Let's Think About It Podcast

Navigating the Terrain of Dog Training and Self-Leadership

Morice Mabry Season 1 Episode 11

Unlock the secrets to a fulfilling relationship with your four-legged friend and discover the profound life lessons that come along with it. Coach Mo here, and I had the pleasure of speaking with Brady Falk, a dog trainer whose passion for canines is only matched by his insight into leadership. Together, we peeled back the layers on what it takes to train not just dogs, but ourselves. From Brady's transformative journey into dog training to the rock bottom moments every pet owner faces, we serve up relatable stories and effective strategies that go beyond the leash and into the heart of communication and connection.

Have you ever wondered how your approach to leading a dog might reflect on your personal growth? This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom, as Brady share a critical moment where confronting a roommate's negative behavior towards a pet led to a broader discussion on leadership styles. We delve into the power of leading with growth and contribution over fear, and how these choices shape our relationships with pets and humans alike. Brady and I dissect the importance of having a thoughtful reaction to misbehavior and the significant shift from reacting as a follower to anticipating as a leader—insights that will help you navigate not only the canine world but also life's many challenges.

Lastly, join us as we navigate the hurdles of potty training, choosing the right breed, and the required commitment of pet ownership. Brady shares his journey from self-doubt to confident dog trainer, laying the groundwork for a candid look at overcoming obstacles and embracing the continuous learning curve that comes with both training dogs and personal development. Whether you're a seasoned pet owner or considering bringing a furry companion into your life, this conversation is packed with heartfelt advice and actionable tips to help you and your pup thrive together.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the let's Think About it Podcast, where we embark on a journey of thoughtfulness and personal growth. I'm your host, coach Moe, and I'm here to guide you through thought-promoking discussions that will inspire you to unlock your full potential. In each episode, we'll explore a wide range of topics, from self-discovery and mindfulness to goal-setting and achieving success. Together, we'll challenge conventional thinking and dive deep into the realms of possibility. Whether you're looking to find clarity in your personal or professional life, or seeking strategies to overcome obstacles, this podcast is your go-to source for insightful conversations and practical advice. So find a comfortable spot, chill and let's embark on this journey of self-improvement together. Remember, the power of transformation lies within you, and together we'll uncover the tools and insights you need to make it happen. So let's dive in. Welcome to another episode of the let's Think About it Podcast. I'm your host, coach Moe, and I'm here with another exciting guest. His name is Brady Falk. Brady, what's up, brother? How you doing?

Speaker 2:

man, I'm doing fantastic. I'm so happy to have you here and serve your audience today.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is going to be a very unique episode because you are a dog trainer and I'm really excited for you to help us connect dog training, leadership, all of those good things. But first, before we dive into that, where are you calling from? Give us a little bit of your background.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course. So my name is Brady again and I help empower puppies, dogs and their owners to have more success at home and around town, while having fun. And yet I want you to know if you have a dog and you want them to be better, you're in the right place. Okay, if you don't have a dog and you're just looking for some leadership principles, I also got you. You're totally in the right place. So I just want to say congratulations for giving me your time and for being here, because I'm happy to serve and talk about dogs, talk about leadership and how it all kind of comes together.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome. That's awesome. So how did you get into dog training? What's that story about? Tell us.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So just to let you guys know, I'll share really like a three, five minute story. I'll keep it short. I think these podcasts are only about 30, 45 minutes or so, so I'll keep that quick. And before I even jump into that, I want the audience to know before we begin the average dog can learn 165 words. An average dog it's Chihuahuas, pomeranians, Poodles, german Shepherd's and everything in between. So I have a feeling most people's dogs can learn 30 to 40 words quite easily. Maybe you just don't know it yet.

Speaker 2:

And during this podcast interview I'm also going to let you guys know the difference between passive and active learning. It's something that's really big in dog training and it's just this idea that I'm going to be interacting with you, I'm going to be sharing about, like my rock bottoms and some of the things that kind of got me started. But when we learn with active learning, you have to condition it about a third of the time less, and all that means is sometimes, you know, I just raised my hand and I bent it and I just pat myself on the back and tell myself I'm doing a good job and I tell my clients to do the same thing. So again, I'm proud of everyone for being here. And, with that being kind of said, I'll jump into why I got into dog training, because that's what everyone kind of wants to know, like how did you become a dog trainer? Right, how do I become a dog trainer? I hang out with dogs all the time and for me it started.

Speaker 2:

I'm the oldest of six. I have a big family and we had dogs growing up. They were really wild animals, though. We lived on a bunch of land. We were in Temecula and they would run away a lot of the times. They would get into the neighbor's trash cans. They would cause a bunch of problems. They would get captured by the dog, the shelters and stuff, right, because they would just get away so often. And by the time I was moving out of my parents' house I wasn't ready for a dog. But after a couple more years I was like I want a dog, but not like the ones we had at home, like they were good dogs, don't get me wrong. We loved them. But you see these dogs on social media just doing these cool things. You see Bunny pressing the buttons, or you see dogs painting pictures on TikTok or writing skateboards.

Speaker 2:

I was like I want one of those dogs, right, right. So I'm like what do I got to do in order to have this? And at first, I thought I just had to buy the best food, the best treats, let them sleep in my bed. I brought them everywhere with me, right? What happened, though, is one day I didn't bring them everywhere with me. He wanted to come, but I had to leave them home. I left them just in my room.

Speaker 2:

When I attended, he wasn't great trained, because he would just bark and bark and bark in our apartment. So I was like okay, you can just hang out in my room, it's fine. And I came home after like two hours of hanging out with my friends and there was a chunk of my carpet missing. There was pee and poop everywhere. He actually had gotten into one of my dad's fathers like I got him a father's day present and it was in a box, inside a box, inside a box and ate through all of it, and I was like it's like 10, 30, 11 o'clock at night. I'm like this is terrible. I don't know if anyone who's listening right now also has already hit the rock bottom with their dog. Maybe you got a puppy, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

But this was my rock bottom and I was like six months into it and I was like I'm getting a dog Like I grew up with, Like this isn't he's going to be an outside dog if I don't get this like under control. So I did what any logical person would do with I started reading books and doing some research on YouTube and finding people that I wanted to learn from, and I think that's kind of like the first principle of leadership is finding the people that you want to learn from and finding role models, Cause there's so many different ways to teach out there.

Speaker 1:

One purpose of bringing you on this show is because a lot of my audience are dog owners and these pets affect how they show up in their workplace. It affects just like their calmness, like I had one client who just loves their dogs, loves their dogs. We talk about gratitude and one of the things that I asked them was share a gratitude thought, and you know what she said she loves petting her two babies, which are her two dogs, and she just loves having them on her lap. And, especially in this work environment where we're teleworking, the ability to have your pet right there at your desk. You know you can pet stop, do those type of things. So I think that's great and I think that perspective of you being on this show would help, can help our audience like understand the value of some of the wisdom that you're going to provide in those relations to developing dogs. And so my first question that I want to tap into you mentioned behind the scenes with me three types of leadership methods that you use in training dogs. Can you talk about that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, this is actually a nice segue, because dogs are amazing at providing comfort and you have to teach them how to provide that comfort. So hats off to your client, because they trained a well, an amazing dog, right, a brilliant dog, someone that can help them. Not everyone's dogs are like this, and my dog wasn't like this at the beginning either. I had to learn these things, so I found a role model. But I want to share another story about this leadership, because one day there was my dog had been eating the Wi-Fi cable and I have a different leadership style than my roommate did, right, and so, like I was trying to train and work my way through this thing and he was getting frustrated. And one day I decided to pretend like I left to work and I didn't and I just wanted to see, kind of like, what he was doing to my dog, and so I set up a camera. I was watching on my Apple Watch and I watched him kick and punch my dog and it just lit a fire inside of me that being a leader is more than just getting results, because maybe it would get him to stop eating the Wi-Fi cable, but like, really, you're going to punch and kick my dog Like that's not cool man. And so there's three ways to lead. Like I was mentioned, you can lead with fear and punishment, right. You can lead with bribes and incentives, which is kind of what I was trying to do at that time. I'll try to give them bones and other things to try to bribe them. Like please don't eat this, can't I'm begging you, don't eat this man. And then growth and contributions, the last way that you can lead, and all three of them work. All of them come with consequences, but only one is going to give you the connection that you really crave with your dog.

Speaker 2:

And so I asked people like remember a time where you had a leader who intimidated or bribed you? Like how did you feel? You probably knew what was really happening going on, but you're like, oh, I'm going to get this thing right, but it didn't really create someone who's driven to do something. You're just doing, someone's telling you to do it. And then I want you to remember a teacher or a guide or a mentor that inspired and rewarded you for growing and for doing the hard things. I bet you can still see their face and hear their voice and they still have an impact on our lives today. So I like to ask people how do you want to be remembered as a leader? Because that's a very important question as we move forward and also when you get furious, get curious. A frustration just means that you want something to happen faster than what is happening and take a step back, like take a breath and get curious. Ask yourself what's great about this problem. Right now you know and you can start training your brain to see if things are good.

Speaker 1:

I want to touch, test that thought. Let's say you want a person to be curious. I'm going to say, like a trigger for me and my dog Mocha Okay, mocha is the cutest dog, by the way, she's a cocker spanner, poodle mix, right. But my trigger is when she uses the bathroom in the house and I take her consistently, consistently, take her for a walk every morning, same time, same day, every day, right, yeah. And then she uses the bathroom in the house. That just lights fire under me, right. And I go into the fear leadership method Because I'm totally in react mode. I'm not trying to be curious, I'm just angry and I'm triggered. How do a person like decrease the emotions when you've just been triggered by your dog and to show up this calm person when you know, like I know, I have to clean this mess up now and I'm really pissed off? Do you work with a person or clients through that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a great question, because I feel you man, and I've been there too. If I'm being honest, I've intimidated and I've done things that are based out of fear for my training and I'm the oldest of six, like I mentioned, and growing up I use a lot of intimidation, and one of my siblings told me that one time I deleted this memory out of my brain, right, we either generalized the story or delete. I deleted this, my brother didn't. They were doing something that made me mad. So I took all their plans, I put them in a pot and I melted them all, right, guess what Couldn't make me mad anymore. And then they're like oh shoot, brady's not playing around. So I've been there, I've done it. I've intimidated my dog too. When he was puppy I would yell at him, and you know there's stories about sticking their dog's nose in it and all that thing, stuff, right.

Speaker 2:

But punishment doesn't work with someone who is learning, and if a dog or a person is continuously doing the same thing over and over again and the punishment or the bribes aren't working, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, right? So the first thing I say to the person like has it been working? How long have you been doing this for, right? So, like now I'm creating a little bit of leverage. Now there's some pain. It's like so you're just losing control of your emotions, aren't you so practicing controlling your emotion? That's more like a stoic philosophy. I'm a big Ryan Holiday fan. I have my stoicism stuff around here too. So I think it starts before that moment happens and start practicing like, okay, when I see pee or poop inside the house, what am I going to do? And you have to leaders anticipate, followers react. And so you have to already have in your brain where do I want to go when this moment happens and that's part of my job. This is going to happen. This is what we're going to do instead. Okay, okay. So now the plan right. So now you got some more. You got a little bit of pain.

Speaker 2:

Like this hasn't really been working right. Like I worked at a dog training facility. Check it out. And they would take when they would bring a new dog in. They would swing the gate open really hard and hit the dogs. I'm like why are you doing that? And then, like it tells them to back away. And I'm like obviously not, because the dogs are here and you have to do this multiple times all day long, like how long have you been doing this for? They're like since we opened, like years. And I'm like, well, why haven't the dogs learned to stay away? Then, like it's not an actual, you're not teaching them how to stay away, you're just hurting them. And so just having been like okay, is this really working? It's not okay. So like let's get a little bit more curious.

Speaker 2:

So then we got to look at communication. Is it very clear to your dog how to communicate? They got to go to the bathroom or some dogs. If they want to play, some dogs will bite. If they want to play, right, they'll just nip their owner and it's like, okay, well, there's a communication thing. They want something. They don't know how to communicate it to you. So this is just what they do, right?

Speaker 2:

So what I teach people, especially puppies and even older dogs, as you teach a dog how to press a button and we're talking about the dogs who have all those buttons on, tick, tock that they can be like I'm hungry, or like I want to play, like I have to go potty, that's, that's a very helpful button.

Speaker 2:

Or they got a ring potty bells to tell you they got to go to the bathroom, and then, as communication gets established, I Also believe being free inside the house is a privilege.

Speaker 2:

So if you've demonstrated multiple times that you don't respect the house Like we're gonna go back to crate training and I'm gonna control a lot of the interactions in your life and I take dogs who are older three, four, five years old and I Taken back and like, okay, we're starting from ground zero and we're gonna build up these permissions.

Speaker 2:

You can have rain in the house, but we got to understand. You got to ring these bells to tell me you have to go to the bathroom, and so I'm just curious. If they don't ring the bells, it's like, okay, well, let's show you where the rules are. Like I'm curious, okay, we're gonna go crate training, I'm gonna take you outside, I'm gonna teach you how to ring these bells now. So one thing that really helps in those moments is having a guide or mentor to tell you, to take a breath and To point out some of these things for you, and you're a coach too, so I'm sure you do this with your clients all the time. It's just having another perspective, another brain to bounce ideas off of. That's also helpful.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for sharing that, because when you talk about teaching them how to communicate, let's say the the bell on the on the door when they want to go out to use the bathroom. What's that process like? How do you help teach a doggy whatever dog to Tap on the bell to let you know that they want to go out the door? What does that process look like and how can a person be have the patients to work through that process?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I love that you bring up the word patients too, because every time someone does I, I jump on them because I you have so much patience like I don't got patients. Man, like I move and you give me two weeks with your dogs. There's a lot of things I'm doing. I'm teaching my crate train party train walking on leash and hang out on their bed Like how to do tricks. Like there's a lot of things I gotta do. I ain't patient like I'm moving all day long, but I Appreciate each step along the journey so I see all the tiny steps, while some people are just thinking I'm just going for like big jumps and I was like no, I'm hitting milestones every day, every second, as I take this dog out. So you asked about the process.

Speaker 2:

This one is quite fun because All you have to do is first comes consciousness, when with any skill right, you have to have consciousness of what's happening. So at first, when I take a dog, the first three days, the dog is in kind of a an Interesting state. They're like am I safe? You just took me out of my home. I'm in a different place, I have two dogs, I have two guinea pigs. There's people walking around and the dogs like whoa, everything just changed right now and I don't know if you ever go to Disneyland I just go to Disneyland, iraq, sometimes people who haven't been there, they can walk in and they don't see so much stuff because they're just like zoned in. There's just so much sensory activity going on, and so I've done this hundreds of times.

Speaker 2:

So like I just put the potty bells on the door and each time I take the dog to go potty I just ring the bells. They may not even notice them for the first two, three days, but as I continue to do it, they're like oh, we keep hitting these bells to go outside. Sometimes I make the other dogs hit the bell so they see and hear that too. So we're just getting consciousness, okay. Next comes clarity, and With clarity comes I'm gonna do an actual training session with this. So I teach a dog how to shake most dogs and understand how to shake quite easily. Can your dog shake? No, I Don't think so. No, so a couple things for shake right, you could teach them how to like jump up on your lap kind of, and like grab their paws and then you can kind of Shape that down to just their paw. Sometimes you get lucky and just like tap on their paw and they'll like give you their paw.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's what you get about it, yeah, yeah, she does that. Yes, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So if you got that, you're already like halfway done, right. So the first few days you're just ringing the bells. Then after three or four days You're gonna take these bells. You're gonna first practice shaking and then you're gonna put the bells in your hand and you're gonna have her just like put her hand and like hit the Bells and put your hand in your paw and like you're giving her a treat each time, right, and then you're gonna kind of dangle the bells and then she's gonna be like oh, that's a little bit different. You maybe you could put your hand underneath, right this. So she like kind of hits them and hits your hand, right, you give her a treat and then you're just holding the bells. So now you got consciousness and you got clarity. Next comes confidence, okay. So now we just continue to build this confidence up and so we're gonna do this skill at different parts of the house. So I'm gonna go into different rooms and do it, I'm gonna put them next to the door and practice doing it, and After doing this, for the next three, four days, we're glad about a week now.

Speaker 2:

It's about seven days in. So now the second week when you want to go outside to go potty, or when it's time to go potty, right, like, yeah, it's certain times of the day there's multiple times go potty at the house. I'm gonna walk you out on leash next to the door and I'm gonna see if you'll like hit these bells Right, and maybe I'll put my hand underneath and, like you'll hit it, I'll say way to go, great job, let's go outside. And then they're like, oh, bells mean outside and potty. Okay, and I do that for the next three days, and then the last three, four days it's like all right, I'm not gonna help you anymore. Now I'm at.

Speaker 2:

So you got consciousness, clarity, confidence and now challenges. Now the challenges. I'm not gonna help you. I'm just gonna see if you can figure out like, oh, I got a hit when I hit these bells. I go outside and then eventually I'll just stand there and I'll be patient, right, but I'm just watching them to see if their brain is clicking to hit these bells, or do I need to go back a step and I need to help them a little bit more. So I'm like constantly analyzing and if you've gone through all those steps, the last one is the capability. So now you have a dog who's capable of hitting bells to tell you they have to go potty and go outside.

Speaker 1:

That's great. That's great, that's awesome. I appreciate that. I really do appreciate that Now they know how to go outside, to go use the bathroom. How do you help people position where they go when they go outside? Is that a whole different training that you take?

Speaker 2:

So you want them to PN a specific location? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's brilliant and it's all. It stays part of the same process, right? Like? I have like a little ebook that goes through all these steps too that I share with people. So if anyone wants that, you can message me on Instagram and I'll share that with you. Just text me like potty training ebook or DM me that.

Speaker 2:

But it starts by stimulus control. Stimulus control is the most important thing when learning almost anything. Right, you got to be in an environment where you can learn, and if people are screaming at you, it's hard to learn new things for me too. So for the dog, what that means is I take him out on leash to the same spot every single time and we're going to go pee over here, and it's just going to become like subconsciously used and I go. This is just where I pee, right, as the dog continues. Right, I'm going to give them opportunity. So, like, sometimes they're off leash and they can have the option of where to pee.

Speaker 2:

If they were to go somewhere else that I don't want them to pee, I would just go walk over there and try to stop them before they start peeing and be like, hey, where we pee over here, remember, and like I help direct them back over here where they're supposed to be. And typically the dog's like, oh, you're so weird, why are you coming off? Like, of course I'm trying to go to the bathroom, like, oh, you'll leave me alone if I pee over here. And then they're like, okay, fine, but yeah, at my house, like the right side of the house and the back corner is like where the dogs poop, and then they pee over here. And then the left side of the house is where, like, we play and do other stuff. But if I see a dog peeing or pooping, I like jog over there and be like, hey, we got to pee over here. And if I saw a dog peeing in the house, I'd do the same thing.

Speaker 2:

If you see your dog, I would like run over there. I'm like, hey, we pee outside, and I grab them and I take them outside as fast as I can, and I make that whole situation like a little bit not mean, but just uncomfortable. They're just like, why are you touching me while I'm trying to pee in the house right now? And then if you have a dog, the next thing that happens is your dog hides his pee. So maybe you'll never see your dog peeing, cause they go and hide? That's because they're afraid of you and they know that you're going to yell at them. So they're like oh, I have to hide and pee, right? So if that's happening, then you've got to that one. I would put back in the crate and like be shown like hey, we're cool, like I know I've got to sit with you. I just I love you. I just want you to know you pee outside and we're going to go through this. I got some lessons and we're going to go through this outside. So is that helpful?

Speaker 1:

No, that's great. I'm going to transition into more about you as a dog trainer, because I think that's important for my audience to know. Tell us about one of your bigger challenges as you transitioned into becoming a professional dog trainer. What was some fears or major obstacles you had to overcome to get to the success of where you are today?

Speaker 2:

There's also sort of obstacles, and there's still currently obstacles, right. So I'm like, if there's only people who don't have obstacles or problems, they're dead, they're in the cemetery. So I'm always looking for bigger and better obstacles. Like now I want to buy land so I can build my own dog training facility so I can take in more clients, because right now it's like having enough space to do everything that I want to do, and then also my traveling time.

Speaker 2:

But in the past, a limiting belief is just can I do this? Like am I old enough to do this? Is people going to listen to me? A lot of my clients are older and they have kids and all this stuff, right, and I'm like. So it's like am I good enough? Are they going to listen to me? Can I do this?

Speaker 2:

And those are some like the limiting beliefs, roadblocks, or even like how do I ask for money? Because at first I was just charging. I was doing for free. I started off just helping friends and family for free and now I'm charging $25. I bet people wish they could still hire me for $25 now, but that's just where I started because I didn't have enough confidence. And confidence is another brilliant thing to talk about, because dogs need confidence, humans need confidence. So I started building my confidence and doing things over and over and getting results consistently. And then, as I did that with dog training, the dog training for me is the easy part now Like there was the hard part of rereading books and like going over it and having the humility to be like, oh, I trained that wrong. And instead of just being like, oh, I give up, because sometimes people are like, what if I ruined my dog? What if I teach him something wrong? And I'm like I wouldn't have a job if, like you, could do something so wrong that it was unrecoverable. The biggest thing is like, if you make a mistake, like acknowledge it, be like, okay, I messed up, okay, what am I going to do differently next time? And that was another big obstacle of humility to work through is realizing I made mistakes.

Speaker 2:

And with my first dog he's seven now, bumblebee I made a bunch of mistakes Like they're. Like I shared with you my stories. Like I let him fall right into the house. He would eat things. Like he served wifi, kailor. There's a bunch of mistakes I made, but I went back and I fixed those mistakes and I learned the skills that I needed to do it. And the nice thing is I have a new puppy now who's seven months old and since I've gone through the trials and tribulations, right now she gets a much easier life. But, yeah, there's still mistakes I make with her, like I'm teaching her how to ride a skateboard right now. I didn't teach my first dog how to ride a skateboard, so it's like I still make mistakes doing that, but I hope that's helpful.

Speaker 2:

But, yeah, there's all sorts of obstacles and it's more so just appreciating, like someone asked me, like how do you keep going? And like, because I truly don't believe like I have to do this, I don't even need to do this, like I get to do this. This is a blessing to be able to take the people I want to work with and control my schedule to a certain degree and like work with animals and people and continue to grow and learn. It's something that I truly appreciate and I hope people appreciate their dogs enough to be like oh, I get this opportunity to grow with my dogs. Sometimes people like, oh, I have to take care of my dog. It's like no, you don't have to, you can get rid of them. My family got rid of dogs all the time and it made me feel really bad. I made a promise to myself I would never get rid of my dog, I would always double down and commit to learning and helping them grow. And that's just me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree. I agree 100% with you on that one. Mocha, she's our family. So although she can get on my nerves at times and do those little things, she's like a little kid. She's an extension of my daughter and, to a certain degree, but definitely would never get rid of her in that front. But what about the people who don't have pets or a dog and is on the fence of potentially trying to adopt a dog, purchase a puppy, whatever that method is? What advice would you give them in seeking their first dog or their first family dog? What advice would you give them?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, this is a great question because I really encourage people to think about this before they get a dog, and not many people do so. Even asking this question is great for people to hear. Well, I got my first dog. I got an Australian Shepherd. I was like 22 at the time and so I was running a lot, I was exercising, I was doing a lot of stuff, so I wanted a dog who could be very active with me and keep up, and so lifestyle is very important. What type of lifestyle do you live? You have three kids at home and it's hard for you to get out on walks. Or maybe you guys are a very active family. You're always going on hikes and stuff, so it's very easy for you to take your dog out. So think about what you're doing and what type of dog you want, because there's easier breeds and there's harder breeds. So a lot of people get German Shepherd, australian Shepherd, and they're very smart Poodles, they're very golden doodles or another big one, labrador's all of them Very smart dogs. You need to keep growing their brain because imagine if, mo, you seem like a smart guy, right? Yeah, if I just took you and stuck you in the same room over and over. I took you on one walk a day and I didn't give you the same meal.

Speaker 2:

You probably go a little bit crazy. You cause a little bit of trouble because your needs aren't getting met. You feel safe, sure, but you're not getting that much variety. You don't have that much significance. I mean, you feel part of the family, sure, but it's not like you're a working dog who understands. Like they got to go to their bed or bring me a toy or ring the bells, you know, like all those things are tasked to dogs to feel important.

Speaker 2:

Like maybe you want to go that deep into it, which I do, but for someone who is looking at getting a new dog, it's also gonna be a little bit scary, and that's also the brilliance of it it's. There's gonna be mistakes. You're gonna mess up, just like with having a kid, and you just have when you get curious, get curious and remember to go out and seek out help and support if you need it. And make sure you have in your brain like what and this is one of the first questions I ask people too like what do you want your dog to do? And I remember when I first got my dog, I made a list of all the things I wanted him to do, and just making the list in itself will help your brain to start heading there and finding the resources to get those things done.

Speaker 1:

Tell me who is your clients and how can I find you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's fun. Most of my clients they've just jumped off the deep bed if they got a dog and then most of the time they contact me they haven't been sleeping. There's been lots of accidents so I get a very distressed person coming towards me. That's my typical client. So if you feel like that, like how I described at the beginning, you're at rock bottom, contact me. I'm very grounding the dog to you and I'll help talk you through what you should be doing and I have my potty training ebook I can share with you and other resources. But I have clients from all over the place. I have two-year-old clients who their dog sometimes just struggles with peeing inside the house too, right, so I'm going to these same lessons these two. Right, he's like you should have learned by now, but he still hasn't.

Speaker 2:

So if you have a dog and you want him to listen better to you, if you want to just have a better connection with your dog, if you want a dog to be able to take places like those are the types of people if you care about your dog and you want to grow with them I thrive with that and you just want your dog just to be obedient and just do what you say when you say it. That's not the type of person or type of dog trainer I am. I'm more of the. We're going to train things instead of intimidate you to just be obedient. I want to give you an education on what it takes to be able to solve problems, because I won't always. Well, if you ever text me, I'll be there for you, but I want you to have the skills to be like okay, my dog's peeing in the house.

Speaker 2:

This is a communication thing. How do I get them to communicate to me that they want this? And like training in between is like okay, I got to understand how to train them to ring bells, which I talked you through right, and there's other fun things too. But if any of this stuff interests you, or maybe you even want to become a dog trainer, that's another branch that I want to branch into is helping people who want to get out of their nine to fives, like I did, because I was working at Tiffany and Co and in and out and Apple. I've bounced all around to different jobs. So if you just want to get out of that kind of grind and doing something else like, message me dog trainer and I'd be happy to share some resources about getting started with that too.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely sure in your contact. How can people get ahold of you?

Speaker 2:

So my website is newdirectiondogtrainingcom and on Instagram and TikTok it's N-D Dog Training. So if you've searched me up there, you'll be able to see I'm posting curiosity writing the skateboard and other fun stuff on their daily, so check it out, N-D.

Speaker 1:

Dog Training, that's awesome. Any final thoughts points, a wisdom that you would like to leave us with today.

Speaker 2:

You know repetitions the mother of all skills. So get out there, practice, and I'll say it again when you get furious, get curious, like go find someone to ask for help or go pick up a book or do something that's different than what you've been doing, and you'll get there way faster than doing the same thing over and over again.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for that, and as we close out.

Speaker 1:

I want to say this maybe it's because of this, the coach in me, but I feel better talking to you today and how I've been disciplining Mocha, my dog. So remember I said the incident where she would use the bathroom and I would just kind of lose my top right. I'd use the fear tactic. But then what I would do is restrict her and go back to the basics. Like you said, I would restrict her by putting her on the leash in the house, where she has limited access, until we could get back to the realm of things and make her understand that it was unacceptable. But my approach is, like you said, kind of put her face and her nose in the poop and tell her no, you know how to do that, put her outside and then when she comes back in, after I clean up and everything, she's on the leash though she's on the leash and she kind of stays there until she can earn that back. So when I heard you say that, I was like, okay, I'm doing something right, I'm not too bad.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, just put the leash on first and like, anticipate and just like, go through and they get by. Some bells on Amazon, right, they're just a few dollars, and then she already knows how to shake. Keep your head around these bells and just hang them on the door. You're even gonna teach that part for the first two days. Like, just hang them on the doors and start ringing them. They figure it out really fast. Because the next problem right, we haven't only got there's a problem after that. The problem after that is your dog would just want to go outside and they don't have to go to the bathroom, so then they just hit the bells all the time. Now we got to show them like, okay, only when you got to go pee, and then it's more communication, but that's a good problem to have. We always got problems. We're always growing.

Speaker 1:

Now, that's awesome. I appreciate you, brady. Thank you so much for joining us today. Have a great day.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm proud of you, Mel, keep going.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Thank you for joining me in this episode of let's Think About it. Your time and attention are greatly appreciated. If you found value in today's discussion, I encourage you to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Remember, the journey of self-improvement is ongoing and I'm here to support you every step of the way. Connect with me on social media for updates and insights. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at CoachMoCoaching, or LinkedIn at Maurice Maveri, or visit my website at MauriceMavericom for exclusive content. Until next time, keep reflecting, keep growing and, most importantly, keep believing in yourself. Remember, the most effective way to do it is to do it Together. We're making incredible strides toward a better and more empowered you. So thank you, and I'll see you in our next episode. I'll see you in our next episode.