TALK'N DOGS WITH RICK KAPLAN 7/6/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Well, we went out um all evening. We were out for about four hours following fireworks because that's a great chance to get the dogs desensitized to to that noise and the life and all the things involved. And they all did great. We have a lot of new ones. Uh I've got six new dogs, relatively new in the pack, and uh within an hour or so they nobody really cared that much.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Okay. Now that's part of the, you know, something with thunderstorms people deal with, or and Mike, my dog, like Bally, she gets so upset with thunderstorms she barks when she hears a really loud boom that like freaks her out. What's the best thing to do?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Well, uh it's uh uh you have to desensitize. That's the that's the key. And most people think it's the noise that's uh that upsets the dogs, but it's the vibration that uh thunderstorms. That's why dogs are always aware of thunderstorms way before we are, because they're feeling vibrations from from 50, 60, 100 miles away that's you know that's traveling through the atmosphere. Yeah, they're very, very sensitive, and it's an unknown to a dog and becomes known. And that's what desensitization is. It's getting it known, so you know, big deal. So what? Uh it's a process. Uh when it comes to that kind of desensitization, I uh apply uh videos that you can get on your computer, uh audios of thunderstorms, of loud lightning cracks, and that sort of thing. Just put it on your computer and play it in the background, and you'll see that your dog will certainly become desensitized to it because you can only be afraid of a thing for so long before you realize it's not really your business and it's not really bothering you. So um that's the process. It it takes some doing, but it it helps. It makes the dog very, very safe in a thunderstorm, not looking to run away, not being afraid, and not thinking that they're in danger. So that's what we do.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

All right.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Anyway, so we would go back to a little bit of basics today, and that's about housebreaking.

unknown 2:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

I've been getting too many calls from people who uh have young dogs, puppies. Uh, how do I housebreak? My dog is six months old, still peeing in the house. Uh oh my goodness, it's uh you know, the thing you want your house to be is a toilet. Um you know, wolves have a survival instinct, and that is that they are predators. And if they if they're in a sedentary packed position, such as going to sleep or resting, whatever, and somebody has to eliminate, they automatically are housebroken. They get up, they walk 50 to 100 yards away, they do their business, and then they come back because they don't want potential prey to be able to sense their position um and and uh and avoid the chance for a hunt, you know? So it's uh it's built into them. And what dogs have, the vestigial part of this that dogs still have, is that a dog does not like to mess where they sleep.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Uh it it's just a natural thing. It's not so much about cleanliness as it is about uh protecting their position from potential prey. So here's the way I uh uh uh handle the the housebreaking procedure. The first thing you need is a crate. And you need a crate that's big enough for the dog to stand up, to turn around, and to lay down again. The crate should not be perceived as a punishment, but it's a timeout place. And you if you have a big crate and a small dog, you need to put some kind of a divider in there so that they don't have the ability to to you know to pee or poop at the back of the crate and then stay in the crate. You need a small place. We need to take advantage, and even in in two-month-old puppies, they have this uh awareness. They do not want to mess where they sleep or where they're standing or etc. So you you have to put a divider in the crate, fine, because you don't want to buy a tiny crate for a puppy, and then two weeks later the dog is too big for that crate. So um the way I handle this, and you can housebreak a dog in less than a week because they have it in them, so you just have to make it clear what the rules are. And what I do is I would take a dog out every couple of hours, and as a general rule, a two-hour, uh a two-month-old dog has the muscle control in the bladder to hold it for two hours. Three months, three hours, up to six months. And of course, at a six-month-old dog, the bladder muscles are fully developed and they can hold it for six to eight hours. So keeping that in mind and also keeping in mind how much water they're drinking, where the water is and you know, when they drink and how they drink, and so on. Um, because if a dog is very thirsty and has a big drink, then you need to give him only a half hour. But the rule is you you take the dog out into the grass area or wherever your prime straw, wherever it is that you want the dog to use as a bathroom area, and you give him five minutes with a command. And what your command is could be anything. Go potty, go wee wee, or whatever you want to use as the command to attach the action to a an actual command. Uh, I take my dogs out, and right now I have 15 dogs, and I I use the go wee wee command, and in three seconds everybody's squatting, lifting, and peeing.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

That's their their their program for it, and that's great. Because when you have multiple dogs, you don't want to be going out every five minutes for different dogs. You want everybody to do it at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Anyway, uh, there are people that like to use wee wee pads in the house when they're housebreaking. I don't know if that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

I I'm I don't I'm training dogs for 75 years and I've never had a wee wee pad ever once.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Uh that's me. Look, if you if there are there are always exceptions. If you live in a high rise and you're on the 30th floor and you gotta wait for an elevator, then you know, that's really a good a good, you know. And the other thing is if you have a terrace and you want to put a pad out on the terrace, if you get the dog used to that, that's one thing. But it's still you you you're avoiding what you what the purpose of this is, and that is not to eliminate inside the house.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

And the wee we pad is eliminating in the house, you know. And half the time the dog will stand on the edge of the pad, think they're on the pad, and the and all their business goes on the floor. Uh now, when you have a puppy, you need to contain the puppy. You can't give the puppy your whole house. You need to blockade a room, preferably a room without a carpet, uh, so that if there is an accident, you can clean it up. And if you do clean up uh anything from a dog, you need to use a solution, a spray solution with 50% water and 50% white vinegar. And that will eliminate all the odor so that the dog will sense that.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

All right, say that one one more time. What is the solution?

SPEAKER_01 8:30

50% water in a spray bottle, 50% water, 50% white vinegar.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

That will kill all the odor. And that will allow the dog to say this, oh, that's my spot kind of thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Yeah, that's often a uh an issue is uh recurring because sometimes things happen in a dog's life though, and then they start having accidents. And so if your dog is n not really having accidents, and then all of a sudden they are, um, what are some of the things you should consider? You know, a sickness, a UTI? I mean, there's just so many UTIs all the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

If a dog drinks out of a puddle or eats something, you know, that's old stuff, the decayed, and that sort of thing. UTIs are very frequent, and uh if the dog is uh urinating exceptionally often uh or licking themselves a lot because it burns, uh, you need medication. You need to get to the vet and you need medication.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Anyway, let me just get through this program because it's very important. Um so what you want to do is let's say you have a two-month-old dog, you know the dog can hold it for two hours, you go out, you you have the dog in your home for an hour and a half in this contained space, and then you take the dog out for five to ten minutes on a leash using the go potty, go wee-wee command, or whatever. If the dog urinates or desiccates, then you good boy, good girl, you give a little treat, you go back in the house and you have another two hours. If the dog doesn't, within five to ten minutes, you go back in the house and the dog goes into the crate. All right, doesn't have the freedom now. The dog goes into the crate. Dog may whine, dog may bark, dog may whatever it is, you just gotta get through it. Uh you wait a half hour, and then you go outside again. And you give him another five to ten minutes. And if he pees or poops, great. Then you go back to the the two hours. Uh and again again for a three-month-old, three hours, four months old, four hours, etc. Um, and if he doesn't, he goes back in the crate. So this creates in the dog the sense that he's not gonna pee in the house because you're not giving him an opportunity. He either just peed outside or he's going back in the crate, and the odds are he's not gonna pee in the crate. He'll hold it. Uh so that if you if you can uh and look, puppies are very difficult, very time consuming, especially at the beginning when you get these things, we need to get these things in order. But if you do it and put a good week into it, you're saving I have people coming to me with six, eight, ten months, year-old dogs that still you know being poop in the house. It's insane. You know, because unless you teach them, they don't learn it.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

So uh it it takes some effort, it takes some work, and if you're thinking about getting a puff, uh that that will ruin your house, it'll ruin your your your sanity. You've gotta get it done, and the beauty of dogs is they will learn it so quickly. Um it's it's they're they're amazing creatures. So but you have to be able to teach them in a way that they understand. Now there are things that people do that are absurd. Rubbing a dog's nose in it, for example. Well, it it doesn't compute to the dog. Like, what is that? What for what? The dog doesn't if you know it's not the dog's fault. If you allow it to happen, it's not the dog's fault. So that puts another kind of a fear. Uh another thing dogs do is uh give you people do is give them a little whack with a rolled-up newspaper or that kind of thing. It doesn't help. It doesn't, it doesn't get to the issue. So um the only way to do this is to make it clear to the dog where it has to happen and how it has to happen. Now, another thing people do is they use this bell system where a dog rings the bell to to to go out. Um I don't do that because I find that what happens after a while is the dog starts ringing the bell because they don't really need to go to the bathroom. They just feel like going out.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

So then it's the reverse of Pablo Dog.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

You're the one that's doing exactly right. Well, Rick, thank you so much um for joining us and giving us that because you know a lot of times uh we don't know how to do it right. And it's just especially if you have multiple dogs, it's so important to make sure they're all in the same title as well. I got enough. All right, well thank you so much. We'll talk to you next time.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Happy, happy holiday, and uh that's all you're being your listing. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Go to K9AsUSA.org.