Lauren Langman: 0:09

Welcome to the Absolute Dog Sex in a Squirrel podcast. I'm Lauren Langman. I'm one of the world's leading dog trainers and it's my mission to help owners become their dog's top priority. In each episode, you'll discover how to gain trust and communicate with your dog like never before, creating unbreakable bonds that make you the most exciting part of their world. Hello and welcome to the Sexiness Girl podcast, the podcast that gives you real-life dog training and sometimes human training results too. Now, today I'm joined by the wonderful Sam Sam. We're talking stealing. Tell me why stealing has been a problem in your life, and that sounds kind of ominous, right it does.

Sam Askew: 0:48

You're making me sound like I'm the thief here. No, no, no, it's. It's my dog. I swear it's my dog. It's not me, although if you've ever watched Supertrainer Live, I actually do steal on there a few times, so it could be about me.

Sam Askew: 1:00

Anyway, uh, stealing with our dogs can be a real problem, right, it can be painful in a lot of ways and, uh, it can definitely be frustrating and sometimes it can be really dangerous. You know, we've we've had dogs at the center that have, um, you know, wanted to swallow socks and then it gets into their intestines and then it's a vet visit and it's very expensive and you know it can. It can be so many different problems and I've actually experienced this myself. Um, one of my dogs actually both my dogs, really to some extent, but particularly one of them um, will just steal anything. I mean literally anything. She'll take it out of the rubber, she gets in a bin she's a tiny little Jack Russell terrier and somehow she manages to get into our bin, which is at least twice the height of her. I don't know how she does it. Still, she just gets in there. But she will grab anything in there and she will, if she can eat it. She will eat it, you know she will shred it and she will ingest it. So these sorts of things. You know you kind of want to get a handle on it. Um, I also kind of got to this bit where you're trying to, you're like I need to get it off them and you're trying to get it off them and then it evolves into like they're growling at you and you know it's just this whole big, huge mess. So it can be really, really painful, really painful and stealing can be a massive issue, can't it?

Lauren Langman: 2:14

when it comes to? You know what the dogs, when they start to clamp and hold and I'm thinking my dog skittle she doesn't really steal anything in the house so much, but she really really will get hold of like a mouse, a rabbit, uh, an object, and like the red mist comes down and like her eyes are gone and like you try and go into a jaw. And she's only a little cute spaniel. She's seven kilos, like we're not talking like some big mastiff or or bull terrier here. We're talking like a seven kilo, fluffy spaniel, but the clamp on the jaw is pretty impressive. And and you actually need to have dog training, not a strong hand when it comes to this, and I think there's so many people that think that a strong hand will do it. And I think historically in dog training, I mean, certainly my dad would have resorted to punishment or some form of aversive to get that thing back, or would have shouted or got angry or all of the above. And I've grown up in a different world. I've grown up very much in the positive reinforcement sort of karen prior sort of world and era and um and and the late karen prior, which is is incredible because she was such a huge influence on my, my positive reinforcement and understanding of quadrants and how dogs learn, for me actually understanding that there is no point me fighting a dog when they're in that space and actually we need to train better. Now I know you're exactly aligned here and we're in alignment.

Lauren Langman: 3:31

What would you say when it comes to stealing? What are some of your top tips, some of your suggestions? Now, I know you've got, obviously, the Stop Stealing badge that people might not have seen the 10 days to stop stealing just £27, which is incredible value. But what are some of the things you cover when you're there? And if you haven't already seen that, one head to absolute-dogscom. Yeah, I think it's that. So check out the Stop Stealing badge because it's £27, lifetime access.

Lauren Langman: 3:54

But, sam, what do you cover when we're talking Stop Stealing? And what tips can we give to people that maybe haven't got the badge or don't have the capacity to purchase a badge? And capacity to purchase a badge, um, and? And what can, what can we help them with? Because I know that stealing is a massive issue? And when you said about vet fees, I think that fees, for sure, but I also know one of my customers, their dog did it enough times. The dog needed putting to sleep and that was horrific. It was a three-year-old spaniel. Three-year-old basically grab. This dog would grab stones and the last time they operated on him, his, his, um intestine was was just basically was screwed. It was not going to allow any more um operations to be had on it and so that dog was put sleep case, which is really horrific for a seven-year-old, right. So this is a baby. Sorry, a three-year-old is a baby.

Sam Askew: 4:34

Um, yeah, that was it very early on in life three or four intestine ops and and it's done.

Lauren Langman: 4:38

So, yeah, what are your tips for stop stealing? I know you've done the badge, I know there is um access to a course out there for people that want it, but what are your tips? What can you share and I'm happy to jump in with you oh, I think so.

Sam Askew: 4:49

The very first thing is to say that it's. You know, it's such a normal behavior. You know, don't, don't get freaked out like that. Your dog is doing this really horrible, naughty thing. They are just driven by like pure desire. You know they're seeking out pleasure and they're avoiding pain, right. So we're, we're kind of looking at that and going, okay, they're just doing something that they're finding pleasure in. Okay, we don't want to, we don't want to go crazy and try and grab. That's the first thing I would say is don't just try and grab the thing off your dog, because often what I find with that is then you've got a dog that wants it more, you've created an event out of that, you've made it a big deal, you've made that, um, that object even more desirable to them. So the first thing is don't don't grab it, don't try and get it off them, because potentially you're actually just making that worse and making that behavior much more um, much more kind of like ingrained within your dog.

Sam Askew: 5:40

Um, the thing I would think about doing is can we swap it? It it sounds so simple, but what do they love in their lives that they're going to want to give that up to. You know, if I had some broccoli and someone said, would you like some cake? Yeah, absolutely, let's swap right this second. So if we think about that with our dogs, you know you've got a sock. Well, how about some tasty meat? Or how about your most favourite toy? Or how about another sock? And we have a bit of a play with some socks, you know, and we can actually create like a game out of this and make it so that this is something that's really easy to let our dogs to let go for us.

Lauren Langman: 6:20

What would be your first tip? Yeah, I mean, swapping is huge for me and I think the biggest thing is not making, like you said, an event out of it, but also trying to be really disinterested in the object, like that dead rabbit that you are trying to find scrumdiddlyumptious right now. You know what. It is so dull, it is so boring, whereas most people are like squealing about it or like my dog, like this is, this is skittles, for those of you that don't know skittles, and they're skittles. Uh, she's on her bed eating a chew, having a lovely time of it.

Lauren Langman: 6:49

As soon as you start to pay loads of attention to that chew, I'm not going to do it because I don't think that's particularly fair on her. And she is. She's not guardy, but I think you could make her guardy, um, because she's quite possessive. So she's possessive but not guardy. So if you go to pull it off her, she'll possess it, but she's not growly or or mean or snarly, but I think you could make her that way, because a dog that's got like that natural possession, I think those are the dogs that you can. You can sort of instigate it in, and in some sports you'll try to like in in schutzen that's often or like police work. That's how you often get them to bark in front of something because they're possessing, and so I think for me, one of my biggest tips would be for the owner to find that object so dull and sometimes that object is your wedding ring or that is your remote control, or like I watch the people where the chimp comes out in them, like that, like mode and and it's like no, you need to be the adult here and you need to just be like I'm so not interested in what you're doing. I'm seriously not interested in what you've got, like it really does not interest me. And it's the same as when people put bait in front of you, like I know someone might put something in front of your social media and they want you to bite on it, and you're like I'm not biting on that, or you'll hear it in like office politics or like um staff relationships, or, and someone wants you to bite, they're an instigator, a kid at school or whatever. There's an inst get, don't be instinct, don't, don't, don't be drawn to those.

Lauren Langman: 8:05

And so for me, yeah, making making my own a really neutral, really like boring, not interested in the dead rabbit, I mean skills, had a, had a headless rabbit on easter sunday, which felt really inappropriate. It was like her version of a horror story. And um, and she recently had a mouse and all we could see was its tail like out the end of her mouth and it was like moving tail thing and like. Those sorts of situations are just horrible and you want to squeal right, you want to squeal. The worst thing you can do is squeal and, like you said, trade yeah, and it's hard to trade when it's like that because that's such a precious object. So it's like it's like um the hobbit and my precious, my precious, and you can just see her like my precious and her eyes are popping out of her head and she's red and I love what you said. It's really natural behavior. This is a really natural thing. This is not a dog who. It's abnormal behavior. This is a dog that you're working with. We're so lucky we're working with a present like being that is showing you all of its natural instincts and prey methods and all of the things they do.

Lauren Langman: 9:03

But I think, like my mum just cooked up a load of steak we had steak that was like on the day it should be used. Mum said do you want anything tonight? I said I'm really not up for that tonight, and so I said I'll just just cook it all up for the dogs. And so she's cooked it all up the dogs. We'll use it as treats. That's the sort of thing that would be a great high value scatter, whereas I don't think skittle would let go of a dead rabbit for a piece of kibble. She'd be like it's a bad deal and she definitely wouldn't for the person who pretends to do it what's this, what's this, what's this? And then doesn't give it to her.

Lauren Langman: 9:29

So, and a lot of people have just got a record deal. They're offering like five pence an hour. Let's not offer five pence an hour, let's offer like a hundred of steak here. And people that worry that they are giving the dog what they wanted. No, the dog didn't grab the thing to do that. Actually, the dog is already wanting to grab things. This is a dog who has that in them to do. What you need to do is manage the spaces better and not find yourself drawn into big discussions and arguments with that dog, because you won't win and you don't ever want to beat it out of them.

Sam Askew: 10:08

And there are people out there who would like to. So, yeah, I've said more than my turn. You go, sam. Um, I think you actually just touched on it there. I think setting up space, so thinking about, um, my dog getting in the bin, would be a great example. Okay, she keeps getting in the bin, it keeps happening. Okay, well, hang on a minute, rather than me fighting against, trying to, you know, constantly, stop her from doing that.

Sam Askew: 10:27

Actually, how about I get a different bin? How about I get a bin that's got a lid that she can't open? You know, how about? I'd say, get a taller bin, but that doesn't seem to work? Uh, just a bin that the lid doesn't open?

Sam Askew: 10:36

Yeah, let's not put food on the side at a dog's height where they're going to grab it, because, realistically speaking, you're putting them in a position where they're you, really you're setting them up to fail. Yeah, let's not set them up to fail because, realistically speaking, then they're not. They don't think in the same way that we do in terms of like, should I, shouldn't I? They're looking at something that they have desire for and they want to get it, and so, if they can, yeah, they might. You know, and then you've got this reinforcement behavior where it's been. It's exciting, it's happened a few times. They've got a really cool win out of it. It becomes an even bigger deal, an even better deal, and they're more likely to do it again and again. So if we can actually just set the space up cleverly so they're less likely to do it in the first place, you know, then we're in for a winner because we're not even starting that behavior in the first place.

Sam Askew: 11:31

You know, that would be. That would be my top tip for somebody that hasn't got this behavior in place already, that hasn't got a dog that already loves stealing. However, if you've got a dog that already loves stealing, I think my other one would be let's think about um, let's think about teaching your dog like a bit of a retrieve, and let's think about having our dogs be able to bring us things. You know, maybe that's bringing it to their beds, or maybe it's bringing it to their crate, or maybe it's bringing it to your hand. It doesn't have to be a super fancy, formal retrieve, it doesn't have to be perfect. Can they just bring it to you and pop it on the ground in front of you, or maybe swap it out for that thing that you've got. You've played that game, so you've got two tips there really nice.

Lauren Langman: 12:04

Two tips really really nice. And I think, going back to that bin and that setup and I'll give you an example, mine's a slightly different one but I've got a toy bin in the arena and it's like a laundry bin full of toys.

Lauren Langman: 12:15

So this laundry bill bin is absolutely chocker, rammed like topped up with toys and toys and toys and toys. And I was getting really frustrated because in most of my training sessions skit would run, dive in it and grab something out. And I mean this is like a tall bin, it's like this high, and she'd land in it. And I've got some funny videos on the absolute dogs page where she's doing this and she's literally running, landing in, rummaging and it would be really annoying. It's often like partway through a session she'd just leg it and run off.

Lauren Langman: 12:39

And then one day I thought why have I got the toy bin in the middle of the arena? Like why have I not put the toy bin outside of the arena, outside of the gate, on top of a table? And since I put it outside of the arena, outside of the gate, on top of the table, she doesn't do it. But it's because you've interrupted the practicing of that behavior. So no, she's not to practice it and no, you're not allowing her to practice it. And I think that's really, really important, that you're not giving them the need to practice it. I think that's that's really key, because if you allow that thing to be reinforced again and again, and again and again, or practiced again and again, and again and again, of course it will build. So what they rehearse they become. And sometimes the other thing is you find it funny like I found it really funny that she was running the object.

Lauren Langman: 13:24

Like I found it really cute as well. I was like, oh my god, she's so damn cute, like she's really cute when she's doing it, and so I think there's a level of you kind of find it funny until it's a problem. And it's the same with the puppy like they're quite cute. Like she decided she became the Andrex puppy the other day and decided to grab a toilet roll and was like fluffing it all around the room and I was like ha ha ha, oh, no, ha ha ha, no, no, no, actually this is not ha ha ha, like it's funny for like a second. And then you're like no, actually this really isn't funny because there's fluff everywhere. So I think that's really important to acknowledge. So yeah, those are just a couple of mine.

Sam Askew: 13:54

I remember, um, I remember when I first got, uh, when we first got our dog Lou. You know who's our oldest dog? Um, she's not like, she's nearly nine now, which is absolutely insane. Um, but she it's. That is crazy, isn't it? You sort of go wow, that's nine years, that's like a puppy she's like, she's like blink, like a puppy she does.

Sam Askew: 14:12

She, yeah, she doesn't. She does not look like everybody's, like nine, no way she's such a such a little puppy. Um, we took her to um, to my wife's family for, uh, I don't know, it was like a barbecue or something like that. Um, and we're all sat around, we're all eating, we all eat, you know, sat eating in the living room on our laps with our plates. Now, bear in mind, at this point she was a young dog, really, you know, quite a young puppy, um, big enough that she'd started to, you know, be able to, like, jump a little bit and and get up, trying to get up on people's laps, and that kind of stuff. And we didn't know what I know. Now, you know, I I didn't know about um, about absolute dogs, um, and this sort of way of training or anything like that. It was kind of just a free-for-all, just like your dog, would you know? They just they get on with it, don't they do what they like um, so everybody sat around and my brother-in-law, who is probably the person that that likes dogs the least in the entire family, um, he sits down with his big plate, like like a plowman's, and there's a massive lump of cheese on the edge of the plate and my dog goes up, of course, and just yoinks that cheese and runs off and scoffers all of it. And it was hilarious. It was embarrassing as well, but it was very, very funny.

Sam Askew: 15:17

But I look at that sink like what? What a terrible setup. You know, I let a small young puppy just have free roam while people had food on their laps. You know that really. I mean what? What did I expect? How could I expect anything else in that situation? That would be like, um, putting sweets out on a table and letting a toddler come in and make a better choice. You know that's, they're just not. They haven't got that mental capacity at that age to make good choices. So we kind of have to guide them a little bit. We need to help them out. Um, I, but I can't. That story just always makes me giggle because she still loves cheese. She gets a little quiver mouth to cheese it is.

Lauren Langman: 15:57

It is so true, though, isn't it like? What responsibility are we giving them? And I was. This is an interesting one, and you'll know what I think about this. So we've got a massive dog training arena, and there's some students that want to hire the dog train arena, and the dogs aren't yet off lead, and it's just such a big responsibility to put on that dog and that owner so early on, when they don't even know what they're looking for at this stage, and I think that's really important to acknowledge.

Lauren Langman: 16:22

Um and so um, whilst we're very, very happy to hire the arena, actually are the handler and dog able to handle that responsibility, which is how to handle the equipment, how to handle the dog and how to handle the fact they don't want the dog to go to the toilet? All of those kind of things like they're all really really, really important in the setup that is handling in an arena, and so I think that's, I think that's quite key to acknowledge and key to um understand. To be honest, I also think and this is a really interesting one that the amount of responsibility we do give puppies and young dogs and and young adults and adolescents and everything else, I think there's a lot of responsibility we put on them, like a massive amount of responsibility we put on them and yeah, so often we expect a lot of them, don't we?

Lauren Langman: 17:06

so often completely unwarranted, like we haven't got any evidence that they're ready for that responsibility. Another example I'll give you um, we've got, uh, two staircases. One of the staircases in the house is carpeted and suitable for dogs and the other one is, um, really polished wood and glass. And the other day skittles got access to the polished wooden glass and she was like scooby-doo and went smack into the bottom of the glass at the bottom and it was horrific and I was like why on earth did we give her access to that room? There's me thinking that she's got the like sense not to go on those because she's never been on those. But when she was went looking for us, she decided that was appropriate and she's not able to sort of. They're not for dogs.

Lauren Langman: 17:41

The other staircase is for dogs and so it's those types of things like have you given them? Do they really understand the boundaries? Do they really understand like I could leave the room and leave food on the table with brave and she would leave it alone? She can handle that responsibility. There is no chance I would do that with skittle, and what you need to know is which and I would. It's a sort of what I'd like to video it. You look, walk out the room and you tell them, leave that alone. And you just walk out the room and and I can see venture looking out of the room and then going, I'm having it and whereas you can see brave just looking around like not allowed this, not allowed this, not allowed this, like I'm watching her right now.

Lauren Langman: 18:13

She's considering what she can steal over there. She's thinking about what sort of rope she can pull up, because she's she's got her head right down it. She's bored of her chew and she's now considering like, what can she grab? So she's grabbed a piece of paper by the looks of it, and she's thinking about whether she can pull those over. She's got a nice chew here, but she's considering what else is on offer, and that is what's what's done. I think that's probably another one to add in, though.

Lauren Langman: 18:33

Here isn't there boundaries, and I think boundaries are really helpful for setting your dog up if you're in games club as part of games club. If you're not in games club, go and check out absolute dog store, absolute dash dogscom and on on the games um club, um sort of community.

Lauren Langman: 18:50

There are thousands of games, but one of my favorite badges is the real life boundaries badge and I just love using boundaries and so I know you talked about boundaries in your in your stealing course, but, um, it sounds like we've got professional stealing course. It's actually hilarious. Um, but in your stealing course you do talk about boundaries and the use of boundaries and setups and management and how you manage. But, yeah, boundaries would be key to me. How about you, sam?

Sam Askew: 19:15

yeah, I think, I think boundaries are huge. I also um, I've also trained a crate, so I mean, it is another form of a boundary, essentially, and it just happens to be a door there. You know, um, and we train that very similarly, actually, and really we're looking at um, sometimes you need a bit more containment and again it comes down to responsibility of the dog. Can they handle it, them being on a boundary which is actually quite an open space, and they have an element of of having to make a choice to stay on it, whereas crate, you've got a little bit more control over that. It's still a positive space. It's still, you know, a really happy space for your dog to be in, but it also actually sometimes just gives them a breather, it gives them a um, it gives them a break from all of the huge amounts of choices that they have to make, helps you prevent the rehearsal of all of that. And that's probably the key thing.

Sam Askew: 19:59

And something that we do cover in the badge is to think about, um, the differences between dogs that have already rehearsed this behavior and dogs that haven't, because sometimes how you would approach that is very, very different.

Sam Askew: 20:10

You know a dog that hasn't rehearsed any of those behaviors you've got. You've got a good foundation there to sort of go okay, let's set it up right, let's let's make help, help them make the right choices. You know, and you can play some of these games, but you probably might never need them that's what you would hope whereas maybe a dog that has rehearsed that behavior got some ingrained love of stealing right. You've got a dog that wants to go and steal this stuff for whatever reason. They find it rewarding. You might never know why, but they find it really exciting and they really love it. So we look a little bit more into some of the strategies that you would then do to try and change the picture. You know, change it up, make it look different for your dog, make it look different in the way that they handle it, in the way that you handle it, the way that you manage that situation, which is kind of the key thing.

Lauren Langman: 20:56

Crates is a huge one for me, for that for sure and in terms of crates, sam, I mean I use crates, gates, stairs, sort of situations, pens, like whatever I need to I have 10 dogs, so I have.

Lauren Langman: 21:06

I have lots of different like scenarios. I might need to use them for um, but but crates for me. I really like my dogs to be very relaxed in the crate and it's not their event and it's not their business and if I have got guests I'd ask them to leave the crate alone. Skittles is brilliant with crates. Like people don't know that she's in in the house when they come in and I kind of like that, because then she's not like entertainment for them, if that makes sense. But um, would you? Would you say your dogs are nice and relaxing crates. Is that something you've trained and worked on and is that something you have to build? Because I know that for me, that is that's fundamental in bringing home a new dog yeah, absolutely.

Sam Askew: 21:42

We're certainly not just sort of popping them in there and leaving them to it. It's. It is something that we've grown to be a positive place and then, on top of that, we've grown it to be a really calm place. You know, um to be literally a place of relaxation and calm, and this is none of your business anymore and it's time to just chill out. And sometimes you know our dogs and this is good for the stealing thing really, in terms of we talk about a dog's bucket and sometimes their buckets. You know they can get a really full bucket. It's like it basically.

Sam Askew: 22:09

Uh, the amount of stress that goes into a dog's personality, right, or a day and you think about yourself, you have, um, you start off your day great, you've had your wheat a bit, so whatever it is that you have for breakfast, uh, you go through your day, but then added stress gets. It gets it starts to top you up, starts to get higher and higher and then eventually, because you've not had a break, you've not managed to stress, if you've not kind of given yourself a bit of respite, it boils over and you're shouting at a co-staff or, um, I don't know, you're throwing your pen at a wall, whatever. Whatever you do, essentially your bucket overflows because it's just too much. Now, sometimes our dogs get that as well. They've had too much in a day. It could be good stuff, you know, they could have had a really long walk, they could have like met some new people, they could have had I don't know some like really yummy fun games with you and they're just a little bit wired. You know, and I'm sure that so many people can relate to this, you know, when your dog flips that switch you might get zoomies. That's a really good indicator that you get sometimes.

Sam Askew: 23:08

We need to help our dogs sometimes make the decision to go and rest. You know it's like a toddler, right. You know, when they're like I don't need my nap, when actually that's the moment that they absolutely need their map because they they've completely gone over the edge, it's time to sleep and they're always in such a better mood and in such a better frame of mind once they've had that little bit of rest. Our dogs can often be the same when they've got a full bucket, they usually don't make the best choices. So having the crate, having it as a relaxing place, same as a boundary, it can really help our dogs. Empty that bucket and then we're less likely to get those bad choices like stealing socks, stealing mice.

Lauren Langman: 23:50

Stealing the mouse. She's so funny, she's like rabbit for supper and I'm like no rabbit for supper, we're not having rabbit for supper. I want to give one last example, and that is a game that people used to play and she's there having her chew now. And what people used to do with dogs is they used to go and test them and try and take it away. And I say used to, because that's not the school and the dog training world I'm in anymore, but I think it probably does still happen where people like test and take and they want to take things away, like she's here considering right now whether she can steal. I think she's got this one on her like horizon, so like that's the sort of thing she would happily take. As you can see, drop the candle, um. And so that would be the scenario that you would see typically, um and I know some people are listening and not not looking and then you'd have someone trying to grab it.

Lauren Langman: 24:33

Sorry for my random yeah but you'd have someone trying to grab it and pull it, and pull it, and pull it, and pull it and suddenly that became a toy and something of interest to the animal, which actually wasn't a huge interest before, and you can see how that would become like a real object of desire for the animal. I personally, if I wanted to take that back, I would only be playing with this thing. I definitely wouldn't be where'd it go, but I wouldn't be grabbing that and if she was grabbing that I wouldn't be paying massive interest to it. If I was going to take it at all, the way that I would take it is I'd be talking to her about something else, so I wouldn't be, and she is the type of dog that would become quite obsessed with it quite quickly. So she's the sort of dog that would be very, very interested and intrigued by the fact that she'd just taken something off a table, which I kind of encouraged.

Lauren Langman: 25:18

Um, but actually for me the toy that's back here or the chew that's back here, that would be the object of interest and the object that I didn't want her to have, which you can see how already that's become, yeah, an object of high desire, and I would try really hard not to make a very big deal of it if I was going to take it, like I said, in the ideal scenario. You actually have something. I love it. She's chin targeting for it.

Sam Askew: 25:38

Now she's trying everything now, isn't she? Yeah?

Lauren Langman: 25:41

best chin target for the little elephant, and it shows you how quickly something becomes you can have it and something becomes a high desire. Like I wouldn't, I wouldn't make such a thing of it, like I don't even know what it is. It's like some sort of little hand thing. I don't use it, I don't even know what it is, what I's like some sort of little hand thing, I don't use it, I don't even know what it is.

Lauren Langman: 25:57

What I would say is, people then make such a big deal of it that that becomes a problem, and actually the worst thing she's going to do is like throw it around a bit and kill it a bit. I just think, like notice how easily you can turn something into something it isn't, and I think it's a real prize for your dog, um, so I think I think the lesson for me there, or for for us, there is a yes, I set that up. The little elephant was here and I let her tip it over and pull it back, and the real lesson is, though, you can make that into an object of massive desire, and if you, you can see how now she's like got her prize, but if you then took that away and hid it, or like created growling over it.

Sam Askew: 26:40

That would be a massive issue.

Lauren Langman: 26:42

That would be, yeah, for sure if it's not an issue, leave it alone. Like I don't. I've never used it. I don't even know what it's for. Like it's a hand grip thing. I think. Um number one it's for her, it's a dog toy. Like she sees it as a dog toy. Um number two, if I am going to take it away, the way I would do it I haven't got any food up here, but, um, I would just scatter some food around and I'd start to get to move. When I do want to take that one away, I'll just ask her to come off her bed and trot down the stairs with me and go out to the garden and have a scatter or something. Like she. There is no issue with it. Um, I love how proud she is. Look at her. This is the best moment ever in my life I like elephant.

Sam Askew: 27:14

She's just such a just carefree, isn't it?

Lauren Langman: 27:17

like, so carefree and lovely like that is. That is just so lovely.

Lauren Langman: 27:21

Like, don't, like, don't get so yeah, it is don't take yourself so seriously and don't take your dog too seriously, like these are dogs and and they will be dogs and, if anything, I find it quite endearing and quite, quite cute. So, yes, of course we're not trying to encourage dogs to steal, but you know what? Let's try and see the brighter and lighter side in life, because life's serious enough without us getting too upset about a weird elephant toy that we've never used or seen anyway. So, sam, if anyone was thinking about whether the 10 days to stop stealing badge would be worth it for them, what would you say? £27.

Sam Askew: 27:53

Of course.

Lauren Langman: 27:54

Should they do it?

Sam Askew: 27:56

Go and get it now. Go and get it now. Go and get it now. Yeah, I really do. I mean I've I've filmed that badge because I have, you know, personal experience in it and I'm hugely passionate about helping anybody else to try and avoid or try and try and reframe what is maybe already happening to them. So absolutely go and buy it. I'm a huge advocate of it. It can get better. I promise it can get better.

Lauren Langman: 28:19

She just did the funniest little thing. You know, when they do steal something, they get it. They really love it. She does this with a mouse too, and she's like a little shake, yeah, killing the little thing. I'm like, oh, you're a little menace. Most of the mice she has found are already dead, by the way, but this one, this little elephant thing, is alive in her mind, so she's funny. So that was this episode of the Sex and Squirrel podcast. Get hold of the Stop Stealing badge. It's lifetime access, if you haven't already. It's led by the wonderful Sam Sam. I am green eggs and ham and she really, really, really does know her stuff when it comes to stopping stealing, and I know she put her heart and soul into that badge and loved, loved filming it. So, guys, I will see you next week. Make sure you're there. Make sure you're there Definitely, definitely square. And make sure, most of all, you've shared this podcast with all of your dog training friends. And remember to stay sexy.