Before You Get a Dog, LISTEN to This! Expert Guidance for Choosing the Right Dog for You

🐾 Thinking about getting a dog? Hold that thought! Before you bring home a pup based on a cute face or a trending breed, let’s talk about what really matters when choosing the right dog for your life.

This week on Muddy Paws and Hairballs, I sit down with Pete Campione to expose the biggest mistakes people make when picking a dog—and how to avoid them. If you’ve ever wondered why so many dogs end up in shelters or why some adoptions fail, this episode is a must-listen.

What We Cover:

✅ The dangers of choosing a dog based on looks or a sad story 🐶💔
 ✅ What self-reflection has to do with responsible dog ownership
 ✅ The research you MUST do before adopting
 ✅ How to recognize key behavior signals in a dog
 ✅ Why structure and routine are non-negotiable for a successful adoption
 ✅ The first 30 days: What makes or breaks a new home

Friends, if today’s episode saves even one person from adopting or buying a dog they had no business bringing home, Pete and I have done our jobs.

🎧 Tune in now and let’s make sure every dog finds the right home!

🔗 Listen & Subscribe

#MuddyPawsAndHairballs #DogAdoption #RightDogRightHome #DogOwnership #PetPodcast

Learn more about Pete, his services, and his new book here: https://www.ksk9.com/

Quick Update: We’re taking a short break and will be back with a batch of fresh episodes starting August 10! 
In the meantime, binge your way through 100+ past episodes packed with pet-saving sanity—and maybe even solve that one issue that's driving you (and your pet) nuts. 
Catch up, take notes, and we’ll see you soon! 

Chapters

• 0:32 Choosing the Right Dog Wisely
• 13:01 Finding the Right Dog Match
• 24:34 Acquiring Quality Dogs
• 40:16 The Power of Canine Communication

Transcript

Amy Castro: 0:33

All right, dog lovers, listen up, because this episode might just save you from making a tremendous mistake. Too many people pick a dog the way they pick a new pair of shoes because it looks cute. Then, a few months later, they're wondering why their house is destroyed. Their dog is bouncing off the wall. Their life is a chaotic mess. If you don't want to have dog buyers remorse, then this episode is for you. Stay tuned.

Amy Castro: 0:59

I'm Amy Castro and, as you know, I'm the host of Muddy Paws and Hairballs, and today I've got with me a guy who has seen it all in his 25 years as a trainer and behaviorist working with extreme canine behavior cases. He's the owner of Kindred Souls Canine Center in Howell, new Jersey, and his new book is called Canine Conversations and it's available now on Amazon in paperback and as an e-book, and his name is Pete Campione, and Pete and I are here to save you from yourself, or at least from choosing a dog that's going to turn your life upside down. We're going to talk about big mistakes people make, what you should actually look for when picking a pup, and why a dog is not a cute accessory it is a lifetime commitment. So before you bring home an adorable fluff ball. Let's make sure you're not about to make a disaster-level decision. So, pete, welcome to the show and let's save these people from themselves to the show and let's save these people from themselves.

Pete Campione: 1:57

Hi, amy, thank you so much and it cracks me up because in your intro you said people spend more time researching a pair of shoes. Do you know? I actually got a bad review on Yelp for saying that to somebody. This woman came in and she had a French bulldog and she was getting pissed at it because it was being a French bulldog and my assistants kept whispering in my ear. They said she's being really mean to that dog, she's doing this, she doesn't like that. And she gave me a bad review. And I had actually walked up to her and I looked at her shoes and she had Hoka sneakers, which are really cool sneakers, and I said there's nothing wrong with this dog. I guarantee you you researched those sneakers more than you did this, because this is a perfectly normal French Bulldog and she gave me a bad review for it. But tough luck, there was nothing wrong with the dog.

Amy Castro: 2:49

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I'm sure she did. I'm sure she did, or she just got lucky because she followed the trend of other people around her, which is another way that people tend to pick their pets, which is why I think there are so many French bulldogs and doodles that are in the wrong homes and we won't even get into whether those dogs should really exist or not. That's a whole other show.

Amy Castro: 3:11

Oh, please, but I do want to do that show yeah. So you've been working with dogs for 25 years. What are some of the most common mistakes people make with picking a dog, and how often do they come to you? And the conversation starts with but he was so cute.

Pete Campione: 3:27

Oh please. I've learned in 25 years to avoid the look of horror that normally goes on my face when I hear this, and now I've learned to breathe five times before I answer, because you're dealing with close to 50% of my clientele will come in with a dog that they know nothing about, and then I hear these words which make my head explode Well, well, I didn't know, but that's why I'm here to which, of course, I always answer do you buy the car before you learn to drive or do you buy the car after you learn to drive? And do you buy the car because it's red or do you drive the car because it's efficient, save you know whatever? So that's the problem with a lot of the breeds that are popular right now, that are really iffy in most homes.

Pete Campione: 4:29

I'm a firm believer every dog, including mixed breeds, including mixed breeds every dog is not right for every home, and that is neither good nor bad. It's not anybody's fault if you're not the right home for a chihuahua. If you've got six four-year-olds running around your house, you should not have a chihuahua or a dachshund. These are just common sense, and I think the most crazy making thing is people really do so much research when it comes to everything. Now they get their phones out and immediately Google what they want and what are the reviews on it and what are people saying. But again, just like you said, but he was so cute, or he picked me, I couldn't leave. Because he picked me, I'm like no, he didn't. No, he didn't, you just smelled nice.

Amy Castro: 5:33

Come on, you smelled like that hamburger you ate five minutes ago.

Pete Campione: 5:35

Yeah, I mean, come on, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Amy Castro: 5:41

It's interesting you say, when you gave the example of buying a car before your license so I teach, amongst other things, that I teach to humans. I know you teach dogs Well, you teach humans too.

Pete Campione: 5:53

Absolutely. Probably more than the dogs, but anyway.

Amy Castro: 5:55

Absolutely. When it comes to productivity and how people spend their time, oftentimes people don't know how to judge what is the most important thing on their to-do list, and I'm a big believer that you should have criteria, just like you would when you were buying a car. So when you buy a car, you have criteria for fuel efficiency, how many passengers can hold, what is the right reliability rating. You know what is the price range that I can afford, etc. Etc. Etc.

Amy Castro: 6:25

And I advocate for people to do that with their productivity. You know, to identify what are the things that are your goals and objectives and then use that as the criteria to filter how you spend your time. And I think you know, anytime we're making big decisions like having a pet, we should have a list of criteria. You know we should be going through some questions that say you know what's my activity level, what's my lifestyle, etc. What kind of thing would you say if somebody was going to create that list? What kind of questions or criteria do you think that they should be going through to narrow down what kind of dog they should get, where they should get it, et cetera.

Pete Campione: 7:06

Well, first of all, you're looking at two lists. You're looking at your bucket list and then you have to look at the dog's bucket list. So you decide okay, this is who I am, this is the time I spend at work, this is the time I have free, this is the time I want to do this, this is the time I exercise. You look at your surroundings. The environment is so critical in every dog. That's why I mean my breeds, and they're both. In the room with me right now is my Australian Shepherd, which I've had Australian Shepherds for over 25 years, and Dobermans. These are two breeds that are not for everybody. They have bucket lists, so not only do they have to fit my lifestyle, I have to be able to support what they need to make them healthy and balanced. If you don't do both, you're on a crash course, and what happens a lot of times? What I see is okay, they didn't do that. So now the human, not the dog. The human has to work harder to compensate to the dog's bucket list, because the dog is now not getting what it needs, therefore redirecting it in all the wrong places. And then they come to you. I have actually heard the words. Can't you train this husky not to be so active, and then of course, my head explodes. Calm down and answer them no, I cannot change the DNA on this dog. This is something that is inherent in this breed. So you got two lists, but you've got to look at everything.

Pete Campione: 9:05

My problem people start with their heart and then it goes to their head. They need to start with their head so then their heart can enjoy the situation. Switch it Head first, heart second. You're inviting something into your house. I would tell people, do as much research on the dog. But imagine you're inviting someone to rent a room in your house and think of all the research you would do on that person before you allowed them to live with you. Why not do the same thing? Because more than likely the roommate won't last more than a few months or a year or two Dog's going to be there 15 years minimum, you know, depending on the dog. And the research you do does start first off with yourself.

Pete Campione: 9:59

I have three kids and I may get in trouble for this, but most good breeders and I don't know about your rescue, but most rescues in new jersey do not adopt to families with children under six. It is not fair to those two-year-olds and three-year-olds who do not understand the concept of this is not a toy to make them miserable following rules that they don't understand. So you know you have to look at everything. Do you have 95-year-old great-grandma living with you who has skin like cellophane, who cannot have a dog jumping on her? Here's my environment.

Pete Campione: 10:45

Now, the rescues I deal with and the breeders that I deal with not only want to get these, not only rehab the dogs and profile them, but then they profile the families that are coming in and asking I mean, do you know how many people I actually know right now with Australian Shepherds who have no backyards? Oh my God, I mean, how do you have a herding breed with no backyard? So that means they either got it from someone who's a puppy mill or they got it from someone who was just trying to make a buck. Here's the dog. Give me the money Bye. And you know, as a legitimate rescue, how many rescues are out there right now making money and just grabbing dogs from no-kill shelters, selling them for $4.50, and you never hear from them again. They don't care who takes the dog. So research on everything. Research who you're buying or getting the dog from. Research who the dog is. A good rescue has a profile. A good rescue will ask you as many.

Amy Castro: 12:02

I want to make the point that the research starts before you walk into that adoption event or walk into that shelter You're doing this work in advance.

Amy Castro: 12:11

You're assessing your lifestyle, your home, the people that are living in it, and you know I would just plead to people out there is just to be honest about it. I mean your comment about kids under six. I don't care how well behaved you believe your kid is and we recently just rejected somebody. It was actually for a cat. They wanted to adopt not one, but two cats living in a very small apartment and one of the cats recently had a front leg amputated and they had children under the age of three. And I was like, yeah, no, that's not going to happen.

Amy Castro: 12:44

Well, my kids are good, my kids are well behaved. I'm like if you're not watching them 24-7 and that cat can't get away, it's going to use the other three paws and its teeth to get away and we're not putting that animal in that situation. And I think activity level is another huge one. It's that people, whether it's a herding breed or whether it is just a working dog breed, that needs a job, if you're a couch potato, don't get a Doberman Pinscher, don't get an Australian Shepherd, because you already are not going to give that animal even just its physical needs, let alone its mental needs.

Pete Campione: 13:21

But even that is still down to the individual dog. My girl, shelby here, who's three. My assistant has her brother night and day. Her brother I can't stand him. He sleeps until 12 o'clock. Shelby is whining at seven every morning. You will not sleep past seven, that is it, or I will scream.

Pete Campione: 13:52

You have to base the individual, which is why when you go to a rescue, you go to a breeder, you ask a ton of questions. Do you know it takes me usually six months to acquire a new dog? Do you know it takes me usually six months to acquire a new dog? And if I go to rescue or to a breeder, I give them my list of what I'm looking for and I let the professional who knows the dog tell me what's right for my house. When I got Louie, my Doberman, I had the breeder pick. I said look, I run a school. I need a dog that's active, I need a dog that's got high drive and interested, that wants to work. But I need sweetness. And that's what I got. And if I were to go to a rescue, I'd say the exact same thing Give me a dog who wants to work, give me a dog who doesn't have this or has this and that's the way you do it.

Pete Campione: 14:48

And you said something before about evaluations. Evaluations are cumulative. I have found this over time. I love people who charge an arm and a leg to evaluate a dog. I've had people come to me with dogs that have bitten numerous people, especially men, just because the dog then curls up in my lap and that has happened. That doesn't erase the six bites.

Pete Campione: 15:18

So profiling and evaluation is cumulative. You have to put it all together. Same thing when you're looking at a dog to get a dog, if I'm looking at a dog, I will go and see that dog three and four times before I take it, because on one day the dog could have just eaten, been very slow and sleepy, and I'll think, oh my God, look, how laid back this dog is. But if I go back the next time, he hasn't eaten yet, how laid back this dog is. But if I go back the next time, he hasn't eaten yet, hasn't gone for a walk yet, and now he's bouncing six feet in the air. So you know, you have to realize that this is a living thing that is not going to be static and consistent in its behavior all the time and you have to move with that variation.

Amy Castro: 16:11

Right, let's jump back a second because I want to make a point. As far as the applications, we get a lot of people that complain about our application, that it's so long, and why do you ask all these nosy questions? And what we're trying to do is we're trying to ask the questions that you should be asking, but we're going to ask you about you instead and then we're going to make those evaluations about. You know, it's not about evaluating you as a human being, about whether you're good or bad.

Amy Castro: 16:30

It's about finding the right fit animal for your lifestyle based on what we know about the animal and we don't always know everything. Like you said, things change over time. But I think that is a good point too, is that you know you don't decide. Today's the day I'm going to hit all the shelters in my area and I'm coming in with something, because it does take more than one view. And then one other thing I want to say, about shelter dogs too, especially, is that you have to be very cautious about where are you viewing that dog, and I think shelters should do this more of assessing the person and what they're looking for before you even show them any animals.

Pete Campione: 17:09

Right.

Amy Castro: 17:10

Don't take them back and walk them the 40 gauntlet cages, with everybody raising hell and jumping up on the cages and barking, they're not going to get a good feel for that animal in that environment.

Pete Campione: 17:21

No.

Amy Castro: 17:21

Find out what that person is looking for, because you know those animals. Go back and select an animal and then have them meet that animal in a quieter place, versus because I've seen too many times great, perfect fit animals get overlooked because they're acting very active or they're sitting in the corner because they're overwhelmed by the chaos that's going on around them. And that's not really who they are. It's who they are at that time in that bad environment.

Pete Campione: 17:48

Quite frankly, in shelters you're dealing with a dog that is in a semi-state of trauma. They've been displaced, they are packless, so they're all over the place. This is why adaptive process takes between 30 and 90 days. So the dog is in flux when they're there. So their responses are measured and normally on better behavior than worse behavior. Because they've got no rules, they've got no pack, so they tend to be looser and then when they get the dog home, the dog starts to revert to what I call inherited behavior. And that's where you come in and you start training and saying okay, this is where you are now and this is what we do here.

Pete Campione: 18:38

I love I just love what you said about how long your applications are. If I don't, if I'm applying for something and this is what I tell people I said if they don't do a home check, if they don't give you a lot of questions, then they don't care where their dog is going. They just want you to take the dog. If they ask you a lot of questions, if they ask about your environment, they want to give you. Take the dog. If they ask you a lot of questions, if they ask about your environment, they want to give you the right dog, why would you argue? Why would you take the wrong dog when they're trying to give you the right one? But we live in a very media gratification society. That's the human. We want it now.

Amy Castro: 19:24

Yeah, what should I be looking for? Like, let's say, I am going to a shelter, right, and they're doing the right thing. They're bringing an animal up for me to look at what would be some positive versus cautionary signs when I'm being introduced to an individual, assuming we've assessed the lifestyle thing.

Pete Campione: 19:42

Start with engagement. Start with how easily does this dog engage? That shows you a level of learnability. It also shows you how much work the dog will need to get to full engagement. You know if a dog engages with you very, very easily, looks at you, follows you. Sometimes I'll just take a dog and play with it in the room and move around and see does this dog stay with me? Just to see if there's that level of engagement. If a dog runs in the corner and goes under a chair, well that tells me something else. I let the dog tell me who they are and simple tests of communication back and forth. Does the dog understand communication? If the dog doesn't understand communication, then that tells me this dog has spent its life in a backyard or in a cage because he doesn't understand to and fro.

Pete Campione: 20:37

The environment creates the dog. So when you're looking at and assessing a shelter dog, that all plays into it. Because that's why it's so hard to get research and that's what drives me so crazy about methodologists is we can't get research on dogs because the minute we touch them, we infect them with us, they reflect us. So it's very hard. You know, you can study bees, you can study whales Can't study dogs. We don't infect bees, we don't affect whales. Dogs immediately start reflecting the environment and who we are and that's why individualism and that connection that you make with that dog tells you something about that dog in the moment.

Pete Campione: 21:29

But going back and seeing, does the dog improve. I'm dealing with a Border Collie right now that was brought in that had growled and wouldn't let anybody but the owner near it. Took me a half an hour to get the dog sitting next to me and now I'm actually using the dog. We're on, I think, a week four of a class and the dog is actually working with me now and the dog has calmed down. But I have to let the dog tell me okay, come forward. Okay, no, go back. Okay, this. Okay, that you have to earn trust and then communicate this. Okay, that you have to earn trust and then communicate. And your test would be okay, how quickly did this dog learn and how much do they want to communicate? That's just giving you an idea of not whether it's a good dog or a bad dog, but who the dog is. That's all.

Amy Castro: 22:21

Well, and I think it's key that you know that, and I like that you didn't label it good, bad or otherwise, because the dog is who, the dog is Right. And then you know, going into it, how much work you're going to have to do to integrate it into your life, your lifestyle, your household and all of that. And are you up for that challenge? You know some things are going to go much easier and some things are going to take a lot of time and effort, and do you have that time and are you willing to put in that effort? I think that's so important for people to ask themselves.

Pete Campione: 22:49

There are generalities. If you look at a dog, you could just tell by the way the dog is moving. Okay, this dog likes to work. This dog has got a lot of energy. This dog needs a lot of stimulation. This dog is thriving on that. That tells you something, Okay. Well, do I have time to do all this? You know, if the dog just comes and curls up in your lap, well, okay, this dog may be a little more laid back. But you have to realize it's a living thing and you have to be open to the evolving nature of a dog, because no dog stays the same. So you can start with an idea, the DNA idea of a boxer versus, you know, a Shih Tzu, but then you have to go directly to individuality.

Amy Castro: 23:38

So when it comes to getting a dog and I don't want to go too deep into the shelter versus rescue, versus breeder, but I kind of want to talk about how do people make good choices, let's just say in general, about sourcing a dog. You've already said a couple of things. You mentioned the questions on the application and how extensive the application, whether they do home visits or not, things like that or things that give you some information about that organization. But there are a lot of people who go under that guideline of I want to save a life, so I'm going to only get something from a shelter or I want to get something from a breeder, because that way I know what I'm getting. And both of those are not necessarily good criteria or the only criteria. What are your thoughts as far as shelter dogs versus going to a breeder and knowing who the parents are of that dog and the grandparents, et cetera, et cetera, if it's a good breeder.

Pete Campione: 24:35

I don't see a difference when you're acquiring a dog. Shelter, rescue versus puppy to me are the same, because what people don't realize when they go into a shelter? Oh, this dog has already grown and knows everything. I don't have to do any work Wrong, you have to do just as much work Whether you have a puppy or an adult. You're still teaching, you're still parenting, you're still guiding. So I don't believe in a difference between it's what fits your lifestyle, but I do believe in whichever you choose, choosing quality. You don't go to Walmart for a wedding dress. So if you're going to get a dog, go to a good shelter or a good breeder.

Pete Campione: 25:27

This is the age of information. There's plenty out there and for the 15 years you're saving a lot of trouble and you want to enhance your experience with the dog. You want to add to their existence. Experience with the dog, you want to add to their existence. And that's the unfortunate problem that you deal with more than breeders is I saved him? Well, no, you didn't. If you took him home, you just took him from one box to another. If he's in the wrong home, he's not thriving. He has a right to be the best version of himself.

Amy Castro: 26:06

So are there red flags in any facility or organization that I should basically go screaming into the hills if I see that or if I experience that?

Pete Campione: 26:16

The red flags would be shelters that are adopting in malls people who are not doing background checks. Red flags are that they're not asking a lot of questions of you.

Amy Castro: 26:30

Now we do adoption events out in the community, but we don't let you take anything home from the homeless, just using that as a pickup point because we've already arranged and we do mostly cats. We don't do a ton of dogs, but it would be the last step of handing over the dog in the adoption process. But we don't just let you fill out an application on site and then just let you go home with a pet.

Pete Campione: 26:53

With rescues. You want a rescue that's as interested in you as you are in the dog With a breeder. If you can't meet the parents of your new puppy, you don't get that puppy. That's standard. You have to go back, especially if you're buying a purebred from a breeder. You go back, you do your homework. I go back in history, I go back and I look at parents, I look at guarantees. I look at standard market price from a breeder for a dog. If you've got a dog, that normally. Now we go back to French Bulldogs because they are now the number one dog in America. They are averaging between $8,000 and $10,000 for a dog that five years ago cost $3,000. So you look at standard prices from breeders.

Pete Campione: 27:43

If somebody is giving you an outrageously low deal, red flag, there's something wrong. My dogs have hips checked, shoulders, eyes, all certified. What is the guarantee? That is coming from either the breeder or the shelter. Every good shelter I deal with stands behind their dogs. If that dog does not work out, you sign a contract that says that rescue is going to take that dog back or that cat back. They stand behind it and so does a good breeder. You sign the contract. God forbid I ever had to give up one of my dogs. The breeder has to know about it. This shows you that the rescue or the shelter is proud of their placement of their dog with you and they want it to work. That's a red flag if you don't get that.

Amy Castro: 28:40

Right.

Pete Campione: 28:41

If it's too good to be true.

Amy Castro: 28:43

Well, it shows a commitment to the animal and its future too.

Pete Campione: 28:46

If it's too good to be true it's not true, you know then there's something going on and right now puppy mills have gotten very smart about using fake homes. They'll put the puppies in a pen with fake parents and people don't know, and then they go. Oh no, it was a real breeder. I went to a house and I saw the parents and I said and you got your German Shepherd from them? I said and how much was the dog? $800. No, you don't get a German Shepherd for $800. That was not real. I said where's your contract? Oh, there was no contract, there was just a bill of sale.

Pete Campione: 29:34

No, no, people who are proud of what they do follow through. I guarantee my work. If somebody goes through my class and they don't get it, they take it again for free. Oh, no, no, no, no. You're not leaving until that dog is worth it and that dog has gotten what it needs. You know, your red flags are no different than with anything else If somebody's selling you a Rolex for 25 bucks no For the fees, though I want to just say that you know, in rescues we keep our fees based on.

Amy Castro: 30:09

You know we don't raise it because it's because we happen to take in a purebred this or that. Our fees are based on the kind of average expense of what it costs us to care for the animal while it's in our care and we kind of take a loss on most of our animals.

Pete Campione: 30:24

But that's a good rescue. Unfortunately, yeah, what people think is this is the thing about rescues. There are rescues making a ton of money because down south there are so many shelters and so many displaced dogs that are on death row and any rescue can walk into these shelters and say, well, I'll take all those dogs off of death row and they may pay 10 bucks a dog and then they just drive them up in a van, right, and then they drive them up in a van and they just hand them off to the first person with $400. And I also get people who are like, well, I looked everywhere and this was the only person I could get the dog from now. Well, no, not now. I've waited half a year for a dog. I've waited for litters. I've waited for the right dog to come in to rescue. I've done both, and that again rescue. I've done both. And that again speaks to my needs as a trainer. My dogs accompany me and work with me, so sometimes I need a puppy to be brought up in that environment so that they're kind of bulletproof. And taking in a rescue dog with unknowns could be a problem. But I've lucked out.

Pete Campione: 31:43

I had a border collie, toby, that actually I rescued him. He was found on the street of New Hampshire at two years old, covered in ticks and fleas, and Toby ended up winning an award from New Jersey governor for his work with deaf children, which was an amazing rebound and success story. In fact, I wrote about him in the book. But I know what I'm. You know when you take a dog in, there's a certain amount of rehab. You're introducing yourself to the dog. You have to be ready to teach, you have to be ready to parent, and I use that analogy a lot with people. You're parenting. When somebody tells me what they did with the dog, I say would you do that with your kid? If somebody said this could possibly hurt your child, would you take a chance? Well, no, yeah, but you know how many people take chances with dogs. That's why good breeders and rescues need to ask a lot of questions to find out who is this that's asking me for my dog?

Amy Castro: 32:55

yeah, yeah. Then sometimes you end up sitting on animal. I mean I've had people get pissed off and I guess you just don't want this animal to find a home. It's like, no, I just don't want it to go home with you.

Amy Castro: 33:06

It's like I hate to be an ass, but you're not the right fit and I would rather I'm taking a blind pit bull with me when I move, because she's not my dog but we have not found the right adopter for her and I'm not just going to give her to anybody just because I don't feel like taking seven animals with me back to the East Coast. They're all coming with Once somebody feels like they've got the right dog and they bring it home. You know we give a lot of instruction on what to do when you bring the dog a dog or a cat home and what kind of environment they need, and we obviously talk about equipment and things like that in advance. But what are the success factors, let's say in the first 30 days? Let's say things that people should be doing when they bring a new dog home.

Pete Campione: 33:51

Whenever you bring a new dog home, whether it's an adult dog or a puppy, there's a period of an adjustment. If it's a puppy, it's a little bit easier because they're smaller, they're babies. But either way, adult or puppy, it's like a baby. You're bringing something into your house that knows nothing. Dogs seek three things who is the leader? What are the rules? How do I survive? And they survive by knowing the rules and the leader. Now, knowing the rules are not about anything more than safety. So you have to think between the first 30 and 90 days, how can I make sure this dog is safe and how can I make sure this dog is learning? That means, as far as I'm concerned, that no dog, no puppy is out of sight if you can't be monitoring that dog or that puppy. That's what your crate is for. Your crate is your babysitter, your safety seat. You would never turn your back on an infant crawling on the floor. You would never turn your back on an infant crawling on the floor. There would be no such thing as where's the baby? No, and there should not be anything like that with the dog. It takes two seconds for any dog to pick something up off the floor and choke on it. So your rule of thumb in the beginning to provide stability, success and a good bond is the dog is out, he has my attention, I'm focused, that's it. Give yourself a break. If you've got something to do, put the dog in a safe area a pen or a crate. That way you know this dog is not learning bad behaviors. Because the beauty of bringing a new dog home is they're ready for you to take charge. Tell them how their life is going to be happy, and you got to do that.

Pete Campione: 36:00

I often tell people, especially with adult dogs and puppies. I often tell people, especially with adult dogs and puppies, to let them drag a short two to three foot chain leash around the house. Why a chain? So they don't chew and choke on it. But that leash gives you the ability to correct and to instruct. If you say, doggy come, and the dog doesn't understand that, then you pick up the leash, bring the dog to you. And now the dog is like, oh, that's what it means. Oh, and you loved when I did that, so I'll do that again. Or if you see a puppy starting to poop on your floor because he's not housebroken yet, you pick up the leash, you say no, no and get the dog outside.

Pete Campione: 36:47

I don't want people grabbing the dog. That's intrusive. Picking up a leash is instructive but I have to emphasize it must be chained. I don't want dogs choking because they're bored and chewing on their leash, but that whole thing teaches dogs not to jump. What's acceptable, what's not acceptable? It's an instruction tool. The first 90 days of puppy and rescue of an adult is learning and absorbing. If you put the work in in the beginning, you can enjoy them later. You don't put the work in the beginning, then it's tedious the entire time.

Amy Castro: 37:50

Yeah, and I think you need to engage everybody in that process. Like one of the things that I know we have had issues with you got a guest or people coming over at some point and they don't want to follow the rules. Like people will say things like oh, that's okay. When they jump up, it's like no, it's not okay. No, it's not Just because you accept, it doesn't mean that I want them jumping on my grandma or knocking down a two-year-old.

Pete Campione: 38:13

So no, thank you.

Amy Castro: 38:14

We have to follow these rules, yeah.

Pete Campione: 38:16

Thank you. I honestly use the exact same thing. You have to remember it's again parenting. You don't let your guests come in and give your kids chocolate five minutes before you eat. When your guests come in, they follow the rules for the safety and the development of the child. This is the same thing. And again, if the dog is dragging a leash and someone comes in now you can teach the dog. If you want to engage with that person, say please, please is sit, so the dog sits. Then that becomes the go-to behavior. But you can't let anybody undermine your teaching of your child. And it's the same thing with a new dog.

Pete Campione: 39:03

You know, when I get a dog that is constantly jumping, I mean one of the first rules I lay a foundation down for all my students and the first thing is your dog. You teach your children to say please. You teach your children to say please. You teach your dog to say please, your dog sits for everything. That's teaching the dog politeness, manners. Secondly, you follow through on everything you say so the dog learns clarity and language and I can tell if people are not doing those things, Because if they come back four weeks later and say, well, my dog is still jumping. My first question is are you letting the dog drag a leash and who's letting the dog jump on them? It's not the dog's fault. Dogs follow. They don't lead, they don't want to be in charge, they want a parent. It provides dogs with confidence and security. You get a much more balanced dog when the dog knows the answers and the dog knows clearly what you want. And you achieve that by instruction, consistency, repetition, those things equal behavior.

Amy Castro: 40:15

Such a good point. So to kind of wrap things up, number one I want you to tell us about your book, because I mentioned it in the beginning and you've mentioned it a couple of times. But tell us a little bit more about what we've defined when we buy the book.

Pete Campione: 40:30

Well, oddly, it came about because I keep reading scientific studies that say no, dogs are not empathetic, dogs do not do anything, they're not going to get something from. My firm belief is dogs are proactively communicating with us now on a level that does not involve what can they get out of the situation, and I've had a lot of experiences with that and I have found communication with dogs is the key to. I don't like the word training, I like forming behavior. You know you don't say I'm training my child, but you're teaching your child, and teaching is effective communication and I feel like the book teaches people to listen and respond.

Pete Campione: 41:32

In my area I get a lot of dogs who are not accepted other places I get dogs with severe PTSD who've been abused, bait dogs, hoarding dogs. There's a story on my website about a dog named Fiona. She's also a book. She was a husky who was found in a box of dead puppies in a hoarding situation. And Fiona it took her about a year to finally learn how to play. I look at these broken and you know, coming from my childhood, I just sort of, like you know, project onto them like, wow, if only somebody had done this for me. So I take a lot of cases that nobody else will Deaf dogs, blind dogs, ptsd, severe anxiety, behavioral issues. That keeps these dogs from being resilient, because, unfortunately, when people get these dogs again, they're thinking with their heart first why are you adopting a blind dog when you have no experience with that? You can't rehabilitate what you don't know, and my job then is okay, you've already got the dog, here's what you need to do. So the book is about creating communication First. I am over looking at endless verbal vomit from training videos where everybody just walks in a room and starts yanking on the dog. Nobody communicates to the dog first to say hey, we got a back and forth going here. I'm talking to you, you're talking to me, introduce yourself Before. A lot of these trainers just walk in okay, do this, do this, do that. No, you can't Introduce. Have a connection first, and that way the dog wants to learn. If a dog wants to learn, it lasts. Otherwise with methodologists, it only lasts as long as you're making them do something. I want to convince them to do something because it's the right choice and the book shows this, because these are extreme cases. These are cases where there was no hope and we found it, and it came full circle.

Pete Campione: 43:56

The real catalyst for the book was a German shepherd that I dealt with that was bought by a millionaire. He bought three puppies and left them in a kennel for two years and abandoned them. One of the dogs was adopted by this lovely couple and his name was Martin, and I'll never forget him and I'm not going to cry when I talk about this. But one night he broke free. I had taken a lot of time with Martin. Martin had black eyes, he was dead inside. He would do whatever you said, but there was no joy, there was nothing.

Pete Campione: 44:32

After he started to come around, after he started to wag his tail, after he actually started to look and the light was back in his eyes, he was going through a second class with me and in the middle of the class he broke free from his owner and did something he had never done with anybody before and his owner started crying. And then I was bawling like a baby. She was putting her coat on and the leash dropped and he ran across the room, jumped in my lap. I've got 90 pounds of German Shepherd licking me, knocking my hat off. I'm bawling like a baby.

Pete Campione: 45:12

But all I heard was thank you, thank you, thank you, and I still. It still affects me because that was proactive communication that was proactive. He got nothing out of that. He wanted to tell me something and that's why it's so important to fine-tune your communication with this dog. It increases the bond, it increases the safety factor and they're a social being. So make them a social being, talk to them, listen to them, and that's what I hope the book does, by seeing how it can work If it can work with these extreme cases imagine on a well-balanced dog. But it's a heart book. It's a very personal book about special dogs that have taken me through a journey and I in turn, have taken them through the journey, and I hope people enjoy it. I've gotten a lot of good feedback so far. Last chapter's a bitch, though, because it's your final conversation.

Amy Castro: 46:22

Uh-oh.

Pete Campione: 46:23

Yeah, I'm a firm believer. I have put on Academy Award winning performances with that last conversation with some very special dogs, but you owe it to them to send them off in peace. So that last chapter chapter is probably my most important chapter but the hardest one for me to read or edit or talk about, because it's so personal and we all go through it. All of us in the animal world have signed on for children that will die before us and we go through that always. But it's something that we signed on for, so we owe it to them.

Amy Castro: 47:12

Yeah. So, definitely encourage people to, and we'll put links in the show notes so that people can check out the book on on.

Pete Campione: 47:21

Amazon.

Amy Castro: 47:22

You can listen to it you can read it if you want the paperback version, and we'll put those links out there. But, Pete, thank you so much for being here today and sharing your experience and your wisdom. I really appreciate it and I hope people take to heart all the advice that you provided throughout this episode.

Pete Campione: 47:39

Well, amy, thank you and God bless you for the work you do, because good rescue people are true givers, because you are not in this to get rich. You know when you get involved with animals.

Amy Castro: 47:52

I haven't made a dime. All I do is waste money.

Pete Campione: 47:55

I mean, you know, I knew I was not going to get rich doing this. If I did get rich, I knew I was not going to get rich doing this. If I did get rich, I would be compromising my integrity. So you don't. It's love. So that's why you guys are out in the trenches and I offer my school will give free training to any rescue. If I've got room in a class and you guys have got dogs that have problems, you come to me and that dog has a place, because if you can give, I certainly can. So you know you should you get a gold star for your life.

Amy Castro: 48:33

Well, thank you. I appreciate that. All right, folks, if today's episode has saved even one person from adopting or buying a dog, they had no business bringing home than. Pete and I have done our jobs. If you're about to bring home a new pup, please think before you leap. Don't just fall for that cute face or that sad story on the internet. Do your homework and set your dog and yourself up for success because, trust me, nobody wants to be the person crying on the phone to a trainer or to a rescue saying I don't know what went wrong. A huge thanks again to Pete Campione for sharing his wisdom, and if you want to learn more, go grab his book. We put links in the show notes.

Amy Castro: 49:11

If you love this episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review and tell your dog-loving or dog-struggling friends about it. And if you've made a dog decision disaster in the past, I'd love to hear about it. And if you've made a dog decision disaster in the past, I'd love to hear about it. Find us on social media and spill your story. So until next time, love your dogs for who they are, not for who you thought they should be, and we'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for listening to Muddy Paws and Hairballs. Be sure to visit our website at muddypawsandhairballscom for more resources and be sure to follow this podcast on your favorite podcast app, so you'll never miss a show. And hey, if you like this show, text someone right now and say I've got a podcast recommendation. You need to check the show out and tell them to listen and let you know what they think. Don't forget to tune in next week and every week for a brand new episode. And if you don't do anything else this week, give your pets a big hug from us.