Stop Your Dog from Eating Garbage & More on Walks with Author Simone Mueller (Pt 2)

Have you wondered why your dog is always scavenging for food or eats forbidden things off the ground? Some doodle mixes are even more prone to never being satisfied and will eat everything in sight- safe or not. Learn why in this part 2 of my interview with the author of "Don't Eat That", trainer Simone Mueller.

Learn answers to questions like: 

• Why is my dog always scavenging for food
• Why does my dog eat everything
• My dog eats everything off the ground
• Why dog eats rocks
• Why does my dog eat my pads
• Why does my dog eat everything in sight
• My dog eats poop on walks
• How to stop dog from scavenging at home
• How to stop dog scavenging on walks
• Muzzle to stop dog scavenging
• Why do dogs scavenge

Have a Doodle who likes to hunt or herd?  Play our guest's free Stalking Game with your Doodle at https://predation-substitute-training.com/giveaway

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Transcript

[00:00:00] In today's episode, you're going to enjoy part two of my interview with author Simone Mueller. This dog trainer is joining us from Germany. And discussing her new book. Don't eat that. And today's part two of our interview. We're going into more detail 

[00:00:19] I want it works and what doesn't. And teaching your dog, how to safely be around trash and food that isn't safe for them. 

[00:00:28] Sure to catch part one. Where Simone walks us through why some of our doodles. Can be more genetically predispositioned to scavenging, looking for trash on walks or finding that chicken wing. 

[00:00:42] In the bushes when you're trying to take them on their afternoon stroll. 

[00:01:41] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: I mentioned that you have a series of books under your predation substitute training program. One is hunting together another Rocket Recall, and the third that we're gonna talk about today is don't eat that. Can you tell me a little bit about your.

[00:02:00] Author Simone Mueller: Yeah, it all started with anti-predation training force-free anti-predation training that I originally specialize in. And then more and more people came and asked me about scavenging because it is somehow related, but it's of course not predation, but it is the acquisition of food that is involved here.

[00:02:21] And I always had to say, no, that's not right. It's not the right book for you, but you can have a look here and there and do that and this. And then I thought, okay, let's wait. I'm gonna write another book, , , and answer those questions as well, . 

[00:02:35] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And for many of our listeners, I know it's a term that US trainers use, but can you talk a little bit about what we mean by pred.

[00:02:43] Author Simone Mueller: Reputation is basically hunting behavior. So when your dog is chasing wildlife or is going crazy when you're out and about and it's not listening to you anymore because they're so excited and so distracted, and of course it all has to do in the end with eating and wanting to eat. But the motivation behind predation is totally different than when your dog.

[00:03:09] Scavenging and searches for food on the ground. And yeah. So the approach in training is completely different. 

[00:03:18] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Wonderful. And then you, and you bring in the recall piece because if a dog is stuck in that state, it could be really challenging 

[00:03:27] Author Simone Mueller: to get the back to you. Exactly. Yeah. I decided to write a separate book on recall because there are so many reasons why people need a recall and to, put it into a book specifically for dogs that like to hunt, or specifically in a book for dogs that like to scavenge doesn't make sense because I think every dog needs a very good recall. It's a kind of life insurance for your dog. So I want to make it accessible for everybody, not just for this specific people who deal with. Hunting was scavenging . 

[00:03:59] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Yeah. And we talk a lot about as trainers, sfar we call them, where just the richness of a dog being able to use their nose on a walk and take it all in.

[00:04:10] I was talking with one of my new students, Anne yesterday, and she was explaining she lives in Milwaukee downtown and there's a lot of discarded food and trash if there's a grassy spot. She feels like she can't let her dog sniff. So there's the need to sniff and then there's the need of scavenging right there.

[00:04:31] Can you talk a little bit about that for us? Yes, 

[00:04:34] Author Simone Mueller: sure. And this is really hard because sniffing is such an important thing for dogs. It's, like a hobby that they indulge in and that makes them calm down and decompress. Always keeping a dog from sniffing. This is a, welfare issue, I think if you can never allow your dog to, go for this behavior.

[00:04:58] But on the other hand, if you are always alert and have this fear that your dog might stumble across something that is rotten or maybe even poisoned or something like that or might be harmful, then this is really tough for you as a dog owner also, because this puts a lot of stress.

[00:05:14] You always have to be alert and so, you should train your dog in a way that you can have both, that you can let your dog sniff. Of course. You always have to be there. Not just physically, but also 

[00:05:31] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: not on our phones. Head down. Yeah, on the phone. Exactly. , yes, 

[00:05:35] Author Simone Mueller: you should always have an eye on your dog because even if you have bombproof behavior, it can go wrong and, yeah. But, it maybe, it doesn't feel so stressful for you all the time. 

[00:05:49] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: So in using your protocol for don't eat that, can divide the worries of what are they getting into? They just scarf everything down the moment they see it and that give them some opportunity to sniff because you have some training in place then you can tap into.

[00:06:07] If you see that pile of dog poop or chicken wing over there, you have some training in place so you don't have to keep them in that strict heel next to you. . 

[00:06:17] Author Simone Mueller: Yes, exactly. This is perfectly put. Yeah. I have two core games. I call them core games because they make the core of the book. In this don't eat that book.

[00:06:27] And one is for when you see the food first or what are you going to do if you and your dog see at the same time or, you see it first. And then I also have a core game there that teaches your dog what to do if your dog sees it first. Yes. So that your dog is going to tell you there is something yummy on the ground.

[00:06:47] Am I going to eat that or not? ? And then you can decide. I love that. Yeah. And it gives you a little bit more time to react and offer your dog an alternative. 

[00:06:56] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Yeah. Oh, that's wonderful. Just so you both are tapped into each other and they're able to. , just check in with you before the scarf.

[00:07:07] Author Simone Mueller: Exactly. Yeah. , 

[00:07:08] music: that's the big goal. . 

[00:07:11] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: So when we talk about their needs, we talked about their need for sniffing and how that's a welfare issue. Can you tell me more about their need for scavenging? Yes. 

[00:07:22] Author Simone Mueller: Dogs love to scavenge. It is such a, big part of a lot of dogs. Not every dog loves to scavenge, but for some dogs it's really, important because it's a basic need.

[00:07:33] Every dog has to eat every, living being has to eat. So it's a natural desire that they have. And some dogs, especially dogs that have been, for example, former street dogs and come from a country where they have practiced this behavior for about years, maybe, or or Yeah. All their lives.

[00:07:54] It's like the saying, old habits die hard. Yes. Because they, have structured their lives. around scavenging for maybe you, have been on holidays , in Germany often we go to the south, to Italy to Spain for holidays. And there you can observe those dogs that live near the hotels and at the beach.

[00:08:16] And they have those structures in their day. Where are we at the certain time? And in the mornings we do this, and in the afternoons we do that. And then in the evenings we go to the back door of the hotel because this is a time when the hotel puts the garbage out. Yes. And so they have this structure in their life and it's all structured around scavenging.

[00:08:39] Now they come to a completely different country and they don't have those structure in their daily routine anymore. And of course they feel a little bit lost and they want to have a, clear structure back. And this is why they also want to, keep on with this scavenging they have.

[00:08:59] Rehearse that a lot. And this is basically what they did in the past. 

[00:09:04] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: It's prominent the states for rescues to be brought in from other countries and they'll say, oh, they're a street dog. Like now they have all their needs met and Yeah. so that, that food bowl is presented two times a day, but their needs aren't being met as to what their routines are and what they are used to.

[00:09:26] Author Simone Mueller: Exactly. And you have to imagine they had a life, they, that was completely self structured and self-determined. They decided what to do with their day and with their time, and now it's not there anymore and we decide everything for them it's not always that easy, . 

[00:09:46] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: I like it. And one of your techniques in the book is creating a station that doesn't have to be your countertop or your trash can.

[00:09:56] But where they can count on that, they'll be able to find some goodies. So be it your dog being a rescuer, not having been a street dog or not, they can know I can go to this spot and I can nuzzle and forage and find something. I thought that was a really cool way Yeah. Of helping meet that need.

[00:10:15] Author Simone Mueller: Exactly. Yeah. I, originally came up with this idea for the hunting together protocol for the anti predation stuff to give your dog a designated spot where they know what to expect. So here on. area. We always do, for example, ball games or we always search for food or we always do some relaxation stuff and stuff like that.

[00:10:45] So this creates predictability. And predictability helps dogs and other people to calm down because they know what to expect. And it's the same with scavenging. So if your dog has this designated spot where they can do scavenging, it's easier for them not to do it in all the other places that you visit on your walks.

[00:11:09] And because they have this outlet and they can engage in this activity, but only here, and then we walk on and we do something. . 

[00:11:20] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And I love, in your book, you even go into deeper detail. People have heard like scatter their meal in the grass. Cuz it's like a real life snuffle mat. But if you really wanna tap into their scavenging need, you advise, don't just use kibble.

[00:11:34] They could find that so easily. But if you use some like G graded cheese, it's something that's really aromatic, that still lingers in the grass afterwards. It's in tiny little shreds that, really taps into that more. Exactly. 

[00:11:50] Author Simone Mueller: Yeah. And I think a lot of dogs somehow feel bored about their food.

[00:11:58] Because normally we tend to stick to this kind of food that they, get on well and then we do not put in a lot of variation. And dogs also laugh. Human food because the taste is much stronger. And the taste rise much more than with dog food. And why not?

[00:12:22] Because if you can feed it to a toddler, you can give it to a toddler, basically, you can also give it to a healthy dog. So if your dog does not have any issues, medical issues that keeps them on a stricter diet, you can, from time to time, buy them some chicken nuggets or or a piece of pizza or whatever.

[00:12:46] And yeah, you can hide it in this designated scavenging island and let them search for. 

[00:12:53] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: and some people worry if they get people food, then they're going to be obsessed with it and be looking to grab it off of my plate or counters or beg during the meal. And you share again, if you can give it to a three-year-old, it can be safe.

[00:13:09] And sometimes if they've had the chance to enjoy that piece of pizza crust, then it's not as forbidden of allure if they see it on a walk. 

[00:13:21] Author Simone Mueller: Yeah. So there are those two approaches. Indoctrine, the one approach is never let them do this because it might get a lot of hand and they only wanna do this all the time, but, science and recent experiences have shown that it's just the opposite. If something is not forbidden and completely off for the dog, then it doesn't have those, this numbers off anymore And the dog might, it's, okay. I had this chest and and then I don't need this now again.

[00:13:55] And as for Underserving or. begging by, by the table. This is a completely different thing. It's training issue. Yes. And of course your dog wants this, wants to do this, but you can manage your home and you can manage your eating time. Give your dog something to do and then it shouldn't be an issue basically because you dog knows that the stuff is on your table.

[00:14:21] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: They, whether or not 

[00:14:23] Author Simone Mueller: they, 

[00:14:23] smell it. Yes. . Exactly. They see, they smell it though, thinking that you don't know about it. No. . 

[00:14:31] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: and I like to compare. Our dogs aren't human children, but I like to compare to my own boys, my human boys, that they love to play ball and kind of roughhouse. I don't love them throwing balls all around inside of my.

[00:14:48] So I could go one of two options where I just forbid all balls and they are not allowed to touch a ball. I don't have any in the house. Or I could say, we do that outside, take the ball outside, and then they come in and that like energy has been used, they have met that need, and then they can have some inside play that I'm more comfortable with and my lamp stays intact, as opposed to just restricting it forever because it'll get out of control if I let them toss a ball at all.

[00:15:21] Exactly. Yeah. So why do you think it's not a good idea to just punish out the scavenging you call it like punish the scavenging away? 

[00:15:30] Author Simone Mueller: Of course this is something that works. You can punish your dog for scavenging and then if you do it properly they won't go scavenging anymore.

[00:15:42] And it it might be a quick fix. But there are so many reasons why dogs go and scavenge that. I think you should take a deeper look at that. For example when, owners come to me and say, my dog is eating everything from the ground. And then the first thing I say is when was your last vet check?

[00:16:05] So has he shown this behavior forever since the start? Or is this something new? Because there are so many underlying medical issues that can be responsible for scavenging behavior, for example, hyper acidity is really an issue in dogs. And it does often go undiagnosed. And a lot of dogs suffer from heartburn or from, and we simply don't know about this because it's a chronic thing, and chronic pain and chronic issues.

[00:16:38] communicate properly. If I step on your dog's floor, he will say, ouch. Then I know, okay, now it hurts. But how does the dog communicate? Oh, my tummy is hurting and I can't sleep properly. And yeah, everything is, not intact. And so the first thing I tell them is to go for a proper bed check and have this checked out if there is an underlying issue.

[00:17:04] So this is something that we cannot just punish away. It'll still be there and it needs to be, checked out. And then if you punish a dog for, scavenging, what happens is often that the dog just learns to swallow it quickly. , yes, exactly. . It depends on the kind of punishment that you use.

[00:17:26] If you, for example, shout and run after your dog, they might even find it. It's funny because my human is now chasing, they go at hole. 

[00:17:34] music: Yes. . Yes. Yes. 

[00:17:38] Author Simone Mueller: Yeah. And it also might develop a kind of resource guarding. Swallowing stuff down quickly is also kind of resource guarding, because then I have it secure.

[00:17:47] Nobody can take it away from me anymore. Or other dogs might go into aggressive behavior and say, no, this is mine now. And always when you're go in conflict with your dog it's, something that you lose and your dog loses out. So it's, bad for the relationship. 

[00:18:05] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: And it also gets you further from the goal of them not eating and swallowing something dangerous.

[00:18:11] Exactly. Yeah. When you take that approach, it makes sense that you see something dangerous in your dog's mouth, that you wanna startle them and get it out quick. But of course, if you don't have the foundation and if you don't approach it in a different way where they're like, Ooh, I get an upgrade.

[00:18:26] If I drop this where they're looking forward to dropping it that can really have a different dynamic. 

[00:18:33] Author Simone Mueller: Exactly. And I think we, are not talking here about emergency situations. As you said, if I see my dog with something in their mouth that might be harmful. Everything is allowed in this very moment to stop them from swallowing.

[00:18:46] But grabbing, shouting stomping cannot be a part of your training. Correct. If you use this once in an emergency situation in order to scare your dog to save their life, I think it's a. Okay. But it, but to use it in training is not okay If 

[00:19:06] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: my dog grabs my shoe, or even commonly it could be a tissue.

[00:19:10] With a lot of dogs, those aren't emergencies. Yeah. They're nuisances that we can use as training opportunities. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You mentioned some other methods that aren't successful that one of them really surprised me. So one was, never let a dog eat off a ground. You need to feed them everything from your hand.

[00:19:34] And you shared that doesn't really translate for dogs. 

[00:19:37] Author Simone Mueller: No, it doesn't. It's, very simple. They can't make the connection. I hear that in training, even if I train something completely else, I often toss the food on the ground as a reinforcer. To make it balance, to make it more lively. And then some, owners say, oh, I don't want that because I don't want my doctor to eat from the ground because I don't want them to eat stuff. And then I say, no it's, not that easy because the dog cannot, as you say, translate one situation to the other. They simply cannot make the connection.

[00:20:09] It will not keep them from eating something when they come across something. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. The 

[00:20:16] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: logic in that idea, you can understand where people are coming from. There was one that seemed a little less logical to me that you said you've heard where people are told to punish or even beat the food on the ground, so they're like yelling at and stomping at the pizza, making the pizza bad.

[00:20:35] Can you tell me? Yeah, I've, I hadn't heard of that, which I'm glad, but I'm curious about this. 

[00:20:39] Author Simone Mueller: Yes. You hear this not very often, but you hear this from time to time that it is an advice whenever you want to your dog to leave something, b you punish this item. And then your dog will think this is not something we are going to engage with because my owner or my guardian is acting aggressively here.

[00:21:04] And yeah, it works, but it doesn't work for the reason that people think it works. People think it works because the dog sees that you are aggressive against this, and they will say, okay we'll, stay away from that. But the, reason why this sometimes works is that you scare your dog.

[00:21:25] Your dog sees you active aggressively for no reason, . and they, this also might put a strain on your relationship because they say, this person is crazy. He acts so un reliably. So, what is he doing? Or what is he doing? And this is the reason why they stay away, but not because they're afraid of the food now because they're afraid of you.

[00:21:49] music: So I 

[00:21:49] Author Simone Mueller: Wouldn't yeah. Advise to do this. When I heard this the first time, I was like, 

[00:21:54] music: what ? 

[00:21:55] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: I almost wanna see it. Sh somebody do a training video on it and show me, just so I can see what does this look like, somebody stomping on the pizza or the chicken? Yeah. 

[00:22:06] Author Simone Mueller: I, came across this first in happy training.

[00:22:09] I had a happy owner in my dog school. And they told me, the trainer before told them because the puppy was always picking the shoes and and , biting on the shoes. So they were told to punish the shoes. To, hit the shoes , and then the, puppy will stay away from the shoes and the puppy did because it was so scared.

[00:22:34] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Yeah. Every time it's shoes around mom's or dad's throwing it and banging it. So mom with shoes are scary. , right? Yeah. . Oh, that's fascinating. So instead of those things that don't work, how does forest free food avoidance training work? 

[00:22:52] Author Simone Mueller: Yeah. So as the same as in the hunting program in the interpretation stuff, it is a holistic approach.

[00:23:03] So it's nothing that we can fix in one session. It's nothing that we can fix with, only one exercise or game or tool or whatever. So it needs a whole, it's like a puzzle. You put together different parts of the puzzle, and then it In the end, there is a picture and we need some parts of this puzzle.

[00:23:27] And the first, we already mentioned this are outlets. So you need to create outlets for your dog where your dog can safely and in a structured way. Show this behavior that they want to perform. The scavenging. And this is the, one part, the scavenging games. And the next part of the puzzle would be management and prevention, which means you have some exercises, some games that you play with your dog when there is no food around, for example.

[00:24:00] Orientation training a dog that stays with you and near you. I don't mean heal, I mean around you in a Yeah. Parameter is less likely to come across things that they should not have as, for example, a dog that roams the bushes and is gone for 10 minutes and then comes back. So you have no power when you don't see your dog.

[00:24:22] Yes. Yeah, so the management and prevention stuff. not the very sexy stuff, but it's the most important thing I think. Here also we have muscle training that you have management in place until your training works and all these, which 

[00:24:40] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: you don't see as a long-term solution. You say that's a short-term 

[00:24:44] Author Simone Mueller: piece?

[00:24:45] Yes and no. So in, in the book I say that it should be a short-term solution, but to be honest I think muscle training, if it's well done, and if the muscle fits the dog, then it's like wearing glasses. Yes. For us humans, it's, I wear glasses and sometimes I feel them when they come down off my nose, I have to readjust them and it's a little bit not so nice, but it's nothing that I suffer from.

[00:25:13] And I think it's the same with a muscle. So before you put yourself under pressure and think, I have to get rid of the muscle again. No, you don't have to. You have all the time in the world until your training is really solid and then they can think about the next step. So this is the management and prevention stuff that goes around the whole core training.

[00:25:34] And then we have the, core games that I already mentioned. One is that when you and your dog come across food, you see it your dog sees it how you can react in the situation so that your dog, for example, stops and you can redirect your dog to do something else instead of going there, grabbing it, swallowing it down.

[00:25:56] Yes. . I think this is the most important part. If there was one part in the book that I think has the biggest benefit, I think this stopping before the food is what I would go for. First, and then if you enjoy training and if you, have a lot of energy and your dog enjoys the training.

[00:26:13] Yes you can make a step further and you can teach your dog to indicate food for you so that when you are unaware of the food, but your dog sees it first, your dog will say there is something on the ground, , what are we going to do now? And then this gives you time to, to redirect and to, find another.

[00:26:36] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: That level there almost makes me think of dogs like the bomb detection dogs or in the states we call them the DEA dogs that are working with identifying where the drugs are. They don't smell the cocaine and then scarf it down and swallow before it's taken away. That's I identifying it and then telling their guardian that this is here.

[00:26:59] And so I love that it's getting to that level. If you wanna go pro level with your little scavenger, when you say that there's multi-layers and it's a puzzle, I do wanna tell our listeners that can sound almost overwhelming. , you break it down step by step and your plan and your games each one, this is how you do it.

[00:27:22] And then you say, is this going wrong? Because you've seen what hiccups people can have. Then this is how you adapt it. I think it's a fabulous book in that way, that you could just go step by step, I'm gonna follow this plan. This is when I know I can move forward to the next step. And then we could try the next game.

[00:27:39] Oops, we've found this common hiccup. This is how we can adjust. And I really liked that. You don't have to be a professional trainer to use. Don't 

[00:27:49] Author Simone Mueller: eat that. Yeah. This is the reason why when people ask me, will there be an audiobook, I always say, no, sorry, because I dunno if this would work that way.

[00:27:59] Don_t Eat That_ Force-Free Food Avoidance Training for Dogs who Love to Scavenge: Yeah, 

[00:28:00] Author Simone Mueller: no, it doesn't. Cause step by step and how, can you listen to this? It'll be awful to 

[00:28:06] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: listen to. It's like a recipe and 

[00:28:10] Author Simone Mueller: it isn't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I, wanted to do it in a way that people can take the book in their hands while training. This is why this the, font is quite large, oh, that makes sense. You can, yes. . Yeah. It was more in the beginning and then I said to my former, no, it has to be bigger because I want people to be able to stand there on the Meadow with the book in their hands and the dog in the other hand, and still be able to see what they're reading. . Oh, I 

[00:28:39] music: love it.

[00:28:41] Yeah. 

[00:28:42] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: You use the phrase in the book, forget it. And a lot of people are used to using Leave it, and that's how it's set lies. Leave it when people practice that. So beyond the difference in words, how do you describe the difference between your approach with Forget it and 

[00:29:00] Author Simone Mueller: leave it yeah.

[00:29:02] The the most important part in this book that goes. beyond all the exercises, or I rather call them games because exercises sounds so strict. Yeah. Is that the dog never leaves out. It's always, the dog has always a double win. And what your dog is going to learn is that cooperation with you is always better than the original stuff on the ground.

[00:29:30] And you have to become really. Creative with your foods that you and your, rewards that you buy. It, should be something that comes close to stuff that they find on the ground. And here it is. I could, have said, yeah, leave it. Cause it's just words for the dogs, uhhuh.

[00:29:53] But we have pictures in our heads and leave. It always sounds leave it be and learn like, losing out for the dog. Yeah. Yeah. And also it is about strictness that we have in our voices when we say leave it, because this is so traditional for, comes from traditional dog training, and I want this to be Yeah.

[00:30:20] Not so how to say that in English? 

[00:30:22] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: Adversarial. Like against each 

[00:30:25] Author Simone Mueller: other. Yes. So you don't go against each other and the, even the choice of words makes you say it in a certain way. This you can be very nice with your dog.

[00:30:40] You can say it in very high pitched voice, forget it, and and your dog will still respond. You don't have to say, forget it or leave it or something like this. Yeah. Doesn't make sense. 

[00:30:50] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: That's excellent. And I agree it's been passed down how sternly that's supposed to be said the leave it term and it re helps you reframe.

[00:30:58] Exactly. It's harder to say mad. I do the same with recall words. Yeah. Where I, yell Boomerang cuz that's pretty hard to say Mad . Exactly. Yeah. One of my clients says Bazinga and that's hard to . No, they're as happy hour. And those are hard to say mad too. Exactly. 

[00:31:21] I recall you had a freebie for our listeners, do you mind sharing a little about it? 

[00:31:28] Author Simone Mueller: Of course. Yeah. But I have to say the freebie is not about scavenging. The freebie that I have on my website is about iation stuff. So about if you have a dog that loves to chase.

[00:31:41] basically. And I think a lot of listeners might have the problem too. . What I have on my website currently is the stalking game, which is a game for dogs that like to watch things. For example, watch moving other animals. Yes. Moving animals. Yes. So for example, birds or wildlife, deer, rabbits.

[00:32:05] Yeah. And what the, problem that we dog owners have with this behavior is that the dogs are often very impulsive. So they see something and they run off. They chase straight away. And this leaves us with always walking around highly alert, is there something to hunt? Yes or no?

[00:32:26] And the stocking game is the first step of teaching the dogs calmness and impulse control in the presence of wildlife. So that the, big game is that the big goal, sorry, is that your dog instead of impulsively chasing off stands and watches this other animal, and despite you time to put your dog on a leash or to redirect or Yeah.

[00:32:53] Simply to react. Yeah. And the first step is, Taught with a nice little game that lots of dogs enjoy which is called the stalking game, where you basically teach your dog to hunt with their eyes. But not with their feet, if that makes sense. . 

[00:33:12] Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro™: That does make sense. I will put the link to that in our show notes.

[00:33:16] Our listeners can download that freebie. I appreciate that

[00:33:19] Thanks for joining me on this episode of the Doodle Pro Podcast. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. And I invite you to follow me on Instagram at the Doodle Pro for behind the scenes peaks at all of the adorable doodles I work with daily.