The Protection Dog Podcast talks about owning and training Protection Dogs from an alternative perspective to the mainstream. We discuss real world application, dog training philosophy, personal protection & defense and lots of other topics to make your handling and training more effective.
It’s important to understand that neither of these mentalities are good or bad, they have benefits and downsides
Prey Mentality
Goals - may pursue a goal if absolutely necessary, but generally wait for what they need or accept what is available
Predator Mentality
Goals - pursue what they want and are willing to deal with stress and anxiety to achieve it
What is the best way to think about how to deal with problems?
Every problem is an opportunity in disguise
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Dog training
- Chaos - inconsistency, erratic behavior, nervousness
- If your dog behaves in these manners, it is often because they are recieving unclear communication
- Slow yourself down and clearly define to yourself what you want and then work to communicate that to your dog
- Order - obedience, calm mannerisms, confidence
- Walking the line of proper tension between these two is important for progress forward while not over stressing the dog
In life
- Chaos - if you feel chaotic in life, this will often reflect in your dog’s behavior.
- The dog reflects the handler. This can be a huge blessing for those with eyes to see it.
- Chaos can be scary, but it is also the place of opportunity. Learning to embrace the opportunity without disrupting the parts of your life that need to remain in order
- Order - the consistently predictable. This is typically a comfortable place to be in life, but has the danger of becoming boring and stagnant. If you stay here too long, you often slide backward without realizing it.
- Look for things that call to your attention and then make plans to engage with that while hedging for the possibility of failure in a particular direction.
Expectations of yourself vs expectations of others for you
How to develop high Standards - Ideal or Perfect
Understand this is a journey - improvement is key
How to temper expectations
Be humble, you’re not nearly as good as you think you are.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
People undermine the hard work it takes to accomplish something like a trained dog or successful business
What is Luck?
No one can guarantee you success, but your actions can guarantee failure
Networking
Tell Story of Fortress K9
Recognizing and taking advantage of opportunities
NOTES & UPDATES
Training Story - Run and Hide, but I stayed dry…
What’s new on the dogstead? 1. Waiting for chickens. 2. Fence is almost complete. 3. Starting 2 new tracking dogs and very excited about them.
Speaking at TSPC Fall Workshop next week. Will record both sessions and add into podcast stream.
Get on our email list at fortressk9.com or k9academy.us
Talk to your trainers about joining our collaboration/conference. Dates are April 19-21.
Website will be up soon to register.
K9 Academy is continuing to be built out.
Filming Tracking training and Homestead Dog.
What topics would you like to see added to K9 Academy?
COMING SOON to K9 Academy - Dog Trainers Coaching Course - SHOW TOPICS
Setting goals - before you can accomplish something, you must imagine it If you don’t know where you’re going, any train will get you there.
You cannot accomplish anything meaningful in life without first deciding to.
Goal categories: Career, Relationships Family & Friends), Health (Physical and Mental), Spiritual, Security (Sustainable Financial & Physical)
Develop a long-term plan based on one clear, long term goal in each category. THIS REQUIRES AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF MENTAL IMAGINATION WORK.
Short term and mid term goals should all clearly connect to accomplishing your long-term goal.
Goals should be SMART: Specific & Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely
My Emotion Thought Action Loop - Emotion leads to Thoughts leads to Actions leads to Emotions
if you’re like me, you get ready to work ... you pause ... you wonder what it is you were supposed to do ... you start some task that isn’t important and is fairly easy to complete ... WHY EASY TO COMPLETE?
How to deal with your Daily To Do List
How to set up and use your Calendar
Setting Goals
Progress Goal x3 each
Planning to Accomplish Goals
3-5 Actions and Tasks for each Progress Goal
Establishing Routines
Daily
Monthly
Quarterly
Annual
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
YOUR LIFE SUCKS! Here’s how to make it awesome
Make the things you have to do and the things you want to do the same thing
Embrace the Suck. When you embrace the suck, you get to:
Learn how to deal with adversity in a positive manner
Choose which suck you get to embrace
Be better equipped to deal with random suck.
Create the life you want to live
There is suck in every pursuit. But if you have to deal with suck anyway, why not choose the suck that give you the life you want.
I’m not going to lie to you, there is a lot more suck on this path. But you will find the freedom it creates, and the frequency of you doing the things you love increase to overcome the level of suck.
What happens if you don’t Embrace the Suck and Create the life you want to live?
You will deal with suck no matter what
You will not be equipped to deal with suck, because you only ever pursue pleasure and ease.
You will deal with random suck and have little ability to divert away from it because you have no good suck to embrace
You will continue spending your life energy working to do something that you don’t want to do.
You will be working to make someone else happy while you continue to make yourself miserable.
MORALE OF THE STORY: DO HARD THINGS AND GO DO SOMETHING AMAZING!!
Tonight we talk dogs, e-collars, and anything else we can come up with. We may even get into some of the awesome events we are planning.
Find Pat on Instagram and TicToc - @k9philosophy or @uncensoredtactical
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Define stupid for the purpose of this discussion.
I love to listen to these talks for two reasons:
1. I’m truly interested in the topic.
2. I love to learn how other people think. If you have any interest in increasing the depth of your thought, about anything in your life, then I ask that you bear with me.
It will be a fun ride.
Jordan Peterson’s explanation to “Do You Believe in God?”
Why do people seek simple answers to complex questions? If you truly want to know something, you have to be true to the pursuit of truth. You have to be willing to realize and admit if you are completely wrong. Sometimes you have to admit that you don’t know and that can be very scary to people. We need to stop being lazy and complacent.
Being stupid is not good. Why are people in the dog world so stupid? Why are these two topics even remotely connected together? Learning to think is learning to think no matter the topic.
Too many people run off into assumption land with things they know nothing about.
Protection Training and the crazy things young men have been reaching out to me about.
Crazy ideas about how to train a dog to fight.
1. How does a dog learn to fight in nature? How should we be training dogs to fight? WTF!! Are some of these young idiots learning that make them think they know anything!! Let’s step back and think about how we would teach a 12yo to fight. What about teaching an 18yo how to be a soldier? What about an experienced soldier? What about a Special Operations soldier? If you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about, stop talking and start experimenting.
If you’re under 30 and/or you have been training dogs for less than 10 years, you’re a fucking idiot. That’s ok, keep learning, but NEVER think you have it figured out.
Even if you’re not in a northern climate, the preparations we will talk about can help you be prepared to take care of your dog.
Conditions you can find yourself in during winter Storms:
- Snow that makes travel inconvenient or impossible
- Snow that limits your ability to exit your home
- Ice and Sleet that make moving outside dangerous and can cause injury to you or your dog
Options are Bugging in or Bugging Out
Things you can do to prepare:
Emergency Kit for Your Dog Compile a dog
-specific emergency kit including food, water, medications, and important documents. Include warm blankets, a first-aid kit, and a leash/harness for control during walks.
Shelter and Safety Ensure your dog's shelter is well-insulated and protected from drafts. Create a designated indoor space where your dog can stay warm and safe during the storm.
Cold Weather Gear Invest in cold-weather gear such as a doggy coat or sweater, booties to protect paws from ice and salt, and a dog-friendly hat to keep their ears warm.
Evacuation Plan Plan ahead for potential evacuations, identifying pet-friendly shelters or accommodations. Ensure your dog has proper identification, including a collar with contact information and a microchip.
Behavior and Exercise Keep your dog mentally and physically stimulated during indoor confinement with interactive toys and puzzles. Maintain a consistent exercise routine to help them expend energy even when it's cold outside.
Overcoming the Poverty Mindset
Not Asking Anyone's Permission
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Tactical Decision Making
DECISION MAKING must be done prior to the situation. Why?
TACTICAL OPTIONS:
1. Evasion and Escape
2. De-Escalation
3. Aggressive Defense - Fighting
SITUATIONS:
1. Home Invasion or Direct Attack
2. Active Shooter
3. Domestic Violence
Awesome talk with John Willis and Nicole Sauce. Check them out at:
Originalsoegear.com
Livingfreeintenessee.com
hollerroast.com
Today I have a conversation with Jason from @jasondemo on Instagram. We talk about Jason's experiences in the firearms industry, why he chose to purchase a dog from Fortress K9 and his experience after doing his handler training and picking up his new dog, Ratchet.
Building the Life You Want (Expanding on ideas from Jordan Peterson)
Once you know where you are and where you’re going, stay up straight with your shoulders back and start walking
Balancing Freedom and Responsibility
Stop looking at other people and being jealous or looking down on them. Focus on getting your own house in order.
Embracing Challenges
Respect the boundaries others in your life have set and honor them.
Improvement Through Discipline
Doing anything meaningful takes time, decide up front that you are in for the long haul
Staying Motivated
Positive emotion is experienced by having a goal and making noticeable progress toward it. Set smaller goals that lead to the larger ones so that you can see progress in the direction you need to go.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
How temperament is affected by genetics and handling
Explain how lines within breeds have their own set of unique characteristics.
The Impact of Early Handling (The Foundation)
Highlight how positive handling and exposure to various stimuli can shape a well-rounded and adaptable temperament. Socialization, Stress Inoculation, Stability, Etc
Balancing Nature and Nurture
Emphasize that while genetics provide a foundation, proper handling and training can modify behavior positively. Calming a high energy dog. Increasing intensity of a lower energy dog. Developing character traits you want and minimizing those you don’t.
Practical Insights for Owners
Be patient and consistent in handling and training practices.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Questions and Answers:
Johnny from New Zealand - Thoughts on treat training/food rewards. Thoughts on the level of focus of the dog.
Krysta - Advice on building a stronger presence with your dog. Calm, confident commands and appropriate corrections, do not get frustrated. How do you get the dog to watch, respond and respect your voice.
Jim - Only has Sport focussed trainers in his area and is interested in learning how we do the Protection and other dog training differently. Training options here, Internship options.
Equipment advice: Leads and Long Lines, muzzles, bite sleeves & bite suits, Collars - Prong and Flat
If I already have a dog I want Protection Trained, how does that work with you guys? 3-5 Day Protection Training Intensives
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Disclaimer
- This is not in any way to indicate that there isn’t a time or place for fight for yourself or others. But there are many situations where de-escalation is the bast approach. You must always ask yourself, do I have time and opportunity?
Understanding De-Escalation
- De-escalation is a strategic approach to defuse conflicts and high-tension situations.
- The importance of staying calm and composed when facing high-threat scenarios is critical.
- Emphasize that de-escalation doesn't imply weakness; it's a strategic approach to protect oneself and others.
Advantages of De-Escalation
- You win every fight you don’t have.
- If you must fight you want it to be as violent, on your part, as possible and over as quickly as possible. Every second a fight continues is time for it to go bad for you.
- Preserves legal and ethical standing in case of legal repercussions. There is always the fight after the fight.
Techniques for Effective De-Escalation
- Technique 1: Listening Before Acting
- If the person who is threatening you is voicing a problem with you, then you may want to listen to that and ask yourself if you may have done something wrong. Tell the story of the Walmart parking lot.
- Do not allow the threat to close distance or place you in additional risk while listening to them.
Lower and relax your voice as much as possible. They no longer have to compete by elevating their vocals which also elevates emotions. It calms them down, and can give you a tactical advantage if you remain alert, should you need it.
Technique 3: Offering Solutions - Ask questions: What can I do to make the situation better? What did I do to upset you? How can I help you? Questions do multiple things in our brain, they take us out of fight or flight because they require us to think. They also communicate that there may be another alternative to physical force.
Using "we" language can create a sense of collaboration.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
We have our first guest of the podcast from a remote location today, Rick Austin of Doomsday Preppers and Secret Garden of Survival. We will talk about preparedness, homesteading, dogs, and his annual event coming up in September 22-24, Prepper Camp.
Find out more about Rick and Prepper Camp:
https://secretgardenofsurvival.com/
https://www.preppercamp.com/
YouTube @SurvivalistGardener
Dog Law considerations
I’m not a Lawyer, consult a lawyer familiar with the laws in your state and local area for more details.
-What if I’m inside and my dog is in the backyard, and someone jumps the fence and my dog bites them while my dog is unsupervised by me.
- Safety with a Protection Dog vs Pet Dog State laws and how they apply in situations like this
- How to research your local and state laws
-Do any concealed carry companies offer k9 legal protection?
- US Law Shield (uslawshield.com)
- What does the fight after the fight mean?
-Dealing with a hotel or business manager who doesn’t allow a service dog.
- Filing a law suit for a service dog
- Do not rely on websites or information that are not official information
- ADA complaint filing system
-Dog ownership questions: who is the real owner of a dog and when does that change? (Relationships ending, contracts for purchase vs just taking in a street dog, abandoning a dog etc.)
- Story about Service Dog in KY
- Story about client in a break up (married vs living together)
- You have to decide if the fight is worth it
Starting Protection Work with Your Dogs
Approach depends on your application of bite work. This approach is specifically intended for Personal Protection application
Introducing the dog to Protection work
A note about the environment
Building the bite on a young dog
Moving from sleeves to bite suit
Introducing situations and threats for the dog to deal with
Muzzles
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Have you considered any specific breed preferences or traits you're looking for in a protection dog?
Are you more inclined towards a breed known for its physical strength and size, or are you open to exploring other characteristics such as intelligence and agility?
Do you have any particular concerns about a dog's compatibility with children, other pets, or individuals with allergies?
Are you seeking a breed that has a long history of working and protecting families, or are you open to newer breeds that have emerged as reliable protection dogs?
Are you looking for a breed that is known for its versatility, meaning it can adapt well to different family dynamics and environments?
Are you willing to invest time and effort into training and socializing the dog, regardless of the breed choice?
Are there any specific lifestyle factors, such as the presence of other animals or the size of your living space, that may impact your breed choice?
Does lifestyle have any impact on breed or training considerations, such as traveling, long days at work, etc.?
What questions should I be asking when talking to a company about getting a Protection Dog?
Do you register your dogs, and why or why not?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
I. Myth #1: Bite and Hold vs Retargeting:
- Explain the misconception surrounding the Bite and Hold technique versus Retargeting
- Clarify the differences between the two approaches and their respective purposes in protection training
- Discuss the benefits of Retargeting, including increased control, adaptability, and safety during encounters
II. Myth #2: Deep Bite vs Canine Bite:
- Address the misconception regarding the difference between a Deep Bite and a Canine Bite
- Explain that a Deep Bite is not inherently more effective or desirable in protection dogs
- Highlight the importance of training for a balanced, controlled, and appropriately targeted bite
III. Myth #3: Driving into the Bite vs Thrashing and Pulling:
- Debunk the misconception surrounding the techniques of Driving into the Bite versus Thrashing and Pulling
- Explain that protection dogs should not solely rely on brute force but rather use strategic and controlled movements during encounters
- Discuss the importance of balance, timing, and proper training methods to achieve effective defense and control
IV. Myth #4: Training a Dog to Target vs Allowing Dynamic Interaction:
- Address the misconception that training a dog to target equates to eliminating dynamic interaction and decision-making
- Explain the importance of training a protection dog to make independent decisions while still following command cues
- Emphasize the need for a balanced approach that combines target training with the dog's natural instincts and ability to assess situations
I. Understanding the Concept of Stability in Protection Dogs:
- Define stability in the context of protection dogs
- Highlight the significance of a stable dog in everyday life and its impact on family dynamics, social interactions, and public settings
II. Integrating Protection Training into Daily Routines:
- Discuss strategies for incorporating protection training exercises into everyday life without disrupting normal routines - Checking your house, watching over your vehicle, keeping an eye on your children
- Explore how consistency and clear expectations contribute to a dog's stability and obedience in different environments
III. Socialization and Exposure:
- Stress the importance of proper socialization in developing a stable protection dog
- Provide tips for exposing the dog to various people, animals, and environments to promote adaptability and non-aggressive behavior
IV. Obedience Training for Stability:
- Explain the role of obedience training in fostering stability - tell the dog what you want them to do, not just what you don’t want them to do
- Discuss specific commands and techniques that reinforce non-aggression and controlled biting behaviors
V. Creating Safe and Controlled Environments:
- Offer suggestions for setting up safe environments at home and in public to support a stable protection dog - you control your space, there are various ways to do this.
- Discuss the importance of supervision, boundaries, and controlled interactions with strangers or unfamiliar situations
VI. Balancing Protection Work and Everyday Life:
- Share practical advice on maintaining a healthy balance between protection training and regular activities
The ability to mentally and emotionally cope with crises, stress, or adversity, bouncing back to a baseline level of normal functioning after these challenging experiences.
Role of resilience in life and in dog training - Many people give up far too quickly and easily in both
It involves flexibility in thought and behavior, enabling individuals to adapt to change, manage difficulties, and achieve stability in their lives despite hardships.
Grit, defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, plays a crucial role in developing resilience.
Positive emotion as described by Jordan Peterson
The Positive take away from today: Are you experiencing hard times, challenges or set backs in your life right now? Your job? Your relationships? Feel stuck and stagnant in your life? I have great news, you are in the perfect place to start or continue building resilience in your life.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
I. The Importance of Building Tribe What does it mean to have “Tribe”.
Define what Tribe means.
Why is this an important topic to discuss in today’s climate? Why are we connecting Dog Training and Building Tribe?
We often take our connection with the dogs for granted, and how much similarity there is between our interpersonal connections and our connection with our dogs.
II. The Foundation: Trust and Respect (Link to Dog Training)
-Discuss the importance of trust and respect in dog training.
-Translate these concepts into building human relationships within your tribe.
-Building a Tribe doesn’t mean that you are close friends with everyone and that you would trust them to have your back. It is about having a network that offers mutual benefit to both parties.
III. Clear Communication: The Key to Successful Training and a Thriving Tribe -Discuss the role of clear, consistent communication in dog training.
-Explain how these principles apply to human interactions within a community or tribe.
-We often make the mistake of thinking we have to share everything about our lives with every member of our Tribe. There are many different levels to your Tribe, and communication should be catered to each accordingly.
IV. Positive Reinforcement: Encouraging Desired Behavior
-Talk about the concept of positive reinforcement in dog training.
-Discuss how this can be adapted to encourage participation, engagement, and positive behavior within your tribe.
-Always remember that relationships go both ways. You want to be a benefit to each member of your network as well as find members of the network that can benefit you. You get more of what you encourage and less of what you discourage…generally speaking.
V. Handling Conflict: Lessons from Behavior Correction in Dog Training
-Discuss techniques used in dog training to correct undesirable behaviors.
-Explore how these strategies can be applied to conflict resolution within your tribe.
-Don’t make the mistake of thinking that every disagreement is worth arguing over. It doesn’t matter the political perspective of your butcher or plumber. It is more important to find the areas where you have common ground to build a relationship.
VI. Consistency and Routine: Building a Reliable Tribe
-Discuss the importance of consistency and routine in dog training.
-Translate this to the building of reliable relationships and regular engagement within your tribe.
-Invest into the people in your tribe. You can do this be supporting their business and proving to be a loyal customer. You can do it by having bar-b-que and developing closer relationships with certain people.
VII. The Role of Patience and Persistence in Training and Tribe Building
-Discuss the need for patience and persistence in dog training.
-Relate this to the time and effort required to build a strong, connected tribe.
-This is not an over night experience. I have been at events where people are running around frantically trying to build a Tribe in a weekend. That is not how any of this works.
Understanding the Reality of Home Invasions - prevalence and nature of home invasion
Potential Risks and consequences of violence for you and your family
Preparing Your Home: Preventative Measures
Importance of exterior security: lighting, landscaping and visibility
Make sure you are familiar with your local and state laws when making any plan for defending your family. Highly recommend US Law Shield
Developing a Home Safety Plan
Importance of communicating and rehearsing this plan with all household members
Self-Defense Considerations - lethal and non-lethal weapons, improvised weapons, firearms and self-defense classes.
It is always better to avoid and escape if possible, than to confront.
Mental and emotional aspects of home invasion scenarios. What would you do if…?
Techniques for remaining calm and making rational decisions under stress. Training Your Subconscious, see previous episode.
What to do immediately after: Reporting, Dealing with Law Enforcement, Having Lawyers available.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
We all deal with various kinds of stress each day, but let’s talk about dealing with high stress situations
What causes stress?
Positive and Negative Effects of Stress
The mind-stress Connection: How the mind responds to stress perception and response
Relationship between thoughts, emotion and stress
Developing Stress Inoculation
Dealing with Chronic Stress vs Acute Stress
Using breathing to control physiological effects of stress
Concentration exercises to focus the mind of relevant thoughts and ignore unhelpful thoughts that create bad stress
Changing and controlling thoughts can change stress reactions. Instead of framing obstacles and challenges as problems, ask your mind how you can use them to make progress
These techniques need to be practiced over time and with repetition.
What the hell does any of this have to do with dog training?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Power of the subconscious mind in achieving goals. Harnessing the subconscious mind for success.
Conscious vs Subconscious mind
Role of Subconscious mind in behavior, habit formation and goal achievement
Deeply held beliefs and self-talk either support or hinder success
How does the subconscious mind develop beliefs and how can you change the ones that are holding you back.
Techniques for training subconscious:
Repetition and Habit Formation - Repetition plays a massive role in developing your subconscious
Emotions help connect our subconscious to the motivation for goals - Knowing your WHY
Break your big goals into manageable chunks so that you can see progress and make a general road map to achievement. Jordan Peterson about Positive Emotion associate with progress toward a meaning goal
Take consistent action toward your goals. Even if you only take small steps, take them frequently and you will begin to see progress
How to deal with obstacles, both subconscious and real world. Ask your mind, How can I? And never tell yourself, I can’t.
What does any of this have to do with dog training?
Book recomendations mentioned during podcast:
Mind Hacking by Sir John Hargrave - https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=1070019348
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=1418826191
DON’T FORGET TO SMASH THAT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE SO MORE PEOPLE CAN SEE THE SHOW
Why are so many stress drills in sport world so introductory?
In my recent viral Facebook videos, I got a comment asking if we do stress drills they often see on other videos. Loud noises, rattle cans, weird items around the dogs.
Many stress drill have fundamental misunderstandings of the dogs mental capabilities and rationale
Well bred dogs do not experience fear the same way a human does. Can it hurt me? Can I fight it?
Low level stress drill
High level stress drills
NOTES & OTHER STUFF Training Story
- Muzzle Work video that freaked everyone out
What’s new on the dogstead? Water lines, irrigation and automation of water for chickens.
Puppy reservations available. Check out @fortressk9.puppies on IG or @fortressk9 on any other SM platform. Details at fortressk9.com/puppies
Emdekay / Stryker breeding (Pups Mid July)
Maeve/Ryker - GSD (Oct 2023)
Storm/Nole - Malinois (Nov 2023)
Reaper/Freya - Dutch (Jan 2024)
Speaking at Prepper Camp Sept. 22-24. Check out preppercamp.com for tickets and more information.
Speaking at Self Reliance Festival Oct. 14-15. Check out selfreliancefestival.com for tickets and more information
We are on NOSTR now. One key pair and your tribe is everywhere. Check it out!! Snort.social, Iris, Primal. iOS - Damus, Iris. Android - Amethyst - My pub key is in the description. Our public key is listed below
If you want to interact…
Communication with your dog
3 Primary Forms of Communication
Verbal - Words & Tone
What you say
How you say it
Lead Direction
Seems simple - but Most people suck at this
Stop allowing a tight lead
Reward the dog for doing what you ask by allowing them to create slack in the lead
Gestures Subtle body language
How you lean
Using your hands and arms to lead or direct - Hand and arm signals
Lead into Dynamic Movement
How to be a better handler and trainer using proper communication
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Shooting, Moving and Communicating.
The foundations of defense and tactics
- 10% of tactics is shooting - 60% of tactics is moving - 30% of tactics is communicating
Incorporating Shooting into Moving and Communicating
Moving - Individual Movement Techniques
Team Movement Techniques - Room & Building entry and clearing, Formations, Triangulation, Avoiding Flagging, Situational Awareness, Flanking
Communicate
Minimizing the need for verbal or hand communication through TTPs and rehearsed tactics
Don’t forget tactical medical training
Shooting Skills are great, but if you want to communicate that into a tactical capability, you must master and incorporate the tactics of moving and communicating
Don't forget to integrate your dog into this training as well
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
We talk about Business, and working with a Niche Business, Marketing and more. And then we talk about dogs, you know...cause that's kind of my thing. Check it out, awesome conversation with Nicole and John.
Nicole has a podcast called Living Free in Tennessee (LFTN) and sells gourmet coffee at Hollerroast.com.
John has a great YouTube Channel and makes Tactical Nylon gear at originalsoegear.com.
Why should you care about the effects of stress?
- Fights / Self Defense
- Driving Accident or other high stress dangerous situation
Physiological
- Elevated heart rate and breathing, adrenaline and other hormone rushes...but what does that mean in real life?
- Shaky - loss of fine motor skills
- Tunnel Vision
- Auditory Exclusion
- Visual Exclusion
Cognitive
- Reduced ability to think and reason under stress
- Fast Time
- Slow Time
- Memory gaps immediately follow - no statements to police (lawyer)
How to train yourself to overcome these effects
- Stress Inoculation
- Mental Scenarios
- Training and Rehearsing Basic Critical Skills until they are automatic / subconscious
AI / Tech changes drastically change job market
What can we do about it?
Security
Build resilience in your life
What will this likely actually look like?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Training Your Mind for self defense through scenarios
There are many limitations to training. Maybe you’re just busy and can’t spend time training. Range only allows static shooting? RUN MENTAL SIMULATIONS
Subconscious Decision making
The subconscious doesn’t know the difference between real and make believe, so you can train it through vivid imagination of situations, SIMULATIONS
Reverting to your lowest level of training
Moving and communicating at the same time
How to run mental simulations - be as detailed as possible.
But if not, run your initial mental simulations, and then test them with fake guns or airsoft type training guns
Examples of simulations
Vehicle attack
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Killing the Poverty Mindset
Always concerned there will not be enough to go around
How I used to think
How will I make enough to get by
How to embrace the Prosperity Mindset
Don’t feel like you have to please everyone, your personality is what people will connect with
What areas of your life does this affect
Purchasing Decisions
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Be a Victor, Not a Victim
The victim mentality - you can not have a happy life if you see yourself as a victim.
There are actual victims and there are a lot of people who think they are victims that are not.
a. Even actual victims do not benefit from embracing victim hood
b. Those who are not victims are only making their own lives less joyful by playing the victim
c. Everyone can claim that they have been victimized by someone
a. They accept that bad things happen and decide to do their duty anyway
b. They do not blame others for their problems, they take responsibility for their own lives
c. They see obstacles as opportunities to excel and develop character
a. Your mental state has a huge impact on your dog’s performance
b. Why do my dogs bite so quickly? Because I want them to.
The Difference Between Dog & Man and What Makes Dogs so Unique to Us
12 Pillars of Dog Training - 7. Dogs are not humans. 8. Dogs do not think humans are dogs.
There is this predominating theory in the dog training world that you have to be the dog’s alpha, as if you are the pack leader.
Have you ever seen a tiger lead a dog pack? Or a bull elephant? Why not? Those animals could dominate any single dog in the pack.
What makes us similar and draws us to the dog?
This makes the dog unique in the animal world.
How are we so different?
Access to the soul
I personally believe that the dogs did not come from the wolf. I believe that man and dog co-existed as partners since creation and that the wolf and other wild dogs are a combination between the cast aways and lost dogs.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
What is success? Figure out what you want out of life. Each persons success is unique to them.
Most successful people are basically doing the same thing everyday or every week, but they are doing it with excellence
Mourning routine
What will make today great
Workout - write it down and record your progress
Block schedule the main part of your day
Daily Review and shift items over to next day they need to get worked on.
Weekly review/planning to confirm you’re moving in the direction of your goals
Now give yourself time limits. What are you going to do in the next two weeks? Go start on them now and work on them a little everyday.
Remove/reduce distractions. Concentration exercises
PDP - Ep 128 - https://www.buzzsprout.com/908953/11920202-pdp-ep128-creating-the-life-you-want-by-planning-your-year.mp3?download=true. - https://youtube.com/live/Mu-0nEIgI-g?feature=share
PDP - Ep 137 - https://www.youtube.com/live/LI7VjAVxOVs?feature=share
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/our-dogs/puppies ; k9academy.us
Mindset must be right
Winners focus on solutions and losers focus on problems.
Choose the right market or have diversity
Wants vs Needs - People will cut back to the bare necessities on needs before they will give up wants
The Routine of Success - Being successful is boring and requires consistent discipline. My mother often sends me messages asking what I’m doing. The same thing almost every day.
Things you do every week
What the hell does any of this have to do with dog training?
Our business has to keep all these things in mind as well. Oddly, when times get tough on people, we tend to get more business, not less. But if we don’t do all the things I just told you, we won’t have the dogs to sell when the time comes.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/our-dogs/puppies ; k9academy.us
Dynamic movement
What is Dynamic Movement? Moving in a constantly changing manner
How do we train for it?
Simple Exercises
Stress inoculation
Why is it so important?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/our-dogs/puppies ; k9academy.us
The History of Dog Training and Methods
- Historical Capabilities
- Historical methods
- Chain collars, spike collars, switches
- Building a Bond AND consequences for bad behavior
- Over complicating the simple and over simplifying the complex
- Consistency
- Discipline
- Good communication
Decoy -
- Bite and hold
- Trainer is training, decoy is decoying
- Very little fight
- Low level stress
K9 Sparring Partner
- Target threats / weapons
- K9 SP is the one training the dog
- How to fight a human
- Moderate to high stress
WELCOME PAT, TO PROTECTION DOG PODCAST
Find him at: Website: UncensoredTactical.com & K9Philosophy.com
Tiktok & IG: (same for both)
@uncensoredtactical
@k9philosophy
Emails:
Pat@utac.io
Pat@K9philosophy.com
QUESTIONS:
- Pat, before we jump into today’s topic, why don’t you tell us “Who is Pat Watson, and how did you get into tactical lock picking and dog training?”
- We wanted to talk about training for stressful situations and I wanted to know, “What do you think the difference is between Exposure Therapy and Stress Inoculation?”
- When it comes to training for real world stressful situations, how do you think we should proceed? What process would you recommend?
- Do you see any problems with the Stress Inoculation process? Or things people should be aware of so that they don’t make mistakes?
- What if someone does push training too far? Any recommendations for getting back on track?
- What the hell does any of this have to do with dog training??
- HOW CAN PEOPLE GET A HOLD OF YOU AND CONNECT?
Dog and Human Training Methods - Exposure vs Stress Inoculation
Exposure therapy - description and purpose - overcoming fear and developing courage
Important aspects - voluntary, repeated
Process explained
Breaking through barriers
Stress inoculation - description and purpose - functioning optimally in high stress environments
Important aspects - compulsion, repeated, success
Process explained
Breaking through barriers - increase stress to almost the threshold and then return to the lower level limitations
Dog and Human Training Methods - Exposure vs Stress Inoculation
Exposure therapy - description and purpose - overcoming fear and developing courage
Important aspects - voluntary, repeated
Process explained
Breaking through barriers
Stress inoculation - description and purpose - functioning optimally in high stress environments
Important aspects - compulsion, repeated, success
Process explained
Breaking through barriers - increase stress to almost the threshold and then return to the lower level limitation
Predictions for 2023
Solutions for 2023 Problems
- Start building your resume, start creating YOUR brand, be hirable
- Save money and make more money - Start a business or side hustle
- Have important things on hand with a few months reserve to cover shortage problems
- If you can move, and you are in a questionable or bad area, make a smart decision, but do it sooner than later, interest rates will continue to climb
- Be smart with your money, cash reserve of at least 3 months is smart, “safe” investments in assets,
- Make yourself and your family as safe as you can. Practice situational awareness, get basic self defense training, basic firearms training, and add a dog into the mix for protection
FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
Live Stream with Nicole and John mentioned at beginning at https://youtu.be/7BHWciWYMw0
Warnings before starting
Best way to fix food aggression problems is to never have them, start training as a puppy
Food aggression width people vs dogs
Basic Intro Drill -
Dog on Lead, kneeling and petting, “leave it” take food, praise, return food, praise/correct.
Additions Bring children near dog while eating (SAFETY!!) Begin bringing dogs together. Considerations if multiple dogs are aggressive. If you have to give multiple corrections in a single session, I remove food for the day and start again tomorrow. They miss that meal.
Comments and Other Scenarios
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
There is a concept in the Bible about going through the fire. And the idea is, if you want to reach heaven or Paradise, you have to pass through the fire to get there.
There is another concept of wheat and chaff. Chaff is the left over waste after you get the wheat ready to use. How much of your life is usable and how much is chaff that should be thrown away or burned away?
If you went through the fire, and chances are you will go through it, how much if your life would burn away and be found useless? How much of your life would be tempered and show itself valuable?
What is Freedom? Lack of tyranny in your life. Choices free of coercion, but not necessarily restriction.
What is Tyranny? Any real or perceived authority requiring you to do something or restricting you from doing something so long as that thing doesn’t harm another person.
Take control of your mind. This is the hardest of all to do. Reading, podcasts, listening to opposing views and from people who encourage freedom. Stop watching any main stream news channels.
Take control of your time. Planning, scheduling and removing outside influences (like a job, kid activities, social expectations, etc.). You have a limited amount of days on the earth, decide what you want to do with them.
Take control of your money. Budget, make more money or work less for same money, save in something that doesn’t lose value. Bitcoin not crypto
Take control of your health. Diet (ketovore, carnivore), exercise (I like crosssfit type workouts, but do something physical), natural supplements and methods, then pharmaceuticals.
Take control of your perceptions. Sphere of control. Sphere of influence. Sphere of concern. Stop allowing things outside one of these three to have any affect on your life.
Start a business. Tax benefits, less influence from bad ideas, you control your time, you can affect your income.
Take control of your security. Learn to deal with stress, take a course. Learn to defend yourself with hands, guns and maybe a dog. Learn how to think like a criminal, how would I attack me?
Continue to educate yourself and take control of your children’s education. Always be learning, and be aware of what your children are learning. I recommend you get them out of the government schools if possible.
Never trust the “authorities.” Always assume they are lying until you can prove they were telling the truth. FNORDS - I so mistrust the government, I reacted opposite to the intention of them.
Take control of your food. You should produce some amount of your own food and source as much as possible from local farmers and ranchers.
Don’t try to do all of these right away, pick one or two and start there. Then come re-listen and pick another one or two.
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
SMAT Goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable & Time Bound
Annual Goals - What do you want to accomplish by the end of the Year? Personal, Business/Work, Family
How to use 5-10 year goals to create 1 year goals.
Quarterly Goals - a Quarter is 13 weeks. 52/4=13
WEEKLY PLANNING & REVIEW
- Choose one day a week to spend 30 minutes planning your week ahead and reviewing the previous week. I like Sunday.
- PLANNING
- Pull out your goals and use them to plan your week
- WEEKLY OBJECTIVES - Select three OBJECTIVE for the week. Be specific.
- Generally plan each day of the week. Write it down for each day of the week.
- Don’t forget to add appointments, important days, etc. This allows you to plan your weekly progress around other important events.
- Write down your Daily Habits and Activities, goal for the week (how many times you’ll do the activity or habit). Each day, when you complete the Habit/Activity, you will put a check mark for that day. -
REVIEWING
- Start with reviewing your Daily Habits and Activities. Did you meet your goals?
- What is the Happiest thing that happened this week?
- What are your 3 biggest wins for the week?
- Assess Goal Progress. How did you spend your time? Do you need to improve anything?
- What was the biggest lesson learned from the week?
Training Dogs for Patrolling
- Why would you train a dog to Patrol
- Tracking
- Hiking
- Tactical Training
How to go about this training
- Run a long line to control the distance that your dog patrols at.
- I use the command, “Patrol Out” and encourage the dog to move forward.
- Praise at even a step or two forward. “Good Patrol”
- Continue until the dog will pull to the end of the lead. Walking trails or around a larger property is an ideal place for this.
- Once the dog will confidently “Patrol”, I begin putting turns and movements into the command with hand and arm signals.
- Begin running scenarios.
How to find your destiny
What is it that I do?
- I train dogs to seriously harm humans who are trying to harm other people.
Why do I do what I do?
- There are a few things that really really bother me in life. One of those is when someone disrespects someone else, especially when a child disrespects a parent. Another is when a predator harms another person who can’t defend themselves.
PROBLEM: Most people, in our modern culture, can’t learn to adequately defend themselves. They should, but either they won’t commit the time or physically can’t devote themselves to develop the marshal skill.
SOLUTION: Give people a way to defend themselves that minimizes the physical requirement to fight while also maximizing the violence needed to win a fight with the control needed to ensure that only those who are truly threats are at risk.
So what is it I do again? And why?
How can you discover your destiny?
People undermine the hard work it takes to accomplish something like a trained dog or successful business
What is Luck?
No one can guarantee you success, but your actions can guarantee failure
Networking
Tell Story of Fortress K9
Recognizing and taking advantage of opportunities
NOTES & UPDATES
Training Story - Run and Hide, but I stayed dry…
What’s new on the dogstead? 1. Waiting for chickens. 2. Fence is almost complete. 3. Starting 2 new tracking dogs and very excited about them.
Speaking at TSPC Fall Workshop next week. Will record both sessions and add into podcast stream.
Get on our email list at fortressk9.com or k9academy.us
Talk to your trainers about joining our collaboration/conference. Dates are April 19-21.
Website will be up soon to register.
K9 Academy is continuing to be built out.
Filming Tracking training and Homestead Dog.
What topics would you like to see added to K9 Academy?
COMING SOON to K9 Academy - Dog Trainers Coaching Course - SHOW TOPICS
I was honored to be asked to speak at the Fall TSPC Workshop on Core Canine Obedience. The importance of it and how to get it. I hope you enjoy the podcast.
What is stress?
How does stress help us grow and develop?
What are the consequences of avoiding stress?
Best practices for stress
What does this have to do with dog training?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
NOTES:
- K9 Helm - https://www.k9helm.com/
- Rex Specs - https://www.rexspecs.com/
- Dark Systems - https://darksystems.com/
https://a.co/d/0coAbGN - Gun Dog Supply - https://www.gundogsupply.com/gundog-conditioning-audio-cd.html
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
You'll hear all the crazy shit that I had to go through during my divorce and arrest (yep, arrest) and then rebuilding everything from scratch. If I can do it, you can do it. Stop making excuses.
How to be successful at anything
- Define what success means for you
- Determine what it is you ACTUALLY want to do
Responsibility
- Everything wrong in your life is your fault
- Do you want the ability to control your life or not?
Poverty vs prosperity mindset
- Poverty mindset says, “I don’t have something because those people have too much.”
- Prosperity mindset says, “Everything I want in life is there for the taking, I just have to go get it.”
- People in the poverty mindset will never go accomplish what they want, but people with prosperity mindset can go achieve everything they want.
- I used to have a poverty mindset, and I struggled in business, marriage and life. When I began to embrace the prosperity mindset, everything in my life began getting better and it keeps getting better.
Build momentum with small successes
- When you set goals break them down into smaller and smaller goals. 5-10 year goals, 1 year goals to accomplish them, 13 week goals to accomplish annual goals, 1 week and 1 day goals to accomplish 13 week goals.
- Choose three things each day that you will do.
- Wake up the same time every morning, have set routines for routine things, block out time for specific tasks.
Stop being around unsuccessful people
- You are who you spend time with. If you start making changes but hang around people who are negative, they will hold you back.
- If you’re the smartest guy in the room, you’re in the wrong room. Personal board of directors (maybe its just you)
What Does any of this have to do with dog training?
If you don't follow John and Nicole, you should. Here is there info:
John Willis
www.originalsoegear.com
soegear on YouTube, Instagram, TicToc, etc.
Nicole Sauce
Living Free in Tennessee
www.livingfreeintennessee.com
Search Living Free in Tennessee or LFTN on Social media and you will find her.
She also has a LFTN podcast.
Also check out Self Reliance Festival at https://selfreliancefestival.com/product/2-day-ticket/?aff=fortressk9
Make the things you have to do and the things you want to do the same thing
Be better equipped to deal with random suck.
Create the life you want to live
But you will find the freedom it creates, and the frequency of you doing the things you love increase to overcome the level of suck.
What happens if you don’t Embrace the Suck and Create the life you want to live?
MORALE OF THE STORY: DO HARD THINGS AND GO DO SOMETHING AMAZING!!
These breeds are all in the herding or shepherd category, but not all herders are the same.
I break up the herding and shepherding dogs. Collies vs. GSD
German Shepherds
Not as high strung
Malinois
More mellow than our Dutch lines, but more amped up than GSD
Dutch Shepherd
Develops confidence quickly, but do seem to develop in bite work slightly slower than Malinois
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Do You Want Fair or Equal? You Can’t Have Both
- Credit to Jordan Peterson
- We will never have perfect fairness or equity, but we should at least know which one or both or neither we should be pursuing.
Most work place environments
Equal removes the rules in an attempt to handicap the motivated and talented so that the unmotivated and untalented get what they don’t deserve.
Most of our broken systems of government can be partly attributed to attempts to create equal “rights”
Why can’t we have both?
What does this have to do with dog training?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Tonight we have Joel Ryals in the Workshop chatting about Protection Dogs and Dogs in general.
https://www.fortressk9.com/
TODAYS TOOL
GOVEE FREEZER ALARM
https://amzn.to/3fIZCTy
CONNECT WITH ME
http://www.patchofthemonth.co/ PATCH OF THE MONTH CLUB
http://toolmantim.co/ WEBSITE
http://toolmantim.shop/ AMAZON AFFILIATE USA
http://toolmantim.ca/ AMAZON AFFILIATE CANADA
http://www.youtube.com/c/toolmantimsw... YT
https://rumble.com/c/ToolmanTimsWorkshop RUMBLE
https://odysee.com/@Allseasonsmain:5 ODYSEE
https://mewe.com/i/toolmantimsworkshop - MeWe
What is the Perfect Homestead Dog?
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Join us at Self Reliance Festival - https://selfreliancefestival.com/product/2-day-ticket/?aff=fortressk9
Email: fortressk9@gmail.com or joel@fortressk9.com
Text me at 813-836-9244. Do not call, but I respond to text.
Follow me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/FortressK9
Follow me on Facebook at @fortressk9dogs; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on Instagram at @fortressk9; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on MeWe @fortressk9
Follow me on Flote @fortressk9
Learn more about our dogs for sale at fortressk9.com
Learn more about our puppies for sale at fortressk9.com/puppies
Learn more about our online and in person dog training options at k9academy.us
Many people are terrified to make a decision
- One of the biggest things holding you back in life is indecision
- What is luck? People want to get lucky, but they don’t know what luck is. It is being able to make a quick, actionable decision that will benefit you
- Just fucking do something!!
But what if I decide wrong?
- You will definitely make bad decisions
- In the Army, they drilled it into our heads that a bad decision is better than no decision.
- You will get more right than wrong. Each bad decision reaches you how to make better decisions next time.
What does any of this have to do with dog training?
- Clients often struggle to make a decision with their dog. I ask them, “What are you trying to do?”
- They don’t know. I let them know, make a decision and then do it.
- When you don’t know what to do, your dog doesn’t know how to do what you want.
- When you have clarity of thought, your dog can confidently move forward.
Notes & Updates:
- Training Story - Water Borne Ops with a dog
- What’s new on the dogstead? Facebook crashed
- Thinking about doing a joint collaboration/conference
- New Shirts
- Screen capture of K9 Academy site
- I always talk about how our topic relates to dogs, but this is really a lifestyle design podcast
- We will be at Self Reliance Festival
You can stay in touch and follow us at:
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academy.us
Join us at Self Reliance Festival - https://selfreliancefestival.com/product/2-day-ticket/?aff=fortressk9
Email: fortressk9@gmail.com or joel@fortressk9.com
Text me at 813-836-9244. Do not call, but I respond to text.
Follow me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/FortressK9
Follow me on Facebook at @fortressk9dogs; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on Instagram at @fortressk9; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on MeWe @fortressk9
Follow me on Flote @fortressk9
Learn more about our dogs for sale at fortressk9.com
Learn more about our puppies for sale at fortressk9.com/puppies
Learn more about our online and in person dog training options at k9academy.us
The Real Reason Veterans struggle with PTSD
Returning to the “Real” / FAKE world
What does this have to do with dog training?
STOP FUCKING MAKING EXCUSES
What is the solution?
- Take Action Now
- Stop being afraid of failing, everyone fails
- Take responsibility for your future
- What happens when we stop making excuses?
What does this have to do with dog training?
- Most dogs will respond to even the smallest amount of training.
- You don’t have to be a professional to have a well mannered dog.
- If you need assistance, we have local and online training options or find a local trainer
Websites: fortressk9.com ; fortressk9.com/puppies ; k9academyonline.com
Email: fortressk9@gmail.com or joel@fortressk9.com
Text me at 813-836-9244. Do not call, but I respond to text.
Follow me on Facebook at @fortressk9dogs; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on Instagram at @fortressk9; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on MeWe @fortressk9
Follow me on Flote @fortressk9
Learn more about our dogs for sale at fortressk9.com
Learn more about our puppies for sale at fortressk9.com/puppies
Learn more about our online and in person dog training options at k9academyonline.com
Using math to teach your dog anything and solve any dog problem - C3=Conditioning
Examples for training
Email: fortressk9@gmail.com or joel@fortressk9.com
Text me at 813-836-9244. Do not call, but I respond to text.
Follow me on Facebook at @fortressk9dogs; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on Instagram at @fortressk9; @fortressk9.puppies; @k9academyonline
Follow me on MeWe @fortressk9
Follow me on Flote @fortressk9
Learn more about our dogs for sale at fortressk9.com
Learn more about our puppies for sale at fortressk9.com/puppies
Learn more about our online and in person dog training options at k9academyonline.com
Training Story - Others always suffer for your mistakes
What’s new on the dogstead? Sun shades are fixed, basic repairs on obstacles, Advanced puppies are going home, We have been posting more frequently on YouTube so go check it out
The Devine struggle with communication
What defines communication?
Link to search all podcast episodes: https://fortressk9.buzzsprout.com
Health Tests
Dog Care Preparations we can make
One Dog is Protection, Two Dogs are an Army, Three Dogs are Unstoppable
Listener Questions
Average Person’s Solutions for getting a Protection Dog when you can’t afford it.
Liability Insurance for Dogs / Legal Protection
Off Grid feeding solutions
Training an older dog in Protection work
Moving with your dog in places with firearms restrictions, like government buildings.
Over Simplifying
Bogged Down
What business to start?
WHAT DOES ANY OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DOG TRAINING?
Many of the concepts we have of the dog are so over simplified, we do the dog an injustice.
This is a visual heavy episode where we go through some of the bite work videos we have posted and give commentary and thoughts on what is going on.
We also start the episode with answering a question about adding a protection dog into a multi pet home.
To be alone is the fate of all who think for themselves
Nicole Sauce of Living Free in Tenessee and John Willis of SEO Tactical Gear had me on one of their Tuesday live episode. We had a great conversation. I recommend you follow both of them on YouTube.
Multi - Topic Episode
Dogs getting older and adding a new dog to your family
Dogs helping or healing mental illness - PTSD - requiring discipline - full acceptance - reflecting the handler
Deciding between family, military and being true to yourself
5 things I’ve learned about myself since leaving the military.
The military and combat deployments really fuck you up, it’s ok to admit that
You will never fully recover / return to your old self
The value and detriment of hyper vigilance
Dealing with anger and structuring your life to accommodate that
Waking up to the fact that you have been manipulated and dealing with that
Standing up to perceived authority - what is actual authority - preparing our children to leave and teaching them when to rebel - when and how to push back
Setting Realistic Expectations - Think on a grand scale of perfection, and then incorporate as many of those ideas into your plan as possible - Example
Basic concepts of defense
It takes more numbers to attack then defend
Defenses are set up in layers
Using Defensive positions
Incorporating Patrolling Tactics into Defense
Benefits of being the Attacker
Benefits of being the Defender
Basic concepts of adding dogs to defense
Dogs are amazing detectors
Dogs are deterrents
Dogs can work in teams with other dogs or in units of people or both
Like firearms, dogs can be used on people at a distance
Building Teams of Dogs
Pros and Cons of 2 vs 3 dogs
parabolic increase with each additional dog
Starting Young Dogs together vs adding young dogs to an experience dog
Building layers of defense - Perimeter - Close House - House - Personal
Building your perimeter layer (Striker & Forwards in Soccer)
Establishing perimeter
Poison proofing
Firearms initiation of attack
Building Your Close House Layer (mid fielders on a Soccer Team)
Establishing the close perimeter
Firearms initiation attack
Assisting perimeter dogs
Assisting house dogs
Building your house layer (Defenders in Soccer)
These dogs will come out to interact with Close layer to use the bathroom, but then go back inside
Think of them as the Family Dogs
Building suspicion in the dogs
Pros and cons bite first ask questions later
Building Your Personal Layer (Goal Keeper in Soccer)
Putting it all together and Running through a few scenarios
Attack / Defend
Patrolling Defense
Dealing with Probing
We are making a shift in our format and what to expect moving forward
Puppies - Puppy care - ENS and our process
Pros and Cons of Kennels, Fences & Runs
Supplements we use and like
Developing confidence in young dogs
Summer Heat Dangers for dogs
Format shift and broadening our Protection Topics
Don’t Believe Anything They Tell You!!
Do you trust your media?
Probably “NO” - Insert statistic here
Things they have lied about
If someone has proven to you they are pathological liars, should you trust them?
How do you know what to believe?
To some degree you will never fully know
Listen to alternative points of view
If you are afraid to challenge your basic understanding of things, you are weak minded
What should you do about all this?
First, Ask yourself what is really important to know. Does it directly affect you?
Is there anything you can do about the big thing? Is there anything you can do to make your life better?
What does any of this have to do with Dog Training?
You’re too fucking nice - Sometime you gotta kill a mother fucker!!
Stop yearning for order and fearing the chaos
Order is the area we are comfortable in
Drive into the chaos, find something you can take dominion of and make it order
You never know how much of your dash you have remaining
All of your yesterdays are dead and none of your tomorrows are promised
Don’t live in fear of the future
Principles of Defense with a Dog
Why is the dog the best defensive tool?
Escalation of force:
What makes us different?
Protecting Your Digital Privacy
The Cloud and Third Parties
How much of your data is used
How does Law Enforcement use your data?
Start9.com
Protecting Your Wealth
Conventional Wisdom
Alternatives
Crypto Currencies: Bitcoin & Alt Coins
What is the best strategy for being prepared
Option 1 - Live like everything has already gone wrong
Option 2 - Live the life you want and have contingencies if things go wrong
Consider your most likely and most dangerous threats
Dealing with a Home Invasion for the normal family
What are your planning parameters?
How can you incorporate these into your plans?
Using guns, combative, dogs, etc
Additional assets to consider
Communications: phones, radios, verbal
Tracking Introduction and Theory
Willing to lose everything to be true to your convictions
Passion is being willing to suffer for a thing
Why do you believe what you believe?
Did you grow up in a church? Or with parents who hated the church?
The Philosophy of Positivity and Why that is a lie (E!)
The three philosophies (IG reply) - You all suck, Fuck You
Accepting reality for what it is
Self development
Why reality is the only philosophy that can make you happy
There is a natural order
There are no Freedoms but what you take
Difference between a Right and Freedom
Understanding Your Rights
Bill of Rights are good but there are many more
Exercising Your Freedom
If you do not exercise your freedom you don’t have it
Food Aggression and Doing Feeding Drills
Purpose of feeding drills
Purpose of these drills
Children messing with dogs food while they’re eating
Papers Please!! Why I will never register my dogs with the AKC or other kennel clubs
What does it mean to have registration papers on a dog?
Breed creation history
All breeds were created for a purpose
Starting your dog on scent detection
Building interest
Training Expectations and When to Stop for the Day
Dogs thrive off of praise and success
Dogs build apprehension in failure and stress
The longer a dog is under stress the more negative association the dog will have with the new task
Overcoming apprehension to stress through training success
Always end on a positive note (successful completion)
Today we have an interview I did with Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast (thesurvivalpodcast.com) and we had an excellent discussion on the use of Protection Dogs and what it means to have them. This is an excellent introduction to our work if you want to share it with friends and family.
Also, if you are at all interested in creating a more resilient life in finance, dealing with anything from a personal to a regional disaster or just controlling what kind of food you put in your body, I highly recommend Jack's podcast.
Here is the link to the live streamed version of this podcast if you want to watch us interact.
https://youtu.be/Hp7IePQ2pOA
Pat Watson of Uncensored Tactical Podcast interviews me about dogs and more. Check it out!
This talk was at an event we attended in North Carolina called Prepper Camp 2021. I spoke three different days and will be posting these over the next several weeks. Each day was different. The audio on this version is 100% better than the first version.
We talk about training misconceptions, how to improve training, stress inoculation ideas, good and bad instruction in tactical training and a whole lot more. Pat is the owner of Uncensored Tactical which specializes in lock entry and defeat, primarily in lock picking. Pat has a book, Tactical Lock Picking. You can find him on uncensoredtactical.com and he is most active on his Instagram page, @uncensoredtactical.
Pat is also a K9 Academy franchisee in the Houston, TX area and an affiliate of Fortress K9. You can contact him for dog training in your area by visiting his website or by reaching out on the Instagram channel @k9academy_tx.
This talk was at an event we attended in North Carolina called Prepper Camp 2021. I spoke three different days and will be posting these over the next several weeks. Each day was different. The audio is somewhat quiet on this particular episode, but you should be able to turn it up and hear what is being said. Next year I will bring my better setup to make sure audio recording is better.
What are You Afraid of? Dealing with Fear
How fear affects us
Options
Embrace fear - It is great for telling us something may be wrong.
Overcoming fears allow you to quickly accept situations and act in positive ways to turn the odds in your favor
The Myth of the Alpha Dog & The Wolf vs the Dog
History of the Alpha
Wolf vs Dog
Many believe the wolf and other wild dogs were domesticated
An Alternative Idea
Ark - The dog has always been with mankind
History and Use of the Prong Collar
History
Use
Both Rings
Common Errors & Misconceptions
Use of only one ring - choke collar
Selecting Breeders and Puppies
Why is Your Breeder Breeding?
You Get What You Pay For
Many people are desperate to sell their puppies and they drop their prices to move them
Why do I breed?
My own Program - Dogs between $20,000 and $65,000 dollars
Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
Do You Want Accomplish Something Important?
Defensive Applications
Interpersonal Conflict is the universal phobia
Giving and receiving unsolicited advice
Social media
If you give advice, you bear responsibility to the ones you give it to
Don’t speak about things you don’t know
Don’t give me shit!
Whenever someone gives you something, there is an expectation of repayment
Many people will try to tell you how to train and live your life
Decide for yourself
Being flexible in life
Learn to be flexible
Defensive applications
Fights never go the way you think they will
Being held back by bitterness
Being bitter is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die
What does this have to do with dog training?
Dog reflects the handler
Thinking vs Doing
What is the difference between knowing and being told something?
Stop expecting people to like you
If everyone likes you, you have no conviction or passion
Most people water down their ideas thoughts and messages because they are afraid someone might not like it.
Often the messages and ideas that most help you and others are the ones you’re afraid to share
Should you pursue your passion?
What is passion?
Pros and cons to pursuing passion
Pros
Suffering
Busyness vs Productivity
There are lots of busy people out there, but not a lot of people who are productive
You are responsible to create your own life, stop blaming others for your failure
Why you should always accept responsibility for everything you can
Failure is the Route to Success
Have you ever wondered why you have been unable to achieve the things in your life that are important to you?
What you can do about it
Embrace the suck
Your life is very short and you’re going to die soon
Why is this a positive thing?
What you can do about it
Set goals
Weak people target strong people
Why?
What you can do about it
Stop caring about what other people think well still caring about the people themselves
Dealing with a protection dog during arguments
Is this a concern?
Different options you have
Crates
Feeding Your Dog
Kibble vs Raw vs Whole Game
Fasting
PROS
What I do…
What I would do if ideal world…
Stability and the drill/scenario process
Build the new scenario into the dogs mind
Stabilize drill
Present non threat variations of the drill
Alternate variations
Blend drills
Thanks to @TX_Joe and the Insurgency Knitting Circle Podcast for inviting us out to show off our dogs and speak. This is a live event recording
Tactical Priorities - Actions on the Objective
End the threat
Secure the area
Security is the art of identifying threats and weaknesses in defense and fixing them.
What is Reconsolidating?
Had a client come train with me last week with a male Malinois that is attacking people and is totally unsafe. Come to find out it has been trained in sport bite work with no stability. Fuck these trainers...in case you haven't figured it out yet, this is an epic rant and definitely E!
Most of life’s disappointments are because we had expectations when we shouldn’t or had unrealistic expectations
Tactical Applications
Expecting to defend yourself without getting hurt
Interview with James Guthrie. James was attacked while working in his office along with another co-worker by a disgruntled part time employee… Hear James’s story directly from him and some of the things he is doing now because of his experience.
Links to the local news stories below:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/police-suspect-shot-after-attacking-employees-at-orlando-business-with-knife
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/suspect-in-alleged-machete-attack-at-orlando-business-identified
Threat Preparation - Training
Threat Preparation - Preparation Equipment (Physical Preparation)
Threat Preparation - Preparation Equipment (Physical Preparation)
Defensive Purchases
Offensive Purchases
Firearms - pistols, rifles, shotguns - Consistency across platforms
When and how to use force
Threat Preparation
Threat Planning
Accept your circumstances for what they are
My dog will protect me, No it won’t
https://youtu.be/N8DDLxW7Exg
Annual Planning and Preparation
- if you’re like me, you get ready to work ... you pause ... you wonder what it is you were supposed to do ... you start some task that isn’t important and is fairly easy to complete ... WHY EASY TO COMPLETE?
Entrepreneur vs Slave Mindset - this is not a call to start a business
We should always strive for progress in the direction of perfection, understanding that perfection is an unachievable goal
Story of clients seeing lots of progress in a single class, but still complaining their dog isn't as good as the others in class
The idea of gratitude and humility is largely missing in our society. Rather than being thankful for what we have, all we can see are the things we still don't have. And if we are even a tiny amount better at one thing, we somehow think we are better than them
Balance: always keep perfection as a final goal, but don't feel like everything else is failure. You will never reach perfection, but by working toward it, you will make yourself and your dog the best you can be.
What is Anger? (Episode 14)
- Emotionally Driven
- You lose control
- Increase stress and stress related limitations
What is Aggression?
- Driven from character and choice - Courage
- You gain control
- Decreases or controls stress and reduces stress related limitations
How to develop aggression and reduce anger
Breeding - many dogs have genetic issues that create weakness
Most of the time, "Dog reflects the handler"
Fix Yourself, fix the dog
Inoculate yourself to stress, your dog will be less stressed
The dog is so often reacting to you and so in tune with their handler, that your weakness manifests themselves in the dog
Ask yourself, what am I doing that is causing the dog to act this way
Communication - Verbal, Gestures & LEAD DIRECTION
True Control is a loose lead, tight lead is no control
Always developing more control and less lead requirement
Moving toward off lead obedience and using gestures
The Importance of the “Out”
Building Trust with Your Dog
Stop being a Bitch (pun intended) and use a Prong Collar (EXPLICIT!!)
Canine Biathlon
US Canine Biathlon
https://www.facebook.com/caninebiathlon
Logan Haus Kennels Annual Mud Run
https://www.loganhauskennels.com/k9-mud-run
In part 3 of Getting Into Protection Training, we are going to discuss...
In this episode, we discuss part 2 of how we bring our dogs into protection training.
Stress Inoculation
Intermediate Fighting
Let's start talking some nuts and bolts. I go through our process of bringing a dog into protection work in this podcast. It ended up being a 3 part series.
In part 1 we cover:
- Bring out a Puppy
- Building the Bite
This is a discussion on our blocks to learning and development
Why is it so difficult for people to think outside of their experience?
You are conditioned
I love jack asses on Facebook and Instagram, they give me the greatest ideas for topics. Today I respond to a jack ass.
Managing your time is critical if you want to accomplish anything significant. Here is what I do and how I organize my day, so I can organize my week, so I can organize my year and my life.
Training your subconscious series
Before you can accomplish something, you must be able to imagine it.
If you don't now where you are going, any train will get you there. You cannot accomplish anything meaningful in life without first deciding to.
Goal Categories: family, health, spiritual, security (dogs)
Develop a long-term plan based on one clear, long term goal in each category. THIS REQUIRES AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF MENTAL IMAGINATION WORK.
Short-term and Mid-term goals should all clearly lay out a path to accomplishing your long term goals.
Goals should be SMART
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely
Why are so many dog trainers risk averse...scardy cats? (pun intended)
You can not build a warrior by avoiding risk.
We need to have a realistic discussion about training for high risk situations.
- Knife fight training - You're going to get cut
- Marshall arts training - going to get hit
- Gun training - You might get shot
CAN YOU DEAL WITH THOSE THINGS AND WIN ANYWAY!?!?!?!
You must train your mind to deal with the realistic aspect of high intensity fighting and STILL WIN ANYWAY!
Why are so many stress drills in the sport world introductory?
In my recent viral Facebook videos, I got a comment asking if we do stress drills they often see on other videos, things like loud noises, rattle cans and weird items around the dog.
Many stress drills have fundamental misunderstandings of the dog's mental capabilities and rationale.
- Dogs can't reason the same way humans can
- Dogs are pattern driven, experiential creatures
- Well bred dogs do not experience fear the same way a human does. Can it hurt me? Can I fight it?
We give examples of low stress drills (great starting points) and high stress drills (where we want to be for protection dogs).
Many dogs are trained with sport training methods and then go on to do law enforcement or are sold as protection dogs. From my perspective, I don't recommend this approach because sport training is about teaching the dog in a consistent, repetitive and predictable environment where they know what is going to happen. In real world conflict, it is dynamic (ever changing), unpredictable and you never know how it is going to end up.
We do not like the prey/play drive approach because we want our dogs to have a very high tolerance for stress. In a real fight, the dog is defending and so we operate in serious/defense drive, teaching the dog to stay in the fight and win no matter what happens.
We take the approach of high stress training, moving the dog in the direction of high stress performance, rather than low stress training.
Check it out to get my full thoughts.
Digging Deeper into Drives and My Issues with Them
I finally discovered why I really don't like the "drives" philosophy and descriptions for dogs.
1. It over simplifies the dog to only base desires
2. The dog is a complex creature
In today's episode, we discuss why I believe we should stop over simplifying a complex creature, how that tends to lead to a breakdown of "The Work" and my recommendation that we embrace COMPLEXITY.
Check it out.
Let's Talk Breeding
Line Breeding vs Diverse Genetics
The big secret of the working line breeding world...we cross our lines
What am I looking for in a breed and in a line?
What does your dog work for? Is praise enough? What about toys and treats? Which one should you choose? In today's episode we dig into some of the complexity of the dog and why I believe it is a disservice to the dog to over simplify their responses to simple drives.
The dog is the only creature that bonds to mankind.
The dog does need a reward to maintain its motivation to work.
Many use treats to toys to reward:
- Why I don't think that is the best way to motivate a protection dog.
Using the bond and mutual respect to motivate work
- Why do you spend time with your friends? Why do you help them fix their house or car?
- Deeper motivations exist than money and food
- Dog is a complex creature, stop trying to over simplify
Best way to motivate the dog is to develop a bond, give the dog respect while demanding it in return, and let the dog know when they do a good job, praise.
Have you ever actually read the Declaration of Independence? Many people understand that it was one of our founding documents and that it is very important for our country, but almost no one has actually read what it says. In this Special Series, we will read through the Declaration and comment to help everyone understand just how special this nation is and how amazing the great men who founded it were.
Have you ever actually read the Declaration of Independence? Many people understand that it was one of our founding documents and that it is very important for our country, but almost no one has actually read what it says. In this Special Series, we will read through the Declaration and comment to help everyone understand just how special this nation is and how amazing the great men who founded it were.
Have you ever actually read the Declaration of Independence? Many people understand that it was one of our founding documents and that it is very important for our country, but almost no one has actually read what it says. In this Special Series, we will read through the Declaration and comment to help everyone understand just how special this nation is and how amazing the great men who founded it were.
Have you ever actually read the Declaration of Independence? Many people understand that it was one of our founding documents and that it is very important for our country, but almost no one has actually read what it says. In this Special Series, we will read through the Declaration and comment to help everyone understand just how special this nation is and how amazing the great men who founded it were.
Have you ever actually read the Declaration of Independence? Many people understand that it was one of our founding documents and that it is very important for our country, but almost no one has actually read what it says. In this Special Series, we will read through the Declaration and comment to help everyone understand just how special this nation is and how amazing the great men who founded it were.
Effects of Stress in a High Risk Situation - Training Your Subconscious Part 3
Are you aware of how your mind and body will react in a high stress situation? If you are not, then you will likely react negatively to many of the effects stress will have on you and this could mean the difference between success and failure.
Things we discuss in this episode:
Visual Exclusion - tunnel vision
Cognitive effects of stress
Training Your Mind through scenarios - Training Your Subconscious Part 2
Examples of simulations
Why is Dynamic Movement so important to your training for Protection Dogs? Because fights are dynamic, they constantly change. If your dog is not familiar with moving that way with you, they can get in your way, trip you up, and ultimately it could get you killed. Find out what you can do about it here.
We don't talk a lot about the communication coming from and going to the dog. But for us, this is one of the foundations of training and handling. Today we are going to discuss how we communicate, the importance of having consistent communication and common errors in communication that cause problems.
Verbal Communication
- Commands
- Tone of Voice
Lead Direction
- Using a loose lead as often as possible
Gestures
- Overt Gestures
- Subtle Gestures
Let's be honest about anger...
- Everyone gets angry
Options for dealing with anger
- Getting angry is a choice
- Anger is a good thing...to tell you something is wrong, but a bad thing to solve the problem.
- Mentally prepare for triggers
What the hell does any of this have to do with dog training? Listen to find out...
You have heard me talk about Stress Inoculation in other episodes, today we take a deep dive into what it means, why we use it, and how to make sure it is being done correctly for your purpose.
What is stress inoculation?
- How does stress inoculation benefit both dog and handler?
- Pit falls of stress inoculation
- Over stressing
- Artificial stress - not real fighting
- Benefits of stress inoculation and why you should use it.
When your dog does something you don't like, who do you blame? When you notice patterns and tendencies you wish weren't there, whose fault is that?
In today's episode, we discuss the concept of "the dog reflects the handler." We talk about how it affects you, the dog and what you can do when you realize this new truth.
Things to remember:
- We are all broken - This helps us accept other broken people.
- The dog reflects our weakness and strength back to us
- Build on your strengths
- Fix your weaknesses
- Don't project onto your dog - recognize it and change yourself.
What is the difference between a "Full Mouth Bite" and a "Natural Bite"? Which is better? What should you train your dog for? Well...that all depends on your application and purpose for your dog?
In this episode we discuss the background and purpose behind each type of bite and what is better for you based on your intended purpose.
When you're deciding what kind of bite to train, ask yourself this question:
- What is the purpose of my dog's biting?
- Full mouth bite is initially more painful, but it causes less damage, allows the attacker to focus on you, makes the dog open to attack.
- Natural bite is not quite as painful initially, but causes much more damage in fight, is highly distracting, is very hard to counter.
In this episode we discuss the difference between the Victor and the Victim in terms of our mental outlook. We give a lot of examples and also take a look into the results that each mentality produces. Are you living with a Victor or Victim mentality?
Many people don't realize how important it is to have the proper approach to Protection Training as the handler. In this episode, we discuss the proper mind set, performance, and setting for training a Protection Dog from the Handler's Perspective, and a bunch of other cool stuff as well.
If you are familiar with the sporting/working dog community, you will probably find our Protection Training to be different than most other trainers out there. In this episode we dig deeper into what we use, how we use it and why we do things differently. Join us for an alternative perspective on training the dog to do Protection Work.
Lots of people in the dog world talk about how hard a dog hits or how deep it's bite is, but very few people (none that I know of) talk about K9 stability. What is stability? In a nut shell, it means the dog will not put its teeth on anything I don't tell it to or train it to. Get my deeper discussion inside this week's episode and find out why it is so important, no matter what you are training your dog to do.
In this episode we discuss Pillars 7 through 12 of the 12 Pillars of Dog Training that is the foundational philosophy of our approach to dog training. Each of these pillars is discussed in depth with specific examples and applications. Half way through the last podcast, I realized that I was not going to stay in my time frame for the entire 12 Pillars, so I cut it off at 6. If you enjoy this episode, make sure that you go back and check last week's show for Part 1.
Pillars Discussed this week:
In this episode we discuss Pillars 1 through 6 of the 12 Pillars of Dog Training that is the foundational philosophy of our approach to dog training. Each of these pillars is discussed in depth with specific examples and applications. Half way through the podcast, I realized that I was not going to stay in my time frame for the entire 12 Pillars, so I cut it off at 6. If you enjoy this episode, make sure that you check back next week for Part 2.
Pillars Discussed this week:
When I hear people discuss fighting and self-defense, it becomes very clear very fast that many, if not most, of them have no idea what it is actually like in a fight. Either that, or they are afraid to tell you what it is actually like to be in a fight.
In today's podcast, we talk about some of the hard truths of fighting to defend yourself and your family and offer some thoughts, advice and tips on how you can prepare yourself for the REAL fight of your life.
And, as always, we wrap up with how adding a Protection Dog to your tool bag opens up a myriad of options you simply can't get any other way.
For more information on how you can add a Protection Dog to you and your family's defensive plan, visit www.fortressk9.com
Your subconscious mind controls upwards of 80% of all your decisions in a given day. That means that if your subconscious is not properly trained, you are setting yourself up for failure. In this episode, we discuss some of the things you can do to start training your subconscious mind, and what in the world this has to do with handling and training dogs.
So what in the world does this have to do with handling and training Protection Dogs? Dog handlers, and sadly many dog trainers, as completely unaware of their own thoughts and actions. This leads to many bad habits, confusing communication between the dog and handler, and often to the dog being blamed for the failure of the human they are trying to serve.
In my opinion, there are 5 primary purposes to dog training, and therefore generally 5 different approaches to dog training.
In this episode, we discuss my thoughts on how to approach each of these goals and how they differ from one another.
Today we are discussing why Right Thinking is the foundation of everything else that we do, both in our lives and in our training and handling of Protection Dogs. Acting Right is a byproduct of Thinking Right and understanding the cycle of development in our thoughts will help each of us do the things we need to do.
Next we address the idea many people have of "Wrong" training methods. No training method is wrong if it is accomplishing its intended purpose. But we need to understand what the ultimate purpose of a training method is so that we can choose the method that best fits our goals.Finally, I talk about Why Almost all training advice is wrong...except mine, of course [smirk]. But so much of what I hear people discuss when it comes to dog training is based on the assumption that other people have the same goals and objectives as the ones giving the advice. We should ask the question, what are you trying to accomplish first. When we understand what the objective is, we can begin discussing the best ways to get there. But without that understanding, most training advice falls short of having any helpful meaning.