http://goldenmaldogtraining.com/

thegoldenmal, El Monte, CA (2024)

11/10/2024

While I love that social media has become so supportive of reading dog body language and being conscious of how dogs communicate with us, the nuance has been completely lost. It is simply not as clearcut as “this is stress, this is joy.”

And it is NOT possible to get a definitive reading on a situation in a 30 second video clip outside of very obvious and extreme situations. Whether it’s a training video, play video, or completely random dog video, I will stand by that same statement.

This is true for a few reasons:

First, all dogs present differently. This can be due to breed specific reasons (ie. german shepherds have a completely different tail set to shiba’s), physical structural reasons, or random specific quirks.

Unless you know a specific dog well enough to know what THEIR body language looks like, everything is only a guess.

Second, context matters. Let’s say a dog is presenting stress signals in a training video. What is that dog’s baseline for stress? Is the training reducing the stress signals over time? Is the dog already a generally stressed out dog?

An ordinarily happy-go-lucky dog that is anxious and overwhelmed in a training video is bad, obviously, but a dog that has SEVERE anxiety issues showing minor stress signals might actually be a massive sign of positive progress. You cannot rule out a snapshot as if the context is irrelevant.

Third, all emotions are two sides of the same coin.

A dog eager to work for a treat is not far off from a dog that is frustrated over not getting it.

A dog that is excited for his ball is not far from a dog that is stressed about when it will be thrown.

Resource guarding often shows positive body language as well as negative body language very close together because the insecurity that leads to guarding is triggered by the enjoyment and value of the item.

Now, that’s not to say body language analysis or breakdown videos aren’t valuable, or that they shouldn’t be made. I myself and constantly evaluating body language subconsciously.

But there must be a distinction between whether a video is being used as a definition or a single example.

11/02/2024

ANSWER: After daycare, your dog should be tired, but still active.

Your dog should NOT be exhausted nor full of zoomies. Either of those options indicates that daycare is too overstimulating for your dog, and they are “crashing” afterwards. This is not a healthy place for a dog to regularly be.

Many dog owners like daycare because it is soooo tiring for their dog. And while it should be fulfilling both mentally and physically, keywords like “exhausted” are red flags for me.

A healthy dog should not need a multi-day “recovery period” after daycare. They should not flop on the couch and be dead to the world for 4+ hours after. They should not be unwilling to go on a walk, engage with people, etc.

One of the reasons I’m not a huge proponent of daycares is because I find it to be “too much” more often than not. Beyond the other issues and dangers that come with utilizing daycares, even at its best, dogs do not thrive off of 6-8+ hours per day of constant stimulation.

This is why preschools for children have nap time, planned quiet activities, and are often half-days. Developmentally, dogs are anecdotally comparable to preschoolers. The benefit of preschool comes from the structure. Likewise, the benefit of daycare does too.

A “perfect” doggy daycare would have social time intermingled with individual sleep time, food and/or toy based enrichment time, engagement with humans, and decompression activities.

Of course, this is difficult to do large scale, which is why most daycares don’t.

In the absence of a daycare that is able to provide a balanced day for your dog, I highly recommend that people have a dog walker come and do drop in-visits midday. Your dog will benefit far more from concentrated one-on-one time alongside calm, adequate rest.

Questions? Let me know in the comments 👇

10/20/2024

This is a post I will be titling Hello Algorithm Sorry For My Absence Please Remember I Exist. For the price of $0 you can help me out by leaving a comment to remind Instagram that you care about my posts. I’m also running a special (2 for the price of 1) in which you can leave TWO comments, also for $0 (😱).

Hate comments are also accepted as long as they’re 5 words or more because that’s what Instagram values.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks. ✨

Cheers!

09/18/2024

There seems to be a common misconception that if a dog is “too much” work, then they just need to be trained.

Too energetic? Train them. Too playful? Train them. Too mischievous? Train them.

But that’s not necessarily true.

Training a dog can build the relationship between them and their owner, can make them more obedient, can help them navigate specific situations easier, but it does not inherently remove their need for basic care.

Yes, walking your dog at length (not just around the block once or twice) is basic care. Playing with your dog beyond repetitive fetch is basic care. Training with your dog even after they are obedient is basic care. Seeking out breed specific fulfillment activities is basic care.

You can train your dog to walk nicely on leash, but it won’t negate their need for going on walks.

You can train your dog to recall, but it won’t negate their need to run around off-leash.

You can train your dog to settle inside the home, but it won’t negate their need to go out.

Pulling on leash is something you can fix, a dog having energy is not. Running away is something you can fix, a dog wanting to run in the first place is not. Destroying the home is something you can fix, a dog needing alternative outlets is not.

See the difference?

While I love that training dogs has become much more mainstream—I’m a dog trainer, after all—at the same time it worries me that people are starting to see training as a panacea to every problem they have with their dog.

If your dog is too energetic, too excited, too playful, too destructive, too [insert trait here], sure, train them, but also make sure that YOU are providing the exercise and stimulation that should be given every single day.

Dogs are not inanimate objects you can tailor to fit exactly how you’d like them to be. Their care requires significant effort. And while training may make it easier or more enjoyable for you to provide their care, training does not take away their need for it in the first place.

09/17/2024

TRUE. In my experience, at least…

How many dog owners do you know that swear up and down they LOVE owning a dog, but seem to find walking their dog an annoyance, playing with their dog boring or tiring, training to be reserved for curbing bad behavior?

If walking your dog is nothing more than a forced necessity, a chore to check off your list, then you probably don’t actually like owning a dog.

If training your dog is not something you would do unless you absolutely had to, then you probably don’t actually like owning a dog.

If you did not get your dog specifically with the intention of participating in activities with them, then you probably don’t actually like owning a dog.

If you do not ACTIVELY enjoy the effort and sacrifice required to give your dog their best life, then you do not actually like owning a dog.

In fact, the “sacrifices” should barely be considered sacrifices for how much you like to do them. They are to me. Walking my dog, driving him to the beach or on a hike, playing with him, training with him, etc. are not sacrifices to me. They are things I actively want to do.

If you COULD ethically never walk, play with, or train your dog ever again… would you stop? If so, you probably don’t actually like owning a dog.

Dogs cannot be separated from their needs and wants. You might love dogs, but that is different from loving OWNING a dog.

You would laugh if someone said, “I love mac and cheese, but I hate cheese and I hate noodles.” Or “I love surfing, but I hate swimming, getting wet, and sand.”

So why don’t we feel the same way when people say, “I love owning a dog, but I don’t like walking them, training them, and playing with them”?

09/15/2024

I don’t know who decided we could just start lying on Instagram, but I am SO sick of posts claiming that “xyz minutes” of sniffing/lickmat/snuffle mat/enrichment toy/etc is EQUAL to some exorbitant amount of time walking, running, playing fetch.

I even saw a post claiming that a CAR RIDE was the equivalent of a walk. 🤦🏻‍♀️

The truth is that enrichment activities do not equal anything except for other enrichment activities. A snuffle mat could be an equivalent to a kong. A kong could be an equivalent to a lickmat. A lickmat could be an equivalent to a sniffing walk.

But in no universe do those activities equal physical exercise. They do NOT build cardiovascular endurance. They do NOT strengthen tendons and ligaments. They do NOT stretch and grow muscle. They do NOT release exercise-specific endorphins.

It is extremely concerning to me to think that there are owners out there that are giving their dog 20 minutes of enrichment time in the living room and then thinking, “Great, that means we don’t have to go for a walk!”

In my opinion, enrichment activities should be seen as an addition to what your dog is ALREADY doing, not a replacement or an alternative.

Your dog needs to go outside. Your dog needs to walk, and yes, needs to do that for more than 30 minutes per day. Your dog needs to run. Your dog needs to build muscle. Your dog needs to stretch their legs. They do NOT need another snuffle mat.

Obviously if the weather is bad or your dog is injured or you are sick, enrichment activities can be used as replacements to supply stimulation for a few unfortunate days. But that should not be something you plan for.

Go outside and walk your dog. It’s the bare minimum of pet ownership.

09/03/2024

Shocking, I know, but the worst thing a dog can experience is NOT living outside…

Obviously, that statement assumes that the dog in question is not being abused or neglected. The problem is that a lot of people refuse to understand that living outside in itself is not abuse or neglect.

I am far more concerned with the epidemic of dogs in suburbs and cities that live in a thousand square feet (or less) and whose only activity all day is a 30 minute walk to the dog park and back.

I am far more concerned with the dogs whose owners think a snuffle mat in the living room is exercise.

I am far more concerned with the dogs who spend 23 hours per day lying on the couch doing absolutely nothing.

I am far more concerned with the dogs who haven’t been adequately fulfilled or exercised per their breed specific requirements in months, or possibly even ever.

I am far more concerned with the fact that the majority of dogs I see out and about are massively overweight and horribly undertrained.

Many dogs live outdoors either due to their work (ie. livestock guardian dogs), their lifestyle (ie. sled dogs), their own preference due to breed, or the preferences of their owner. Yes, sometimes in the snow. Yes, sometimes on a chain. Yes, sometimes without blankets or pillows/traditional dog beds (and if you don’t know WHY that is, then you’re not really qualified to be making critiques in the first place anyway).

And more than I am concerned about dogs who always live outdoors, I am FAR more concerned with the dogs that only ever live inside…

08/26/2024

Apparently it’s International Dog Day so here are some of my favorite pictures of Finley ft. my chaotic editing phases because I’m ✨indecisive✨

I also got a new camera a few months ago, but you wouldn’t know it because I’ve taken a grand total of 0 photos with it so far 😗☝🏽

08/17/2024

Now that Instagram allows you to reply to comments with reels, I wanted to bring my Q&A’s into my account directly. Previously I’ve hosted them in channels and in stories, but these will be permanent and allow for much more detailed questions AND replies.

So drop any and all dog questions in the comments, and as I have time I’ll reply to them in the form of a full reel :)

This post will stay up indefinitely, so please come back and add questions as you think of them! I’ll post periodic reminders on my story as well as have this post pinned. ✨🐕

08/07/2024

6 years ago i gave birth to my son. here’s his sonogram to prove it. happy birthday finley 🥹 here’s to another year of strangers telling me you’re soooo skinny for a golden retriever, shedding all over everything i own, and being too old for leo dicaprio. ✨🐕

02/15/2024

Yesterday I posted a reel talking about how much I dislike the way dog trainers are so comfortable to badmouth their clients on here.

But the truth is, the problem isn’t that the trainers are badmouthing clients, the problem is that their community makes them feel like they CAN.

So, here are things I look for when interacting with others in the dog training community online:

Are the posts meant to uplift the dog owners that follow them or demean the ones that don’t?

(Is it joking with your own community, or laughing at someone else’s?)

Are the posts focused on what they advise clients TO do, or what they advise them NOT to do?

(You know, the trainers who swear they want nothing to do with XYZ-group, but also won’t stop talking about them.)

Are they criticizing another trainer or ideology WITH alternatives, or are they just leaving it at the criticism?

(Is there a “this is how I train XYZ” post for every “stop using this tool” post?)

Are negative posts written from the perspective of education and honesty, or fear-mongering and clickbait?

(Take a shot every time you see the buzzwords “fear,” “force,” “pain,”?)

And when most content falls into the latter category, it makes me question where their passion really lies.

So over the past year, I’ve been personally trying to restructure the tone of my posts.

Instead of “5 mistakes you’re making with your dog,” I might write, “5 things to try with your dog.” Instead of, “How you’re hurting your dog’s confidence,” I might write, “How you can help your dog’s confidence.” Instead of, “You aren’t playing with your dog enough,” I might write, “How to play with your dog more.”

It’s less optimal for the algorithm (so don’t judge me too hard if I slip one in every once in a while…), but it’s more optimal for the kind of community I want to have here!

01/31/2024

Why do dogs LOVE people that DON’T like dogs?

I hear it all the time, especially with dogs who either struggle with shyness around people or are just typically more neutral.

Clients will tell me that their dog for some reason loves their friends that don’t like dogs that much, or get attached to the household member that shows them the least love.

The answer is actually quite simple: dogs love people that leave them alone.

If I tell someone that they can’t pet my dog, people always start their argument at being turned down with, “Don’t worry, I’m a dog lover.”

And I can guarantee that that is the same person who is bombarding dogs with affection, never waiting to read their body language, never bothering to make sure the dog is actually enjoying what’s happening.

Dogs generally don’t like kids for the same reason: too much energy, low understanding of boundaries, and a righteous expectation that animals will love them.

It’s interesting that so many “dog lovers” seem to possess those traits too.

But your friend that never really liked dogs, or is more of a cat person, is more likely to give your dog space, to ignore them instead of following them around, to give tentative affection at first, to check in and make sure they’re doing it right, and to not be offended if the dog DOESN’T enjoy it.

And THAT is what makes dogs like those people.

Respect. Boundaries. Space.

01/17/2024

What happens when training your dog isn’t enough?

A year or two ago I noticed a lot more owners carrying e-collar remotes, walking their dogs on prongs, bringing treat pouches, knowing what a high value reward was.

And I was super excited!

But then I noticed that there wasn’t really a difference in the actual dogs.
 The shiny, yellow Mini Educator remote around an owner’s neck didn’t stop their dogs from running up to mine.

The treat pouch filled with cheese and kibble didn’t stop their dog from lunging to the end of the leash as I walked by.

The well-fit, Herm Sprenger prong collar didn’t stop the dog from pulling the whole walk.

And haven’t we all seen that video of the lady with the long line whose dog managed to go after a biker for a solid three minutes?

It starts with the trainers.

Please running your clients through 2-week board and trains and then saying goodbye forever. Please emphasize the important of practice and learning on their part, not just their dogs.

I’m the first to say “Hell yeah, let’s do it!” when someone wants to do private lessons over a board and train because there’s nothing I love more than an owner that wants to learn.

Dog owners: The training your dog receives is useless if you don’t know how to use it.

Dog trainers: It doesn’t matter how good your training is if that dog goes home to hands that have no idea how to replicate it.

01/11/2024

If your dogs are trained… PROVE IT.

Because if your dogs are walking towards me off-leash, I’m not gonna just stand there waiting patiently to find out, and I shouldn’t have to.

Here’s the thing: just because YOU know that your dog is controlled doesn’t mean everyone else does.

Yes, YOU might know that your dog walks past other dogs without approaching, the other person is seeing a dog doing quite literally whatever they want.

Yes, YOU might know that your dog will recall on a dime if you tell them to, the other person is seeing a dog that could, at any second, turn and charge or attack theirs.

Yes, YOU might know that your dog is neutral, the other person is seeing the exact same type of off-leash dog and careless owner that has disturbed so many of their walks before.
 And they shouldn’t have to tense up as you slowly get closer, wondering which option you are.

I cannot count how many times I have asked someone to recall their dogs and they’ve agreed to but then failed, or said “he’s fine,” as their dog was already preparing to attack mine.

Before you ask, those owners often had treat pouches. Those dogs often wore e-collars. Training does not equal good or effective training. Good and effective training does not equal responsible handling.

Whenever I walk my dog off-leash, not only do I always have a leash on me to leash him when requested, but most of the time it never gets that far because the second I see another person or dog I take initiative call him to my side, and he stays glued to me so close that a lot of people don’t even realize he isn’t on leash in the first place. I also will cross the street so they can see clearly I’m aware and giving space.

My dog has the privilege of being off-leash due to his training and temperament, but he does not have the privilege of making literally everyone else uncomfortable or nervous.

01/09/2024

Here are the ways a backyard has improved my dog’s quality of life:

…I can’t think of any.

In Finley’s five years of life, we’ve lived in one house without a backyard, three houses WITH a backyard, one house on a massive property, two studio apartments.

And across those many living places, the ONLY change was how much work *I* had to put in.
 Read that again: It is MY life that changes when I have a backyard, not his.

Whether we lived in 500 square feet and no yard, or a multi-story house on an acre of land, Finley’s daily life still had purposeful, intentional, and active training, playing, and walking. Any time in the backyard was just bonus fresh air and easier potty breaks late at night, a nice private area to train and play, but nothing more.

Even now, Finley could roam my backyard for hours if he wanted to, but at most he’ll sniff around for ten minutes or so and then lie down.

Why?

Because a stagnant piece of land is not the most exciting thing in his life, and it SHOULDN’T be. He doesn’t look to a patch of grass for excitement and fun. He looks to ME for that.

And the same should be true for you.

Because your backyard doesn’t exercise, play with, train, stimulate, or fulfill your dog. YOU do.

01/02/2024

Introducing… 75-Hard Challenge: Dog Edition!

The standard version of this challenge is for humans, and involves following different rules for 75 days straight. This is the dog edition, intended to help you better your dog’s life and improve your relationship!

And what better day to start than January 1st?

Follow along by posting stories or reels/IG posts and TAG ME in them! I highly recommend condensing everything into a highlight (can share your own posts to your story and save to the highlight) with this post as the first slide so people can learn more when they click!
 At the end of the 75 days, we’ll see how many of you fulfilled all 75 days, and maybe there’ll be a little prize… 👀

Today is January 1st, which means today is Day 1. It’s a little late to fulfill all the requirements, so as long as you choose to commit to the challenge, you’ve already fulfilled Day 1!

(And if you’re late to the party, no worries! Whatever day you choose to do this, that’s your Day 1!)

Ready for Day 2?

See you tomorrow 👀

12/28/2023

I’ve heard trainers criticize “regular” dog owners for posting dog training advice, but I think a more important conversation is considering WHY people are asking dog owners for advice in the first place? WHY not dog trainers?

In my opinion, it’s because relatability is a crucial factor in learning.

Naturally, I am terrible at math. Even now I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do long division with a gun to my head. My father has a PhD in mathematics. When I was a kid he would try to help me with my homework, and… yeah, you can imagine how that went.

It’s not that I don’t believe my father was qualified to help me. And it’s not that he was trying to be a terrible teacher. But that didn’t change the fact that it was a nightmarish experience.

One issue was the fact that if I didn’t understand something (which I never did), he had no idea what else to say because HE had never experienced it not making sense.

Dog owners don’t need a trainer who understands everything perfectly, they need a trainer who understands what it’s like NOT to understand.

Who knows how it feels to be clumsy with the leash and the food and the markers.

Who has experienced what it’s like to try to break old habits.

Who can show them different ways of translating body language into information.

Of course I find it incredibly important to tell people about my experience, my qualifications, and make them believe that I can teach them. That part IS important, and it’s what makes me a dog trainer.

But in conveying that expertise, I cannot lose trust that I understand them, can see things through their eyes, can explain concepts like they DON’T make sense, can be patient and adaptive.

Other dog owners? They definitely already understand that.

You? A dog trainer who is constantly saying how naturally dog training comes to you, how your life is built around dogs (not a 9-5 desk job), how perfect and trainable your dogs are?

Maybe not…

P.S. I’d love to hear opinions from BOTH dog trainers and dog owners!

P.P.S. I don’t mind dog owners giving advice anyway.

12/23/2023

Very rarely do you see a stable, confident, clear-thinking dog struggle with separation anxiety.

This is not a coincidence.

Yet it is not that these dogs magically possess a love for being alone, but that they possess skills—impulse control, stress tolerance, self-soothing abilities—which are incompatible with separation anxiety.

So, my top training tip for overcoming separation anxiety is to STOP trying to get rid of the separation anxiety itself and START trying to build the skills your dog needs to overcome it on their own.
 Here’s what I mean by that:

→ Build independence in your dog by encouraging them to do activities by themselves.

→ Work on increasing your dog’s tolerance for stress through “leave it” games and other impulse control exercises.

→ Teach your dog self-soothe within crate and/or tether confinement.

→ Create patterns of thinking under high-arousal situations, like obedience around toys, other dogs, positive distractions.

→ And, as always, make sure you are meeting their needs before you start trying to get them to fulfill your wants.

Separation anxiety does not exist inside of a vacuum, it is a combination of a lot of different traits. Correct those traits, and you correct the problem!