June 3, 2025 • 15 mins
Is Your Dog Too Friendly? Why Socialisation Might Be Setting You Back 🐾
What if everything you've been told about socialisation is… wrong?
In this episode, leading dog trainer Lauren Langman and operational dog expert Dave Hibbert (whose dogs have worked events like the Queen’s funeral) dive deep into the surprising truth behind confident dogs. Spoiler: it’s not about being friendly—it’s about being environmentally bulletproof.
🎯 You’ll learn:
- The real difference between socialisation and environmental training
- Why “friendly” dogs often fail in the real world
- How to build calm, focused, and neutral responses to distractions
- Easy home setups using cardboard chaos, metal bowls, and wobble boards
- Why car parks, industrial estates, and motorway service stations make the best training grounds
- The truth about early puppy exposure, even before vaccinations
"We don’t want a social dog," says Lauren. “We want one who can ignore the chaos and tune in to us.”
This episode is a must-watch if you're training a working dog, raising a high-energy pup, or just tired of your dog getting distracted by every passerby.
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https://absolutedogs.me/perfectpuppy
#dogtraining #puppytraining #socialisation #environmentaltraining #absolutedogs #confidentdogs #dogbehaviour #dogpodcast #reactivedog #puppydevelopment #dogtrainingtips
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lauren Langman (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, so today we are talkingenvironments, environmental
(00:32):
training and where you should,and maybe shouldn't, go with
your dog.
Now I'm joined by the wonderfulDave.
Dave, I know you've worked dogsin the forces effectively
operational dogs so environmentis probably more important to
you than anyone, because you'regoing to need your dogs to
search.
It's some pretty difficultspaces.
Now I know that your dogsearched at the Queen's Funeral.
What kind of environment isthat that you're going into?
Dave Hibbert (00:53):
because it's a pretty big environment, when you
think about it, for a dog thatmaybe has never seen anything
like that yeah, I mean,environments like that are huge
and and extremely challengingbecause you've not just got the
environment to deal with butyou've got all of the other
things that are going on.
So, like you say, at theQueen's funeral, for example, we
were searching WestminsterAbbey prior to the funeral and
(01:15):
you've got the TV crews settingup, you've got scaffolding going
up, you've got loads ofdifferent people coming and
going, you've got trolleys comein, lorries come in you, you
name it, it was there and it'sit's.
It can be really challenging ifyou haven't got the right dog
who's gone through the righttraining to make sure they are
robust in those environments.
Lauren Langman (01:35):
So, absolutely, the key for any good dog,
whether it's a working dog or apet dog, for me is all about
those environmentals now, I knowthe genetics certainly play a
part, and as do you, butultimately we've got the
genetics we've got and we'reworking with the dog that we've
got.
Um, and so personally, if I wasgoing to have a new dog, I want
(01:55):
to know the genetics of theparents.
I look really carefully at myparents and what I'm going to do
, um, in terms of like, I want astrong dog and a comfortable
dog.
But I also know that you can doa lot with your environmental
training, and I know that you'redoing that right now with a
youngster.
I've certainly done so much ofthat right through.
If you look back over ourrecordings, pup to Perfection
was maybe 17 years ago 16 yearsago, many years ago that we
(02:17):
filmed Pup to Perfection and wewere doing exactly that.
We were doing environmentaltraining and we were out and
about doing environments.
Now I think there's adifference between doing
environmental training andsocialising, and I know there's
this massive, massive thingabout having a dog that's social
, and I think for you and me, weturn that on its head and we'd
say we probably want theopposite.
We don't want a social dog.
(02:38):
We actively want dogs who arenot going to rush up to people
or go over and say hi to stuffor or see another dog and be
like wagging across the streetand really distracted by them.
But we do want a dog that'senvironmentally robust.
So maybe talk through a coupleof the environments you've been
training in recently, dave, andwhat you've been doing in those
environments with your young dog, who's out there learning all
(02:59):
about it.
Dave Hibbert (03:00):
Yeah, I think you make a really good point.
Yeah, I think you make a reallygood point.
This, this view ofsocialization is is something we
really need to tackle because,as you rightly say, you know, we
don't need dogs running over toother dogs and people, and so I
kind of say the environmentalsalso covers that sort of thing.
So you know, at the moment, andcertainly when you've got a new
(03:20):
dog or a new puppy, a lot ofthe stuff, the the kind of first
steps, for me would be done athome.
So, you know, games likecardboard chaos are really good,
um, because you want the dog tostart to learn and be aware of
their body, and you know whenthey stand on things that are
rocking, or stand on things thatare stumbling around, or
(03:41):
there's a bit of noise whenbowls are clanging.
So I like to set up little kindof assault courses in the
garden to start with.
So I'd have, you know, theirmetal food bowls, I'd have like
a ball pit, I'd have cardboardboxes, wobble boards, uh plant
pots, and just get the dogbasically moving around those
different uh obstacles to startto make them more body aware but
(04:04):
also confident when, and sothat would be my starting point
and then, once we've kind ofbuilt that confidence in an
environment, they know I'll takethem out.
But but this is the real key bitnow, because I think sometimes
people rush to take themeverywhere and everywhere and
(04:26):
not really consider what, whatwe're actually trying to achieve
.
So you know I'll take the dog.
Their first experience of goingto a train station would be a
quiet train station on a Sundayafternoon where there's not many
people about, there's not manytrains come in so they can get
used to going over the stairs,up the escalator.
Potentially if I'm picking themup up the lift, you know there
(04:47):
might be one train that comespast.
Because if you suddenly takethe dog to, you know I live in
Birmingham.
Because if you suddenly takethe dog to, you know I live in
Birmingham.
So if I suddenly took the dogto Grand Central in the centre
of Birmingham with, you know,stacks of people and stacks of
trains and all these thingsgoing on, you know quite quickly
you could put the dog in aposition where they're going to
have quite a bad experience.
(05:07):
And what I always say forenvironmental exposure is you
just want a neutral experience,you don't want it to be highly
rewarding, but you don't want itto be.
Lauren Langman (05:18):
You know negative and punishing to them I
think you hit the nail on thehead there.
I really love that you sayneutral.
It should just be a neutralexperience.
I want neutral and I would say,if I was to pick some of my
best dogs or best experienceswith dogs tokyo what I loved
with him is he's very neutral.
So if someone came in the door,he's pretty neutral.
If he was walking, he's prettyneutral.
He could go down through thecar park and ignore 20 dogs and
(05:39):
walk in the arena, didn't evenlook to go, greet anyone.
He's just very neutral.
And I would say I want a dogwho's dog neutral people neutral
and really environmental, um,or environmentally neutral.
So a dog who's just able to goyeah and like, yeah and like
yeah and, and then when you askthem to do something.
Can you search a?
Yeah cool, I can search it.
Or can you search that person?
Yeah, cool, but they don't needto lick the person or wee up
(05:59):
the person or bite the person.
There's no extreme Like I likethat.
They're not extreme, they'relevel.
And so you're working with andthis is one of the things I
realised working with you wasthat the best police dogs are
actually very happy, confidentdogs.
The best police dogs are not onthe edge and nervous and
reactive and worried and lungy,and those are typically the dogs
I imagine people want to donateto you.
Those are not the dogs youactually want.
(06:21):
The dogs you actually want arethe confident, cool-like dogs.
So I suppose, again,environmentally, what I'm going
to say is another tip would beyou want to keep it cool.
If at any point it feels likestressed or really strained or
really anxious or really worried, I probably would say maybe
we've pushed it too far or we'vedone a bit too much, or we've
maybe asked them to go into theGrand Central rather than the
(06:42):
local, like Oakhampton Station.
I can tell you now, dave,oakhampton Station, perfect for
no one.
Like literally, it's got likeone train every half an hour and
no people in a little localcoffee shop.
So it's a real uh, it's a realfunny place, um, but definitely,
definitely.
I think a lot of people go andwant to hit that tick sheet and
(07:02):
go through like 500 places inone day with the man in the
special big hat and the walkingstick and everything else.
And actually for me I don'twant any of those things, I just
want my dog to be cool in theenvironment, cool in the
environment, cool in theenvironment, cool in the
environment.
Dave Hibbert (07:16):
Yeah, I think I always preach.
You know, I want the dogconfident in their own skin and
that's the number one criteriafor me, whether it's a pet dog
or a working dog, but certainlyfrom a working perspective it's
really important.
And the word I like to use isambivalent.
So the dog is completelyambivalent to everything that
goes on in their life.
Um, because, like you say, Idon't, I don't want the dog, you
(07:40):
know, too aware of theirsurroundings.
I just want the dog to thinkthis is just normal um, and
that's why it's important whenwe're building environmental
kind of training, we take a, youknow, a real step-by-step
process, um, where we'reactually building this up.
So, like I said, I'd start on asunday when it's quiet, then
maybe just build up to a bitbusier, a bit busier, a bit
(08:03):
busier always at the same trainstation to start with.
So the dog gets used to thesurroundings, but this time they
might see more people, theymight see more trains, they
might have people with pushchairs, bikes and just slowly
start to introduce this.
So actually, by the time we getto taking the dog to grand
central, they've alreadyexperienced lots of the things
in isolation and now it's justthe case of putting it together
(08:25):
and proofing, you know, in a ina busy environment, um.
So it is very important youbuild that up as a step-by-step
process and you're reallythoughtful around how you expose
the dog to certain things.
Lauren Langman (08:37):
Now I know with our 10 Days to Puppy Success
course that we actually runthrough environments.
We talk through environments,but let's just catch up quickly
on some of our favouriteenvironments.
Let's just do a bang, bang,bang, bang and catch up on those
.
And, like I said in the PuppySuccess 10 days to puppy success
, just 27 pounds, absolutebargain.
Lifetime access, um, but, butdave, um.
(09:00):
One of my random favoriteenvironments to go to would
actually be and this is youinspired uh, some sort of
industrial estate, and I'd liketo go to some sort of industrial
state, particularly where it'sa bit dusky and a bit dark and
dimpsy, and I would just scatterfeed my dogs, and I know that
we might train differently.
(09:20):
Sometimes you'll use probablymore toys than I might and I
might use more food, but for meit's just a good experience in a
novel environment and Itypically would pick a time when
it's dusky.
Over to you.
What's one of your favouriteenvironments?
Dave Hibbert (09:28):
or quick environment, tennis um, a
motorway service station.
So I really like taking thedogs to a motorway service
station because you've got a lotof slow moving traffic and
there's lots of areas where youcan move into and out of, based
on the level of your dog's kindof confidence, so you can be
(09:49):
right out of the way and justlet the dog experience the noise
of the cars through toliterally being on you know the
side of the road where theirpeople are almost leaving the
cars, through to literally beingon you know the side of the
road where they're people arealmost leaving the service
station a little bit so youstart to get a bit more faster
flow traffic.
Lauren Langman (10:02):
So yeah, I take the dogs to the service station
quite a lot what I'm shocked atwith the service stations and
I've only just started doingthis.
I've been taking Skittle tosome shows on her own, so none
of the other dogs have come withus.
Everyone else has stayed athome and that's because been
traveling in the horse box.
To cut a long story short, lizawants to go to horse shows and
we want to go to dog shows andthe only way to do it is all go
together and then split upsomehow.
So Skittles has been comingalone.
(10:23):
But what I've realized?
And then when I stop atservices whereas I normally
don't mind leaving all the dogsin the car, often she services
all these dogs are in and out.
So now I'm in and out, soactually you can get them to the
point that actually they're inthe services with you checking
out the food stations, checkingout the bathrooms, checking out
(10:46):
the um, the sofas, checking outanywhere.
So yeah, service stations nowhave taken a whole new level, in
the uk at least, where you cantake your dog in with you
everywhere, like even thebathroom.
There's skittle trotting intothe bathroom and being told she
has to down and wait.
But it's great practice andit's great life skills for me
and I also really like for herthat it puts her in a space
where, um, she has to offeradditional control than what she
(11:09):
would do maybe a dog show or adog event so she actually has to
be a real model citizen, um,and so it's great.
Yeah, so services go on.
Dave Hibbert (11:16):
Another one of yours, dave, heading to you um
well, train stations, as I say,is another big one.
I mean, I mean my two.
My two big ones would be trainstations and service stations,
because there's so much varietyin terms of meeting different
people, meeting different dogs,like there's so much that goes
on at the train station and theservice station.
It gives you real good exposure.
And then again there'sdifferent types of floors, so
(11:39):
the slippy floors, tile floors,concrete, metal, you know, and
that's really important as wellbecause you want the dog to be
confident on all of thosedifferent things.
Lauren Langman (11:49):
Nice, really nice, and then I'll give my
final one.
So one of my final places Ilove to go is actually
supermarket car parks, and Iknow that sounds super odd.
I actually don't mind shopping,but often I'll send Matt
shopping.
I'll be like you go grab thenachos and whatever else that
we're eating.
That's really naughty and I'llhang out in the car park for 10
minutes.
10 minutes later my dog'sexhausted because there's a lot
to take in and, like you said,slow moving traffic.
(12:11):
People are really not interestedin your dog as well.
I like people that are notinterested in my dog for
environmental training, becauseit allows me to not have an over
social dog.
I actively don't want my dogspeaking to people, and I think
this is where you and I differto probably majority of the
world, where they want the dogsgoing up and speaking to people.
I really don't.
I know you don't.
We don't want dogs to be overlysocial.
It actually isn't in ourinterest to have them overly
(12:32):
social, and so for me I don'tneed them like disliking it, but
I also don't need them reallyseeking it out, and so for me,
car parks are fantastic.
So, dave, we've talkedenvironmental.
We know it's important foryoung dogs.
We know it's important forolder dogs.
If you've got a choice, when doyou start it?
If you had the choice, day one.
Dave Hibbert (12:51):
So as soon as, as soon as you can.
So and this is quitecontroversial, um, but you know,
if you've got a puppy, veryoften the vets will tell you
never take the dog out untilhe's had his second vaccination
and all this kind of stuff.
However, you know, one of thethings when I was running uh,
the puppy development programfor for police forces was we we
(13:12):
would actively get our puppiesout after that first vaccination
because you know it's soimportant for the dogs to be
exposed to as much as possiblein a controlled way than just
keeping them cooped up, you know, at home waiting for this
period I'm going to be even morecontroversial and say mine
often haven't had their firstvaccination and I'm still trying
(13:34):
to get them out and about.
Lauren Langman (13:35):
Whether that's in the vehicle and you lift the
boot and you let them listen, orthe the risk that you have of
um, lepto and parvo and all theother things from like air and
transmission, that way is is isreally zero and because you've
got them just watching thingsfrom the boot, but the
experience that they have ismassive, like absolutely massive
.
So for me me, you're preachingto the choir.
(13:56):
No, I'm not going to put themin a place where there's like
rat infested water or wherethere's a known case of lepto,
and I'm not going to walk themaround the middle of like
Birmingham city centre, but I amgoing to take them to the
Moorland and have a picnic inthe back of the car and let them
watch.
Or I am going to go to asupermarket car park and let
them just like listen into thesounds, and I think it's really
important or put them on abackpack or like don't you have
(14:18):
to put them down for them to tobe exposed to something?
So, um, yeah, dave, I massivelyagree.
Environmentally, I think it'sit's rich.
So any final tips you'd giveanyone on environmental training
for dogs before we head overand out?
Dave Hibbert (14:33):
well.
This is so my favorite tip, andthis doesn't necessarily go
down well with everybody.
So one of the things I like todo when I've got a puppy is when
I'm doing environmentaltraining, I'll put my overhead
beats headphones on and I won'tnecessarily be listening to
anything, but it's a really goodway of not having to engage
with people when they try andspeak to your puppy and come
(14:55):
over and talk to you so I justpretend I can't hear anyone and
I'm on a mission walking.
So what I always say if you'regoing to get a puppy, buy
yourself a set of Beatsheadphones so you can drown out
the world trying to say hello toyour dog.
Lauren Langman (15:08):
I love it that they have a brand as well.
Many other brands available,but Dave recommends Beats Dave.
In addition to that, you haveto say before we leave, you have
to say puppy once more.
Dave Hibbert (15:18):
Puppy.
Lauren Langman (15:19):
It's done.
It's done.
So, guys, that was this episodeof the Sex in Squirrel podcast.
I hope you learned loads aboutenvironment and also maybe the
controversial word socialization.
Join us for next week, where weare going to share with you
something pretty exciting.
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, so today we are talkingenvironments, environmental
(00:32):
training and where you should,and maybe shouldn't, go with
your dog.
Now I'm joined by the wonderfulDave.
Dave, I know you've worked dogsin the forces effectively
operational dogs so environmentis probably more important to
you than anyone, because you'regoing to need your dogs to
search.
It's some pretty difficultspaces.
Now I know that your dogsearched at the Queen's Funeral.
What kind of environment isthat that you're going into?
Dave Hibbert (00:53):
because it's a pretty big environment, when you
think about it, for a dog thatmaybe has never seen anything
like that yeah, I mean,environments like that are huge
and and extremely challengingbecause you've not just got the
environment to deal with butyou've got all of the other
things that are going on.
So, like you say, at theQueen's funeral, for example, we
were searching WestminsterAbbey prior to the funeral and
(01:15):
you've got the TV crews settingup, you've got scaffolding going
up, you've got loads ofdifferent people coming and
going, you've got trolleys comein, lorries come in you, you
name it, it was there and it'sit's.
It can be really challenging ifyou haven't got the right dog
who's gone through the righttraining to make sure they are
robust in those environments.
Lauren Langman (01:35):
So, absolutely, the key for any good dog,
whether it's a working dog or apet dog, for me is all about
those environmentals now, I knowthe genetics certainly play a
part, and as do you, butultimately we've got the
genetics we've got and we'reworking with the dog that we've
got.
Um, and so personally, if I wasgoing to have a new dog, I want
(01:55):
to know the genetics of theparents.
I look really carefully at myparents and what I'm going to do
, um, in terms of like, I want astrong dog and a comfortable
dog.
But I also know that you can doa lot with your environmental
training, and I know that you'redoing that right now with a
youngster.
I've certainly done so much ofthat right through.
If you look back over ourrecordings, pup to Perfection
was maybe 17 years ago 16 yearsago, many years ago that we
(02:17):
filmed Pup to Perfection and wewere doing exactly that.
We were doing environmentaltraining and we were out and
about doing environments.
Now I think there's adifference between doing
environmental training andsocialising, and I know there's
this massive, massive thingabout having a dog that's social
, and I think for you and me, weturn that on its head and we'd
say we probably want theopposite.
We don't want a social dog.
(02:38):
We actively want dogs who arenot going to rush up to people
or go over and say hi to stuffor or see another dog and be
like wagging across the streetand really distracted by them.
But we do want a dog that'senvironmentally robust.
So maybe talk through a coupleof the environments you've been
training in recently, dave, andwhat you've been doing in those
environments with your young dog, who's out there learning all
(02:59):
about it.
Dave Hibbert (03:00):
Yeah, I think you make a really good point.
Yeah, I think you make a reallygood point.
This, this view ofsocialization is is something we
really need to tackle because,as you rightly say, you know, we
don't need dogs running over toother dogs and people, and so I
kind of say the environmentalsalso covers that sort of thing.
So you know, at the moment, andcertainly when you've got a new
(03:20):
dog or a new puppy, a lot ofthe stuff, the the kind of first
steps, for me would be done athome.
So, you know, games likecardboard chaos are really good,
um, because you want the dog tostart to learn and be aware of
their body, and you know whenthey stand on things that are
rocking, or stand on things thatare stumbling around, or
(03:41):
there's a bit of noise whenbowls are clanging.
So I like to set up little kindof assault courses in the
garden to start with.
So I'd have, you know, theirmetal food bowls, I'd have like
a ball pit, I'd have cardboardboxes, wobble boards, uh plant
pots, and just get the dogbasically moving around those
different uh obstacles to startto make them more body aware but
(04:04):
also confident when, and sothat would be my starting point
and then, once we've kind ofbuilt that confidence in an
environment, they know I'll takethem out.
But but this is the real key bitnow, because I think sometimes
people rush to take themeverywhere and everywhere and
(04:26):
not really consider what, whatwe're actually trying to achieve
.
So you know I'll take the dog.
Their first experience of goingto a train station would be a
quiet train station on a Sundayafternoon where there's not many
people about, there's not manytrains come in so they can get
used to going over the stairs,up the escalator.
Potentially if I'm picking themup up the lift, you know there
(04:47):
might be one train that comespast.
Because if you suddenly takethe dog to, you know I live in
Birmingham.
Because if you suddenly takethe dog to, you know I live in
Birmingham.
So if I suddenly took the dogto Grand Central in the centre
of Birmingham with, you know,stacks of people and stacks of
trains and all these thingsgoing on, you know quite quickly
you could put the dog in aposition where they're going to
have quite a bad experience.
(05:07):
And what I always say forenvironmental exposure is you
just want a neutral experience,you don't want it to be highly
rewarding, but you don't want itto be.
Lauren Langman (05:18):
You know negative and punishing to them I
think you hit the nail on thehead there.
I really love that you sayneutral.
It should just be a neutralexperience.
I want neutral and I would say,if I was to pick some of my
best dogs or best experienceswith dogs tokyo what I loved
with him is he's very neutral.
So if someone came in the door,he's pretty neutral.
If he was walking, he's prettyneutral.
He could go down through thecar park and ignore 20 dogs and
(05:39):
walk in the arena, didn't evenlook to go, greet anyone.
He's just very neutral.
And I would say I want a dogwho's dog neutral people neutral
and really environmental, um,or environmentally neutral.
So a dog who's just able to goyeah and like, yeah and like
yeah and, and then when you askthem to do something.
Can you search a?
Yeah cool, I can search it.
Or can you search that person?
Yeah, cool, but they don't needto lick the person or wee up
(05:59):
the person or bite the person.
There's no extreme Like I likethat.
They're not extreme, they'relevel.
And so you're working with andthis is one of the things I
realised working with you wasthat the best police dogs are
actually very happy, confidentdogs.
The best police dogs are not onthe edge and nervous and
reactive and worried and lungy,and those are typically the dogs
I imagine people want to donateto you.
Those are not the dogs youactually want.
(06:21):
The dogs you actually want arethe confident, cool-like dogs.
So I suppose, again,environmentally, what I'm going
to say is another tip would beyou want to keep it cool.
If at any point it feels likestressed or really strained or
really anxious or really worried, I probably would say maybe
we've pushed it too far or we'vedone a bit too much, or we've
maybe asked them to go into theGrand Central rather than the
(06:42):
local, like Oakhampton Station.
I can tell you now, dave,oakhampton Station, perfect for
no one.
Like literally, it's got likeone train every half an hour and
no people in a little localcoffee shop.
So it's a real uh, it's a realfunny place, um, but definitely,
definitely.
I think a lot of people go andwant to hit that tick sheet and
(07:02):
go through like 500 places inone day with the man in the
special big hat and the walkingstick and everything else.
And actually for me I don'twant any of those things, I just
want my dog to be cool in theenvironment, cool in the
environment, cool in theenvironment, cool in the
environment.
Dave Hibbert (07:16):
Yeah, I think I always preach.
You know, I want the dogconfident in their own skin and
that's the number one criteriafor me, whether it's a pet dog
or a working dog, but certainlyfrom a working perspective it's
really important.
And the word I like to use isambivalent.
So the dog is completelyambivalent to everything that
goes on in their life.
Um, because, like you say, Idon't, I don't want the dog, you
(07:40):
know, too aware of theirsurroundings.
I just want the dog to thinkthis is just normal um, and
that's why it's important whenwe're building environmental
kind of training, we take a, youknow, a real step-by-step
process, um, where we'reactually building this up.
So, like I said, I'd start on asunday when it's quiet, then
maybe just build up to a bitbusier, a bit busier, a bit
(08:03):
busier always at the same trainstation to start with.
So the dog gets used to thesurroundings, but this time they
might see more people, theymight see more trains, they
might have people with pushchairs, bikes and just slowly
start to introduce this.
So actually, by the time we getto taking the dog to grand
central, they've alreadyexperienced lots of the things
in isolation and now it's justthe case of putting it together
(08:25):
and proofing, you know, in a ina busy environment, um.
So it is very important youbuild that up as a step-by-step
process and you're reallythoughtful around how you expose
the dog to certain things.
Lauren Langman (08:37):
Now I know with our 10 Days to Puppy Success
course that we actually runthrough environments.
We talk through environments,but let's just catch up quickly
on some of our favouriteenvironments.
Let's just do a bang, bang,bang, bang and catch up on those
.
And, like I said in the PuppySuccess 10 days to puppy success
, just 27 pounds, absolutebargain.
Lifetime access, um, but, butdave, um.
(09:00):
One of my random favoriteenvironments to go to would
actually be and this is youinspired uh, some sort of
industrial estate, and I'd liketo go to some sort of industrial
state, particularly where it'sa bit dusky and a bit dark and
dimpsy, and I would just scatterfeed my dogs, and I know that
we might train differently.
(09:20):
Sometimes you'll use probablymore toys than I might and I
might use more food, but for meit's just a good experience in a
novel environment and Itypically would pick a time when
it's dusky.
Over to you.
What's one of your favouriteenvironments?
Dave Hibbert (09:28):
or quick environment, tennis um, a
motorway service station.
So I really like taking thedogs to a motorway service
station because you've got a lotof slow moving traffic and
there's lots of areas where youcan move into and out of, based
on the level of your dog's kindof confidence, so you can be
(09:49):
right out of the way and justlet the dog experience the noise
of the cars through toliterally being on you know the
side of the road where theirpeople are almost leaving the
cars, through to literally beingon you know the side of the
road where they're people arealmost leaving the service
station a little bit so youstart to get a bit more faster
flow traffic.
Lauren Langman (10:02):
So yeah, I take the dogs to the service station
quite a lot what I'm shocked atwith the service stations and
I've only just started doingthis.
I've been taking Skittle tosome shows on her own, so none
of the other dogs have come withus.
Everyone else has stayed athome and that's because been
traveling in the horse box.
To cut a long story short, lizawants to go to horse shows and
we want to go to dog shows andthe only way to do it is all go
together and then split upsomehow.
So Skittles has been comingalone.
(10:23):
But what I've realized?
And then when I stop atservices whereas I normally
don't mind leaving all the dogsin the car, often she services
all these dogs are in and out.
So now I'm in and out, soactually you can get them to the
point that actually they're inthe services with you checking
out the food stations, checkingout the bathrooms, checking out
(10:46):
the um, the sofas, checking outanywhere.
So yeah, service stations nowhave taken a whole new level, in
the uk at least, where you cantake your dog in with you
everywhere, like even thebathroom.
There's skittle trotting intothe bathroom and being told she
has to down and wait.
But it's great practice andit's great life skills for me
and I also really like for herthat it puts her in a space
where, um, she has to offeradditional control than what she
(11:09):
would do maybe a dog show or adog event so she actually has to
be a real model citizen, um,and so it's great.
Yeah, so services go on.
Dave Hibbert (11:16):
Another one of yours, dave, heading to you um
well, train stations, as I say,is another big one.
I mean, I mean my two.
My two big ones would be trainstations and service stations,
because there's so much varietyin terms of meeting different
people, meeting different dogs,like there's so much that goes
on at the train station and theservice station.
It gives you real good exposure.
And then again there'sdifferent types of floors, so
(11:39):
the slippy floors, tile floors,concrete, metal, you know, and
that's really important as wellbecause you want the dog to be
confident on all of thosedifferent things.
Lauren Langman (11:49):
Nice, really nice, and then I'll give my
final one.
So one of my final places Ilove to go is actually
supermarket car parks, and Iknow that sounds super odd.
I actually don't mind shopping,but often I'll send Matt
shopping.
I'll be like you go grab thenachos and whatever else that
we're eating.
That's really naughty and I'llhang out in the car park for 10
minutes.
10 minutes later my dog'sexhausted because there's a lot
to take in and, like you said,slow moving traffic.
(12:11):
People are really not interestedin your dog as well.
I like people that are notinterested in my dog for
environmental training, becauseit allows me to not have an over
social dog.
I actively don't want my dogspeaking to people, and I think
this is where you and I differto probably majority of the
world, where they want the dogsgoing up and speaking to people.
I really don't.
I know you don't.
We don't want dogs to be overlysocial.
It actually isn't in ourinterest to have them overly
(12:32):
social, and so for me I don'tneed them like disliking it, but
I also don't need them reallyseeking it out, and so for me,
car parks are fantastic.
So, dave, we've talkedenvironmental.
We know it's important foryoung dogs.
We know it's important forolder dogs.
If you've got a choice, when doyou start it?
If you had the choice, day one.
Dave Hibbert (12:51):
So as soon as, as soon as you can.
So and this is quitecontroversial, um, but you know,
if you've got a puppy, veryoften the vets will tell you
never take the dog out untilhe's had his second vaccination
and all this kind of stuff.
However, you know, one of thethings when I was running uh,
the puppy development programfor for police forces was we we
(13:12):
would actively get our puppiesout after that first vaccination
because you know it's soimportant for the dogs to be
exposed to as much as possiblein a controlled way than just
keeping them cooped up, you know, at home waiting for this
period I'm going to be even morecontroversial and say mine
often haven't had their firstvaccination and I'm still trying
(13:34):
to get them out and about.
Lauren Langman (13:35):
Whether that's in the vehicle and you lift the
boot and you let them listen, orthe the risk that you have of
um, lepto and parvo and all theother things from like air and
transmission, that way is is isreally zero and because you've
got them just watching thingsfrom the boot, but the
experience that they have ismassive, like absolutely massive
.
So for me me, you're preachingto the choir.
(13:56):
No, I'm not going to put themin a place where there's like
rat infested water or wherethere's a known case of lepto,
and I'm not going to walk themaround the middle of like
Birmingham city centre, but I amgoing to take them to the
Moorland and have a picnic inthe back of the car and let them
watch.
Or I am going to go to asupermarket car park and let
them just like listen into thesounds, and I think it's really
important or put them on abackpack or like don't you have
(14:18):
to put them down for them to tobe exposed to something?
So, um, yeah, dave, I massivelyagree.
Environmentally, I think it'sit's rich.
So any final tips you'd giveanyone on environmental training
for dogs before we head overand out?
Dave Hibbert (14:33):
well.
This is so my favorite tip, andthis doesn't necessarily go
down well with everybody.
So one of the things I like todo when I've got a puppy is when
I'm doing environmentaltraining, I'll put my overhead
beats headphones on and I won'tnecessarily be listening to
anything, but it's a really goodway of not having to engage
with people when they try andspeak to your puppy and come
(14:55):
over and talk to you so I justpretend I can't hear anyone and
I'm on a mission walking.
So what I always say if you'regoing to get a puppy, buy
yourself a set of Beatsheadphones so you can drown out
the world trying to say hello toyour dog.
Lauren Langman (15:08):
I love it that they have a brand as well.
Many other brands available,but Dave recommends Beats Dave.
In addition to that, you haveto say before we leave, you have
to say puppy once more.
Dave Hibbert (15:18):
Puppy.
Lauren Langman (15:19):
It's done.
It's done.
So, guys, that was this episodeof the Sex in Squirrel podcast.
I hope you learned loads aboutenvironment and also maybe the
controversial word socialization.
Join us for next week, where weare going to share with you
something pretty exciting.
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