0:02

We love dogs. Cats

0:05

are great too, no shade, but Americans

0:08

really love dogs. According

0:10

to data from the American Pet Products

0:12

Association, sixty six percent

0:14

of American households own a pet, and

0:17

of those roughly eighty six point nine

0:19

million households, the vast

0:22

majority are dog owners.

0:24

At the start of the pandemic, there was a surge

0:27

of new dog ownership, with shelters running

0:29

out of dogs as the new work from

0:31

home lifestyle took hold. However,

0:34

as inflation continues to rise

0:36

and people return to the workplace and social

0:38

lives outside of the home, sadly, some

0:41

newer pet owners are struggling to

0:43

pay and properly care for their new

0:45

furry family members. With

0:47

the number of animals and shelters now

0:50

increasing, How can we avoid

0:52

over committing to man's best friend and make

0:54

sure we're really ready for the responsibility

0:56

of dog ownership financially, mentally,

0:59

and time wise. Start taking notes.

1:01

Because this is hello,

1:08

my fellow glow up grown ups

1:10

who want a dog but are not so sure

1:12

they're ready for it. You have come to the right place, my

1:14

friends, because this is grown up stuff. How to

1:16

Adult the podcast where we figure out

1:19

all sorts of adulting life lessons like

1:21

budgeting for annual vet bills and time

1:23

management for walks in the middle of the workday. I

1:26

am Mollie and I am joined as always

1:28

by my fellow dog lover who's got

1:31

real Irish Setter energy. Matt

1:33

Stillo. Matt, did

1:35

you grow.

1:35

Up with a dog?

1:36

Sadly?

1:37

No, that's a travesty

1:39

I feel for you now. Have you and

1:41

your lovely wife ever thought about getting a dog

1:43

though?

1:44

Yeah, before she moved to the United States, Elena was thinking

1:46

about getting a Samoi ed, which is like a

1:48

big, white, fluffy cloud

1:51

like dog. Yeah, but then she ended up

1:53

moving. We talk all the time about getting a

1:55

Golden Retriever, but every year we

1:57

go see her family or my family for excited

1:59

peer of time, which would make it really difficult

2:02

to have a dog. It actually makes me think about this micro

2:04

Bigley a quote where he was talking about kids,

2:06

but basically he said, I don't want to have kids

2:09

until I'm sure nothing

2:11

else good can happen in my

2:13

life, which which I fully agree with,

2:15

because, like you know, having a dog really

2:17

limits your ability to travel or

2:19

to go out every night, because they need you,

2:21

they need things, they need to go on walks they need to go to the

2:23

bathroom. And part of the reason why I wanted to do this episode

2:26

is because I really wanted to drill down on how a series

2:28

of a commitment dog ownership is.

2:30

So I'm hoping to dive into a little bit of that

2:32

today so people can really understand what they're

2:34

shigning up for when they get a dog. But I'm curious

2:37

about you. I know you don't have a dog now,

2:39

but did your family have dogs when you were growing up.

2:41

We are a dog family, but

2:44

the role was never more than one

2:46

at a time. But I want a dog

2:48

to call my own so so badly.

2:50

Literally everyone in my family has a dog.

2:52

But I also know two things. One,

2:55

I don't think I can afford it honestly right now. I

2:58

have grown accustomed to a particular kind of lifestyle,

3:01

and I'm also trying to be more responsible

3:03

these days. And also the travel

3:05

aspect, Like you said, I've got family out

3:08

in the suburbs who I will go spend weekends with.

3:10

I can't necessarily assume they will allow me

3:12

to bring the dog with me, but you

3:14

never know, maybe I will learn something about preparing

3:17

for an understanding dog ownership from

3:19

our guest today that I didn't consider that

3:22

may rock my world and change my mind about

3:24

whether or not I'm ready to take this on.

3:26

I think you will, because today we're joined

3:28

by Eripe Bloom. Erie

3:31

is both a certified professional dog trainer

3:34

and a certified dog behavior consultant.

3:36

Erie is also the owner and director

3:38

of Training at The Sophisticated Dog,

3:41

a pet training company on the West Side of Los

3:43

Angeles, California, and has written several

3:45

articles for Chewy preparing first

3:47

time pet owners for pet and dog ownership.

3:50

Plus she is also the author of the

3:52

book Your Puppy and You, A step by

3:54

step guide to Raising a Freakin' Awesome

3:56

Dog, and the co founder of the

3:58

Freaking Awesome Dog Project. Rid

4:03

thank you so much for joining us. It's wonderful to

4:05

have you on the show. And I'd like to start

4:07

off to saying that, like I have a couple of dogs

4:09

in my life, I don't own a dog neither, just Molly.

4:11

Wish I did.

4:12

But I would say fifty percent of my wife

4:14

and I as communication is dog memes on Instagram.

4:16

We'll find a cute dog, We'll send it to each other.

4:19

That's truly half of how we communicate

4:21

with each other. And so I feel like this is kind

4:23

of the way that a lot of people are exposed

4:25

to dog life. They have a friend who has dog, maybe

4:27

they see lots of cute dog content and they

4:29

think, oh my god, a dog, how

4:31

much fun would that be? And I

4:34

feel like they think about it like similar to the joy

4:36

like buying a PlayStation or a wave

4:38

runner might bring into their lives. But the reality

4:40

is getting a dog is much

4:42

more like deciding to have a

4:44

kid. So, for those of us thinking

4:47

about bringing any sort of new dog

4:49

into our lives, what are some important

4:51

factors we should assess to determine

4:53

if we are truly ready for

4:55

the commitment of dog ownership.

4:58

Matt, I just have to say I love the way

5:00

you put that, because it is a lot like bringing

5:02

a child into your life, especially in

5:05

the beginning when dogs are

5:07

a lot more needy, if

5:09

you will, and I don't mean that in a bad way, but they

5:11

really do require time, training,

5:14

effort, and all of that. So the first thing you

5:16

need to do is you need to ask yourself, realistically,

5:19

do I have time for a dog? You

5:22

know, it's a living being, it

5:24

has social needs, it has physical

5:27

needs, and you need to make sure that you're going

5:29

to have time to meet those needs. And I want to

5:31

put a quick note in here, which

5:33

is, it's nice to know that

5:35

other family members are going to be interested in having a dog,

5:38

but you can't depend on any of them to do

5:40

the work. So think

5:42

about all those little commitments. I need

5:44

to walk the dog, I need to feed the dog, I

5:46

need to train the dog. Training doesn't have

5:48

to take you know, four hours a day, but

5:50

you should at least give it thirty minutes

5:52

a day if you can, at least

5:55

at the beginning, and then you

5:57

would, in a perfect world, get the

5:59

perfect dog. But the reality

6:02

is most of us don't get the perfect dog,

6:05

and so you need to think about what if

6:07

my dog has, you know,

6:10

fear issues with strangers coming into the

6:12

home, so I can't have a dog walk or work

6:14

with them. Think about those kinds of

6:16

what ifs and make sure you're

6:18

prepared for them. But

6:21

the big piece of it, the sort of fundamental

6:24

is dogs take time, Dogs

6:26

take effort, dogs take energy.

6:30

If you are thinking of a dog as the perfect

6:32

thing to come home to after a long, twelve

6:34

hour day, so you can just chill on the couch,

6:37

it's probably better for you to get a cat.

6:40

And I love cats, by the way, just for the record, I'm

6:42

not one of those only dogs,

6:44

only cats. I love them both. Cats

6:46

are much more capable of dealing

6:49

with being left alone for long periods.

6:51

Yeah, they don't even love it that much either,

6:54

But dogs really don't do well.

6:56

They're highly social animals. They

6:58

really do need to have time with you. One

7:01

other category is you need to have enough money

7:03

to support a dog, and that means

7:06

money to buy them a decent quality

7:09

of food that will support their health. And

7:11

then think about if I'm going to hire

7:13

a dog walker or if I'm going to take the dog to daycare,

7:15

which is a totally acceptable option for

7:17

a lot of dogs if they're social with other

7:20

dogs, daycare can be great. How

7:22

much is the dog walker going to cost? How much is the

7:24

daycar going to cost? And your

7:27

dog should see a veterinarian at least

7:29

once a year as an adult. As

7:32

a puppy, they're going to see the vet three or four

7:34

times, possibly more depending

7:36

on certain sort of vaccination schedule

7:39

things. And you need to be

7:41

able to afford that too.

7:43

Yeah, and that's the biggest thing we want to talk about is

7:45

what does that typical monthly expenses

7:48

or a monthly budget for dog ownership

7:51

or maybe even annual budget. What

7:53

should that look like?

7:55

So you're probably going to need at

7:57

least one hundred to two hundred dollars a month

7:59

for food. Oh wow, okay, if it's

8:01

you know, a decent diet for your dog, you

8:04

should definitely allow one thousand dollars

8:06

a year for vet bills when they

8:08

are in the prime of their life. So not when

8:10

they're a puppy, not when they're a senior, but in

8:12

that like one year

8:15

to eight or nine years of age range.

8:17

Now, just like with everything else, that doesn't

8:19

necessarily cover you in the case of

8:22

a problem, but just

8:24

as a number to start with, you might want

8:26

to consider getting health insurance for

8:29

your pet. There are veterinary

8:31

insurers out there that cover

8:34

most veterinary care. Obviously, just

8:36

like any other kind of insurance, you buy look

8:38

at the details, and then

8:41

other things are like, let's say you want to

8:43

do daycare. Well, in my neighborhood,

8:46

daycare could be fifty to seventy five dollars

8:48

a day.

8:50

It may be that where you live it's twenty you're

8:52

twenty five, southern California,

8:54

everything's more expensive, but some

8:57

of them will do it as a monthly membership. You can bring the dog

8:59

in as often as you want. Things like

9:01

that that can definitely help save the cost.

9:04

The one other tip I'll give you is the most

9:06

expensive place is not necessarily the best

9:08

place. The cheapest place is not necessarily

9:11

the worst place. But do get a sense for

9:13

what the price ranges in your area. And

9:15

then you're gonna need, you know, occasional

9:18

things like dog toys and

9:20

a leash, and if you have a puppy,

9:22

maybe you're gonna want potty pads, and

9:24

maybe you should buy a crate. And so

9:26

that's sort of startup cost.

9:29

Not to say that anybody stops buying their

9:31

dog toys after they first get

9:33

the dog. In fact, it becomes somewhat of an addiction.

9:37

So toys and supplies and

9:39

things allow a couple hundred

9:41

more dollars at least a year.

9:43

You're probably looking. If you're like

9:46

most dog owners, the next thing you know, you're buying a

9:48

new toy every week, and it's

9:50

more like four or five hundred dollars a year.

9:52

And then even if you

9:55

have the perfect dog, you should at least

9:57

go to a training class with a positive

10:00

reinforcement certified professional

10:04

dog trainer, and that's

10:06

going to cost you a couple hundred

10:08

dollars for the average sort of beginner

10:10

class. Now, if the dog

10:12

has problems, then you need to hire a professional

10:15

like me who's a certified behavior consultant

10:17

as well as a trainer. Those costs

10:19

are going to go up really fast. So

10:23

you do want to make sure that you have

10:26

a few hundred dollars over and

10:28

above your rent, your

10:31

food, your medical costs if

10:33

you really want to feel comfortable and

10:35

not wind up in a position where you

10:37

literally can't afford to keep your dog, which would

10:39

be so depressing.

10:46

If you were adding all that up just now. E

10:49

Read's total budget for dog ownership

10:51

comes out to a whole lot of dog biscuits.

10:54

Whether it's a puppy's first year, healthy

10:56

adults prime or a senior's golden

10:59

age. Taking care hair of a dog is not

11:01

cheap. Rover the dog walking company

11:04

analyze annual dog expenses at

11:06

closer to five thousand dollars a year, whereas

11:09

a recent report from USA Today found

11:11

that gen Z, the demo that spends the

11:13

most on their dogs spend about

11:15

seven grand a year on their canine

11:18

companions. MarketWatch

11:20

reported in October of twenty twenty three

11:22

that thirty eight percent of survey participants

11:24

admitted to going into debt to pay for their

11:26

pets medical expenses. Plus

11:29

we're not even including how much acquiring

11:31

your dog may cost you as well, and

11:34

that number is dependent upon where

11:36

you go to get your dog and what type of dog

11:38

you get.

11:41

A lot of what we're talking about is lifestyle and

11:43

when you think about the types of dogs. So

11:45

there's lots of different types of dogs out there, So

11:48

how can prospective dog owners determine

11:50

which breed might best suit their lifestyle?

11:53

Or like, what questions should they be asking themselves?

11:56

So I love that you've

11:58

brought this up because fit is

12:00

really important. I've met so many dogs

12:02

who would be a great dog in someone

12:05

else's house. So

12:07

first thing I'm going to say is do research,

12:09

do a lot of research. Do not trust social

12:12

media to tell you. Even

12:14

the AKC is gonna tilt it towards

12:17

sounding a little better and

12:19

not maybe pointing out some of the things that

12:21

could be problematic. So

12:24

think about what is your

12:26

lifestyle? Are you low key? Are

12:29

you high key? Are you always up and doing

12:31

stuff? Do you have kids? Because

12:33

some breeds are better with kids than others.

12:36

So those are just some of the questions you can start

12:38

with. And then everything I said about

12:40

getting a dog in the time and effort involved, multiply

12:43

it by five if you get a puppy.

12:46

It's very true.

12:47

Puppies are a lot of work. Just

12:49

house training a puppy is a twenty four hour

12:51

a day job.

12:52

I have a friend who has an Aussie Joodle and

12:55

he tells the story where like when we went to go

12:57

see the litter, you know, there's all these

12:59

differentes and they picked the one that was really

13:01

like happy and playing with all the other dogs. Are

13:03

like, that's the dog we want. But what it translated

13:06

into is they had a crazy dog in their

13:08

house running around and had all this energy.

13:10

Yeah, you know, like he's like, I love her. I wouldn't change

13:12

anything, but if I could, I would

13:14

go back to that room. And he

13:16

was like, there was one who was kind of chilling in the corner

13:19

and not I probably would have picked that one.

13:21

Is energy in the room important? Do you recommend

13:24

that people go meet the dogs?

13:26

Like?

13:26

How can they translate to lifestyle?

13:28

Yeah? Great, great question, and this

13:30

is a tough one. So the first thing I have to say

13:33

is that there's limited research

13:35

on this, but there's some research out there that even

13:38

breeders don't always know what their puppy

13:40

will be like as an adult. But

13:43

having said that, energy levels

13:46

and friendliness

13:48

versus sort of anxiety

13:50

do seem to be traits that start really

13:52

early in a puppy's life. So

13:57

i'd want someone somewhere in the middle, but

13:59

for you it might be different. The one thing to watch

14:02

out for with the really high energy and really

14:04

low energy dogs is

14:06

is that behavior happening because of fear or

14:08

anxiety?

14:09

Oh interesting, So you get those.

14:10

Dogs that stress up or stress down, and that

14:12

can give you sort of a false sense of their personality.

14:16

This is where with a really good breeder,

14:18

with a reputable breeder who's really paying

14:20

attention to their puppies, doing all their health checks

14:23

and all of those kinds of things, you can

14:25

say to them, hey, is he always that low energy

14:28

and what's his personality like? And they'll

14:30

tell you. But then

14:32

there'll be the breeder who's like, this is the last puppy

14:34

left and I want to get him out of my house.

14:35

No matter what, and they're going to tell you whatever you

14:37

want to hear.

14:38

Yeah, so be aware of that. But in

14:41

general, if you can visit

14:43

the litter more than once over the course

14:45

of the time that they're growing up, so

14:47

then you'll start to get you'll see these patterns

14:49

where you know, puppies six or eight, maybe one

14:52

day they're energetic and one day their calmer, and

14:54

that's just because they played really hard that day.

14:56

Right, Yeah, So if you can possibly

14:58

go more than once, that's really really good to

15:00

do.

15:01

Oh good to know.

15:02

I think even before you bring a dog home,

15:05

it's probably really important for people to figure

15:07

out, like what are the rules and boundaries

15:10

of their own home, Like what rules do they have for

15:12

their house that they want to make

15:14

so that they can be consistent once

15:17

the dog comes home. So like what sort of house

15:19

rules? But we want to like get straight before

15:22

we bring a dog into our homes.

15:24

So first thing I will say is this is something

15:26

that everyone needs to discuss together, and I

15:29

personally like to put it down on a piece

15:31

of paper and have everyone sign it.

15:33

Oh great, we.

15:34

All agree these are the house.

15:37

Yeah, there's no I didn't say that

15:39

later on, Yeah.

15:40

Exactly, so definitely

15:42

think about what you want as household

15:45

rules so that everyone's comfortable with it. Now, with

15:47

a puppy, no matter what the rules are, you have to

15:49

tighten them up at the beginning. And even with

15:51

an adult rescue, you have to tighten it up at the beginning.

15:53

So assume the dog is not house trained, which means

15:55

you want like baby gates or closed

15:57

doors or some other kind of barrier. You

16:00

want to set up a space where if the dog has an

16:02

accident, it's not that hard to clean.

16:05

Think about what they can chew on. I

16:07

get down on my hands and knees and crawl around and

16:09

look for things like electrical cords. I try to take

16:12

a puppy's eye's view. And

16:14

even with an adult dog, you don't know who they

16:17

are and how they're going to react to being in your

16:19

home. Have them in just

16:21

one room until you figure out that they know how to

16:23

hold it if they're an adult. If

16:25

they're puppies, you need to be aware that confinement

16:28

you set up is going to need to be in place

16:30

for at least a few months. Most

16:33

puppies are not house trained until they are at

16:35

least six months old. Some

16:38

it takes more like till nine months.

16:40

The other thing about house training is look

16:42

up again a positive reinforcement

16:44

house training plan, because if you punish

16:47

your dog for pottying in the wrong place,

16:49

often what they learn is hide

16:52

before you potty, so

16:55

then they potty where you can't see them,

16:58

or they refuse to potty with you on

17:00

walks, neither of which is a good outcome.

17:03

And be aware that you

17:05

are going to need as a family, you're going

17:07

to need to have a plan so that that puppy is getting

17:10

out on a regular basis, Like

17:12

think literally every half hour, oh,

17:14

when they're away a lot. Yeah, it doesn't

17:16

have to be every half hour when they're asleep, or they will

17:18

potty the wrong place.

17:19

Got it?

17:20

And set up like a crate or

17:22

a confinement space where they can be when you can't

17:24

take them out every half hour. If

17:26

you're going to be letting your puppy out in the yard, I just

17:28

have to tell you yards do not house trained dogs.

17:32

So don't just let your dog out

17:34

into the yard and assume they're going to know what to do

17:36

and then come in and be on empty, so to speak.

17:38

Watch them so that you know whether

17:40

or not they pottied. But I like

17:43

to puppy proof the area that that dog

17:45

is first in when the puppy comes home,

17:47

and then as I expand their

17:49

world, I puppy proof the areas they

17:51

expand into, and then I gradually

17:54

reintroduce things like, Okay, now I can

17:56

actually let's see what happens

17:58

if I leave the remote control on

18:00

the coffee table. Does the dog grab it

18:02

or not? And I'm there ready to ask them

18:04

to drop it if they grabbed it. You're

18:07

gonna want to join a training class as soon as

18:09

you can get some training under your belt.

18:11

It's really important, not just because it teaches

18:13

them what to do and what not to do, but because it also

18:16

helps you strengthen your relationship with them.

18:18

They start learning that you're fun to hang out with. They get

18:21

treats for doing the things you want them to do.

18:23

All of those things are going to really be helpful.

18:26

But more practical stuff, Like

18:29

I said, if you're going to have a confinement space,

18:31

think about what that'll be. If you get a crate,

18:33

make sure you get the right size for your puppy.

18:36

Make sure you have a food bowl and some toys,

18:39

a leash. If you have a puppy. I recommend

18:41

a very lightweight chain leash because it's

18:43

not as much fun to chew on the leash when it's

18:45

made of chain. With an adult, it

18:47

usually doesn't matter harness

18:49

to walk them on. Collars

18:52

can cause damage to their neck.

18:54

Oh interesting, if they.

18:55

Pull, I mean, if they don't pull, the collar doesn't do

18:58

any damage.

18:58

But the other thing.

19:00

About puppies as they can get hung up on their collars,

19:02

so you have to be really careful about making sure

19:04

you're watching when your puppy's wearing a collar.

19:07

It's less likely for an adult dog to get

19:09

snagged on their collar. It can happen, but

19:11

it's less likely get id. Get

19:15

the animal microchipped. Make sure

19:17

the microchip is registered to you.

19:20

And for those of us who don't know what a microchip is,

19:23

a microsip.

19:24

Oh yeah, so

19:26

a microchip is this tiny

19:29

little it's an RFID radio

19:31

frequency ID chip. It's

19:33

seriously, it's like half the

19:35

size of your pinky nail that

19:38

gets injected subdermally.

19:40

They stick it right like sort of where the

19:42

neck and the shoulders meet. Because

19:45

then what happens is if the local

19:47

shelter finds astray, they have these

19:49

wands and they wave the

19:52

wand over the back of the dog, and

19:54

the chip pops and a number

19:57

and registration like which company it

19:59

is pops up and then go to their database

20:01

and they say, oh, I see

20:03

Erite lost her dog. And then

20:05

if they can't reach me and maybe it

20:07

was read the dog was registered to rescue, They're like, let's

20:10

reach out to National English Shepherd Rescue and see

20:12

if they want their dog back. And if

20:14

nobody wants the dog back. Only at that point

20:16

do they label the dog astray and put

20:18

them out for adoption.

20:20

And they basically started doing this because it's not

20:22

on like you can get tags for your dog

20:25

on their collar, but it's not uncommon

20:27

for you know, a dog who's lost to have slipped

20:29

their collar. Yes, and then those tags

20:31

do very little good. They're still on the collar that they

20:33

slipped out of, right, And

20:36

I do recommend having idea on the tag anyway,

20:39

put a phone number where.

20:40

People can reach you. If

20:43

you want to be a little bit cagey, you

20:45

cannot put the dog's name or your own name. You just

20:47

put a phone number and write needs MEDS.

20:49

That's a popular thing to do here on the West Side

20:52

because people worry about someone kidnapping

20:54

their dog for ransom. But

20:56

if you are worried about someone knowing who

20:58

you are, just put your phone number, put needs

21:01

meds or please call and

21:03

that can be the tag.

21:07

Coming up on grownup stuff? How to adults?

21:10

What are the top five commands

21:12

that everyone should be teaching their new dog.

21:14

Eye contact is the gateway to having

21:16

a communication moment with your dog. So I

21:18

love to teach eye contact.

21:20

We'll be right back after a quick break and

21:28

we're back with more grown up stuff

21:31

how to adults.

21:35

So dogs crave routine.

21:38

Yes, So when you bring a new dog into

21:40

your house, what should a typical

21:42

like daily and nightly routine

21:45

look like?

21:47

Right, and you asked. You mentioned consistency

21:49

earlier, and I will say consistency is the

21:51

best thing you can do for your dog. Whatever

21:53

the rules are, we stick by them. So

21:56

for that puppy, your routine

21:58

in the beginning is you're going to nap times.

22:01

This is the time when I put you in your little confinement

22:03

space and you can

22:06

play with a toy in your own pen, or

22:08

you can go to sleep. But whatever it is, it does

22:10

not involve me, and

22:12

it's important for puppies to learn

22:15

independence, to learn that they can be alone

22:17

for half an hour in the world will not come to an end.

22:19

Sleep is a huge part of mental

22:22

health, and puppies need to

22:24

sleep more than sixteen hours

22:26

a day. Wow, So I brought

22:28

my puppy home. I have my house training plan, I have

22:30

my nap schedule, I have a meal schedule.

22:33

Maybe, depending on how old the dog

22:35

is and what the veterinarian has said and how much

22:37

vaccination they've gotten in all those sort

22:39

of things, maybe I'm taking the dog for a walk

22:42

once a day, or maybe they go out into the yard five

22:44

times. Well, they're going to go out more than

22:46

five times day at the beginning. But whatever

22:49

that routine is, I'm going to

22:51

lock that in and I'm going to say

22:53

this is how we always do things, at least

22:55

for the first few weeks. And

22:57

then you might see, oh, you know what, the puppy

22:59

does that need as many naps now that he's six months

23:02

old, in which case you can back off

23:04

of one of the naps. Now, if it's an adult

23:06

dog, you do the same thing, but you do it

23:08

on a slightly smaller scale. But in the

23:10

beginning, it's nice to have that routine it gives

23:12

them something to hang onto. And if

23:14

any of our listeners out there is someone

23:17

who suffers from any kind of anxiety, you

23:19

will know that routine reduces anxiety

23:21

and it reduces stress. And

23:24

when our dogs first come to our home,

23:26

their entire world has just changed.

23:29

They have no idea what is going on,

23:31

and sometimes that routine is the only thing they can

23:33

hang on to. So I'm really glad you

23:35

reminded me to talk about this map, because it's really important.

23:38

Little babies, they got to know what to expect.

23:41

They need help. Yeah,

23:47

when it comes to a puppy schedule, the American

23:49

Cannel Club also recommends taking your

23:51

puppy outside every two to four hours

23:53

and between activity changes to avoid

23:56

accidents as your house training. Something

23:58

else you may want to consider include in your

24:00

dog's regular schedule is time to socialize

24:02

with other dogs and other people. The AKC

24:05

also says that the first three months of your

24:07

dog's life will be some of the most important

24:10

and lasting for socialization. But

24:12

there's a right and wrong way to socialize

24:14

your dog and introduce new environments

24:16

and stimuli, and the wrong way

24:19

it can have detrimental impacts

24:21

on your pop's behavior. Let's

24:24

talk socialization. What is

24:26

your best advice for properly

24:29

socializing them and getting them accustomed

24:31

to other people, other animals

24:34

when we've now adjusted them to

24:36

this new environment.

24:38

So first thing I will say is,

24:40

like everything else we've talked about

24:42

today, there is individuality

24:45

to what kind of socialization is going

24:47

to work best for dog A versus

24:49

dog B, versus dog C versus dog

24:52

D. Having said that,

24:54

in a perfect world, the dog

24:56

would just go about their day and

24:58

naturally be exposed to things

25:01

like other dogs who

25:03

sniff and then walk on and

25:06

they meet people of

25:08

different sizes and colors

25:11

and shapes and haircuts

25:14

and whatever else. They

25:16

see all of those things and they

25:18

just kind of look and go, oh, so that

25:20

exists in the world, and then move on, and there's a

25:22

point in their development where they're really open

25:25

to that stuff. So you

25:27

know, you're basically allowing

25:30

the puppy and adult dogs benefit

25:32

from this too, to just experience the

25:34

world. If they're acting a little

25:37

scared and they want to move away, let

25:39

them move away. After they move

25:41

away, hand them a treat that wasn't so awful,

25:43

right, You have the ability to move away

25:45

if you think something scary and I'm going to give you a treat

25:48

because you were so brave and you looked at oh.

25:50

So like the socialization dues are,

25:54

try to get your puppy out into a variety

25:56

of different situations. However, don't

25:59

start with a crowded fair or

26:02

concert or something where fifty

26:04

new things are coming at them at once. And

26:07

whatever you're exposing them to, even if

26:09

it's just a leaf blowing across the

26:11

ground, which some dogs are like, whoa

26:14

how is that moving, let

26:17

them tell you whether they want to get closer

26:19

or not. Never drag a puppy up

26:21

to something in an effort to socialize

26:23

it, and ask your vet about

26:25

what's safe and not safe depending

26:27

on the dog's vaccination situation.

26:30

But what I will say is adolescent dogs,

26:33

especially so dogs between about

26:35

four months and nine months of age,

26:38

desperately need to play with other dogs.

26:41

It is extremely developmentally

26:43

important, and that actually ranges up until

26:45

they're about a year and a half old in fact. So

26:48

if you can find puppy pals, one

26:51

on one dog play is the natural

26:53

way for most dogs to play. They usually play

26:55

better one on one than in groups. Okay,

26:58

find them some pals find in no in space

27:00

where they can romp around and get to know each

27:02

other. Make sure that the dog you

27:04

pick to pair up with is a dog who's really

27:06

good with other dogs. And if it's a puppy that

27:09

you have in your home, the question

27:11

isn't does your dog like other dogs? The question is

27:13

does your dog like puppies?

27:17

There are a lot of different schools of thought

27:19

about where and when to socialize your dog. You'll

27:21

often hear rules about not taking your puppy

27:24

to dog parks until they've had all their shots,

27:27

or some daycares won't even allow your dog

27:29

in until they've been neutered or spade.

27:31

But a good veterinarian will be able

27:33

to guide you on best practices for how to

27:35

socialize your puppy or adult dog safely.

27:38

Which now brings us to how

27:40

do you find a good vet who will answer

27:43

all of these questions?

27:45

So the first thing I'll

27:47

say is opinions

27:50

differ on how

27:53

to do vaccination and socialization.

27:56

And what I will say is the American

27:59

Veterinaries SOCTET Society of Animal Behaviorists

28:03

has a position statement out there

28:05

that discusses how socialization

28:08

trumps vaccination. It's more important to

28:10

socialize your puppy. Your puppy

28:12

is more likely to have significant

28:14

issues later in life due to lack of socialization

28:17

than they are to die of a puppyhood disease.

28:20

However, they have all kinds of guidelines

28:23

in that position statement about how to

28:25

do things safely, so that the

28:27

puppy is being socialized safely and you're not setting

28:29

them up to get something like parvo, which I used

28:31

to work at veterinary hospitals, and parvo

28:34

is the worst thing in the world. You do not want your dog

28:36

to get it. So the

28:38

vaccines come in a

28:41

series because of certain things having

28:43

to do with immunity and how immunity builds

28:45

in young animals. But most

28:48

veterinarians that I know are

28:50

comfortable having the dog do safe

28:53

types of socialization once they've gotten

28:55

two to three sets of all of the shots.

28:57

But we also need to balance that

29:00

with the what if your dog is so scared of the world

29:02

that they will never go outside and they can't be

29:04

comfortable around other dogs and other people. So

29:06

that statement from the AVSAB is

29:09

a nice place to sort of start,

29:11

And then you talk to your veterinarian. How

29:13

do you pick a veterinarian look for someone

29:16

first of all, who maybe people you

29:18

know are going to and they're having good experiences.

29:21

Look for someone who does continuing education,

29:24

because that's going to tell you that they care about

29:26

making sure that they're up to date on everything. Look

29:30

for someone who when

29:33

you walk in with your puppy, your

29:35

puppy likes them and the puppy

29:37

likes the staff. So,

29:40

for example, my veterinarian,

29:42

the first dog I brought to that veterinarian, he's

29:46

six three sixty four. This veterinarians super

29:48

tall. Wow, he walks into the

29:50

exam room. My dog, sixty pound adult

29:53

rescue dog sat down

29:55

on the floor with my dog, ah,

29:58

so he wouldn't be so tall, all scary

30:01

me and my dog was like you, I

30:03

can talk to you. I understand.

30:06

And they had a great relationship right from there.

30:09

So do look for a veterinarian who makes your

30:11

dog feel comfortable because that's important.

30:13

And then it doesn't hurt to do just a little

30:16

bit of like looking around on places like yelp

30:18

or next door or whatever you can ask

30:20

for recommendations. Just bear in mind

30:22

that one disgruntled person can

30:25

make it seem like someone's really awful when they're actually

30:27

a great veterinarian and that person

30:29

just had a bad experience.

30:31

So we just want to know about like the basic

30:33

commands that every puppy should

30:35

know. Like what are like the top five

30:38

commands that everyone should be teaching there their

30:40

new dog.

30:41

Okay, so here are the top things

30:43

I teach every client. I like

30:45

dogs to give eye contact. It's

30:48

good to have a signal that says, hey, will you look at

30:50

me please?

30:50

Fifi.

30:51

But it's also nice when you're doing anything

30:53

with your dog if your dog looks up at you, to

30:56

praise and reinforce that because

30:58

that connection with you is going to

31:00

help in everything you do. That

31:03

eye contact is the gateway, I guess

31:05

to having a communication moment with your dog.

31:07

So I love to teach eye contact. I

31:09

like to teach a dog to lie down, because

31:12

when a dog is lying down, they're usually not underfoot

31:15

and making trouble, So down

31:17

is an important signal that I teach. I like to

31:19

teach them to settle on an object

31:21

in a down leashwalking,

31:24

which means walking as politely

31:26

as possible so that I'm

31:29

not losing my shoulders or getting yanked

31:31

down the street or anything like that. But at

31:34

the same time, with

31:36

the leashwalking, I don't need the dog

31:38

to be in heel position all the time. So what leashwalking

31:41

to me means is you don't pull

31:43

me. Yeah, drop it

31:45

because that is a safety signal.

31:48

Yeah, and leave

31:50

it.

31:50

Because it teaches them not to get into trouble

31:53

in the first place. All

31:55

of these things can be taught through positive reinforcement

31:58

very effectively. And

32:00

those are like the core skills. All

32:02

the other stuff like sit and heal

32:05

and wait or

32:07

stay five give me Paul,

32:10

all of those things, those are bonus. But

32:12

I have clients that I teach way more advanced stuff

32:14

than that. But if you come to

32:16

me and you've got a new puppy, that's where we're

32:18

putting our focus first.

32:19

That makes sense. Yeah, And for a final

32:22

question, what would you say are

32:24

the most common mistakes or the most common

32:26

mistake that new dog owners

32:29

make that we should all be really focusing

32:31

on avoiding.

32:32

All right, So, the most common mistake

32:34

and the worst mistake that we make with

32:36

our dogs, especially as new dog owners,

32:39

is assuming that they understand English

32:42

and understand what it's like

32:44

to be a human, neither of which

32:46

they have any idea about dogs.

32:49

Are born knowing that the entire world

32:51

is a bathroom, and that anything

32:54

that they want to put in their teeth is fine as long as

32:56

it doesn't cut them or taste bad, and

33:00

that sniffing each other's private

33:02

parts is good social

33:05

behavior, and

33:07

that you know if you see that someone is mad,

33:09

the best thing to do is to look away. People think

33:11

dogs are giving them a guilty look. They're

33:13

not. They know you're mad, and they're like, oh, I don't want you to be

33:15

mad anymore. I'm going to look away. So

33:18

what you want to do, is a new dog

33:20

owner, is you want to

33:22

study up on canine body language

33:25

so that you will understand when your dog is saying I'm

33:27

nervous, can you give me some space? And they're not

33:29

saying I know I was a bad dog, because

33:32

most of the time they have no idea they were a bad dog.

33:35

They were just doing a normal doggie thing.

33:38

Don't expect a Disney dog. Don't

33:40

expect the dog you see on TikTok who does

33:42

everything perfectly, because that is

33:44

a ten seconds snippet of that dog's

33:47

life. You can be perfect for

33:49

ten seconds too.

33:50

I bet you know.

33:52

You can't just talk to them and expect them to

33:54

listen and understand everything A and

33:56

B when they talk to you. You

33:58

should take the time to listen too.

34:01

And the last thing, we want our listeners

34:03

to know where can they find you and learn

34:05

more about what you do.

34:06

Thank you for asking. So my company

34:09

is called the Sophisticated

34:11

Dog. My website is

34:14

the Sophisticateddog

34:17

dot com and you can find out where

34:19

I'm speaking and all kinds of other things

34:21

there. If you are a pet professional,

34:23

you can also check out the other company I'm involved

34:26

in, which is called the Freakin Awesome Dog

34:28

Project, and we are at Awesomedog

34:31

project dot com and we published

34:33

a book on raising a great puppy.

34:36

It's called Your Puppy and You a

34:38

step by step guide to raising a freakin

34:40

Awesome dog. So for those of you with new

34:42

dogs, you might want to check it out.

34:44

Eriet Bloom, thank you so much for

34:46

joining us. This was beyond

34:49

informational and helpful.

34:51

Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been

34:53

a great pleasure and I hope

34:55

we get to do this again.

35:02

Erie, you have shared some very

35:05

sage guidance about getting and raising

35:07

a dog. I can say for certain

35:09

that a dog is not in the

35:11

budget for me right now, but I

35:13

think the discipline of creating a routine with a

35:15

dog is very possible for me. Here's

35:18

what else I've learned from our conversation about

35:20

dog ownership. When you're

35:22

putting together a budget for a dog, do

35:24

some research on all the things you'll need,

35:27

including dog walkers, docky daycare,

35:29

and think about how often you'll actually need

35:31

it. If you're getting a dog with a partner or

35:33

family members are involved, create

35:35

a contract of what each person promises

35:38

to do and agreed upon household

35:40

rules for the dog, and have everyone

35:43

sign it before the dog comes

35:45

home. Get down to the level of the dog and look

35:47

around your house from their pov figure

35:50

out what may be too much temptation, especially

35:53

for a puppy. This is going to

35:55

help you puppy proof your home.

35:58

Be prepared to be strict with your rules

36:01

and puppy proofing from the start. It's

36:03

best to follow a positive reinforcement

36:06

house training plan. Otherwise your

36:08

dog may hide when they do their business

36:10

in your home and no one wants to

36:13

go searching for the puppy or adult dog.

36:15

Accident when you're walking

36:17

your puppy or adult dog Erite recommends

36:19

a harness over a collar. If your dog

36:22

pulls on walks, a collar can

36:24

be super damaging to them. Plus, puppies

36:26

can accidentally get hung up on their collars. Get

36:29

your dog tags and microchipped as

36:31

soon as possible. Routine

36:33

is super important to training and getting your

36:35

dog acclimated to their new home and

36:38

life. Routine reduces anxiety

36:41

and stress. Schedule

36:43

nap times for your puppies because apparently

36:45

they need sixteen hours of sleep

36:47

a day. This will decrease

36:50

as they get older, though, and it'll teach

36:52

them how to behave independently from you.

36:55

When you're working on socializing your dog, let

36:57

them explore things in their own comfort and tell

36:59

you how they want to see things.

37:02

Never drag them into a scenario they're

37:04

resisting. Finally, do some reading

37:06

about what your dog is trying to communicate with their

37:09

body language. Apparently,

37:11

the AKC says that looking lovingly

37:13

into your dog's eyes can trigger a release

37:15

of oxytocin in your dog, which

37:18

is the same hormone we release when

37:20

we look at our children. I just

37:22

love this for everyone. Honestly.

37:24

The eye contact thing reminds me

37:26

of cooperative eye hypothesis.

37:29

Which is the idea that we are

37:32

aware and sensitive to the eye movement

37:34

of others. And what's really

37:36

interesting is that researchers have theorized

37:39

that because humans have more

37:41

visible eye movements due to the

37:43

larger whites of their eyes, it

37:46

has allowed us to communicate nonverbally

37:49

in hunting situations, not only with

37:51

other humans, but with early dogs

37:53

as well. And there's this theory that

37:56

this could have been why early humans outlived

37:59

Neanderthals. I read about

38:01

it years ago in an Atlantic article

38:03

about this and that modern

38:06

dogs can actually follow eye movements

38:09

just as well as human babies. So

38:12

you know, look at your dogs because they

38:14

are looking at you.

38:16

I totally agree with you. You know, you hear like sit,

38:18

stay, roll over, whatever, But eye

38:20

contact. I've never even heard that even

38:23

once. And I love what I read said about like that

38:25

being like the baseline of communication,

38:27

that if your dog is looking at you, they're listening

38:30

to you and they can follow through with other commands.

38:32

So I think that that is huge And

38:34

am I ready for a dog? This

38:36

episode confirmed everything that I thought about dog,

38:38

which is they are very difficult, they are very time

38:41

intensive, they are cost intensive, and

38:43

it's just not a joke to get into, so

38:45

definitely something to consider if you're ready for it

38:48

before taking the plunge. And I do think that both

38:50

of us will get there one day, but maybe

38:52

let's go on a trip first.

38:54

Yeah, I agree. Honestly, I

38:56

do get out of bed every morning knowing that one day,

38:59

some day I will have a dog, and

39:02

that's the hope I need to continue in this world,

39:05

honestly. But as

39:07

we wait for that day, and as we start planning our trips.

39:09

In the meantime, let's tell everyone

39:11

what is up next on grown up

39:13

stuff how to Adults.

39:15

On the next episode, we are learning about laundry.

39:17

Are you using too much detergent or overstuffing

39:20

your washer. We'll also talk about how to

39:22

clean and care for your washing machine and dryer

39:24

so they don't make your clothes dirtier.

39:26

Plus we'll find out why you should never

39:29

use dryer sheets.

39:30

There was a period in my life where I was super

39:33

into cleaning tiktoks, and I watched

39:35

one where this person was taking

39:37

apart their washer and revealed all of

39:40

the little like nooks and crannies that

39:42

contained just like copious amounts

39:44

of mold and mildy.

39:47

That was just like building up inside the washer,

39:50

and it was honestly, it

39:52

was terrifying.

39:53

Okay, stop that stood up. That's funny.

39:56

So we'll find out if your washer is

39:58

doing the same thing in two weeks on then episode

40:00

of grown Up Stuff? How Do I Alt ed?

40:02

Remember you might not be graded in life, but

40:04

it never hurts to do your homework.

40:07

This is a production from Ruby Studio from

40:09

iHeartMedia. Our executive producers

40:11

are Molly.

40:11

Sosio and Matt Stillo. This episode

40:14

was engineered by Stillo.

40:16

And written by Molly Soosha.

40:19

This episode was edited by

40:21

Sierra Spreen

40:22

And special thanks to our teammates at

40:24

Ruby Studio, including Ethan Fixel,

40:27

Rachel Swan Krasnoff, Amber Smith, Deborah

40:29

Garrett, and Andy Kelly.