind of living the dogowning dream and and they're
passionate to help others.
Um, so, yeah, if you, if you canjump in, just just do it, just
give it a go, because there'sthis incredible value to be had.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
And you really are, for me, my dream student.
Like I look at what you'redoing, you're such a good
student and I know that so manypeople are going to learn from
you.
So I know today is whistle stopon separation.
But, alice, are you willing tochat to us just a little more on
(28:11):
another episode or in thefuture on you, bonnie, your
journeys, your adventures andmaybe some of the other
struggles?
Because I know that you've alsotackled dog-dog reactivity and
you've tackled it at a levelwhere we know in the past that
actually there's been a prettyserious incident with Bonnie,
way before you had her andbefore she was in your hands,
and certainly wasn't beingmanaged well, but there's been a
pretty serious dog dog incident.
Are you happy to share that ona future podcast with us?
Absolutely, absolutely.
(28:32):
I thank you for being here.
That was this episode of theSex and Squirrel podcast.
I cannot wait to share more ofAlice and Bonnie's journey with
you because I know, most of all,it's a really successful one
and I know this is here for youtoo.
So, with that, listeners, sharethe podcast, tell your friends,
bring them all over here andmake sure you make it a great
(28:54):
day.
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