Episode #230 Helping Your Dog Feel Differently with the 10-1 Rule

In this episode, Amanda, a professional trainer here at BAXTER & Bella, coaches a client through a powerful behavior-changing technique known as the 10-1 rule. If your dog struggles with things like car rides, leash walks, harnesses, crates, baths, or nail trims, this episode is for you. Amanda breaks down how to shift your dog’s emotional response to these common stressors by creating more positive associations and building trust over time. Learn how to apply this simple yet effective strategy to help your dog feel more confident, calm, and cooperative.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to the 10-to-1 Rule
• 1:34 Applying the Rule to Crate Training
• 5:21 Car Anxiety Solutions
• 7:15 Leash Problems and Solutions
• 8:44 Managing Separation Anxiety
• 10:34 Other Applications and Conclusion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

For today's episode. I have a special treat for you. I'm giving you a clip of a call between our trainer, amanda, and one of her clients. They are discussing a concept that can totally change how your dog feels about doing something they don't really want to do. Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:20

I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter Bella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Hi you guys, thanks for being here today. I'm so excited for today's episode. I think you're really going to like it.

Speaker 1: 0:53

Before we get started, I just want to remind you that summer is coming. We have a lot of classes and courses that we are teaching. One of the ones that I really like to highlight is called our junior training course. If you have kids in your home and you have a puppy or a new dog and you would like to teach your kid how to interact with the dog in the best way possible and to help them get some responsibility around it, but also some excitement. Uh, send them to our junior training course. We have an online do it yourself step-by-step program, or they can view it via zoom. They can participate live here in a few weeks. So jump on our website, check it out. It's called the junior training course. Get your kids signed up today. All right, let's jump into Amanda and her client.

Speaker 2: 1:34

Enjoy, we're going to talk a little bit about the crate, the car, the leash, watching you leave for work. There's a lot of things within those topics that dogs really don't love, so this is called the 10 to 1 rule, and here's why it matters. This rule isn't about just fixing problems after they happen. It's about preventing them. We want to try to get ahead of the problem. So if we can help our dogs form positive associations before fear or resistance sets in, we save a lot, a lot of stress. You heard of this before.

Speaker 3: 2:08

I have. I've heard you mention this before, for sure. I still don't totally get it. So what does it really mean, though, that 10 to 1 rule?

Speaker 2: 2:18

Totally fair. I get this a lot because it applies to a lot of different things. So think of it like this For every 10 times you expose your dog to something they don't naturally love or don't really like or are unsure about, only one of those times I want you to include that unpleasant part. The other nine times should be either neutral or positive. I mean ideally positive. We want your dog to have these positive associations and outweigh anything negative. It's like we're helping their emotional brain say positive. We want your dog to have these positive associations and outweigh anything negative.

Speaker 2: 2:51

It's like we're helping their emotional brain say hey, this thing isn't scary, it's actually kind of great right. Because when they first see this crate or see you leave for work or see the leash come at them or see the car pull up, and we start going right out putting the leash on and walking home from the park or getting our keys and putting our shoes on and leaving right for work, and they start to get worried and they start to create this negative association right off the bat that this is scary and this is not good, and so they start to react poorly to these different things. So we use this 10 to 1 rule to really outweigh that negative association so that the brain is saying this isn't scary, this is actually kind of great. This is how we build trust. It's not bribery at all, it's actually reinforcement. It's this proactive teaching trying to get ahead of it. Let's use an easy example. Do you ever struggle with the crate?

Speaker 3: 3:39

Yep, definitely. My dog hates when I try to put him in the crate.

Speaker 2: 3:48

Especially if the crate has only ever meant I'm leaving now or you're stuck in here. So the 10 to 1 rule says nine times make the crate experience very neutral or very fun. Toss and treat in, let your dog walk in and right back out over and over and over. Walk in, walk out. Walk in, walk out. Maybe toss in a stuffed Kong and leave the door wide open. You know, I mean, we could also toss in a stuffed Kong, shut the door for a few seconds, open it back up and take the Kong before they're done, replacing it with a little pile of scattered treats, leaving them wanting more of the crate with the door closed, because that's when they get this cool Kong. But anyway, you're just creating a story in their brain that says this place equals good things. So only one of those ten times do you actually shut the door and leave, leave. That way the crate starts to feel like okay, well, sometimes it closes, but most of the time it's fun.

Speaker 3: 4:43

So really you're just trying to get rid of the bad association.

Speaker 2: 4:48

Yeah, I mean. Yeah, I mean we are trying to get rid of the bad association. But there is something that I really want to point out here, because that's not the whole point of this. Ideally, we're not undoing anything. Really we want to get in and try to prevent those bad associations from ever happening in the first place. Once your dog decides, I hate the crate, or the leash means something bad, or every time he grabs the keys he's going to work and he's gone forever. You're now in fix-it mode and that takes a lot longer. So prevention is always easier than intervention.

Speaker 3: 5:26

All right. So what about the car? My dog doesn't want to even get in anymore. We've had to make several trips to the vet and back and every time we try to put him in it's like no way.

Speaker 2: 5:38

Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's a really good example. So again, the 10 to 1 rule. We want to park the car, maybe open the door, toss in some high value treats, let your dog hop in, hang out for a second, hop out. No pressure, no drive, just positive exposure. We can do this with the car off, even, and then slowly turn it on and slowly build up that exposure to the car in a positive way. After a few of those we can take a short spin around the block or maybe it's just pulling in and out of your driveway as a first and slowly building up this positive exposure and then make that trip to the vet a really rare one, not the pattern we only get in the car to go to the vet, or we only get in the car to do A, b or C that the dog doesn't like, and now we've created this pattern that this is what the car means. So really try to keep up that 10 to 1 rule where no pressure, no drive, just positive exposure.

Speaker 3: 6:37

So you're really trying to just make a bunch of good experiences so that the rare bad ones don't make such a big deal.

Speaker 2: 6:44

Yeah, yeah, exactly so. Emotional memory in dogs is actually really real. If something only ever really feels scary or restrictive, their brain wires that in. But if nine out of 10 experiences are neutral or rewarding, you're building confidence and emotional safety.

Speaker 3: 7:05

So what about the leash? Mine literally hides every time I pick it up and I have to like chase them around to try to get them, so I can hold them enough, so I can get the leash on them.

Speaker 2: 7:15

Yeah that. I've heard that one several times too. That definitely happens. Um, that usually means the leash predicts the end of something fun is coming, or they've made a game of it. Uh, so, just like before, we need to flip that script. Pick the leash up, clip it on, give them a treat, unclip it, maybe a few times. You can walk a few steps and then take it off again. Do that throughout the day, not just when it's time to leave the park or not just when it's time to go to the vet or when it's time to do something they don't want. Practice clipping that leash on and off all day long, or even just carrying it around and touching it to their body and giving them a treat. Get them used to seeing this leash in so many different ways that, in general, this leash is actually something that's awesome or actually quite boring, but never actually scary that sounds like a ton of work.

Speaker 3: 8:08

Um, I mean, I get it, but it's kind of just I'm trying to think how I could even make that all work. It seems so time consuming.

Speaker 2: 8:17

Yeah, absolutely it does. It does take a lot of time up front, it totally does. But honestly, you're saving yourself from a long-term struggle. You can spend two weeks proactively helping your dog feel good about something, or six months to even a year sometimes trying to rehab their fear after it's already set in.

Speaker 3: 8:38

That's fair. But what about when I leave for work, like on those rushed occasions? I've just got to get out the door. You know how do you do a 10 to 1 rule for that. I can't pretend to leave nine times and then finally leave. I mean that would take quite a long time. I'd be late for work every day fair.

Speaker 2: 9:03

You don't have to do this every single morning, but you actually can practice this several times during the day. You know, maybe on Saturday mornings when you're not going to work, or Sunday mornings when you're not going to work, or whatever morning you're not going to work, or when you get home from work or you're home for lunch. You can practice so many times throughout the day where you practice these fake departures, grabbing your keys, putting your shoes on, opening the door, and then sit back down or walk out and come back 30 seconds later. You know, sometimes when we leave for a few seconds and come back really quickly, they start to also not have an anticipation around how long we're going to be gone and that helps decrease anxiety quite a bit about our departure. So we can practice these fake departures all the time.

Speaker 2: 9:45

It doesn't just have to be right in the morning before you leave for work, but definitely put it in there as often as you can, add in some treat scatters or a frozen Kong right as you leave too. I mean, say you have to go to work in a rush and you have been practicing this 10 to 1 with these fake departures all throughout the week. Then just put some scattered treats on the floor. Give them a frozen kong and leave that. That way you're teaching them. This isn't scary.

Speaker 3: 10:13

It's peanut butter time when I leave so you're just trying to make it a bunch of, like, little experiencers, experiences that aren't that big of a deal then yeah, exactly dogs, exactly Dogs aren't being stubborn or dramatic, they're responding to patterns.

Speaker 2: 10:27

If you shift the pattern, you shift the behavior.

Speaker 3: 10:30

So what else can I use this 10 to 1 rule for?

Speaker 2: 10:34

Anything your dog doesn't naturally love actually. So nail trimming, that's a really common one. Dogs don't love their nail trims. We can do 10 foot touches for every clip, for example, maybe bath time. Dogs really hate bath time at the beginning of their lives, when they're little puppies and some even further into life, and we can totally rehab that behavior or just prevent it. But we can do 10 tub visits for every rinse. Wearing a harness, that's another one. We can give them 10 treats with the harness being slipped over their neck and slipped right off before we actually put it on and go for a walk.

Speaker 3: 11:11

That's fair. I get it. That works. I'm totally for prevention over correction, so I think that's a good place.

Speaker 2: 11:19

Yeah, that's totally the heart of it, right there. If you remember one thing from today don't wait for a problem to start training. Create positive associations before negative ones even show up.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Thanks for tuning in to the Puppy Training Podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online. Until next time, happy training.