Holiday dog training & pet safety tips with Petco's National Dog Training Manager, Darris Cooper!

foreign [Music] thank you so much for uh speaking with me today I am super excited to talk to you because you are a certified dog trainer for Petco so I've got some questions for you to help pets prepare for the holiday I [Music] actually work in veterinary clinics so I see a lot of pets around the holiday that ingest toxins like um you know food that they shouldn't eat candy sometimes even packaging do you have any advice regarding things that pets eat and how to prevent that from happening in the home right so of course pet safety is important today tomorrow throughout the holiday season and every day of the year you know especially around the holiday season you know when folks are sitting around the dinner table you know as a trainer I'm always going to focus on teaching dogs what we want them to do instead so instead of going after the scraps that have dropped on the floor let's be proactive and give them an interactive toy with treats that are going to be safe for them of course at Pekka we have a variety of different treats and long-lasting chews to keep dogs busy and again as a trainer my North Star is reinforcing behaviors we want to see continue and of course setting our pets up to be successful that is actually such a great idea to give them a treat fall while you're eating dinner so it's like you all have a meal at the same time um I love that I see a lot of uh very persistent dogs come into that clinic oftentimes they are Labs a lot of repeat offenders that eat and chew things so I'm wondering in terms of training a dog to like sit and stay away from the Foods um would you recommend doing that from a puppy can you do it in their in their later life like what kind of barriers are there in terms of training those types of sit and stay tactics right so there's a saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks and I can tell you that certainly is a myth you know whether you are a puppy or a senior dog positive reinforcement-based training really does go a long way uh and so when you're thinking about being able to teach dogs where to go whether you're using lure or reward um using a bed simply like this one here could be a great opportunity to give your dog a designated space at the end of the day positive reinforcement is simple we reinforce what we want with what's reinforcing to the dog whether it's a treat whether it's a toy and the likelihood of that behavior actually continuing actually increases over time so again utilizing beds and we have a variety of different products at Petco and trainers to support you oh that's a relief because my dog Hazel is uh seven years old and she is a garbage can when it comes to food um so it's good to know that uh folks they have a chance at training their dogs to stay away from the table I'm I'm very very curious uh in terms of holiday gifts for dogs what are you seeing that's popular this year what can you recommend well pekko's more admire your line is bigger than ever before and we have some amazing products with us today so whether you are looking to again have that interactive puzzle toy uh again reinforcing undesired behaviors or redirecting undesired behaviors um of course we also have um plush toys that are going to be great for some of the newer puppies where this might be their first holiday uh plush toys actually can provide pups with um Comforts especially in a time when there might be over stimulation within the house and of course if you're wanting to go outside you're going to want to make sure that your pup stays nice and cozy we have our incredible ready line of work of course that's phenomenal and uh very fashion forward I must say that's awesome I have a mountain dog so she's very good Outdoors uh but I do live in Canada and it gets quite cold where I am up North I'm wondering in terms of dog's boots I know Petco has a lot of little booties for dogs that are not like mine that might require boots you have any tips for getting dogs used to walking in the booth right so of course dog boots are phenomenal especially if you're talking about Colder Weather regardless of the size of the dog desensitizing your dog to the boots before you actually take them outside is going to be key so having the dog lying at your side taking the boots out of the packaging and placing it next to their paw reinforcing them for it then you can take that boot and place it on their paw reinforce them for it over time that dog doesn't start to realize that hey when these boots are around good things tend to happen and I'll probably also encourage instead of taking the dog directly outside with the boots on maybe practice walking around the house first again creating positive experiences and desensitizing to the boots before you head outside oh that's excellent uh how many dogs do you have Derek I have two I have an eight-year-old golden retriever his name is zakai and I recently Foster failed I'll call it a foster win uh Kalia she is a rescue pup that um I was uh I found online and she um has just been an incredible addition to the family uh I have to ask do you know what you're getting them for holiday gifts you know luckily I have some connections working at Petco um if the crew lets me I'll take all of this back with me for my pets I know zakai he's a really big fan um of a wholehearted training treats we use this for training but of course we use it just for just daily interactions and then Kalia she's a big time chewer so long lasting shoes are going to be really good so we'll see if the crew lets me take some of this home thank you so much for um chatting with me today I appreciate it and uh happy holidays happy holidays to you as well [Music]