(bright upbeat music) - Will you "Consider This"?

We've gone to the dogs again, and she says, "Ho, hum."

That's Sadie, and this is her mom, Jenny Lapke, and we're gonna hear all about Sadie's story and the Good Dog Training Academy.

But first of all, I wanna know more about Jenny Lapke.

You were studying to be a pediatrician?

- I was, and then I figured out that, you know, I really enjoyed behavior modification, and I've always loved dogs, and so I either wanted to work with kids or dogs, and then, you know, I'm really glad that it took me the dog route.

- Okay.

(Jenny laughs) Well now you grew up here?

- I did, yes.

- And your mom's a pediatrician?

- Yes.

- Retired now.

- [Jenny] Yep.

- But then, so how did you then go from medical school to dog school?

(chuckles) - Well so in college, I fell into training service dogs, quite by accident.

I found a group on campus, Paws Giving Independence.

And I went to Bradley, and so they, I thought it was a therapy dog group, and was just wanting to go see puppies, and you know, always a good thing.

- [Christine] Right.

- But so I really fell in love with training service dogs, and fostered our first service dog in training, Tilly, and she didn't make it as a service dog, but she's still around, and she still lives with us.

- Okay.

(both chuckle) Now why didn't she make it?

She's just- - She's nervous.

- All right.

Well you know, just like people.

We're all different.

- Absolutely.

And not all dogs make it, most dogs don't make it as a service dog.

- Well that's tough, 'cause when you're getting attention, and you have to ignore that attention, that must be pretty tough for them.

- Absolutely.

So Sadie was actually in training to be a service dog as well, but she likes to bark.

- [Christine] Oh, okay.

- And so we don't quite want that as a service dog.

But it works out great, because now she's a therapy dog, so we go to different places, like Almost Home Kids, and different reading groups, and we're actually going to Bradley for an event tomorrow, and so we get to meet people that way, and she gets to show off her tricks that way.

- All right, well she's pretty sweet.

Now she's also, she has been in some productions.

- She has.

- Locally.

- Yes.

- She's been in "Annie", yes, and you have your own little bio in here, too.

And you give out autographs.

- She does.

- We've got a little autograph right here on the bottom of this, yeah.

Well, she had a little help with that autograph.

- [Jenny] She did, yes.

But that is her actual paw print.

- [Christine] Oh, that's cool.

- Yeah, we had a stamp made of her paw print.

- That's little.

But so how do you train her then for those specific roles, when she's on stage or doing whatever?

- So it depends on what exactly is required of her.

With "Annie", she had to form a really good bond with Violet, who was her Annie, or Reagan, who was in "Annie Jr" with her.

And so what it really accounted to was Violet was the only one giving her treats.

- [Christine] Okay.

- Especially at the beginning.

And so I really kind of taught Violet, okay, here's what we're going to reinforce for.

Here's what we want Sadie to do, and so Violet became my dog trainer.

And so she had to work with being a dog trainer, and singing and performing at the same time, but Sadie found that she really loved Violet, and would look for her every time we got to the theater.

- Oh, sweet.

- So that was so sweet.

- Sweet.

Now, she's also been in some national commercials?

- [Jenny] She has.

- They have a dog talent agency?

- They do.

(Christine laughs) They have multiple dog talent agencies.

And so Sadie's been in commercials for some dog treats, and then for a Purina type of food, so yeah, those are really fun.

Especially the dog treat one was her favorite, because she got to sample the treats, of course.

- Wow.

So how does she audition for that?

- So we submit a video.

There's a casting call, and usually there's a look, a specific look, that they want the dog to have.

So they're not gonna cast her if they want a golden retriever.

- Right.

- You know, she doesn't look like one of those.

- Not even close, no.

- Nope.

Or if they want a chihuahua, it's not Sadie, either.

But so they also list out what they want the dog to do.

So most recently, there was a casting call where they wanted the dog to cuddle with the actor.

- [Christine] Okay.

- And so we submit a video of her essentially doing this.

- All right.

- And we'll use friends and that type of thing to simulate strangers, and that type of thing.

- [Christine] Right.

- And then we get the call of- - She does a good job.

- Yeah.

- All right, so let's get to puppyhood.

- [Jenny] Oh, boy.

- You wanna talk about puppies?

Yeah, I'm getting a bad look now right there.

(Jenny laughs) I'm an old dog.

How do you stop, how do you train, 'cause you have to do every level of everything, potty training, you know, housebreaking.

I used bells on the door.

- Yeah.

- That was, and it worked.

But I mean, is that like the standard?

- It depends on the dog.

I love to use bells.

However, we had a dog who used the bells beautifully, but she started equating the bells with dinner.

- [Christine] Oh, interesting.

- Yeah, because she went outside right before.

- Oh, okay.

- And so then she started to ring the bells, like we're at 3:30.

- [Christine] Okay, 'cause I want food now.

- Exactly.

But we're not gonna have dinner at 3:30.

- Mm-hmm.

- But- - Well, you might not, but some of us may.

- You know.

(Christine laughs) So what we do is we wanna keep them on a consistent schedule.

If we feed them on a consistent schedule, then their potty habits are gonna be on a more consistent schedule.

And I also really like to think of it as I take them out when there are transitions happening.

So when they're transitioning from a nap to play, or- - Well, we all have to go to the bathroom after a nap.

- Absolutely.

- Okay, got it.

- Or if they are going from room to room, and they are deciding then that they want to, "Oh, we're gonna go out for a walk," or, "We're gonna go," (chuckles) "We're gonna go do some training," or, "We're gonna go play with something new," then I may think, okay, now's a great time to go take the dog out to go potty, and puppies can hold their bladder for about an hour per month old they are.

- Aw, okay.

- Yeah.

- That's interesting to know.

- Yeah, so it's kind of a nice guideline of- - [Christine] How often they have to go out.

- How often, and sometimes I'll even set a timer on my phone depending on the puppy, but usually, they also start to move away from the human when they have to go potty.

They wanna move away from where they eat, sleep, and play.

- [Christine] So you have to pay attention.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Okay, now how about chewing, and getting your slippers- - Oh, those are fun.

- And getting your glasses, or the kids' retainers, or something.

- Yes.

And those are even more high ticket items, because they smell like you.

- [Christine] Okay.

(Jenny laughs) - Right.

And so we like to have a lot of options for the dog that are appropriate, and when they have something that isn't appropriate, I like to trade.

So I will trade for treats, or I'll trade for a toy.

So I make the toy super exciting by moving it all around, or I will start a little pile of treats on the ground.

- Okay.

Hansel and Gretel style?

- Uh, kind of.

(Christine laughs) I kind of just make a little pile.

- Oh, okay.

- And so then the dog is like, "Oh, what is that?"

- That's much more interesting.

- It is, and then because it's on the ground, gravity's gonna help us.

So they drop whatever's in their mouth, and then they get their treats.

- [Christine] Okay.

- So then they're gonna start to come to you, like, "Oh my goodness, when I hear that trade word, I'm coming to you," instead of running away and making it a game of chase.

- So this is not just something, yes, you were learning when you were doing it with Paws for Independence, but you had to have specific special training.

You've trained with some of the best?

- I have, yes.

So I am a Karen Pryor Academy certified training partner, and so some of my training mentors worked with and trained with marine mammals at the Shedd Aquarium, or the elephants, and all of those animals at the Brookfield Zoo, and so they've trained worldwide.

And so all of the same principles apply in dog training as they do to learning for everybody else.

So humans and elephants and all of that, you can't really make an elephant do something you don't want them to do.

- [Christine] Right.

- And so we wanna make it fun for the animal, as well as the human, in the dog training world.

So we wanna get it so that the animal really is invested, and really wants to participate.

- And so you'll go into homes and work with people and their dogs.

How do you make the differentiation between you doing the teaching and whoever is their human?

- So it depends, but a lot of the time, I may demo something with the dog, and then I will teach the human how to do it.

- [Christine] Okay.

- So a lot of the times, it really is more teaching the human what to do, because it doesn't matter if they do it for me.

I'm not the one living with the dog.

- [Christine] Right.

- I really wanna make it so that it's easy for you to live with your dog, because if it's not easy, you're not gonna do it.

Neither would I.

- Yeah.

It's not gonna be any fun for you or the dog.

- Right.

- Right.

Okay.

Now, let's get back to our star here.

(Jenny chuckles) She also got to go up to be with the Cubs at one point.

- She did.

Yes, in August.

She did a photo shoot with Gray Malin, who's an international photographer, and the Cubs.

And so that was so fun.

We got to be on the field, in the dugout, inside the scoreboard.

- Wow.

- It was- - You didn't teach her how to change any of the numbers on the scoreboard?

- [Jenny] No, they're a little too big.

- Okay.

(laughing) You have to get just her size, right?

- Right.

- All right.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- [Jenny] And they're metal, so that makes it a little harder.

- I guess.

- Yeah, and it was crazy because I had to, we had to do all of the basic things, you know, like a sit, and we did some more advanced things, like holding items.

But it was at Wrigley Field, so there were all the sounds of Chicago going on.

- Sure.

- And they were doing construction, and there was, they were even practicing for the air show.

- Oh my.

- So.

- Wow.

- There was a lot going on, so we had to really work on her focus.

- I guess, yeah.

So what has been your biggest challenge in this new career that you have chosen?

Have you had any major failures?

(chuckles) - No, I don't think anything is a failure, because we can always learn from it.

But there are some times where it's just tricker than others, and we really have to, there's no one set way to get from point A to point B. Sometimes we just have to get creative, and you know, if it doesn't work this way, we'll try to go around it.

- And you learn that when you're in school, through this Karen Pryor program?

- Yeah.

- How to redirect.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- And really, I've learned that through, even through the nursing and all of the medical stuff as well, of really just talking to people, and okay, we may not get there this way, but we'll see if we can try it this way.

- [Christine] All right.

- See if we can approach it a different way.

- All right.

So now, do you also do some group training?

- I do.

- All right.

And where do you do that?

- I do group classes out of Play All Day over in East Peoria.

- Okay.

- And so we have small groups, so the max is six dogs, and so then everybody can get that individual attention.

But we still have the other dogs in there so we can have distraction that is- - We can learn how to get along with others.

- [Jenny] Yes.

- So in a situation like that, do you make sure that they're all kind of the same size?

Or do you range from chihuahua, shih tzu, to great dane?

- Definitely range in size.

My class on Monday nights, we have a Rottweiler, and then we have a little, little puppy mix.

- Okay, okay.

- And- - I love mutts, too.

- Yes, me too.

And so what we do is I teach them pretty much how to look at something, and then look back to their owner, so then they see the dog, but that becomes the cue to look back to their owner of, "Oh, okay.

What are we doing?"

- Oh, got it.

- And so they're not so focused on the other dog, because sometimes they just get too excited.

- [Christine] Mm-hmm.

- There is time and all to play and interact, but we wanna do that in a safe way.

- So back to the human.

So you have two people in a household.

- [Jenny] Yeah.

- And one is the main human.

How do you teach them to pay attention to the other one in the house?

Or is that very confusing for them?

- Most of the time, as long as the humans are on the same page, then the dog figures it out pretty well.

So if you give consistent cues, like if we call a sit a sit, then things work out really well.

- [Christine] Mm-hmm.

- Now it doesn't have to be called sit.

It could be called blue.

It doesn't matter, as long as you're consistent.

But we wanna make sure that we're reinforcing for the things that you like, and then not reinforcing for the things that you don't like.

- How many words should a dog, just any dog, recognize, or yeah, I guess recognize is the best word.

- Yeah.

Well, so I actually just read a study recently that they know so much more than we expect, and the more you talk to your dog, the more they're gonna know, kinda like kids.

- Very smart, yeah.

- Yup.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Well, I hate to wake her up.

She looks so comfortable, but- (Jenny laughs) Let's go see what she can do, tire her out.

- Okay, great.

- Okay.

So we'll be right back.

We gotta transition a little bit here.

Well, brought a little field trip over here just across the studio so that we could see Sadie perform.

So Jenny, where do we start?

- Okay, well Sadie's absolute favorite trigger is her mailbox.

- Okay.

- So we're gonna see what she does with that.

- Okay.

- Can you get the mail?

- And these are letters from Santa.

- Oh yes.

- Or to Santa.

- Good job!

So we use this in her Jolly Holiday show.

- Okay.

- So she went and got a letter.

Good job, Sadie.

And then I also brought her mark.

- All right.

- So this is another thing that we used a lot in the theater.

And so what I'm gonna do, she knows to put her paws on it.

- Okay.

- Good job.

- [Christine] Good girl, yeah.

- So I'm gonna put my treat right on there.

I'm gonna stick our mail, our little letter in here.

And then I'm gonna bring Sadie over here.

(Christine chuckles) You already did that.

- But isn't there another letter to Santa, mommy?

- Only one letter, I'm sorry.

(Christine chuckles) Go mark.

- All right.

- Good.

- So, okay.

Those are tricks as you go along.

- Yes.

- What are the very first things that you teach a dog to get their attention?

'Cause sometimes they don't pay attention.

- Absolutely.

So one of my favorite things is just reinforcing for when they're watching us.

- Okay.

- So like Sadie's doing right now, I'm going to mark with a yes.

And then give her a treat.

And it's just a little piece of a treat so she gets the taste of it.

- Mm-hmm.

- My other favorite thing is a nose touch.

So I'm gonna put my hand out.

She's gonna touch her nose to my hand.

- [Christine] Okay.

- Yes.

- Aw, cute.

- But this works great for working on walking politely next to you.

It works for greeting people, and it works for fun tricks like spin, and stuff like that.

So let's try that with you and see if she will come greet you politely.

- Okay.

- Go get it.

I'm gonna pick up her mark so she doesn't go get it.

- She wants that letter.

- She does.

Yup, so you're just gonna put your hand out.

Go touch.

Touch.

Yes.

(both chuckle) - That was close.

- It was close.

Yes.

- But now, was she ever a jumper?

- Um, a little bit.

At home when she gets super excited, she can be a jumper.

- All right.

- And so I'm just gonna reinforce for her just having four paws on the floor.

It's easier to catch them when they're doing things right- - Right.

- Rather than wait for them to do things that you - - To say the N-O word.

- Exactly.

- Right, okay.

- Things that you wouldn't prefer them to do, and it's really much easier for them to maintain that calmer disposition.

- Okay, all right.

Let's see.

- Yeah, okay.

Are you ready?

Let's see.

We can even start with her, if I have a dog that's gonna come in.

Ooh.

Come on, Sadie!

Yeah!

Good.

So as she's coming towards me, I'm gonna mark with the yes, and then treat, so we've reinforced that.

And some dogs, I may have to reinforce when we're about halfway across the room.

- Oh, okay.

- They're gonna have to have four paws on the floor at some point.

- Mm-hmm.

- And so just the mechanisms of jumping.

- All right.

- And so we're gonna take that for what it is, and really reinforce that.

- Okay.

- Good job.

Can you spin?

Good.

Touch.

Yes.

Okay.

Let's see.

- Now you do something without her leash on as well?

- Oh yes.

- All right, let's see.

- Yes.

So she's used to being with me, and so I've reinforced for her being with me, too.

And so we'll see if she will take her leash for me.

Can you get your leash?

Thank you.

Good job, Sadie.

- So you're gonna teach her to get bottles of water out of the fridge, like that one commercial, or whatever?

- Absolutely.

- Yeah, okay.

(laughing) - The only trick is you have to make sure the water is on the right shelf, and there's nothing like hot dogs or string cheese around there, too- (Christine laughs) to distract.

- Okay.

Strictly water, okay.

- Yes.

- All right, now what else is- - Oh, what else- - Is on her menu?

- Do you wanna do?

Let's see.

Do you wanna spin?

Good job.

Can you weave?

Good.

Oh, we're gonna sniff.

- [Christine] Well, there's something over there, yeah.

- [Jenny] Good job.

- [Christine] You know, there's all kinds of things to sniff in the world.

- There is, absolutely.

And so even like on walks, I deal with this as well, with a lot of dogs.

And so I'm just gonna reinforce her for paying attention to me, and then we're gonna keep going.

- So how is she when there's another dog coming toward her when you're taking her for a walk?

- So what we do with that is I get her attention on me, but I also will reinforce for her watching the other dog or person, because she likes to see other people, but she gets sometimes a little excited.

- Okay.

- So.

- With people and dogs?

- Yes.

- Okay, all right.

- Yup.

So when she sees somebody, I may mark, as long as she's quiet, and then give her a treat with that, too.

- Okay.

Looks like that treat went on the side of her mouth for a while, but I think she got it.

- You got it?

- Yeah, she did.

- You got it?

You wanna do something fun?

Here's another one of your favorites.

Ready?

Selfie.

- Aw.

Oh!

(laughing) - Yes.

Can you switch?

- Aw.

- Good job.

We're gonna get a nice closeup of that sound of that treat.

- [Christine] Mm-hmm, yeah.

Are you gonna eat the microphone, too?

- Maybe.

Can you jump?

No?

No jumping today?

Spin.

Oh, let's try this one.

Down.

Oh.

And so she's not feeling a down today.

- [Christine] Uh-huh?

- That's okay.

- Okay.

- I'm gonna see what she will do.

Do something a little easier, yes.

Mark for that.

And then we'll try the down again.

- Okay.

- Let's see.

Down.

Oh, there's a big stretch.

- [Christine] Oh, good.

I feel that way, too.

- There we go.

So now we're in the down.

And I will reinforce that.

- [Christine] Okay.

- Let's see.

Do you wanna cross your paws?

Criss.

Cross.

- Aw.

- Good.

- So sweet.

- Can you sit?

- Oh.

- Can you wave?

Yeah.

Good job.

Chin.

Very nice.

Are you shy?

- [Christine] Oh.

(laughing) - [Jenny] Yes, good job.

- Oh my gosh, that's so cute.

All right.

- Good job.

Oh, you're still shy.

- She's still shy, yeah.

- Thank you.

- Uh-huh.

- Come on, come on.

- So how long did it teach you to train her those things, and how long just for a pet to be able to do these things?

- So it depends on what level of training you're wanting.

So that "shy" at the end, some dogs will pick it up right away.

Sadie, it took her longer.

It took us probably about a year to get that.

- Okay.

- But for basic sits and downs and things like that, they're offering those behaviors a lot during the day, so you can make the process go a lot faster by just reinforcing throughout the day.

So it could be that I teach a dog how to sit within, you know, where they get it, within a day or two.

- All right.

- But I- - All dogs are different.

- They are, and it's different when we have different distractions.

- Mm-hmm.

- So if I can get my dog to do a "down" in the living room at home, that looks different to the dog than if I try to do it at the kitchen, or if I try to do it outside.

- All right.

- Dogs think in pictures, so it's really different, so if I have, if I'm working with Sadie right here, this looks different to her than if I turn it even this way.

- Okay.

I get it.

So different environments, they adjust?

- Yes.

- Because again, you said, so they just kind of categorize, okay, this works here, this works here.

What if you're not home during the day, and what if there's family members around, kids running around?

- Yeah.

(laughing) - How does that work?

- Sometimes, it's a little chaotic.

- All right.

- But they really start to learn about what gets them, what is reinforcing for them.

So sometimes it is the play with the kids, and stuff like that, or running around, that game of chase, that can be really reinforcing to the dog, and to the kids.

- Okay.

(both laugh) - But we can still reinforce.

Usually I like to do about five minute sessions a day, or at a time, and then take a break.

- Mm-hmm?

- Because we want this to be easy.

- Right, and fun.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah, learning should be fun.

- Absolutely.

Fun for the dog and for the human.

- Mm-hmm.

Now what if she does something wrong?

Then again, you don't wanna correct her, you wanna reinforce good behaviors, so what if she does something wrong, then how to do discipline her?

- So as long as everybody's safe, I just kind of ignore it and try to change the environment, so then she is successful the next time.

- Okay.

- So let's say she were to jump on me.

Come on.

Are you gonna do it?

(Christine chuckles) Come on, up.

So, now I did cue her to do that, but if she were to jump, I might ask her to come off, and then invite her into me again.

Come here, Sadie.

- [Christine] Wait, I heard a camera.

- [Jenny] Come on, yes.

And so I give her a second chance.

- [Christine] All right.

- [Jenny] And then I'm reinforcing a little bit earlier so that she is successful.

- Okay, awesome.

Well she's such a good girl, Sadie girl.

- Go see.

- Hello.

Oh, she says, "Mommy has the treats."

- Here, let me give you the treat.

- All right, can you sit?

- Very nice.

- All right, good girl.

- And I bet she'll even give you her paw.

- [Christine] Can you give me your paw?

- Paw.

- Shake?

- [Jenny] Oh, we're gonna give a chin.

- All right.

- There you go.

- There you go.

- Good.

- Okay, well she did such a good job.

You're doing a good job, too.

Oh, down.

Okay, there we go.

- There we go.

- Thanks for being here!

- Thank you!

- Thanks for sharing Sadie's story, and letting other people know that it's possible.

It can be done.

- It absolutely can.

- So thanks, Jenny, for joining us, and Sadie, of course.

And thank you all for being with us.

Stay warm and be well.

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