A Dog Training Podcast
Episode 2
Published Sunday June 30, 2019
Interview with dog trainer Lori Lodato and dog trainer Leah Lodato
Leah: Welcome to episode number two of Fitpet Boston Talks. I sat down recently with Lori Lodato and we talked about how she became to be the dog trainer that she is today. We talked about leaving her profession in nutrition behind, her battle with illness, her amazing dogs and what kind of dog trainer she is. So listen up and enjoy the stories.
Leah: So how’d you get into it, how did you get started, what was the road like?
Lori: We had family dogs but I didn’t show much interest, you know, your parents get a dog to shut the kids up. I didn’t really take part in training them or anything substantial. You know, cleaning the yard when you’re suppose to after the dog.
Our first family dog was my Dad’s dog and the second family dog was my mothers. So I didn’t play much part in that. I ended up getting a yellow Labrador retriever in 2003. I had finished college, I majored in nutrition, got a minor in bio and psych. I got a great job at a local hospital and in 2003 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. And, it was supose to be quick, my chemotherapy, everything they thought I would need I was looking at a 6 month period to get rid of it. But that’s not how it worked out.
During this time, I thought, I’m not at work, this is a perfect time to get a dog. Plus I needed a friend. Any job I have I tend to work 24/7, so what better time. Not thinking about the future, or if my dog would be alone or any of those things. I just thought, I need a friend, let me get a dog. So, I get this little yellow lab.
Leah: So this was, before the internet could give you a prompt for a breeder?
Lori: Oh please, this is the newspaper, the want ad. So you look at the newspaper they say “we have 4 females, 5 males, AKC…” It’s not like it is today where you research them to death. You can find anything you need online. This was the newspaper. So, I drive to this place, I get the lab. She is a nightmare. I mean, I’m sick and I don’t know how to train a dog. Those two things combined were a nightmare.
One, I thought that she was trying to kill me. She was so mouthy and nippy – everyones usual problems with a puppy. They’re nippy, they’re jumping on things. I walked outside once and she’s standing on the picnic table. One time in the middle of the night she had to pee and it took me 20 years to get my boots on and my raincoat, it was like a river. I thought she was trying to kill me with the biting and the nipping and that’s when I went to a trainer. A local trainer here in Massachusetts at the time. And, I don’t know, it just took off from there. I continued my therapy well beyond what they said. I ended up getting a stem cell transplant. So they gave me a timeline of 6 months but it ended up being a year and a half of my life.
Leah: When did you get Bella in that 6 month period? Was it 3 months in? 4 months in?
Lori: It was probably about 4 months.
Leah: So, it was a good year and some change that you were actively getting some treatments and you were…
Lori: Oh yeah, someone had to take care of her while I was getting my transplant. I brought her to a local day school where she would learn throughout the day because I was either in chemo or I didn’t have the energy to do it. I brought her to school so she could keep learning and she did so well. And once I had the tools and I knew what I was suppose to do I worked with her every day. She ended up being my friend, but I didn’t know what I was doing in the beginning. Once I had the tools and did what the trainer said, all those behaviors went away, we did well together.
Leah: Awesome, so thankfully you got better from cancer. Recovered. So your life was on this trajectory towards graduating with a nutrition degree, you were working as a nutritionist before you got cancer, and then because of the relationship that you had with Bella after and during the spell it kind of pushed you…
Lori: Well I liked it so much and I did pretty well. So, the trainer, she said “well, what are you going to do?” I was out of work because I was sick so I ended up helping her transport the dogs around because she was boarding dogs here and there so I would take those dogs for walks all day. So I’d, you know, throw up inside the van ’cause I was sick. Then I would take the dogs for a walk because I didn’t like to be still and I always think that if you’re still and your not doing something – my own opinion is I feel like I’ll get lazy so I continue to press on.
I just had my dog with me for the rest of the day with all the other dogs and I ended up training them, and it gave me a reason to get up every day. So I did it periodically, here and there for her, not every day of the week. After I finished my treatment, she said “well what are you going to do now?” When I finished treatment I didn’t want to be in the hospital anymore because I was always there. She was looking at a kennel at the time so I said “sure I’ll help you with the kennel.” I moved, it was a kennel in New Hampshire so I moved and I worked there 24/7.
Leah: Right, and as far as having expectations for following through with your degree…did you kind of not look back after heading up there?
Lori: I don’t think I was really good at nutrition anyway. (Laughter) I liked the psychology, but I didn’t care much for the nutrition part. I wasn’t good at it and I struggled in college. I just didn’t want to go back to the hospital after that. The ball was rolling and that’s it, I was in it, so I just kept doing it. I was learning more and more about dogs but was also thrown into a situation where I didn’t know everything about dogs but the next thing I know I’m taking care of 60 dogs in a kennel. I was completely overwhelmed. But I faked it till I made it.
Leah: Right, and no one got hurt.
Lori: No one got hurt, I was smart.
Leah: Do you think some people, as far as the “smartness” goes, in order to read a situation with a dog..do you think some people have that more than others?
Lori: I think if…I think sometimes people who are a little more cocky tend to get bit. (Laughter) because they’re like “this dog’s not gonna bite me, I can handle it, they’re not gonna tell me what to do, I have the upper hand” and once people throw around that alpha crap, I think that those people aren’t careful of their actions. Or, we’re just so overwhelmed and we do something stupid like reach into a crate for a dog and get bit by accident. It’s an innocent thing like that where a person has all good intentions then we berate ourselves afterwards for making a stupid mistake. Or it’s someone who’s really cocky and doesn’t give the dog space.
Leah: What do you mean by that?
Lori: Like, I remember one situation with a woman and there was a dog walking away from her. The dog was deaf and, that wasn’t really it. It wasn’t a space issue. She got mad because she told the dog to kennel up, the dog didn’t do it and she thought “you have to listen to me” and she grabbed the dog by the collar from behind. People rushing around is terrible.
Leah: In a kennel environment?
Leah: Any environment. If you’re rushing around, you can get hurt that way.
Leah: Yeah, that’s a lot of responsibility for one person. Especially having experience but mostly relying on your instincts.
Lori: I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know anything, I was thrown into it. It was trial by fire. And she took care of some dogs who were a little more…
Leah: Aggressive
Lori: Yeah
Leah: They do exist. Ok, so you had Bella with you in this situation…
Lori: Yeah she loved it. She was a field lab, she hung out.
Leah: So what was your relationship like with her? Because one of the things that totally blew my mind when I first met you and we started hanging out was we went on a walk with Ripa and she didn’t have any collar on. I think you just took the leash and looped it over her head, or maybe she had her fur saver on, but I have this memory of her having a leash looped around her neck.
Anyhow, we walked down to the pond and we were walking and you just seamlessly took the leash off. I don’t even remember when it happened. There was no difference between Ripa walking on leash or off leash. She just hung out, hung around. I remember asking “why don’t you put dog tags on your dogs” and you said “well my dogs will never leave me” and I totally didn’t get it at all and was like “this girl thinks..”
Lori: You thought I was being cocky and I wasn’t. Because you heard it the wrong way.
Leah: I heard it the wrong way because I had never had my own personal dog. I had taken care of other people’s dogs but never had that relationship with the dog where I knew that the dog would never leave me. At the time I was walking other peoples dogs and quite a few that were flight risks and I couldn’t walk around willy nilly, it was a constant fear that I had and I didn’t realize what it could be like till I had it with Reuben. Still it was this moment were I was like “whoa these dogs, there’s no doubt that they will stay with her, that’s unbelievable.”
Lori: Well it’s easier to have your own dogs because you can control the variables, but when you’re training other people, it’s harder because you’re not there to cover all your mistakes. That’s why I started taking them for the day to train them. With Bella, I wasn’t a good trainer with Bella, I lost my temper. I got irritated. But it wasn’t her fault. Plus I was sick. So, I didn’t have as much patience as I should have.
I always tell people if they get aggravated with their dog, which is normal, your dog doesn’t do something or does something that bothers you. You need to step away cause you’re just a crappy dog trainer and bad person cause you can’t pull it together. With Bella I started training her and it was fine but she had spent such a significant amount of time with the trainer I was with so she had a better relationship with her. It was only after I started feeling better and taking Bella to the woods everyday and running her every morning.
Even though I was sick I made this effort that if I would do one thing everyday – and I did, I would get up, take a shower and take out my dog – those were my goals. I think Bella came into my life at the right time but I didn’t necessarily know it. I was looking for a friend, and she wasn’t my friend cause she was killing me with the nipping and the mouthing. But, my relationship with her, I had to work on it every day. Just because she had the foundation, she didn’t bond with me. Which is the downside of sending your dog off to someone to be trained.
Leah: Can you talk a little more about that? It’s something that you don’t believe in but it’s also something that’s getting more popular (sending your dog away for training). So can you break it down for people that are listening. Can you talk about the age of the dog, the type of training and how it all works. You training and individual to train their own dog vs board and train.
Lori: I like one on one private classes with people because it gives them responsibility for when they go home and have to do the work. Board and trains are good, like, I would never take that business away from anyone. But, it’s such an influential time in a dogs life from 8 weeks old to 16 weeks/4 months. I couldn’t imagine having someone else train my dog during that time because that’s the time that you put everything into it.
Our Rottweiler was impossible to train as a puppy, not Ripa, our male puppy. He is an awesome adult dog but it was hard to get his focus. I had to work on it everyday. I just think people have a better bond with their dog if they work on it. I think if the dog is an older dog who has a lot of issues and a lot of it’s in the environment. You want to break them fee of that environment and give them a whole new world and a whole different structure – then board and trains are helpful then. Especially if you’re considering using electric collar training.
I had one family recently where the dog is much older. She doesn’t have any guidelines in the house. She’s not food driven. They tried crating and training her. That still wasn’t working. She would refuse food for days on end. She just did not care about them, rarely focused on them, regardless of the high value food. She did not care about correction. In that case I did recommend a board and train to pull her out of the environment and get her re started again. For that, fine. But to get rid of a small puppy at such a young age, like an 8 week old puppy – it’s just my opinion, but I wouldn’t do it. That’s such a good bonding time with the family.
Leah: Yeah and that’s an important thing to note. You know, our vet says if they come back as a dog in another life, he would want to live with you. For me, the way you approach dog ownership is super authentic. I think that advice, if anyone is listening and you have a puppy, having that 8-16 week old time with your dog is like gold.
Lori: Yeah, that’s the best time to bond with the dog.
Leah: It’s the hardest time.
Lori: Set the rules in the house. It’s just so important to me, that time. It’s so hard to have a puppy. I don’t t think people realize it. It just turns your whole house around especially if you have kids and you’re running around, trying to bring the kids everywhere. You’re an Uber, you’re a mom, you’re trying to do all the things moms do. Or you’re a husband or a single dad. Even if you have a husband and a wife, everyones going in every direction to take care of everything in the house and now you have almost like another baby coming into the house.
Leah: Right, it just doesn’t last as long in the “baby stage.”
Lori: Yeah, but if it’s a baby no one puts an actual baby on the floor and wings it. Like “oh good job, go figure out that diaper change yourself.” (Laughter) or “Oh, you’re gonna learn off your older brother, he’s going to teach you.” Nobody does that.
But, when people get a new puppy they let them walk around the house, “oh we slapped a pen up,” and still to this day people put newspapers in their house. It blows my mind! Who wants a dog that’s 40-50-60 lbs going on a newspaper? Male dogs? They lift their leg! They get a second dog and they think 10 year old Rover is going to teach Mikey now how to walk on a leash and be behaved? No. It’s just not right, but that’s what everyone does. They’ll get another dog to entertain the other dog. Well, the old dog hates your puppy, they hate the new puppy. So don’t get a new puppy for the old dog, they don’t want that. It’s a very rare occasion where an old dog springs to life when a new fuzzball walks through the door.
Leah: Yes we had to go out of our way when we got the boys to make sure they didn’t interact with our old dog.
Lori: I don’t think it’s necessary for a puppy to bond with an older dog over the person, because unfortunately an old dog goes away. And if your puppy bonded with the old dog the whole time, he’s lost when they leave. So you always have to teach the dog to bond with the person.
Leah: Man’s best friend right?
Lori: Yup. Its a ton of work. It’s good, has a great payoff. I don’t want to be the negative person saying “no don’t get a dog.” I’ve seen some people rise to the occasion, we were talking about this the other day and they love their animal. So, it’s really the second dog thing lately has been a lot for families.
Leah: People feel compelled to get the second dog.
Lori: Yes and they don’t even train the first one.
Leah: I think it’s guilt. I think it’s good old fashioned guilt, if they’re not around as much they think they are going to entertain each other.
Lori: But it takes forever for a puppy to be alone. Or to be normal. They’re psychotic little pirañas.
Leah: They’re demons.
Lori: Yeah, and then they eat the kids. “Oh we just need to teach little Suzie, we just have to teach” what’s every dogs name? Brady! “We just have to teach Brady not to eat the children.” (Laughter) and I go into the house and the kids are running around. Suzie has a tutu on, the dog’s jumping up, grabbing her clothes. She jumps up on the sofa and screams, the puppy starts chasing her. It’s a nightmare. (Laughter)
Leah: It’s just hard. And it’s hard for us to have rules especially when that’s not the way the rest of our society is moving. Right? People don’t want to slap rules on anything or tell anyone what to do. That was the tough part with the couple classes I’ve had, trying to explain to the owner that it’s a dog. He shouldn’t just be allowed to do whatever he wants because there will be no respect for you. If that’s your mindset, don’t expect that the lights going to go off and you’ll be able to ask of your dog and they’ll do it if you’ve given them all this freedom beforehand. But I think it’s just because people feel bad.
Lori: People always feel bad with animals way more than they do with children. They’ll put the smackdown on a kid well before they’ll apply rules for an animal.
Leah: Especially if it’s a rescue animal.
Lori: Yes because they say “Oh this dog had such a terrible life and I’m going to give it the best life by letting it run around the font yard, get lost and get hit by a car.” That’s a worst case scenario. But if you don’t put rules in, then something terrible can happen. Kids leave front doors open and gates open. It’s a terrible circumstance if you don’t train the dog. If you get a rescue, you should feel so happy that you gave the dog an amazing home and now you’re going to add structure to its life.
Leah: Right. I know, even still with Reuben. We got him as a puppy but he still has a little reactivity that we couldn’t anticipate. We manage it by being strict.
Lori: I think it’s important for all of us to acknowledge our dogs weaknesses even if we wouldn’t want to admit it. Cause no one ever wants to admit that their dog has a personality trait that’s slightly unattractive. You know. Or someone who gets a dog that is suppose to be tough you don’t want to say it’s a super sensitive dog. You want to think that it’s a harder personality.
Leah: Right. I get that.
Lori: It’s ok to admit that your dog isn’t perfect. That they have these little quirks but you know how to manage it. That’s what people should focus on. They shouldn’t focus on “oh my dog does this and this,” it should be “oh, my dog does this thing so I’ve learned how to manage it and now we’re doing ok but I know what makes him tick.”
Leah: Right. And I have seen Reuben change. He definitely isn’t the same guy he was a year ago and just having that expectation for him that this whole process takes a lot of time has been pretty eye opening for me. Also, it’s given me a little bit of relief because I feel like I don’t always have to be training him all the time. I just give him time to come into his own and manage.
I was just saying the other day, his toy drive has gone from mediocre to going crazy when a frisbee comes out. To the point where I’m worried that he’s going to bite my hand if I don’t put him in a sit/stay before I present the toy. He never ever would show that type of toy drive. It’s changed. I think that also realizing that the training takes time. Even if you bring your dog to a board and train facility…
Lori: You have to continue it at home.
Leah: Yeah and In the long run..sure, it’s an amount of time. But the amount of time that you’re going to spend with the dog..
Lori: Is forever.
Leah: Having that mindset that training really does take time and things are going to change. We’re working with animals, it’s not like we’re working with an iPhone and that’s something I’ve had to really embrace about this dog training/ownership lifestyle. We’re so used to getting everything right away and with training it’s like…we might do this clicker training but might not see the benefit for like, a while.
Lori: Or any other thing.
Leah: Right, or any other technique you’re using doesn’t mean that you do it a couple times and all of a sudden you have it in the bag. Problem solved, tick, move on to something else.
Lori: And what’s the first question everyone asks when we go to their house?
Leah: “How long is this going to take?” (In unison)
Lori: Well, I don’t know. That makes me think, uh. Once I hear someone say that I know that their efforts are going to be..
Leah: Not good.
Lori: Yeah because they’re just waiting for the end and they didn’t even start yet. And it takes forever to build good habits or to figure things out. I’m 40 years old, it took me forever to figure things out. I think it’s perfectly fine to tell people that the first year is the hardest year in the dogs life. For the dog owner. It takes a long time to get everything just right.
And then a behavior, if it does go backwards, you kind of have to start over again. Every time you put your hands on the dog, they’re learning. You don’t give up on your kids and say “oh he already knows everything, I can send him out into the world now, he’s great. Oh, he’s 1 year old? He’s good, put him out there, let him get a job.” But puppies? In an owners mind, puppies have to be bathroom trained in 2 weeks. “Can he signal me at the door at a week.?”
Leah: “Ring a little bell..” It’s really hard to prevent accidents
Lori: And how long does it take to bathroom train your kid?
Leah: Yeah, a while. (Laughing) It’s a life that we lead.
Lori: But I have some really good families. Some great families. Who do all the work and love their dog and get to enjoy their dog off leash and get to have their dog as part of the family unit. I cling to those families after all these years. I cling to those knowing that there is a light. If I have a few rough classes where the dog doesn’t do everything I want or the people are happy but I’m not happy with the behavior of the dog…but..their happy and what matters is the people are happy and the dog is safe.
So, it took me a long time after I left the kennel to realize that people have different goals for their dogs. For example, I went to an older woman’s house and she wanted her dog to pee on the screened in porch. It was a female so it wasn’t such a bad thing, on a pad, and that’s all she wanted and that’s all I taught her. Cause that’s what she wanted. If I went in there and tried to put any obedience on the dog, that’s not what she wanted!
Leah: Right.
Lori: I’m a dog trainer who thinks that dogs should do a million different things just cause I like to work with a dog and see them do cool things. That’s not what this woman wanted. I think sometimes, dog trainers should walk into a house, find out what the people want and do those things.
Leah: Yeah and I think that’s a business type of mentality. As far as, of course there’s ways that you’re going to train your dog that fall in between super strict competition or canine protection dog and a pet dog owner. What we do falls in between those two extremest or different ways of owning a dog. As a business person, you have to be able to assess “what are the needs of my client?” Even if they seem ridiculous to you, meet them where they are at. Obviously, you have standards, but, I think that’s a great example.
I definitely run into it with dog walking so I offer training as well as dog walking. But some people don’t need training or don’t want it so I have to figure out – can I handle this dog on a daily basis? Can I physically walk this dog? Are things going to be issues or not going to be an issue? But it’s completely ok to assess on a situational base. You have your standard of training. How low will you go? How far beneath the pee pad on the screened in porch are you willing to go to take money from people? But I’m sure for her, that was really helpful.
Lori: I never want anyone to waste their time or money if they work with me. So, almost to the point of if someone isn’t working with their dog I’ll tell them to stop working with me because they’re wasting their time and their money. So, that’s always been…I never go into it thinking “how much can I make?” Because you lose focus of the dog. You’re a business person and you want to be able to support your business but I never look at people as…
Leah: A cash register.
Lori: Never. It’s disrespectful. Because I was in a position where I didn’t know what to do with my dog and someone could have raked me over the coals but they didn’t. And as far as protection work goes. I worked with someone who did Schutzhund, so she had very high standards for her dogs. But, after my first Rottweiler, Ripa, I got a BH on her but I didn’t continue on in Schutzhund. So I got the BH to prove to myself that I could actually do it. I was nervous as hell when I went on the field to do it. Even though I had a great dog who was of course in heat in my first trial ever.
Leah: So did she even see a field before her first trial?
Lori: We weren’t able to go on the field, we were the last dogs to trial.
Leah: Could you just back up and talk briefly about a trial. How long the trial is and a couple of things you have to do? Just for people who have no idea what a trial is.
Lori: We had practiced all the time for (sigh)..when I got Ripa, my intent was “I’m going to train this dog all positive and I’m going to pursue this magical Schutzhund title that I’ve never heard of before.” I had left the kennel, so I left the person who had trained me. I continued with other friends that I had met and made acquaintances in the dog world that I was close to. And, every day we were tracking in the morning.
So, Schutzhund has tracking, obedience and protection. So I did protection work with Ripa, I watched tons and tons of dogs practice protection. It was what we did on the weekends. You hang out with a bunch of people all with the same goals. We went in the middle of fields in the early mornings, laid tracks. Every dog was at a different level. Some were way ahead of the others. Honestly, I had put so much pressure on myself to train Ripa that once I got the BH, life took over. I was trying to find a job, find a life.
Leah: So the BH is a level 1?
Lori: It’s even before a level 1. It was just obedience, protection and tracking are not involved and if I had gone the next level up, protection and obedience would be involved. I was very nervous on the field, I couldn’t even believe that I had done it. I think I blacked out the whole time. (Laughter) I think I blacked out the whole time I was on a field.
Leah: How long is a trial for a BH? 45 minutes?
Lori: Oh no, shorter. You do your heeling patterns, they do a temperament test. It’s very similar to getting your CD. Then your dog, at the end of your time…like I said I haven’t done it in forever. I was just around a lot of people who loved obedience. That’s how I became such a psycho with obedience.
Leah: Yeah, cause you got into it.
Lori: So, at the end of your routine, your dog has to lay down with you out of sight and watch another dog do their routine.
Leah: So if it took you 10 minutes to do your routine it takes 20 minutes with your dog is lying down hanging out while the other dog does their thing.
Lori: Yes maybe 20-30 minutes.
Leah: So she had to wait all day for everyone else because she was in heat, couldn’t be around any of the other dogs.
Lori: It was at the very end of the trial that we were able to go, it sucked.
Leah: You had to wait all day.
Lori: All day? Like two days. Everyone had to go, and my nerves were so high. And it was pouring rain.
Leah: Oh jeez.
Lori: Pouring rain, my dog was in heat. I would practice in the parking lot with Ripa, walking straight lines. Just following the parking spaces. So, Ripa has seen lines on the ground, obviously she’s a very solid dog. But we had got on the field and someone had spray painted a line at the start and when we walked up to the line she backed up about 15’ and freaked out and backed up. Ripa, my solid dog. I was like “Oh, we’re going to fail.” Because it’s just pass fail for a BH. You get points for protection and points for obedience and I just couldn’t believe it. Her heat just wigged her out. Anyway, we got through it. I passed it.
Leah: Basically, I’m trying to make the comparison between the extensive type of training you had done with Ripa with the tracking and protection but not being tested on it per sei vs the pet dog training that we do on a regular basis.
Lori: Yeah I had to calm down. Once I went to pet training. Like, people don’t care if your dog walks in a perfect heel staring at you. That’s what every husband wants, every guy, I hate to be stereotypical but it’s always the guy. It’s always the guy that’s like “I want my dog to be right by my side staring at me” but nobody wants to do the work. They’re just happy if their dog doesn’t go to the bathroom in their house or kill people when they walk through the door as far as jumping on them and torturing them. Can’t eat the children. Like the basic rules of life.
Leah: Yes, I’ve even found that recall to be pretty low on the totem pole for a lot of folks because they have a fenced in yard or an electric fence. To me, it offers so much freedom to bring my dog to a completely open field and play fetch with them.
I can remember, about 2 months ago maybe, I went down to visit some friends and Reuben was a little cooped up in the house so I was able to bring him to a field and throw the ball for him for 15 min to tire him out. That’s really important to me. But some people in a different living situation, they have a fenced in yard or an electric fence and it doesn’t seem to be as important to them.
Lori: I think it’s important for younger couples who don’t have kids yet. Because they travel so much and want to bring their dogs with them. It’s part of the process of life. I’ve seen so many people who are single and then they get with somebody and they get a dog. They travel together, then they get a house, then they have kids. Those people are the most successful with dog training.
The person who needs a dog, they don’t want a dog or their kids aren’t pestering them to get a dog..the person who wants a friend and does everything to help that friend. They have a great dog, now someone enters their life and two people get to share this great dog. Then they have a family and I feel like in most cases, it’s a really smooth transition.
I feel like parents who are forced to get a dog because their kids are screaming at them, no one is forced to do anything they don’t want to, especially a 30-40 year old adult. BUT, I see those people have much more difficulty training and creating a bond with their dog vs the single person who needs a friend. But like I said, I do have a few families where the mom bonded so heavily with the dog.
Leah: Because the mom is always with them.
Lori: Yeah they’re always with them.
Leah: You’ve always said, the mom has to be the one to want the dog if they’re the one spending the time.
Lori: That’s what my trainer said when I first started training. The mom has to want the dog, because they pretty much…it’s always the mom. Very few times have I heard a dad say “I really wanted the dog.” 90 out of the 100 it’s the mom. Just my personal opinion.
Leah: I’d have to agree with that. One comes to mind I won’t name names, but that little auctioned chocolate lab that we take care of.
Lori: (sigh)
Leah: His dad loves him.
Lori: Yeah, they want to be bros, it’s a bromance.
Leah: And the mother in law told me the other day, she was so cute, she came out of the house and was like “you know, I remember when he came home with that dog, he was riding in an Uber, he took an Uber back from the thing he went to and there he had the dog, right in his coat. And he had a ziplock bag of dog food.”
Lori: Oh Lord.
Leah: Surprise! Sometimes the Dad gets into it. But I think it comes down to…who is spending the time with the dog during the day? Friends that I have, guys who stay home with their kids and work in the evening or what not, they’re the ones spending the time with the dog. They’re the ones that the dog is going to bond to.
Lori: The one who feeds them.
Leah: Alright. How are you feeling? Feel good about that? I feel like we can wrap things up.
Lori: All right.
Leah: You gotta talk into the microphone.
Lori: I know, sorry.
Leah: It’s ok, it’s hard.
Lori: But I feel like we covered a lot, what if I…
Leah: We did but we can always do more episodes, there’s no structure to this project.
Lori: It felt like there was no structure, like I was all over the place.
Leah: It was awesome! Anyway, Fitpet Boston Talks. Check out Lori’s pages. A Better Companion Dog Training. Look us up on Facebook, Instagram. Thank you so much for listening!
Lori: Thank you.
Leah: Stay tuned for episode #2, I have a couple people willing to sit down for this project. Alright, cheers everybody.
Get in touch with Lori via Facebook or emailing abcdogtraining1@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057175701586
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