[00:00:02] Speaker A: The Michael Hatfield ReMax team presents real estate and more. Bay Area real estate is different than in all of America and why? What's up with home buyers? What's on sellers minds? How is the market? And much, much more. Now here's your host, Michael Hatfield. Welcome back to the Real Estate and More show. Thank you for tuning in. When someone talks about their family, it's not always the human members. Sometimes it's the canine members. And we have someone on the show today that is a real treat to help us with something that is so important. How do we train humans to get along with our dogs? I mean, really, how do we train dogs to get along with our humans and behave as great family members? On the show Today, we have Ms. Carrie Lyall. She is an amazing dog trainer. We have personal experience with this young lady. She knows what she's doing and how to make those dogs mind right from the beginning. So, Carri, welcome to the show.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: A pleasure to see you.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Absolutely. I have a quick little comment there.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Go ahead.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: It really is about training the people to get along with their dogs.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: I believe it. I believe it. And it's not always easy for some of us. Right. Well, anyway, the first time I met you, you had about 10 people that were gathered around their puppies and they were trying to get them to go in the right direction. So you give them a task, the dog and the owner, and you'd have them going in all of these different directions to make a mine. You had the patience of someone I've never seen before. Really, really great job. I was so impressed. You must really. Excuse me. You must really love the canines.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: I really do. They're a lot of fun. That was a group class that you were talking about. And it's a little bit challenging trying to get to each person's needs and meet each dog's needs.
But it's a lot of fun and they get a lot of socialization with other people and socialization with other dogs, and it was a great time.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Did you take medication before you go to those things? You walk around and like, you're so cool when you do it that nothing seems to belay what you're trying to do. The dog going one direction, the human going in another direction. But it is something that you gotta go through the process and the process is not immediate. It takes a while to train humans to get along with their dogs, I think. Do you not agree?
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So did you always love dogs? Puppies? I mean, have they always been Part.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Of your life they have. Well, up until, I guess it really started when I was probably about 8 years old. And back in the old days, we had this thing on the bookshelf and it was the encyclopedia set. Right. We also had the deluxe version. So we had the childcraft set that went along with those encyclopedias before the Internet. Right. And we, my brothers, four and five years older than me, we looked up in the childcraft book how to build a dog house. We did not have a dog and we wanted a dog, and so we built a dog house and our parents kind of had to get us a dog. So that's where it kind of started for me and just went on from there.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: So, you know, dogs are always part of your life if you grow up with them. I've had one pretty much all of my life.
But it was a lot different back in the other days. I don't know, the training was as much as it is today to make them live with the civilized human beings that we are today. What say you?
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Well, it was quite different back then. A lot of times dogs were backyard dogs. So sometimes we didn't even let them into the house.
We had a setup where we had kind of a family room that was sunken down a little bit and then a couple steps up to our kitchen and our living room. And then the bedrooms were upstairs. And so we let the dog into that family room, but we taught him to not come up into the kitchen or go up into the bedroom areas. And that's a lot of how we still kind of train dogs from the get go now is that we kind of give them limited space and then we give them more space as they kind of earn the privilege. Yeah, the privilege. And they understand the proper behaviors on how to behave in the living room or upstairs as they learn house training and all those kinds of things.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Well, how long have you been doing this training dogs?
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Well, we had the dog when I was younger and of course we did a little bit of just training on our own then. And then when I was 12 years old, we had actually lost our first dog at age 3 from stomach cancer years and years ago. And when I was 12, I was involved in 4H. And so one of the projects that I chose for 4H was raising a guide dog puppy. And that's where it was, a year long project. And we got the puppy and it was all about socialization to get that dog ready to be able to lead a blind person. And so the first year to year and a half, the puppies with A puppy raiser, and you take them everywhere. We went to. We had all kinds of field trips. We took the dog to the airport, we took them in stores, you know, downtown on buses, just all kinds of places. And that was a fantastic learning experience for me.
Of course, you sign up to raise and train this dog, and then you give the dog away, which is the saddest thing ever.
But it was really neat. They have a really great graduation ceremony, and you get to meet the person that the dog's going to be with. So first you send them back to guide dogs, and then they go through their formal training up there in San Rafael, and then they have the blind come in and introduce them and find a good match. And then you're invited back for the graduation ceremony and you get to meet the person that your dog is going to be with. And so my dog Yorick went with a gentleman up in British Columbia, and he was up there guiding him for about four years. We actually ended up getting him back early because he had a lot of allergies and a lot of skin conditions. And so they ended up retiring him early and back in the day, then we got the puppy back. Since we were the puppy raisers, so we were first to get the dog back. These days, I think they do what's called career changing. And so sometimes if the dog doesn't work out, they will career change them to maybe be like a diabetic detection dog or something along those lines.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: But, yeah, canines are something very, very special, especially in our life. As you know, we've had the German shepherds. We've had four of them now, and the latest one is the best. He's quite a character. And you're infinitely familiar with this young guy of 12 now, and he's. He's just got his own attitude. Yeah, you know, each dog has. Each breed of dog seems to have its own type of attitude characteristics which you can talk on better than I can, for sure.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: There's so many different personalities. Just, there's so many breeds. You know, you got the small dogs, the big dogs, and, you know, working lines and the toy breeds, and there's just such a variety and there's so much range even within a single breed. And then, of course, our lovely Heinz 57 mutts that are just a great combination of everything, and they're just wonderful. So many different unique little behaviors. And, yeah, you know, one thing I.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: Never forgot you said, well, the thing with dogs is they don't ever talk back to you. That's not true. That is not true. Our dog talks back to us all the time. If we go to leave him, he is going to complain and he's got the big dog bark when he wants it and lets us know that, hey, that's not acceptable. You know, I've got a job to do and that's protecting and being with you, right?
[00:08:07] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Some dogs are a little more protective than others. Some dogs talk back a little more than others. One of the things that is really important is to train your dog how to spend some time alone.
And that became a big thing during COVID is that so many people were home with their dogs.
And when the dogs are barking, we tend to respond to noises just like dogs respond to noises. But when we turn and look at the dog when they're barking at us, we gave them exactly what they wanted and that's our attention, the attention. And sometimes they're accidentally rewarded for that barking because we attended to that.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like little kids, you know, I guess a puppy generally has the equivalent of a two to three year old child. Is that, is that reasonably correct?
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I've heard 2 to 3, 5 to 6. Kind of probably depends on the, on the breed.
But yeah, it's, you know, we're, it's hard to reason with them. Right. We're not getting into like reasoning skills and stuff like that. But they can learn so much. They can learn so many English language words that we, you know, teach them and show them and they learn through repetition, you know, so it's fantastic. They're amazing animals.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Tell me, what do you do when. Let's just say that Joe and Annie go out and buy a dog or they acquire one through rescue or sometime they acquire a brand new puppy. Let's say the puppy is, you know, 12 weeks old.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: Right.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Okay. Now they come to Carrie, our very top dog trainer here, and they say, here, what do we do now we have this talk. What are we going to, what are we going to do with this dog? So what do you advise? Where do you go from there?
[00:09:52] Speaker B: So first off, you want to make sure that you've kind of prepped your house and your, and your yard for the dog. Okay.
Making sure there's not places where the dog can escape and make sure it's kind of puppy proof. They're not going to be getting into things that are going to be harmful or damage your stuff.
And then we're working like house training and those kinds of things.
Really socialization is a very important part during the beginning stages. So really from 8 weeks old, up to about 12 to 16 weeks is a really prime time for socialization. So a lot of people just think that that's just puppy play getting around other dogs. But really it's about socialization with people.
And so, you know, just all kinds of things that you might not think of as different. Somebody that's super tall or somebody that has a big hat on or, you know, talks with a low voice or, you know, walks differently or is, you know, any kind of thing that is just out of the ordinary from what they're living with. It's just really important that they get exposed in a proper way to those different kinds of things. They get exposed to little kids because, you know, they run around and make noise and their arms are flinging all over the place. And so that's just a little bit more wild than if they were, you know, with an older couple or something. So they, they need a lot of exposure to sites and sounds and smells, having the ability to get out and smell different things and just, you know, whatever kind of environment you want them to behave in. We need to make sure they've had proper exposure to those kinds of things. So downtown sights and sounds and things like that.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: We're going to take a short break. Be right back.
[00:11:36] Speaker B: ReMax buying or selling a home. Choose the Michael Hatfield RE MAX team with 10 offices in the Bay Area. Tell us more. Working with Michael and Nancy, I was a first time homebuyer and I was very nervous about the process. I didn't really know what to expect. Michael and Nancy were able to take that fear away from me and answered all of my questions. They were right by my side the entire time and they really helped me find the perfect home for me and I'm so thankful. Experience to the whole home buying process. He was very professional and both Michael and Nancy went way above and beyond to help us and to help us achieve the house of our dreams. When experience is important to you in buying or selling your home, call the Michael Hatfield ReMax team at 925-322-7775. When buying or selling real estate, let us help you. Go to michaelhatfieldhomes.com when experience matters to you, call 925-322-7775.
[00:12:37] Speaker A: Now back to our show.
So when you get a new pup, the first thing is prepare your house. You might want to put plastic down as you work with them to learn their potty skills and then you want to socialize them. I remember the socializing that you recommended is get them with people Right away. Let them get used to being with folks that may not be, you know, all that calm like kids.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: And that's a really big deal. What about the crate thing? Tell me about the crate thing.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: Yeah, so crate training is really helpful for house training. So for proper potty training for your dog, they'll tend not to soil where they sleep. So when they're in the crate at night, they'll learn to hold it for longer. And really young pups, like eight to 10 weeks will probably have to get. You'll have to get up in the middle of the night to take them out to potty. But usually between 10 and 12 weeks, they start really sleeping through the night and then putting them in the crate during the day sometimes too, so that we have kind of a rotation of activity there. They come out of their crate, we take them straight to their potty spot. That helps them, helps reduce the number of accidents in the house. And so we tell them outside, we go outside, we tell them spot, we run to a very specific place for them to go potty. I don't recommend people letting just the dog use their whole entire backyard as their toilet. It's important to take them to a particular location. Especially for male dogs, we don't want them just triggering on pottying off of a smell. We want them to go to a location to go pee.
And then once we get them over there, we say go potty or do your business or whatever you want to call it, rewarding them there in that area immediately right after they go.
And then I like to say house and run them straight back into the house. So that going potty at night at 10 o'clock, they're not out there searching for possums or skunks. They know to go out to the right spot, do their business and come straight back in.
And then the crate, like I said, that kind of helps to.
Again, they tend not to soil where they sleep, so it helps them to learn to hold it for longer. And then once you've come in from going potty, you kind of have some free time. They're less likely to have an accident at that time. So that's a great time to let them follow you around the house, play with them, do some training exercises. And then we put them away again for a little bit. We might put them into an ex pen as kind of a longer term confinement space. Or we might put them in the crate for a short, short term confinement during the day for maybe another hour. And then, you know, we've Been, they've been out playing and training for half an hour now. They're in the crate for an hour now. It's been an hour and a half since they went potty again. So now we take them back out again. So we gradually increase the amount of time they can be in the crate, we gradually increase the amount of time that they can be out of the crate.
And then eventually, you know, they're learning. We usually teach them to ring a bell, to go outside, to go potty, so they can give you an audible signal other than a bark.
And pretty soon we've got a potty trained dog. But they're also learning when they're in the crate.
Crate training is more than just potty training. It's learning how to be by themselves for a little while. It's learning how to chew on appropriate chew toys. So if they've got a little stuffed Kong in there or a little benny bone or a bully stick, something like that, then they can learn to settle themselves down and chew on that as kind of like a pacifier.
So then they learn how to be a little bit more calm in the ex pen and then they learn how to be a little bit more calm in your family room. And pretty soon you've got a dog that's got more privileges because they know how to behave.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Now, one of the big deals I think that I've seen you do is you bring the dogs together. Actually, our dog still gets together with his alma mater, so to speak, from his original training and he really looks forward to that. But you get them together and they go to school together and I think that's a educational enhancement for dogs. I think it's a really good thing, which I've seen you do.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really important that dogs have dog friends. So at some point in their life they're probably going to get jumped on the trail or at a dog park or have a bad experience with another dog. It's great that they can kind of get back on the horse, so to speak, with their buddies and their pals that they've known for years. So I really like dogs to have dog friends.
Sometimes that's a group, maybe at a doggy daycare or, you know, maybe it's a dog park and a certain number of dogs that get together, whatever the situation. But one of the, one of the joys in my life is actually bringing people together who have, you know, like minded goals for their dogs. They want to allow them to play, but they want to allow them to play appropriately and to be able to still replace, respond to commands during that playtime. And so we kind of just make some of the play training. And so the dogs and the people have a great time. And I've seen so many people develop some really great friendships over the years. And yeah, we've got a couple of great groups, so it's nice.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: So this starts out when you get a pup, Then you start working with a crate, training under the trainer, such as yourself. And then they learn to use the potty and do it in the right place. And that way you have less accidents in the home. And then you socialize them at the same time with people out and about outside the grocery store or wherever as they take their little walks. And then you socialize them also in an educational environment where they get together and they learn how to, you know, sit, walk, stand, shake, do all of these things that you do so well. And you keep enhancing those training methods and using those training methods much more specific in reality, but over a course of time. And there's a Good Citizen Award. What does a dog have to do for a Good Citizen Award?
[00:18:42] Speaker B: So the Canine Good Citizen Test is a series of 10 different exercises that just kind of demonstrate that your dog is well behaved out in public. Okay. And there's just some simple exercises, like if someone comes up and says hi to you, can your dog just kind of mind their own business and just be able to sit and not be demanding and jumping up and trying to butt their nose into the whole thing?
And then there's someone walking up and saying hello to you and then greeting the dog. And when that attention goes to the dog, can the dog remain calm and accept a pet?
There's grooming, so can the dog accept being brushed? Okay. And maybe having their feet or their. Or their ears handled by someone else, which is kind of representative of being able to take the dog to the vet or to the groomer or having someone just reach out to say hello to the dog. There's reactions to distraction. So if they hear a loud noise, how does your dog react? And it's okay that the dogs get a little bit startled, but we don't want them, like, just jumping out of their shell and barking and, you know, spinning around and out of control.
And so we gradually get them used to different types of distractions. There's simple commands for the canine Good Citizen, which are just, can they do sit? Can they do a down? Can they stay? Can they come? So some. Just some basic obedience skills. And then one, there are several walking exercises. So can they walk on a loose leash. They don't have to do a real formal heel. But if you've taught them to heal well and taught them to stop, when you come to a stop and all that, you'll do much better. On the canine good citizen test.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: Welcome to the Real Estate Minute with re Max expert Michael Hatfield. Michael, what traits should we look for in selecting an agent?
[00:20:36] Speaker A: Look for a dealmaker with a positive attitude who will work tirelessly for you. An agent who is adept in multiple offer situations, drafting, contracts, marketing and advertising. A client's home is familiar with multiple cultures, experienced in mortgage financing, inspections and escrow is a huge asset to his client.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: What can you do as a plus for clients?
[00:20:58] Speaker A: Your agent is your eyes and your ears. One who works behind the scenes on your behalf. A great attitude, working well with others and keeping clients priorities number one is a given for us.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Call 925-322-7775 now to schedule an appointment or complimentary home announcement. Analysis for excellence in real estate. Call the Michael Hatfield ReMax team at 925-322-7775 or go to Michael hatfieldhomes.com now back to our show and one, that is where you have to approach another dog. So you have a handler and another dog and you, you're handling your dog and you approach each other without letting the dogs cross to go up to say hi. You have to put your dog into a situation and that kind of should be done when you're out and about. Just because you come up to somebody with a dog doesn't mean your dog should lunge forward to automatically go up to that dog. You should really be giving them permission to go up and say, hi, we want the dogs to kind of check in with you to know that it's okay rather than just assuming it on their own. Okay. And then one of the, quite frankly, one of the exercises that a lot of dogs fail on the test is separation, supervised separation. Years ago when I did it, the first time I did the test, it was you would tie your dog to a pole and then you would leave for three minutes.
That was back in the day when you could tie your dog up and go into 711 and buy some candy and come out and your dog would still be there.
Now it's a supervised separation and you hand your leash off to someone and then you're gone out of sight for three minutes. And quite frankly, dogs that have had separation issues, some of them will lose their mind. So it's important for them to be taught that, you know, you're coming back, it's not the end of the world.
So that's one that takes a lot of practice.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I imagine so. So now we've talked about training a bit. What about a person that is interested in getting their own puppy? You know, should they get one that's at 12 weeks? Should they get one that's just been born? Should they. Where do they go? Do they go to a rescue or do they go to a breed or so just some thoughts on that. Let me know.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it just depends. There's a lot of dogs out there that need home, so I really recommend people adopting from a shelter or from the rescue groups.
You know, you can. They're usually. Most of the more popular breeds have their specific rescue groups so that if, you know, a golden retriever gets into the shelter, somehow the golden retriever rescue is going to pull them out of there because the shelter environment's not the. The best to be in for very long.
And so they usually have foster families that are raising those dogs until a proper family is found for them, a forever home.
So, you know, it kind of just depends on. It's harder to get a puppy in that kind of situation. Typically it's an older dog, so it depends on what you're looking for. Sometimes if you're a little older or you don't have a lot of time to kind of really manage the puppy stage, which, you know, people think is a short amount of time. It's a good couple years, that puppy stage. Okay.
And adolescence is a real trying time for training. So if you don't have a lot of time to put in, you might think about adopting an older dog, maybe one that's three or older. You won't have to deal with as much destructive habits and, you know, all the potty training and things like that as much as you would with a young puppy. But if you are going to go the puppy route, you know, investigate your breeders and, you know, you want to look for breeders who are already introducing those puppies to sights and sounds and doing a lot of socialization with them early on. Eight weeks is about the timeframe that most of the breeders are going to be shipping those puppies out for you. And under eight weeks is a little too young. They're taken away from the litter, too, and from mom too early, older than that. But you're going to hope that they have been in a really good environment because there's so much that happens between like eight and 12 weeks. So, you know, you can go the breeder route if you like. But there's so many dogs out there too that need homes, so.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: I understand. So, Carrie, what would you give for words to our audience today for someone that's just getting a puppy? I mean, what are your words that you would use in conclusion today? What would you say a person should think about?
[00:25:29] Speaker B: Well, you want to make sure you have the time. Okay. Number one. And you want to be able to bring that dog into your life. So think about it. If you don't have a dog yet, what is your lifestyle like? Is it that you just want to, you know, walk a dog? You might, you might check it with your neighbors and see if they're too busy to walk their dog and maybe they need their, you know, do you travel a lot? Do you like to go camping, something where you can take your dog with you very easily, or do you do three week vacations in Europe? And that's probably not going to be feasible, so you kind of have to think about it.
But most dogs are pretty adaptable, okay. To all kinds of situations.
You know, you can have neighbors and stuff, watch your dog or whatever for, you know, if you're traveling, things like that. But you want to incorporate just time and patience. So make sure that you can get that dog out. You know, a couple of walks a day is usually best. Most people don't exercise their dogs enough and their behaviors usually come out of that.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: Like kids.
[00:26:33] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And so, and they need to learn to play with their dogs, have fun. You know, relationship building is really, really important in the beginning to really develop that your dog likes to spend time with you and has fun with it. And you just incorporate the training into some games and into fun and you'll have a well behaved dog.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: Ah. My words in conclusion to that is I think you need a really great trainer and here is one that is available. Carrie Lyell. She's been doing this for an awful long time. She can help right from the very beginning, advise you to have a great, great puppy along the way and also help you to become acceptable to your actual pet. She can be reached at 925-698-1145. That's 925698, 1145. Carrie Lyell. She's a top dog trainer. Well, thank you for being on the show, Carrie.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: Thank you, Michael.
[00:27:32] Speaker A: It's always a pleasure to see you and you're always doing so well and always so up. So, so it's wonderful to see you.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: Thank you very much.
[00:27:40] Speaker A: So if you're in the market to help your pup become a better citizen and a family member, give Carrie a call. I hope you've enjoyed our talk this morning with Carrie. And she's an animal behaviorist too, as well as a people behaviorist in some cases an all around animal lover and all around knowledgeable dog person. We're so blessed to have her on the show. Thanks again, Kerry. So you've been listening to the real estate and more show. We have just been talking about man and women's best friends. Please go to yltalk show channel, that's yltalkshow channel on YouTube and give us a like and a subscribe or a subscribe and a Like, whatever you would like. And we'll be back next week and have a great show planned for you and we hope you tune in. Have a blessed week. Please remember to go to our new YouTube handle, MyRealTalkShow. That's
[email protected] and touch that subscribe button. You can also find past aired shows at our handle myrealtalkshow on YouTube dot com.
