1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Foundations podcast. I'm your host, 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about a recent 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: trip I took that had something to do with sled 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: dogs and what those North Country runners taught me about 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: all working dogs and how we view them. People often 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: tell me I have a dream job, and in a 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: few ways they're not wrong. The free hunting gear is sweet, 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: and many of the trips I've taken just would have 9 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: never happened if it were up to me and my 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: bank account. There are other parts, like about ninety three 11 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: percent of it, that are kind of just a job, 12 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: and that is what it is. But then there are 13 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: times when I have to do something that really sucks 14 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: or makes me question why I ever got into this 15 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: in the first place. Recently that hit home with me 16 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: when I woke up in a freezing tent with a 17 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: shivering black lab in my sleeping bag, And that trip 18 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: and what I learned about it is sort of the 19 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: backbone for this whole episode. If you want to not 20 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: underestimate dogs and truly have a good life with your 21 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: four legged cohorts, this show might help. So buckle up, 22 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: it's time to start. This is you know, probably gonna 23 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: show my age a little. But do you know how 24 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: sometimes you're like, Hey, this thing would be a really 25 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: good idea, we should do it, and then about three 26 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: months past and that thing becomes a reality and you're 27 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: just like, shit, I don't want to do that thing. 28 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: I sort of feel like, in a roundabout way, I 29 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: just described most of adulthood, but maybe not. I did 30 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: specifically describe a show that I just filmed, though, so 31 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: picture this way Back at the beginning of the year, 32 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: my boss and I had a conversation about what shows 33 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: i'd filmed for the season. What I like about this 34 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: part of my job, aside from the fact that I 35 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: really don't like filming anything, is that I have a 36 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: lot of creative license. If I can make a strong 37 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: enough case for something I want to do, I can 38 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: usually get it approved. Well. During this meeting with my boss, 39 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: he said to me, I want you to do a 40 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: couple more shows with your dog, you know, hunting something 41 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: that someone might care about in some place. Right, pretty vague, right. 42 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: I had been kicking around the idea doing something with 43 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:09,839 Speaker 1: sled dogs, since I just think the air cool as hell, 44 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: and the few people I've met who are big into 45 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: mushing are generally the kind of people with whom I 46 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: can have a very enjoyable conversation. So somehow in my 47 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: head all four of my functioning brain cells got together 48 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: in a little huddle and said, why don't we take 49 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: a sled dog team into the wilderness in northern Minnesota 50 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: and then winter camp for grouse with my pup, Sadie. 51 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: Then we can show how sled dogs work and how 52 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: bird dogs work, and blah blah blah. Everyone who didn't 53 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: have to winter camp literally twenty five miles from the 54 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: Canadian border thought it was a great idea. Now, as 55 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: November wound down, it started to become a reality. I felt, 56 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: you know, a lot of things, but none of them 57 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: were excitement. Spending a few days in a tent with 58 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: a cameraman and a pup and dealing with everything being 59 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: frozen all the time started to bother me so much 60 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: that I stopped checking the weather forecast. Now up here 61 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: we get a lot of below zero weather this time 62 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: of year, and seeing those negative numbers in the ten 63 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: day and then the hourly forecast sucked a lot. But 64 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: when we drove to northern Minnesota, a route by the 65 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: way in which I saw quite a few people in 66 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: the ditch due to a December storm. I tried to 67 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: be excited, but it wasn't until we met up with Sean, 68 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: who's the owner of Hauling Dogs, which is based out 69 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: of Ely, that I started to get excited. He's a 70 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: dog guy, and he's the sort of unassuming badass that 71 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: I'd love to be when I grew up, but I'll 72 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: likely never be as capable as he is now. As 73 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: you can imagine, the conversation went to dogs, and Sean 74 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: and his musher Buddy Page talked a lot about what 75 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: their dogs can do, how they are raised and handled, 76 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: and honestly, it did a lot for me mentally. Being 77 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: around real dog people is always nice, I guess. The 78 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: following morning, when we pulled into Shawn's yard and saw 79 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: thirty sled dogs chain to their houses, the first thing 80 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: that struck me was how quiet it was. I thought 81 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: it was going to be a peer howling chaos, but 82 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: what I first heard when I stepped out of my 83 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: truck was a little bit of wind coming down from 84 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: the land of maple syrup and hockey, and one raven 85 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: croaking away as it wheeled overhead. And then tried to 86 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: land close enough to the dogs to steal a morsel 87 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: of their breakfast. Sean gave me a quick breakdown of 88 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: how to steer the dogs since I was going to 89 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: drive my own sled, and then we loaded up and 90 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: pointed them into the wilderness. Now, when someone like that 91 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: gives you directions on how to steer a sled dog team, 92 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: he doesn't tell you that the sled dog team is 93 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: going to do what sled dog teams do and that 94 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: you're mostly there to run the brakes on this sled 95 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: because they're going where they're going to go. It didn't 96 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: matter to me, though, because it was freaking awesome. If 97 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: you've never stood behind eight sled dogs and pulled on 98 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: the rope to get the whole thing in motion, you're 99 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: missing out. Gliding through ten miles of true wilderness behind 100 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: a team of dogs that has not only been bred 101 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: for the task but loves it with every fiber of 102 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: their being is just really really cool. It was also 103 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: cool to see how they'd respond to any movement I'd make, 104 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: and how quickly they'd course correct or all shift their 105 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: gaits slightly to miss a rock on the trail. It 106 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: was cool how they all decided that they had been 107 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: quiet enough at the onset so that when they were 108 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: ready to run, or when we stopped to film something 109 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: and they took offence to it, they're howling and yipping. 110 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: Was almost deafening. And if you're wondering how a forty 111 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 1: eight pound lab that would lose a fight with a 112 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: three legged mouse thinks of suddenly being dropped into a 113 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: world of thirty sled dogs, Sadie was terrified for much 114 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: of that experience, and I don't blame her, but the 115 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: sled dogs weren't really what I expected, which was a relief. 116 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: In fact, when we got to our campsite, which was 117 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: a clear spot on the top of a clear cut 118 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: with a view of miles of rolling pine forests, Sean 119 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: told me to give each dog on my team a 120 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: little love and tell them that they did a very 121 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: good job. Every one of those dogs leaned in for 122 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: an ear scratch or a belly rub, and I got 123 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: quite a few kisses on the face from them. I 124 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: didn't expect that. I thought sled dogs would be these 125 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: hardened beasts of burden that didn't care about people at all. 126 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: I was super wrong, and I brought that up several times, 127 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: until another fellow who showed up to help us get 128 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: out after our trip was over, said that that was 129 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: just how Sean raised and handled his dogs. They're not tools. 130 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: They were all unique and had their own jobs, and 131 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: I never saw him walk by a dog that he 132 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: could pet where he didn't. The idea I had of 133 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: mushers and of sled dogs wasn't wrong, and it wasn't right. 134 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: It was just a series of beliefs I'd crafted out 135 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: of having no real experience with them, and then I 136 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: just assumed I was right. It didn't make any sense 137 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: to me that someone could have that many dogs and 138 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: love them like we love our dogs, and use them 139 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: for something that was mostly foreign to me, and I 140 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: didn't even understand. And when I asked Joe and Sean 141 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: about that, they just said, well, yeah, some people just 142 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: treat their sled dogs that way, and some don't. You See, 143 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: the rules I believed to be true weren't true at all. 144 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,359 Speaker 1: I just had no bays for questioning them because I 145 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: had no experience with which to raise those questions or 146 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: see that I was wrong. I look at it kind 147 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: of like the idea in the white tail world, where 148 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: everyone thinks they can age deer accurately by looking at them. 149 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: This came from the outdoor TV media world, and I 150 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: think it has done more damage than just about anything. 151 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: So many people definitively claim that a buck is young 152 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: because of this body shape or that, and that all 153 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: mature bucks have very specific traits. But they never check 154 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: their work though. When you do send in your teeth 155 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: to get the deer aged through cementum annual lie aging, 156 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: which counts the rings of growth and their teeth just 157 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: like the rings of a tree, the deer are often 158 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: way way older than they think. It never occurs to 159 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: most of us that while we accept without question that 160 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: genetics play a role in antler size, those same genetics 161 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: play a role in body size and shape. I'm six too, 162 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: and I've met full grown men who are both a 163 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: foot shorter than me and some that were dang near 164 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: a foot taller any huski. My point is this a 165 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: lot of what we believe. We believe because we've heard it, 166 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: and when enough people say something, it just sort of 167 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: cements itself into the way things are. With dogs. This 168 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: kind of thinking can be dangerous because it might talk 169 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: us into getting the wrong breed. It might talk us 170 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: into not training the way we should, and it might 171 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: just generally work against us dog wise. But mostly where 172 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: I think the danger lies is that it limits our 173 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: ideas on what our dogs are capable of, and that 174 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: means we never really try. It's also a great way 175 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: to excuse a way of bad behavior. So think about 176 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: it this way. Let's say you opt for some type 177 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: of dog that has generally thought of to be a 178 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: high strong breed. I don't know, English cockers, German short hairs, 179 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: some type of dog that has the reputation as a burner. 180 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: If you know this going in, you might make a 181 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: really good plan to run that dog a lot and 182 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: get it tons of exercise. But when you do that, 183 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: you now have a very in shape burner of a dog. 184 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: That's great for some people, but some people it's not 185 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: so great. And we all know that if you have 186 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: a high drive dog that has no outlets, it'll often 187 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: become a huge pain in the ass. But not everyone 188 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: who runs English cockers or gsps has that problem. They 189 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: understand generally what they're getting into with a dog, and 190 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: they work with it, so everyone involved has a good life. 191 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: What they don't do is go, well, what are you 192 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,719 Speaker 1: going to do. They're going to chew up slippers and 193 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: knock over Gramma when she comes over for Christmas, because 194 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: that's the kind of dog they are. We do this 195 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: with kids a lot, And if you happen to know 196 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: any teacher and you don't believe this, ask them what 197 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: the common denominator is with most of the problem kids 198 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: they deal with. I'll bet you a bag of dog 199 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: food that they'll say something about the parents and how 200 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: far their heads are buried in the sand, often while 201 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: waving away bad behavior through some platitude like, well, boys 202 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: will be boys, right, But you know when most of 203 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,199 Speaker 1: the kindergarten boys are playing with blocks and trucks, you're 204 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:02,079 Speaker 1: just crawled into the duck work and the ceiling. It 205 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: took a dump in there. There's something going on. When 206 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: we limit our thinking on this kind of thing with dogs, 207 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: it can go a lot of different directions. That high 208 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: drive dog that we write off is whatever, is probably 209 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: capable of a lot more than we were giving it 210 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: credit for. We might not even know that just about 211 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: any dog that will pick up and carry something can 212 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: probably be trained to shed hunt, and even if they 213 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:25,959 Speaker 1: won't be very good at it, they are capable of it, 214 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: and that's good for them and for you. This, in 215 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: some ways is another sign on how we view our 216 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: relationship with our dogs, or at least how some folks do. 217 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: They buy a dog that is this breed which is 218 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: known for these traits, and then they expect that breed 219 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: to deliver the behaviors it's generally known for. But that 220 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: largely discounts our influence in the whole thing, which we 221 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: have a hell of a lot of agency over. I'm 222 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: sure Sean could have mindless robot sled dogs that win 223 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: races and happily pull clueless grout hunters into the wilderness 224 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: without complaining, But there would be something missing there, and honestly, 225 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: they probably wouldn't work for him in a way that 226 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: they should. They would get the job done, but there 227 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: would be an intangible missing that would take the whole 228 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: experience down a notch, even if it was nearly imperceptible 229 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: to a lot of people. But his style is to 230 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: treat them like they are a team, and that allows 231 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,319 Speaker 1: him to ask a lot of them, which they are 232 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: happy to deliver. That might be the best thing about 233 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: trying to forget a lot about what we think we 234 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: know of our dogs and truly trying to learn what 235 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,679 Speaker 1: they are and what they need and what makes them tick. 236 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: That's something that I've run into with a hell of 237 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: a lot of good trainers. Now what I mean by 238 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 1: that aren't just folks who can get dogs to do 239 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 1: what they want them to do. You can force a 240 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: dog to behave and plenty of trainers do that, or 241 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: at least a lot of them used to, but I 242 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: doubt it's gone away completely. Forced compliances a thing. But 243 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: if it's the primary training method, that relationship is going 244 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: to suffer, and that dog will not deliver those behaviors 245 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: to anyone else without that same force, which a lot 246 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: of people aren't willing to do. It's the whole catch 247 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: and more flies with honeything. And when we believe that 248 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: our dogs are capable of a lot, and then we 249 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: work to see how much that really is, it only 250 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: strengthens the relationship and I think produces dogs that are 251 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: more likely to be independent problem solvers who know when 252 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: to ask for our help. When I see a trainer 253 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: who is curious about what dogs can really achieve, I 254 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: generally see someone who has a very loyal following. It 255 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: doesn't have to work too hard to keep the clients 256 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 1: coming back. They've learned that dogs are individuals, and there 257 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: are breed characteristics that are usually pretty reliable, but that 258 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: the variance in each dog is enough to work with 259 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: to do better than what's generally expected, at least in 260 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: cases where there's some decent blood to work with. Anyway, 261 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: this is one of the reasons I think it's such 262 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: a good idea to expose ourselves to the greater world 263 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 1: of good dogs and good dog trainers. It's kind of 264 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: the opposite of how we are pressured to live these days, 265 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: where we develop up some world views and then select 266 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: carefully curated content to further cement those views instead of 267 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: questioning them and trying to understand why someone else might 268 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: think differently. When you make up your mind about something 269 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: dog wise and allow that to stick, it can hold 270 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: you back in ways that you can't imagine if you're 271 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,319 Speaker 1: never exposed to people and other dogs that don't adhere 272 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: to those beliefs. I realize that not everyone can hire 273 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: a sled dog musher to help them understand dogs in 274 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: general better, nor would you want to if you don't 275 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: want to freeze your knackers off. But there's nothing that 276 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: says you need to go to those extremes. Think about 277 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: what you could do in your life to expand your 278 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: relationship with your dog. Can you take them to Cabela's 279 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: or some other pet friendly store for a short shopping trip. 280 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: If not, then you have a pretty good idea some 281 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: behavior issues you probably need to work on something that 282 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: would be good to do this winter, or I don't know, 283 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: can your upland dog be trained to hunt ducks? Have 284 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: you ever watched someone train a therapy dog or a 285 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: service dog. There are a lot of ways to go 286 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: about this stuff, but the key is to stay curious 287 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: and absorb information from a lot of different sources. It 288 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: has become super popular in the dog training world to 289 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: adopt some trainer's method and then follow that forever. There's 290 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: a lot of good in a lot of those programs generally, 291 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: but the idea that someone who trains gsps has all 292 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: the answers for you and your specific GSP and that 293 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: you shouldn't look outside for answers or ideas is just flawed. 294 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: It's a great start, a great path to follow, but 295 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: can become limited in your thinking in a hurry if 296 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: you're not careful. There is also the truth that the 297 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: more you do with your dog, whatever that might be, 298 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: the more they'll show you not only what they need, 299 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: but also what you can do to make the relationship better. 300 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: Maybe you have a great dog, but it's a wire 301 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 1: hair some other dog that really likes to run, and 302 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: you can't have them off leash because well, they're going 303 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: to run. Yet someone somewhere has a very similar dog 304 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: that can be trusted off leash no matter how many 305 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: squirrels are out or how many people they see in 306 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: the park. The best way to sign off on this 307 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: is to think about what your dog can do and 308 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: what you can do with your dog, versus focusing on 309 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: what your dog isn't very good at or what you 310 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: don't want to do with your dog because of some 311 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: expected behavior due to the breed. Reframe your thinking, expose 312 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: yourself to the greater world of good dogs. See where 313 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: it takes you. Do that, and then come back in 314 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: two weeks because I'm gonna start talking about researching litters 315 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: of puppies and some of the big mistakes a lot 316 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: of folks make. That's it for this show. I'm Tony Peterson. 317 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: This has been The Houndation's podcast as always. I want 318 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: to thank you so much for all your support. I 319 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: have never, ever, ever, ever worked out a place in 320 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: the outdoors industry where we've had such a great audience. 321 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: It's truly special, so thank you for that. If you 322 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: want some more hunting content because you want to learn something, 323 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: maybe you want to get a recipe to cook something 324 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: up here, or maybe you're just bored out of your 325 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: mind because there's like fifteen hours of darkness this time 326 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: of year, go to the mediater dot com. We drop 327 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: new content every single day. I'm talking can articles, recipes, podcasts, films, whatever, 328 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: it's all there at the mediator dot com. Go check 329 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: it out.