Speaker 1: 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. Oh, my goodness, Linda's getting a new puppy. Linda is getting a poodle puppy. Linda, tell us about your new adventures. Okay, so for a long while.

Speaker 2: 0:40

I've been teaching people with poodles and I always sit on the side and go oh I, I love them. They're such idiots and they're clowns. And and I was with one who has toy poodles, because I'm of an age I couldn't manage a standard. They're too big for me now. So somebody I know has toy poodles and he said, oh, you should get one, you should get one.

Speaker 2: 1:06

I mean no, no, they're not my dog and he's, I said in any way, I'd never get a toy poodle to ticket championship of Egypt. And he said you would, linda, you'd get one to ticket. And it was like, okay, challenge accepted, I will get a toy poodle because I'm sort of in the middle of am I going to get another border collie? And I'm not sure, and it's probably a bit too soon for a border collie and it's not planned.

Speaker 1: 1:38

So let's have a toy poodle and see how we go and tell me are you getting I take it a little boy or a little girl, and what is his name?

Speaker 2: 1:50

he hasn't got a name yet other than he's sort of called bobble. I love it which can be shortened to bob of the poodle, that's if it suits him. When we get it, because I'm very much into, let's get the puppy and see what name suits them. But his fantasy name, the one that I've had in my head for the poodle, I'm getting is Bobble.

Speaker 1: 2:17

So Bobble's coming home soon. I think it's a really great topic for our podcast, for all of our listeners, everybody who is here listening Sex and Squirrel podcast. You guys get to hear it first from lovely linda who is getting her new puppy. What are you thinking for your early planning stages? And I love that we've got another dog on the road to crufts, because we've not only got um our plans in place already, which I know we're going to share with everybody across the podcast. Where we're planning to go to Crufts Obedience, that's Linda and her lovely, lovely Ulla, and we've got lots and lots of goals and targets set. But we've also got Bobble, who is on his way. He's arriving very, very soon. What are you thinking? What are your first few days at home? How does it look? How does it go? What's the plan?

Speaker 2: 3:06

And talk me through it, and I'm very happy to input any stage if you need a hand. Okay, so plan is we have to get the house ready. So we're already a gated community in my house. We have full out dog gates all over the place, so I don't need to put up baby gates or anything like that. I do need to go into the loft and get the puppy pens down. He won't need as big a puppy pen as a built border collie, but there'll be a pen. We live upstairs in this house so we have a sort of living space upstairs and then office is downstairs. So he'll have a pen upstairs and he'll have a pen down here in this office, but a very small one as he's only a toy poodle.

Speaker 2: 3:43

I've ordered a pidddle mat for him, because house training for us in an upside down house is again a challenge. So I've I've got around um in the last four dogs I think to using um a grass in a, in a in a tray. But I use a product which is called Piddler Patch. But you could just use a cat litter tray with a piece of turf in it or some astroturf in it or something like that. So I just get them used to. There's a place with grass where they go to toilet, so that's been ordered. I've ordered some raw meat for him because all my dogs have been raw, so that's been ordered.

Speaker 2: 4:30

So puppy pens will go up, all my enrichment toys will come out for puppies, because obviously he's going to be tiny so he'll need a little lick mat and a little treat dispenser, toy, things like that. So the food's sorted, the beds are sorted. I've got plenty of beds. So on the day which is on, so I have to go double-handed when I pick up a puppy, because I don't put them in a crate, because I have a van with dog crates in, I don't put them in the crate in the back. When they come home they come home in the front with me holding them and hubby drives. So I'll have a very small puppy crate in the front and I'll be with him, because he's in Swansea so that's about a five hour drive. So for five hours he'll be with me and then when he gets home he will sleep in a crate next to my bed. So I work on that bond and that safety for a pup right from the beginning.

Speaker 1: 5:34

I was just thinking one thing, linda. I don't know if you've thought about this or not. I'm sure you have because you think of everything. You're a great planner but one thing I was really shocked at when I had my first small puppy and my first Cocker Spaniel was how much smaller everything is in terms of the fact because I love what you said it's a small crate crate and a small this. They can get through every bar I've got and I didn't think about this because all of my puppy pens and all of my bars they just walked through and I'd be like, oh, I didn't think about that, and it's really funny, as they strutted through the puppy pen or they strutted through where I could leave my others in certain places, like I've got a little like picket fence in the garden, the Cock picket fence in the garden the Cocker Spaniel would just hop through the gap and I'd be like, oh, that wasn't my plan, uh, so yeah, it was an interesting one. It was definitely an interesting one.

Speaker 2: 6:18

He's got a balcony upstairs, he'll, he'll go straight through the bars of the balcony if I'm not careful yes, those kind of things to plan on because he's going to be tiny and we're talking probably between, I don't know, one and three kilos.

Speaker 1: 6:34

I would imagine maybe a little bit on the I. I mean, I've never had a, a, poodle, um, but I would imagine within that window. And so how about things like collars and leads and harnesses? What are your, what are your thoughts on things?

Speaker 2: 6:46

it's going to be a visit to pets at home she's visiting, and does he have a color?

Speaker 1: 6:52

have you got a color in mind for him? Is he blue? He's silver, silver. No, I meant as in, what's his colour of his leading collar?

Speaker 2: 7:00

Oh, I don't know, I don't know. Well, turquoise probably. I like sort of turquoise and blue and things like that on the collies Silk, sort of an early colour. So yes, he'll be blue probably. But but it'll be a little busy to pets at home for early stages.

Speaker 1: 7:18

How exciting. So what are your first games looking like? What are you going to do for the first things that you do with his food or do with his games or do with his toy, like? How is that going to work on a? Um? Early stages of games and games-based learning?

Speaker 2: 7:31

lovely, linda so first couple of weeks every piece of food is going to get will either be enrichment or it will be from me, so it'll be in all sorts of fun games like chasing a bit of food. Obviously, with tiny pups, their eyes don't work very well and it's where, when I'm working with people who've just got their puppy, you have to explain that your, your food bowling skills have to be very good with the puppy because they don't see the piece of food go if you're too quick. So you have to just get them used to getting their eye in and doing a little bit of follow and I start behaviors straight away. I mean he's going to be 10 weeks when I pick him up, so he'll be straight into learning to sit, go down, walk back, nose, touch all of those little behaviours while using his food.

Speaker 1: 8:22

I love it, I love hearing it, I love knowing it. I've got a lovely friend. She's called Deb. You've met her and she is going to be doing exactly the same with Border Collie Puppy. So she's got a new Border Collie Puppy and I love that. You're already on to.

Speaker 1: 8:39

From the get go, every piece of food is either from enrichment or from me, and personally my balance is sometimes more one than the other, depending on the dog. So sometimes with cockers I'll actually give more enrichment because they're so into me that I actually need to turn them like into something else, because if not I could get in trouble with separation anxiety and struggles like that. Which, if you're listening, there's a 10 days to stop separation course. It's just 27 pound, it's for our listeners. Right now it's reduced from 97 pound and you get full lifetime access. So definitely get hold of that one. Um. But yeah, with the cockers I might go into doing a bit more of that, linda, or with my border collies, because they're often very, very into my other dogs and they want to chase the movement and watch the movement and look at the movement and and be absorbed by the movement. I actually do most of it with me if I can. But obviously I use my enrichment to babysit, so my enrichment allows me a bit of babysitting. Eat that mat while I quickly wash my hair, or, um, lick on that kong for a minute while I quickly try and answer the door and get them visitors in and sort the house or whatever else. I'm trying to do so, or I'm going to hoover. I mean it'd be a chance to be a fine thing. But you know what those types of scenarios and I think I'm not shocked. You looked very shocked get her off the camera, don't let her be seen. Um, but yeah, it really makes me um insanely happy to hear that from you, that you're, you're straight away. That is exactly how you feel too.

Speaker 1: 10:04

Now, how about play, linda? Because I'm really a massive, massive, fundamental believer in dogs work better when they play and you get more motivation when you play. And you saw recently when we were training Ulla together, we trained a lot together and I used play a lot with you, especially to overcome any anxieties or struggles. I use play a lot. So I use play to like jack the arousal and to really allow the dog to become more environmentally established. When the environment can be tough and I know when we're prepping a dog for crufts.

Speaker 1: 10:40

And I'm going to say this right now we don't want no poodly poodle, we want like a wham. Bam, I'm bobble, thank you out of my way. We need, we need this dog super confident. We need him super present. We need to really safeguard his confidence, but also not like baby him, if that makes sense. So you need to not over woolly jumper them and over. I'm going to put like clothes on. You be my handbag dog. And at the same time we also want to safeguard his confidence because we don't need an Ulla or a Sensi wiping him or knocking him out and they'll do that, sometimes just running through the hallway, but they don't even mean to do it. Like Blink's been like bowled over by a dog Tokyo early on, just from like walking through the same space together.

Speaker 2: 11:21

It on um, just from like walking through the same space together. It's not any dog had any bad intention, so, yeah, how does that look for you? Play? So, play um. All of the poodles that I teach have the attention span of a gnat on it off it on it, off it.

Speaker 1: 11:27

I love that. You thought to yourself wouldn't this be a great breed to go and train? So all of the poodles I train have the attention span of a gnat. So I thought to myself I'm going to do that. I love your wisdom. Keep going.

Speaker 2: 11:43

I love a challenge so I will be establishing a huge amount of interaction with me play, focus, focus and attention, um, everything about centering their an orientation around me so that they don't. The ones I've trained tend to check out very quickly. You know they'll notice something worse than all the behind. They'll notice something and their attention will go. So, yeah, and in terms of confidence, the thing that I try to coach people with small dogs not to do is pick them up, is get them to meet the world from the floor. They are a dog. They need to be able not not to overface them, but they need to be able to behave like a dog, work like a dog, have the confidence of a dog on the floor not being carried around by me because it's so easy.

Speaker 1: 12:44

I that is one of the biggies is. It's so easy because I know often when I'm running up and down stairs and things like that, I just grab skittle under my arm because they're so easy to grab. So I definitely fall into that small dog owner category where I scoop them up way too often. But it is easy and sometimes it keeps them safeguarded. But I agree there are places when it doesn't need to happen.

Speaker 1: 13:03

Now, thinking on this, linda, I know we've got our 10 days to puppy success course and I really, really, really want if you're listening to this and thinking, I want to understand this better. I want to know this better. I want to understand this philosophy in this way of thinking. Please jump in and get it. It's reduced right now from 97 pounds to our listeners it's 27 pounds only, lifetime access and you can jump in and you can listen and you keep it forever. Resources galore and really beautiful puppy learning.

Speaker 1: 13:29

But, linda, what would be some of your um sort of early stage um tips in terms of when you introduce your dogs or how that goes? Because I know for sure that I'm never in a rush to introduce my dogs, but I think it's good for people to hear it from from different people, and to the point that I don't think tokyo met venture until he was about seven months, like not properly. I mean, I would maybe go out and about on a walk or I'd maybe, but I didn't put them head to head in the house, where I know it could be potentially a problem, and I would say even more so with a big dog and a little dog coming into the house. I think that little dog, I think we really forget. There's a very horrible story that when I was sort of early on in my dog training career, an acquaintance of mine, she had two Jack Russell Terriers and her nan had a Chihuahua and they left the dogs together and that Chihuahua died like it died People. They forget we're dealing with animals. These aren't animals.

Speaker 1: 14:28

And when you're talking about a toy poodle, a papillon, a very, very small breed, I also know of a papillon that was killed at a big festival that we run in agility Kennel Club Festival. It's called, not we when I say it, it's the Kennel Club run it and we go to that festival and that papillon died again at the jaws of another dog and this isn't like a nasty, aggressive beast, this is a dog who's bitten and gone, and at the same time it's been in the wrong situation and no one's managed the environment correctly. And so, for me, those two terriers should never have been left with that chihuahua. That was absolutely irresponsible and of course everyone has that heartfelt. We hate that feeling for someone. I mean, nobody wants to be in that position. But come on, guys, use your sense, like where's your sense. And so, for me, if this was my poodle, I'm not in a hurry to leave these dogs unsupervised. I'm not in a hurry to um introduce these dogs head-on in confrontational spaces or situations.

Speaker 2: 15:26

But equally, every train is different and I'm really open to hearing how you might do it well, I already don't leave my dogs, so the person on the sofa behind me today, um, she's never left unsupervised with my others. The only dog that's left out in the house unsupervised for free is Ping, who's the eldest. The other two girls go in crates if I'm not present, um, or you know, they might lie on a sofa or something like that, um, with the puppy. He would probably be six or nine months, even more. I might never be left alone with the others milling about. I mean, I just don't do it because you, you know, you've only got to have somebody come to the door and then bark and get aroused and there'd be an accident, even if it's one gets trodden on. I just don't, I don't let it happen, I don't go there. I know we have this ideal of it.

Speaker 1: 17:03

The dog's house is their house and they should have a free roam a bit and they go where they like, and I I think they're better off just being safe and I really love that you have that perspective in a multi-dog household and I think it's worth saying here your household, like my household, we've got some dogs who are really level and cool with life, but actually we've got some naughty but nice dogs and my naughty but nice dog this morning and venture um, oh, I mean some days I think you're a little witch like she's got a real edge, like she's got real edge, and you probably shouldn't say that on a podcast. But hey, here we go, let's be real. And she, she really did just snipe over a vegetable. So I chucked a few vegetables in the garden and I thought they're so low value I didn't really think much of them, but she's so resourcey at times that even the vegetable in the garden that she didn't want was enough for her to snipe at. And so it's just being constantly mindful when you've got multi dogs. I've got 10 dogs and I know that you're also in a multi dog household and I think you've just always got to be mindful and I'd much prefer to be safe than sorry. And, like I said, the two sorry, the two Jack Russell's and the Chihuahua uh, the papillon at the big kennel club event, like those, for me are stark warnings, and the other one I had as a youngster was I was walking in the park and two dogs went head on head and one died. They just ran. It was just a, it was instant, and I've never experienced things like that, linda, and yet those were life-changing another life-changing one for me and it was very emotional.

Speaker 1: 18:31

Another life-changing one for me is I taught a lovely, lovely student for a good number of years beautiful, beautiful dog, one of my favorite dogs I taught. In fact, she got me really even more in love with Border Collies than I already am and was, and she left her with a pig's ear and she choked three-year-old dog. She choked and and I just remember being so utterly I just couldn't believe it. I was gobsmacked. It was like losing a part of because I taught her since she was eight weeks old. I taught her since she was a baby.

Speaker 1: 19:01

I loved this dog and this dog was really talented and I loved working with her and I loved training with her and she was just a great little dog and I just remember being super horrified at the how easily that could happen. So so, yeah, supervision, massive dogs like him wouldn't be left with chews that are potentially going to do things like that, like there's lots to think about, isn't there, I think, people. What I'd love to do is prevent these things from happening to other people, because we know that these, these are things, sadly, that can happen, and I think it's important that we we maybe safeguard any of those. What do you?

Speaker 2: 19:34

think absolutely. But then again, I don't wrap them in cotton wool, so agreed. So this pup will be in the van from day one. Um, they travel on the seat next to me in a crate so that I can get them used to the idea of travelling, because he'll be out and about every day. He'll be going to anywhere I go. He'll be exposed to, you know, the supermarket, car park, the train station, bobble, on a road trip. That's right, absolutely. So I don't fuss about whether they're inoculated or not. I mean, I don't let them go sniffing around in places where there's been 101 dogs, but out in the middle of the country he will be on the ground.

Speaker 1: 20:24

I love. I have to say really quickly, linda, I love this because only an hour ago I was chatting away to Dave Dave, you and I know very, very well one of our regular podcasters and a brilliant, brilliant trainer in search dogs and he said I just want to be a little bit controversial. And I was like, oh god, what's he gonna say? Because you're always aware when you're filming a podcast or you're recording or filming something that you're just like, what's he gonna say? Is it needing to be edited out? And he, he said the thing is with puppies, with puppies, with puppies can't say it the way of saying puppies, but with puppy. He said I will get them out after their first vaccination. And he said I'm not waiting for the second. And I said, right, I'm going to be even more controversial and I'm going to say I don't care about any vaccination versus getting them out.

Speaker 1: 21:07

But similar to you, I, but similar to you, I'm not going to throw them down in the middle of the Birmingham city centre. Dog poo, right, that is left in too many different places and I'm sure it's left in lots of other city centres too, not just Birmingham. We were talking Birmingham because that's where Dave lives. However, when you're in Oakhampton and it's so rural, no, I'm not going to drop them in like rat infested water, but I'm also going to avoid lepto. But I'm also and I'm not going to take them to an area that I know is known to have parvo, because there are several places in the country that are known to have parvo and recently it was a dog show and it was known to be in that area.

Speaker 1: 21:39

You're a bit more cautious, for sure. At the same time, there's a, there's a risk and a balance and a management space to be had. That you're sort of fine tuning, that aren't you? You with your socialization risks. So I love what you say and have to just bring it up there because you and dave and I aligned you're on the same page.

Speaker 2: 21:59

None of this. Oh, he's got to be locked in a little box until he's had all of his infodoculations. I just don't do it. I don't make a fuss about it at all.

Speaker 1: 22:09

So he'll be out and about running, so he'll be on your road trips with you. What type of road trips are you going to take him on? Because I, I really love this and this is exactly how I do it we do life, we just do life, so we just do life, and we keep going and we do life together yeah, so he'll go to the shops.

Speaker 2: 22:27

He'll go to my training days, um. He'll probably have to be babysat by lots of cooing women um on my training days, so he'll get used to being toileted by people he doesn't. He's never met, um, he will just be exposed to my life and and he'll get on with it basically, and then he'll get trained. Whenever I've got spare moment, and what about hubby?

Speaker 1: 22:50

how does he fit into all of this? Because he's a good man, isn't he your husband? He's a good man. I think he needs a shout out of his own here.

Speaker 2: 22:59

He's just supportive of everything I do around dogs, and so there's never any question if I say we're getting a puppy, or I say what do you think about this dog? Or whatever he goes, yeah, yeah, let's go for it. So, um, he, he follows the rules. He's pretty good at not undoing all my training, because he's certainly been the recipient of don't use that word, that's the competitive cue or something. So he, he knows what not to say and he knows what to say and he, he's very, very good with them. So if I'm going away for a you know, I don't know if I was going somewhere and I thought that wasn't suitable for the pup to go I'd be quite happy if he would be left looking after the pup.

Speaker 1: 23:45

Um, so, yeah, he's, um, he's a good man I also love that you say puppies, straight away in the van and just rock and roll. And I'm going to give you a couple of van stories while we're here, and one of mine is that my cat, as soon as I got her, went in the van. So Sadie, the cat, straight in the van with the dogs, obviously her own crate, and I put her next to a spaniel because I know the spaniels wouldn't like spat at her, which the collies probably would um, but I love that. I was just like rock and roll, get in the van. So there was no, there was no thought of um, this isn't for you, uh, for me, whatever, and Sadie is my cat, not my, my dog, um.

Speaker 1: 24:20

And the second one um for me is when I'm in the van, I have to be a little bit careful about who I put them next to, because Venture, even three bars, can be quite snipey and she can be sharp, and so as much as once mine do progress to being in the back with the other dogs and sometimes I can't put them on a front seat because I've got matt and eliza and I and it's only a three-seater um. And so again, just for I'm sure you're very, very well aware of this. But equally for our listeners, if mine are in the vehicle against another dog or near another dog, I have to check which dog so wild, is going to be sweet and nice. She's going to be like this tokyo would have been licking them through the bars and trying to be their best uncle tokyo, whereas venture would be sniping and trying to pierce their lip and give them an early ear piercing. And so you've got to be mindful of who you put them next to.

Speaker 1: 25:02

And that doesn't make venture a terrible dog. She's just a sharp, naughty but nice dog, whereas um tokyo had gorgeous manners. Equally, um tokyo could sometimes be a bit much and would lick their head until they probably didn't want to be licked. So you've kind of got to know when they, when each dog is appropriate or not. And I think it's just mindful again, when you've got multi dogs, just to know these things. And I didn't realize that a dog can still go between bars and they really can like ventures really tried to to pierce through bars. So if you've got a dog who really doesn't like a puppy, just don't put them in that situation, because even the snarling and the growling and the sniping and the those things all still to still carry through right, it will.

Speaker 2: 25:40

That's why I've always had solid crates, so I don't have crates with bars between. Yeah, but with the pup I tend to have them in a, as I say, in a small puppy crate on the front seat and so I can reassure them, and then I transfer that to the back, and then gradually, and then they and this one's going to be a particularly small crate, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 26:00

it's just going to be. I want you to tell me what. I want you to tell me what weight he is when you get him. Okay, so you're going to day one, you're going to weigh him for me.

Speaker 2: 26:09

I want, in fact, I want a weight and a height okay, okay, because I was talking, I was actually teaching the people with the food was yesterday and, um, they said you don't, you know, it's going to be really small, don't you? And I said, well, how small then.

Speaker 1: 26:22

And they went, oh, and they sort of held their hands up, a bit like this and I went oh my god, you will be shocked, like I've had lots of small dogs, but I'm always shocked. I'm always like, oh my god, you're so tiny, so I cannot wait, linda. So everyone's excited for you, everyone's rooting for you, everyone cannot wait to see bobble and bobble on his crufts journey all the way to championship. Uh, are you going to share more with us? Are you game?

Speaker 2: 26:47

I will, I will. I will keep you updated on how he does. I will do my best to actually log some of his training because that would be people would probably like to see that.

Speaker 1: 26:57

Beautiful the adventures of Bobble. They are about to open. So, guys, that was this episode of the Sexiest Girl podcast. Thank you, Linda, for joining us. As always, we can't wait to hear more about Bobble, and I'll see you all next week. And remember, guys, stay sexy.