Episode 26 - Lexi the Dog Coach

Segment:
In this segment of the Liquid Shape Podcast, hosts Cody and Mariah celebrate their dogs' birthdays, share experiences from a recent concert in Colorado, and discuss the challenges of merchandise availability at events. They also delve into personal reflections on forgiveness and grudges, exploring how these themes impact relationships and personal well-being. The conversation is light-hearted yet insightful, touching on the importance of moving on from negativity and the dynamics of personal connections. In this conversation, Cody and Mariah delve into the complexities of grudges and forgiveness, exploring the emotional burdens they carry and the importance of letting go for personal peace. They discuss the drawbacks of holding onto grudges, the benefits of forgiveness, and the nuances of unforgivable acts. The dialogue emphasizes self-forgiveness and the necessity of moving forward in life without the weight of past grievances.

Keywords: 

 Liquid Shape Podcast, birthdays, family, Colorado, concerts, forgiveness, grudges, dog training, pets, forgiveness, peace of mind, emotional health, relationships, personal growth, self-acceptance, healing, emotional burden, mental well-being

Segment 2:

In this segment of the Liquid Shape Podcast, host Cody interviews Lexi, a professional dog trainer with over 15 years of experience. Lexi shares her journey from working with horses to training sled dogs and eventually becoming a dog coach. She emphasizes the importance of individualized training approaches based on each dog's unique personality and background, advocating for positive reinforcement methods. Lexi also discusses her decision to start her own training business to better serve her community and ensure that training is accessible to all families. In this conversation, Lexi A discusses her approach to dog training, emphasizing community involvement and understanding individual dog needs. She shares insights on the challenges of training, the importance of communication between trainers and clients, and the evolving landscape of dog ownership and animal welfare. Lexi also highlights the incredible abilities of dogs, including their capacity to detect health issues, and the significance of positive reinforcement in building a strong bond between dogs and their owners. The conversation concludes with Lexi sharing how potential clients can connect with her for training services.

 keywords:
dog training, animal behavior, positive reinforcement, dog coach, pet care, dog psychology, training methods, dog breeds, community training, professional dog trainer dog training, community-based training, service dogs, dog behavior, positive reinforcement, animal welfare, dog ownership, communication in training, dog trainer, pet care

follow Lexi: 
Instagram: @lexi_thedogcoach
Email: lexithedogcoach@gmail.com 
Website: lexithedogcoach.dog

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

The Liquid Shape Podcast with your host, Cody Perez.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Welcome everyone to another brand new episode of the Liquid Shape Podcast, episode 26 with your host, Cody Perez.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Mariah, Taz, and Lorenzo.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

And we got birthday boys in the house. Look at this. Look at the camera boys. Come over here. Look over here. Say hello so that everyone can see you out there.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

This is Taz.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Taz is the bigger one. Lorenzo's a little smile. He's happy because he's on camera. First time that we do this podcast on camera. We're just giving it a try to see how it looks, how it performs, whatever. So we're we're happy to try this out and see how it works out. So it's their birthday.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

I feel like I'm at a Teams meeting, just staring at myself.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

I always have my camera off on Teams meetings because fuck that shit.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Well, my company, anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yeah. Well, fuck all that corporate bullshit. It's the b boys' birthday today. It's their fourth birthday. I'm beyond excited for them, man. That's like it's it's so good to to celebrate them. What what'd we do today for them?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Well what'd we do? Uh well, mom started off by giving them their birthday haircuts.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

I was already singing that I don't know if you noticed this or not, but when I woke up at like four, I was already singing happy birthday to them, and I was trying to wake you up and you were just not having it.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

So I wasn't awake yet. No, so we did. Mama gave them their fur cuts, brushed their teeth, and then we took them on their dog walk at the park. And then Mama wanted a Dutch Bros. So then we went to Dutch Bros and they got two pup cups.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

They got treated today.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

They got tarated. They always do on their brain.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

The ladies always love them their They do.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Haircuts went for the W, Dutch Bros and their puppa cups. Then we got like got ready and stuff for the day. And then we went to our annual spot that we go to, which is in Portland. Well, they have two spots now, but it's called Bring Treats for Dogs.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Shout out.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Shout out. So they do have a food court, Southeast 35th. It's like in this little neighborhood of food cart, like a normal neighborhood. Uh and then there's like a little food cart section. It's kind of cool. Um, but then they also have a bakery on uh downtown Portland uh on Yam Hill. So we were trying to go to that one, but with it being Sunday in the World Cup, it was a big shit show and parking was gonna be a nightmare, but there's really just no parking down there in general. Downtown just yeah, it's kind of just sucks. It's horrible.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Like I don't like if we can avoid going downtown. Absolutely, we avoid it. I I've stopped going to my some of my favorite restaurants down there. I'll look at Smiley Boy.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

So then we came back after getting them their uh we always get them a birthday bunk cake. We'll post pictures and you'll see it. Did a little candle saying happy birthday to them and then just let them kinda eat. And then that we uh got a couple other treats too for them. So they like these little waffles that they make. There's uh empa notas.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Empa notas.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Which those ones I think might be a little too hard for the boys because they have such small mouths, but it'd be perfect for like medium-sized to larger dogs.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Just break it down for them.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

I I didn't Lorenzo wouldn't even eat it. I think it was too hard for him. And then what was the other thing that we got?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Did we get um one of the uh little dumplings?

SPEAKER_02 3:21

That's what it was, a dumpling, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Paw d they called it a paw dumpling.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Paw dumpling, yeah. And they gave us little candles.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And I I think they're all made like a peanut butter, right? They said she's like everything.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Yeah. So I mean it's all human grained stuff. A healthy organic stuff, so definitely if you're in the Portland area with your pooch, check them out.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Tasmanian's full. He's a he's a character, he's full of personality.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Well, Lorenzo's kind of bug in him, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Say hello. Oh, he's trying they're trying to give each other baths. Yeah. As if Mama didn't already give you a bath.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Like two days ago.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Yeah. So we took them on their little walk, of course. They love the going to the park. We put on this little out their little birthday outfits that we got 'em. We haven't given them their toys yet.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

I know. I forgot, but we'll do it when we go to the show. We'll give we'll give them to it. Like spread throughout the day.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

For them, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

What is it? It's 4 30 now, so after this, we can go down there and spoil them and enjoy maybe the evening on the pets, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yeah. Get some sunshine, get their tan on. You gotta get your tan on, Taz. He loves the sunshine. He's been all excited just whenever he gets in the car with us, big ol' smile. Just and he's standing looking at everything. And anybody that walks by near the car, boom, right away. He's trying to he's trying to bark at them, he's trying to freak out on it.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

He's alpha.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah, he is. Beautiful boys. So I was a little bit lonely last weekend because my co-host girlfriend here was in Colorado. I was. Tell the fine folks of the Liquid Shape podcast how was it seeing your bestie? How was Colorado? How was the Dirty Heads? How was tell them about the shit show because obviously not everyone knows everything that went down with the show?

SPEAKER_02 4:52

It was I mean, regardless of that, which I'll get into, it was fucking awesome. I love Colorado. I did live there. I mean, I'm from born and raised uh Salem, pretty much. Uh lived in uh Broomfield, which is a suburb of Denver, for like five years, and I spent my last year in Denver or in Colorado in Longmont. So from there. But it was great seeing Amanda and her mom and her son Connor, and then got to see her dad and her brother and his girlfriend and all that stuff. So it was a lot of fun. Um the so Thursday, the 25th, was the Red Rock show of Dirty Heads. So they had um some great opening bands, but Colorado being Colorado, as anybody that lives there knows, afternoon there's always a fucking in the summertime, there's always a fucking storm that comes in. It doesn't last long, luckily, like Oregon. But uh there was lightning, very close, like almost above us, hail, and then of course torrential downpour. So we only got to see two of the opening bands. They the Marleys didn't get to play, unfortunately, uh, because they had to postpone for like 40 minutes or so for the storm to pass, and then so the dirty hedge just went on. Otherwise it would have been too late. Because I think they do have um because there's houses nearby Red Rock, so I think they do have a time frame of when they have to fucking be done.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

They get charge, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Which is dumb because these people built their houses around a fucking outdoor amphitheater. That's your fucking problem, but whatever. People are fucking stupid. But so it was funny, like we uh my Amanda and I, we took shelter in um there's a lower level bathroom that I don't think a lot of people know about. So we took shelter in a bathroom. It was actually a lot of fun. Uh I mean there was guys and girls in there, it was fine, it was safe, everyone's cool. Uh some lady had like a store bought, like the plastic container full of cookies. Another gal had a fucking cookie.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Wait, wait, were they cookies or were they special?

SPEAKER_02 6:43

No, they were yeah, I know. No, they were they were regular store-bought cookies. And then someone had their speaker, and you were just were just eating cookies and jamming out to dirty heads on the speaker. It was fun. Everybody was really, really nice. I mean, there was kids in there, like little mom and dads and their kids, like four, five, six boys and girls and stuff. So it was just it was just a lot of fun. But then um the show went on and it was a fucking fabulous show. Dirty Heads killed it. And that was a stri I I think that they're so great. Um Jared and Duddy and like the whole band because that day was just a all aboard shit show. Like we so for me, I didn't I was gonna wear this hoodie, my Cali Vibes, 2024 Cali Vibes hoodie in there, but I was like, no, I'm gonna buy a hoodie because I'm a hoodie girl, so I always buy band hoodies. Get in there and I'm just in like so like a tank top like this, my skirt, my athleta scort. And I knew I'd get cold because I was planning on buying a hoodie. Anyway, so get in. There's no fucking merch. All they have is the blankets and like like koozies and stickers and that type of stuff. And we're like, what the fuck? Because especially for red rocks, because if you don't know, I mean, red rocks can hold like 8,000 people, like it's decent size, right? And they all like bands, especially dirty heads, always specifically make merch just for red rocks. So I was like, I'm gonna get this fucking hoodie, I'm gonna get a shirt, fucking red rocks, brah, right? Rage, rij! Well, we made friends with the people next to us on both sides, so Amanda side, my side, and the girl next to me, the cute little girl, I forgot, I think her name was Rachel, shout out, Rachel. She told me that the merch people on the other side told her that Dirty Head's merch bus like either broke down or got a flat tire or something wild. So I was like, oh, that sucks.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Imagine how much that has to hurt them financially. Yes, that's just one showing because it's a few. One fucking show.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Like that's that's what they're like, isn't that like what a lot of bands make their money off of? Where they make their money merch. And especially when it's venue specific merch.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

So there's that, then you have the fucking storm, and then like they came out, and Jared was like, he's like, There are days like today when don't get me wrong, we're so grateful. This is a a an amazing opportunity. This is our career, this is our job. But some days it's also a job. Shit happens. Um, but yeah, they just came out and they just fucking killed it. But then also Duddy, his daughter Sophia, so she just she's on one of their tracks on their new album that was just released you know last month. That was her first time of them bringing her out on stage. So that was fucking cool to see Duddy's like tearing up because that's his baby, and I'm like, it was it was cool.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

That's awesome. Yeah, but all Jazz do down there besides that.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

I've never well hearing well, at least I don't know about the they don't have buckies on the west coast at all, do they? It's not just Oregon. I don't know, Midwest thing. South coast, yeah, southwest. So I've never been to one, but I've seen all like the Buckys TikToks and all that shit. So Amanda took me up to I believe it's Johnstown, so a little northern or a little northern of Denver. Um they have a Bucky's and Jesus Christ, that was huge huge. And just going inside and it was packed, but they had everything. It was like a fucking Walmart gas station.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

What'd you buy?

SPEAKER_02 9:56

What did I buy? Oh, I bought Taz a little t-shirt that said like I don't remember exactly what it said, but it says Bucky's something. It's black and has like a share, I think like a sheriff's star on it or something. Um I would have got Lorenzo one. I'm not a dick, but Lorenzoar, he's even pissed off about his bandana. He's he's got attitude. I told him he could take it off after this. So wearing it just for you guys. Uh yes, yeah. This guy hates it. As soon as I take it off, his personality will come back and then he'll rub himself on the carpet dramatically, like it's off. Yeah. Drama like his father.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Like his mother. Dramatic like his mother.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Who, me?

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Never.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Your boy's not dramatic. I am uh I'm not dramatic. I am uh a good word. Spicy? No. Something that's just like very charismatic firework. I don't know. Fucking you are charismatic. I don't know. Charismatic.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

But yep, that yeah, just hung out. We did a pool day, which was great, so I got my great base tan, because Oregon sucks to tan unless you're on the water. But yeah, then came home, and the reason why I wasn't on the podcast last week and I was home. I just came home sick. I I think I caught something at Bucky's.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Probably.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

Because I started up feeling probably like I started getting like uh luckily I don't have my tonsils or whatever the other part is that goes with it. Atenoids, I don't know, something like that. I don't have that. So I get minor sore throats. I don't get like strep or stuff like that, knock on wood. I think I still can, I just don't, luckily, but I started feeling it in the back of my throat and just ugh. And so by the time like we sat down to do the podcast, I was like, I'm down.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

You were asleep. Wait, wait, wait. You were asleep, and then I was like kind of poked you, and I was like, hey, podcast time, you didn't move at all. Yeah. All right, well, I'm not gonna wait around for you. I pushed it last week as far as I could. I think that's the latest I've ever pushed it. Like literally started recording at nine, and I got done about 10, 10.30, something like that. And then I had to do a bunch of editing, and then I had to upload it, make sure it was ready for midnight to release. Well, you nailed it, poppy barely, but today's another day. It was Sunday, the fifth, and I'm gonna be pushing it right now because it's gotta be up and edited for uh tonight.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Well, just don't say 200 you know's.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

You just said it right now, so that's one more I'm gonna have to add.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

You know.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Stop it. I'm gonna make you edit it. I'm gonna start having you edit the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

No, ma'am. How is your week?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

My week? It's been busy. We're getting ready to hit the road, as I've mentioned many times. So getting things in line, merch, we're trying to fix our lights and get them in sync. Uh, we're re-redoing them all. Brick, shout out to Brick for putting those together. We are we're we're having Justin and Pito are building boxes right now to put the lights in because we have a whole new light set up. I ordered some new merch that will be available here soon, so I'm very excited for that. You're gonna get to get your hands on it at our shows. The shirts look fucking sick. So it's an awesome little design. It's classic. It's one of our classic looks, but more modernized now. The first shirt that we ever made where we've redone it, uh revamped it, and made it the 2026 version. So those will be available on the road. Yeah, it's just been busy with that. I've been sick still, I'm still like, I got allergies like a motherfucker, I keep itching my face, my eyes are watering, throat's fucked up.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

My joke yesterday, like it's summer in the Pacific Northwest. You're dying from allergies. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

And snot just like how does the body produce so much fucking snot?

SPEAKER_01 13:17

I don't know. And and then being at practice and screaming and singing at the same time when it's all like that. And the the further south that we go, like, so whenever I'm down in Salem or a Pete's house down even further south, it just gets worse. Like I am dying from allergies. Like it's just it's so bad in that area. So, of course, being doing practice in a hot shed shop, whatever you want to call it, my throat when my throat's already fucked up, sucks. But it is what it is, and we work with it and we just make it happen and whatever. We just do what needs to happen. So we're getting ready for the road. We're gonna leave next Monday, the 4 13th. Our first show's gonna be in Idaho Falls, Idaho. So very excited for that. I'm excited to see a lot of you out there ready to rage. The video's been doing great for oxygen. So if you haven't checked it out, go check that out. Then we had a 4th of July celebration yesterday. What do we do?

SPEAKER_02 14:10

What did we do? We just cooked.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Cooked and hung out with the boys, enjoyed the sun.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

We made guacamole and pico.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

You've seen one of your other really good friends.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Made all the meats. Oh, yeah, that's right, duh. I met up with my one of my OG besties, Christy. Got the love on her for a minute. Her grandma just passed, so that was sad. So I got the love on her. Her grandma was awesome. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

We didn't blow up any fireworks.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

No, I don't I'm not a big f I don't fucking.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

The way I look at it is you're blowing up your money, literally. Like you're setting your money on fire. Why don't you just give it to me? I'll act like a fireworker.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I mean, I'll watch it, but I'm like, do something sporadic or stupid. I just don't I haven't for a long time. I just don't do much on the fourth because I'm just I don't know. To me, that's like a scary time to be on the road at night because it is one of the high death uh holidays because I worry about the boys driving.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

That's what I'm worried about.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

And the boys were not feeling 'cause our neighbors back behind us, like, I mean, good for them, but they always have like obviously in Oregon, you can't have illegal fireworks. Illegal fireworks, but these guys always do, which is cool for the case.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

And illegal fireworks means like anything that goes up in the air that blows up, the mortars, all that shit. So unless it's sparklers or like the little fountain fire things.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

No.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Why wouldn't you invest money on the expensive ass like mortars and all that shit? Because it's like you're blowing up your money. Like, what in the fuck? And especially in this economy. No. No, thank you. I'll spend my money elsewhere. Like, fuck that. Yeah. Like Lorenzo, he agrees. Look at how cute that little smile is.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

He's like, yeah, yeah. Look at the camera, bud.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Look at the people. Look at that.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Fuck the people. Fuck the record. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

What a good boy. Oh, Taz wants attention now. Taz always has to get attention. He wants to be showcased. He's adorable. I love my babies.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

Yeah. They're they're so they had a busy day, so they're kind of hooped out right now.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

And I wanted to share this with everyone that for Father's Day, Padre's Day. Yeah. Mariah got me this. Well, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Amazing gift. I love it. It's very special to me. I gotta hang it up, find a spot for it. But uh I love it. I was gonna take it I was gonna have it at work, but I no, I'd rather have it here to look at it.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Yeah. I don't even I don't really I'm not watching it. But I do have a bunch of pictures like on my computer, like that ro on my screensaber that or my background that rotates. That's where I put all my pictures. Because then I whenever I'm irritated when it's some like fucking HR bullshit, and I just look down and I see Taz or Lorenzo just smiling with their tongue out. I'm like, that's my baby.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

That's a it's a good motivation to look forward to for when you get home.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

What else you got? We missed anything?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

I'm trying to think. I don't think I've missed anything yet. We got my nephew Xander's birthday coming up next week. So growing boy. Growing, growing, growing, growing.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Such a babe.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Love it. Very smart kid. And very I was gonna say animated. He's animated. Oh, he's very I'm animated. That's what I am. I'm not dramatic. I'm animated.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

The Perez runs deep.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

We're all if you met my mom, you've met my brother, if you knew my dad.

SPEAKER_02 17:06

I should say the Perez and Flores runs deep.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Animated as fuck. We don't fuck around.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

You guys are the best.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah, that's there's that that's coming up. And yeah, I mean, get hitting the road, man. That's priorities, priorities of the road. I gotta get the merch in line and cleaned up and shit, like straightened out. So I still have to do that today after I edit the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

I need a t-shirt.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Give me money. I take Venmo. You gotta support the band, man.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

I'll give you something else.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

That doesn't pay the bills.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Does it not?

SPEAKER_01 17:34

That just relieves stress.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Can that be a tax write-off?

SPEAKER_01 17:36

We can make it happen. Sure. All right. Well, this week's guest is a fun guest, actually. It's a it's a great topic. I know we've got some serious topics about addiction and that we've had a lot lately. And that's fine because that's that's what this podcast is about. So this next episode, uh today's episode, or this week's episode, I should say, is a fun one. It's about animals, about dogs in specific. And my guest, Lexi, the dog coach, has a conversation with me about what she does for her career, uh training dogs and helping owners get their get what they need out of their animals, out of their dogs to get them trained and behaving well and all that. So it was a really fun episode, very lighthearted. I think everyone will enjoy it, especially the dog lovers. And the best part is she's actually here in the Pacific Northwest. She's here in the in the Portland area. So I believe she said she also does remote work. So if someone needs to contact her, we're gonna have the description where to where to contact her on the description of the podcast, I should say. And she sounds like someone that I would probably want to potentially talk about, talk to for Taz, because this little guy right here, he's the troublemaker of the bunch. Nothing for me. Loving dog, but he's the troublemaker, aren't you? You're the alpha dog, you're papa's boy. You're a little pride and joy. Look at him. He knows we're talking about him. Big feelings. Big feet, he's got big feelings. This dog is so much personality, so much personality. It's unreal. Like he's got some attitude. He is always so playful, but he's also always got like this positive attitude that I love about him. Like he wakes up positive. His tail's always waggling. He's always the first one. Like he wakes, he's up when dad's up, and he's like running around already wanting to play. He brings his toys to you, he wants to play fetch. He all he knows we're talking about him. Look at him.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

He's like, I'm so tired of that.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

So I potentially we might have to talk to her about Taz and maybe getting some uh some trainings lined up so that he doesn't because he barks a lot of people. Not that he wants to hurt anybody, but he just he barks.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

Alpha territorial doesn't like people. Yeah, I mean, regardless of being in the backyard, but just even if we're like around, out and about in a sling. Oops, sorry, because I hit Lorenzo. Jesus. When I have him in the sling, like not always, but uh there's a good chunk of time, especially if they see another dog, they'll freak out and just start constantly barking. And it's it can it can be embarrassing.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yeah. It's like, all right, buddy, let it go. Yeah, let it go.

SPEAKER_02 19:57

He's just like relentless. I mean, Lorenzo will kind of let it go, but Taz is like, especially if we're at the park and he's like pulling on the leash, like, let me go, let me go, let me go. It's like, no, dude. Yeah. Leave it.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

So stick around for a segment two of the podcast so that you can uh tune in and listen to that episode. I thought it'd be fun to have have her on and change it up a little bit, just keep the podcast interesting, keep different topics going and and all that. So stick around for segment two on that. I think we're ready to go on to the question of the week. What do you think? All right. And I think we should go first this time before we start reading the guests. So I'll go first, then you can go, or you can go first, then I can go, whichever you prefer. So now I'm gonna have to go.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Gentlemen first today.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Gentlemen first. Let's see. We've been getting a lot of media about the band, and I love that. A lot of experience.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Oh, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

All right. Question of the week, folks. It is Are you someone who holds grudges or do you believe in forgiving and moving on? Forgiveness is one of those things that everyone experiences differently. For some, letting go brings peace. For others, holding on to a grudge feels like protection. We want to hear your perspective. And then some follow-up questions on that were what do you believe are the benefits and drawbacks of holding a grudge versus forgiving someone? Do you think holding on to a grudge hurts the other person more, or does it ultimately hurt yourself? Have you ever forgiven someone and later regretted it? What happened? Have you ever chosen not to forgive someone and later regretted that decision? What happened? What does the phrase I can I can forgive but I won't forget mean to you? And how has it influenced your life? Well, I don't think I'm a person that holds grudges. And the reason being is that I believe that holding a grudge hurts yourself way more than it will ever hurt the other person. Because if that other person has done something or wronged you, even if they are sorry, even if they are sorry, they're probably not sitting around dwelling and thinking about it. Eventually they just move on. They need to move on and they know that they need to move on. And I hate to say this and I hate to be honest about it, but many times people just are shitty and they don't care. They hurt you, and yes, they can't. Kind of feel bad, maybe they feel bad they got caught and embarrassed when they get caught, you know what I mean? And so then it's it's easy for them to just be like, all right, well, it is what it is, and then they move on. But those folks that hold on to grudges, I feel like you're just hurting yourself because you've got this anger built up in you. You're just constantly thinking about it, you're constantly hurting yourself over and over with thinking about it and holding on to that resentment and those memories. Don't get me wrong, if someone does you wrong or someone does something really bad that you're just not something that you can forgive. Because there's a I think there's a difference between forgiving and forgetting. If you forgive someone, I think it just means that you're letting it go. You're just basically saying, you know what, I'm not gonna dwell on this. I'm not gonna let this just take over my life. I'm going to let it go. I'm not gonna forget because now I'm gonna be on the lookout and I'm gonna protect myself from you or other people like you, or that might that might do that. But I'm not gonna let it stop me from meeting new people or hanging out with people or things like that. I have forgiven someone for something they've done, and all they do is end up doing it again next time, and they just get sneakier about it many, many, many, many times where they just get better about hiding it, and then I'm constantly questioning that friendship, that relationship, that partnership, whatever it is that that that I have with that person. And it's that's no way to live, man. I I feel like it's just easier to just if if someone really does you wrong, go ahead and let it go, but also cut them out. It's not that hard to just let someone just out and and and move on and and you do your thing, let them do their thing. Far too often I see so many people though that just have this anger towards somebody, and it's like I could see it destroying them. You see right through it, you see it through them with the way that they act when you're around, they bring that energy around you, the shit that they post online, and they constantly are attacking their their former uh best friends or former exes or whatever the case may be. And it's like, dude, just get on with your life. Right. Like, why are you still dwelling on this? You're letting that person have that much more control over you and rule your life that you have all this anger in you. Like, I don't care if like they if they did you wrong, then fucking just cut them out and move on. What else can you do? You're just gonna sit there in yourself and and be angry about it and and what have you. If you're someone that constantly forgives someone that uh is hurting you, at some point you have to look at yourself and be like, all right, why am I letting this happen? Why am I letting this person continue to do this to me? And I thought it gets to a point where I just I don't I feel bad for people that are in that situation that they that they forgive people that can and that just continue hurting them and everyone can see it, including the person that is in it. But it's like, at what point do you like where you're just like, you know what, I'm numb to this. I I realize that you allow this to happen, you're okay with it. Why should I care anymore if you don't care?

SPEAKER_03 24:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

I I've I've just seen that with friends, I've seen that in relationships I've been in, and I've seen it with people that are just like you're doing it to yourself at this point. You're allowing that person, you're disrespecting yourself so much that you're letting them do that and you're saying it's okay to do that. And so I don't hold grudges, I can move on, and yeah, I mean I can think of times that this has happened for me. I've I've forgiven ex-girlfriends that have cheated on me, and guess what? They've always done it again. They've just been sneakier about it. And this just goes to show how much I don't care. I don't ever stop and think about that. I don't ever hurt about that, I don't ever joke about that really, because even sometimes people try to do dark humor about it, and it's like, I don't care that much, believe me. And I don't care enough where I've brought it to other relationships. Any relationship I've ever gotten into, never thought about what that previous person was like or what they did to me to bring it into the relationship that could affect me and my person that I was with. I I won't do that. And I know too many people that do do that. They come into a relationship and they're like, Well, now I'm gonna be like this because my ex was that. And it's like, well, then why are you dating a person that reminds you of your ex? Like that's your own fault. You keep dating the same person.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

They shouldn't be dating until they heal themselves.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Too many people are so dependent on being with someone that they need it. And some people like the drama. Some people literally love being in a situation like that, and they they seek out people that are like their toxic ex or similar ex and they get themselves right into that same cycle because they miss it. It's just a different, different face, but it's the same bullshit.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

Mm-hmm. It always makes me laugh like seeing people like that on Facebook because they post like all their dirty laundry, and it's like, we're still doing that.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

This is like 2009, what's happening?

SPEAKER_01 26:19

I always find it funny when people are they post they post something really bad that happened between them and another person, whether that's a friend or their their significant other, and then like they put them on blast for a few days or whatever, a week, two weeks, and then later you see them back together again. It's like, you're the dumbest motherfucker ever. You guys are the clown show. Like you literally look fucking stupid. Stupid. Um if you have shit going on, keep it to yourself. No one wants to see it. I mean, people do want to see that because they want to laugh at you, but they don't want to see it. We really don't want to see it. Because I then I feel I I feel like you're a joke at that point when you're just constantly doing that to yourself. Like it's a game, like you're in fucking high school.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

But yeah, like you're sitting here trying to play the victim, but you obviously thrive off of it. And you allow it to happen.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

You continuously allow it to happen.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Yeah. But some people do thrive off chaos.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

They do. Um, have I ever not forgiven someone and regretted it later? No, I don't I can't think of that of any time that that's ever happened. Luckily, like I said, I can forgive people that have done me wrong. I just move on. I just don't care. Like I literally, when someone does me wrong, I'm just like, all right, there's many times that I have forgiven that I've regretted because I allowed those people to come back into my life, and then eventually I had to cut them out. Yeah. But um, that's the only regrets I have as far as that goes. But like I said, then I move on and I don't let it, I don't let it consume my life. I don't let it consume my anger, my energy. If a person doesn't get over someone like that, I feel like they still have some sort of feelings towards them, whether they miss them or they still love them or whatever. It's a clear sign that they have not uh moved on, and that's that.

SPEAKER_02 27:51

I 100% agree.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

All right, so I'll let you answer now your questions.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

I can't even keep missing it.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

I got it right here.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Okay, well, you pulled it up. So am I someone uh that holds grudges or do I believe in forgiving and moving on? I don't hold grudges. I don't I'm not giving anybody that power to keep me in a negative space or to have a negative something about them. I am a lot like you. Um I can I don't want to necessarily say forgive. It depends on what happened, but I don't forget. So I guess if I do forgive or whatever, I don't forget. And then my ADHD ADHD brain's always like analyzing every situation, everything. It's just constantly like scanning, scanning, scanning. We've had issues scanning.

SPEAKER_04 28:34

Scanning for Mexicans.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

I knew you're gonna go there for South Carolina. No. Uh but that's my brain. It's like, okay, so you've done me dirty before or whatever. Then I'm just always kind of analyzing everything. But not be not weird about it, just in the back of my mind, it's like just keeping a running ledger of okay. Keep tabs. Yeah, keep well, yeah, essentially. I mean, keeping tabs. So if there's a red flag again, it's like did what the fuck. But if someone's done something egregious enough to me, bye. I don't give a fuck. I'm not gonna keep a garage. No, why? Again, you're not taking my energy. You're the fucking idiot, not energy vampires. Right. Like, I'm not doing it. Bye. Like, I'll never talk to you again. I'm like, but that's also part of my personality. Like, and maybe it's a little creepy. I can cut people off and just be done.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

I don't even think twice about it. And the older I get, I feel like that we're just happening more and more. Like we're just like, Yeah. See ya.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Yeah, it's like, yeah, well, especially, I mean, I'm fucking 41. I'll be 42 in January. I'm like, I'm not dealing with bullshit. Like, I've done and I'm not doing shit I don't want to fucking do, and I'm not gonna be around people I don't want to fucking be around. I've done that my whole life, you know. You I'm just half snoring, half having a doggy dream. It's like, oh here, mom, here's mom on one of her fucking rants again.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

Usually it's me.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Oh well, it goes back and forth. What do I believe are the benefits and drawbacks of holding a grudge versus forgiving someone? I don't know if there's really a benefit of holding a grudge. I mean, maybe You won't get hurt. You won't get hurt, but at the same time, you could be missing out on things. I do want to say people do make mistakes. And just because they do something one time doesn't mean they'll constantly do it. Obviously, depending on what it is, right? Like cheating to me is like no go. Cheater, once a cheater, you're probably always a cheater, especially if you're cheating at this age. You know what I mean? I'm not talking about like 18, 19, like everybody's fucking at that age. Let's be real. Like whatever. But once you're an actual adult and you're still doing those fuck around games, get out. Like, why are you with somebody? You're dumb. You are dumb. But I think the benefits of forgiving but not forgetting is that you have your peace of mind. You're not sitting there in a negative cloud. Like again, if you're like me, you're watching. So if something happens again, then it's like, okay, you're cut off. Or if it's just a situation that you just cut them off completely, I mean, that's free space that you gave up. I mean, obviously, there's probably been shit with that person previous to get to that point. You never know.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Your heart and your soul, too, is really relief when you don't have that energy that you're holding on and just anger.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Why live in anger and negativity? Like it is what it is, bro. You want to do me dirty, fine, you're done. You're out. You'll never see, you'll never see or hear from me again.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Go do somebody else dirty. Go do somebody. No, you will they will. They won't always find somebody that they do.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

There's usually a fucking pattern. It's usually just not a one and done. Like that's pretty few and far between.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

People that constantly burn bridges, you see that. Where they constantly have they don't have friends with this person anymore. They're not friends that constantly burn bridges, bro.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

They like constantly like post pictures of new people that they're currently friends with that they're not even that close with, but they're trying to put this facade out there, like, oh wow. And then you'll never see them with that person again.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

People do that a lot, man.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

Yes, they do. Do you think holding on to a grudge hurts the other person more or does it ultimately hurt yourself? I think it ultimately, like you said, hurts you because they probably don't give a shit. Especially if they're a fucking re-offender and that they constantly burn bridges or hurt people. I mean, obviously there's something deep down inside of them, obviously, that makes them act like that. But more than likely, you're the one that's gonna take the brunt of everything. So that's why I personally am like, I'm letting it go. Like I'm not gonna fight. I'm not gonna fight with you. I'm not gonna physically fight with you. I'm not gonna waste my fucking energy on it. If you don't, if you can't come respectfully, whether it's a friendship, relationship, whatever, if you can't bring the same level that I'm bringing to a point, obviously, not everybody's the same. Get the fuck out. Bye. Like I'm not dealing with you. I'm just I'm not. Like I don't wish you harm. You just ain't gonna be fucking around me, and that's fine. You go do you. I hope you do great and live life and prosper, but eat dick. Have you ever chosen not to forgive someone and later regretted that decision? Um, not that I can think of, no. I mean, cause even like my ex-husband and that bullshit, I f forgave him a long time ago. Because I don't want to hold on to that. He's the one with the fucking problems. That's on him to fix and or not. May. But no, because like I said, when I'm done, I mean I try not to do the astrology stuff anymore, but I'm gonna query us through and through, done. Chop, chop. I see ya. And I won't even bat an eye about it. It's I think it's fucking weird, but it is what it is. What does the phrase I can forgive but I won't forget mean to you? And how has it influenced your life? I mean, just kind of like I've said, I can forgive you because I do realize people are people, obviously, depending on this situation again. But people are people, we do make mistakes. I'm not perfect, you're Cody's not perfect, you're not perfect, right? Isn't that why God loves us?

SPEAKER_01 33:28

I'm not perfect, I'm perfect for you.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

This guy.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

This guy.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

But so I try to keep that in mind, um, especially more and more with what I'm doing, like personally with my faith and stuff like that. I'm learning, you know, because I've always been I think it's part of the ADHD too, is that I can be reactionary, at least maybe not in my actions, but in my mind I'm reactionary and I'm like fucking past, right? Like fire. But then it's like I'm learning just to breathe, sit with it, breathe, and then it's like, okay, what do we do? We assess it. So what's the next step? Is this something I can get past? Because maybe it's not that big of a deal. It just hit me in a moment where it was a big deal to me in that moment, but it's really not ultimately that big of a deal. Like, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:13

I feel like sometimes you just need to talk it out with me or something, or hear me out. Or you I hear you out.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

And then once you say it out loud, then I think you kind of Yeah, that's what I'm like.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

Wait, maybe this isn't that big of a deal.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Yeah.

unknown 34:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Maybe and I think I'm the same way too, though. I'm the I'm the same way where I'm like overreacting about something, and then and then you just kind of turn it around by listening and like say something that can put completely changes how I think of it now. And I'm just like, oh okay.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Mm-hmm. And but then maybe that's on me to say, well, okay, for me to check myself and say, well, why did this particular thing frustrate? Get me so riled up, like what's harboring there? Maybe not with that person, but maybe it's just something stemming off something past trauma or whatever it may be. So it's really just sitting with it and just instead of just reacting, it's just, was this a big deal? Is this a big deal? What's the outcome or next steps, etc.? Is it worth even blowing up about? Or maybe it's just you have to have a little tantrum in your moment with yourself.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Yeah. I mean, that's sometimes that just that helps. It really does.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

Like just especially if you're t like for me, if I'm tired or it's been a day like at work or whatever, and it's just like things hit me and I'm like, rah. And then I'm like later on, I'm like, that wasn't really that big of a deal.

SPEAKER_04 35:23

No.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Well, did I answer all of that? Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

So now we will read from our guests and thank you all very much who submit uh to the question of the week. And I will start here.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

Let me start with Gotta hit it from all platforms.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Yes. So this first one is from Donna Rogers, and Donna says, There are no benefits in holding a grudge whatsoever. I guess I move on, but I just not just not be around the person that put me in the situation that needs forgiveness. And holding a grudge is useless, is useless explaining to the person while you're upset is usually the better way to go than holding a grudge. Yeah, I think that's kind of pretty much what we've just said right now is like let it go, and you don't have to be around the people that do this to you or hurt you or whatever. But I think you constantly bringing it up or constantly um being angry about it and venting about it or using it as a reason why you're a shitty person or why you're angry or why you act a certain way. Man, that's giving so much control to a person. It really so much power. It's like, dude, that person is probably out like those fucking those uh memes that you see sometimes. Like, imagine hating me and I'm over here just like doing fucking whatever, some stupid. That's how I feel. That's literally how it is, because those people, the people that do you wrong are off living their fucking life. They don't care, dude. And for I hate to be the bearer of bad news and the honest Abe over here, but you're they literally are not giving a fuck that they hurt you or they did you wrong, and you're still sitting on it stewing and letting it destroy your life and kill your energy and all that shit. Like frolicking in a flower field, flower field butt naked with her cheeks out and just going like this, probably. That's what I'm picturing. My mind goes there. Sorry. No, I'm out of control. The next one comes in from jaded fist drama. I like that name. That's a good name. This person says, I forgive and move forward. Whether that person or circumstance carries forward with me depends. I no longer linger in unsteady or hazardous relationships for the sake of the other party. If our friendship or whatever it is hurts me and benefits you in some way, it's not healthy for me to continue it. I forgive so that I can move forward. I love that. I absolutely love that. And that's very, that's very true. Now, is there things out there, like especially now that I've been reading some things that uh folks tell us about on this podcast? There's things out there that just are unforgivable. If someone hurt you in a way like that, let's say, like, let's say a person sexually assaulted you, or let's say a person sexually assaulted your kids, or one of your family members, or just something that's just unlike that really is unforgivable. There's there's ways that people do forgive, but they don't forget, and it's still it's gonna it's hard to explain, but it's it's one of those things where it's like, well, you know what? No, fuck you. Like you deserve all the worst, but don't let it sour you, don't let you sour, don't let it consume you and sour you, make you a bitter person to the rest of the world. So I thought I would just say that because like I said, I know and I recognize that there's things out there that are just not forgivable, but in a way, forgive for yourself so that it doesn't hurt you, so it doesn't come down on you, so that person can no longer continue controlling your emotions and how you feel and what goes on with your life. And again, I think that applies to the forgive and forget. You'll never forget because fuck that person, they're not gonna be ever be around in my life. It's what they did. But so I just wanted to make that clear so that no one thinks that I'm like this heartless person that's like, oh, well, what about this and what about that? I'm I know there's things out there that are just beyond. Um I'll let you read this one.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

Oh, okay. All right. So Alexandria Peterson says, hmm, it depends for me. Like long story, but my dad, I'm sort I'm still sort of angry at, but I finally I'm finally not as angry. Uh but when his girlfriend is around and all the shit she did to him and the way she talked to my grandparents, I can't forgive her at all. So yeah, I can hold grudges. But I think because she never apologized to my grandparents or my dad. Ooh. That's understandable. That is. I'm like, and what sucks is when it's when it's someone that's tied to your family that you kind of have to see, like it's not like especially like someone, you know, with your family, like a girlfriend, stepmother, stepdad, whatever. So they're just there, so it's really hard to cut 'em, like harder to cut 'em off. Especially if your parent is like maybe even in denial of what they're doing to them and the whole family. They just are in it.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

I'm not gonna lie. I I I have had situations like that in my family, where there's certain people that are just there and the rest of the family doesn't care for them. But and what happens is that person stays over there, the family stays over here, and it just it's like a whole related thing. But at least it's uh it's a known thing. Yeah. And the both people understand, like, hey, I don't like them, they don't like staying away. When they're over, we're staying away. We avoid each other, and well, hopefully we we make it work.

SPEAKER_02 40:08

So yeah, that's that's a stigmatic.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

It's rough, that's rough, but I get it because I've been I feel like I would be an asshole in that situation. I try not to because I just don't care. Like again, that's someone eating your energy.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

I just mean like I uh I like I'm gonna like if they're pushing me, I'm gonna push them back.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Type they want that out of you though. I know. That's the thing. There's people that like look at look at me. When I'm a troll and I'm trying to troll on people, imagine how much I like lap and I enjoy that. It's because I'm trying to get the reaction out of you and I'm getting it out of you. And I get even more mad though if I don't get it.

SPEAKER_02 40:36

He does get a reaction.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

But when I don't get a reaction out of you, I get annoyed and mad.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

I know, it's kind of like that. Like you've been doing that a couple times already where you're just like, and I'm like, I just ignore it because I know what he's pushing for, and I'm I'm already like comfortable in my little zone. I'm like, whip, bubble.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

I just try harder and I try to just really annoy the shit out of you.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Or what I've been doing lately is I just flip things back to you, like whatever you're saying, I just flip it back at you, and you're like, I'm like, oh, you can dish it now, but you can't take it. Uh the next one is from Matthew Gridzinski. I'm learning about and practicing radical acceptance because the pain in some form will always be there, but self-inflicted suffering is a choice of holding on or trying to rid said pain.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

Yeah. I mean learning what works for you is important, but it's part of the I think it's the process. It's it's part of the process and the benefit, I would say. It's the benefit of going through something that really sucks and that you know, if there's a if you have if if you have to look for what the positive out is out of something that's just really negative, that there's that. At least you learn, you learn something about yourself. Yeah. And it's kind of almost like another like strength that eventually you'll develop, hopefully.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

I like the next one. So Laura Parkins says, The best revenge is living your life happy.

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

The people who wronged you for petty reasons will be more frustrated and angry to see you happy.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

That is very fucking true, and I love that. I love that because it's so fucking because people that do you wrong and want to see you in a bad place, they're still gonna be watching you.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 42:04

They will watch everything you do, they're gonna be listening in.

SPEAKER_02 42:07

First one to see your frickin' stories.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

Right. Next one is from Edward Braza. Edward says, I hold the grudge like a motherfucker. I work with my brother-in-law, and he has been trying to get me fired for the past six months because he became a supervisor. I had to call HR and report his lack of supervisory skills and how he treats everyone. He got suspended for two days and then demoted, then demoted. I have no remorse. Even if he is married to my sister, I don't like the bitch anyway. Business is business, personal is personal. I like you, Edward. That's why we get along, man. I like that. That's fucking cool. I they you gotta do what you gotta do, man. Like at the end of the day, you gotta protect your piece and your in your situation. And you know what? I bet you your co-workers that were dealing with that bullshit are fucking happy that this guy got moved back. And at least it's an awareness to management that be careful who you put in a supervisory position because I've been in those jobs before where they put the wrong people in, and then they they promote them even higher. And I'm like, what the the fuck's going on here? And it's because people don't speak up, or maybe just one person, so then they think that you're the problem and not everyone like that.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

Well, and being someone on the HR side, that just says to me that there is an egregious that this individual is doing something egregious. Like, I'm sure you did your complaint, they did an investigation, I would assume, got other statements on what their side has been with this individual, and for them to demote, like they have to have they have proof.

SPEAKER_01 43:37

Yeah. Which good for you for for speaking up. It's yeah, it's it's hard. It's it's hard. I'm hard, but and and I I've always been that guy at my any job I've ever worked at, I have no problem saying it how it is. And I don't go by me personally, I don't go behind closed doors. I'll say it right then and there. Like if if there's a a team meeting or whatever the hell is going on, I have a problem or I have a question or something, I have no problem being the guy that. will flat out call something out, call bullshit out. If I have a one-on-one, I've gotten pretty angry on those and I've gotten very, I wouldn't say hostile, but I've gotten very uh lit up and vented a lot. So I I I admire anyone else who speaks up. There's the way too many people what they do is they whisper and whisper and whisper and bitch to each other on the floor or whatever, but when it comes down to it, they don't want to say anything because they're afraid to lose their jobs. And that's understandable. I get that. But if you don't speak up, you're gonna be that person that constantly just gets shoved down, shoved down, shoved down. And those people that are doing that kind of shitty behavior, they're gonna keep doing it because they can they know they they can take advantage of their power. Uh next one is from Rabble Row J. Only thing that matters is being able to forgive yourself. You have to live with yourself. The only pure form of guilt or grudge should be self-inflicted. Shadow work is hard and it's not my job to care about what other people think of me. I've found most don't understand what I'm trying to portray and make false judgments and haven't the slightest clue who I am. So to even care about their opinion is pointless. And holding grudges only hurts person holding onto these those feelings.

SPEAKER_03 45:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

100% that's 100% true and you should only answer to yourself. Fuck what anyone else thinks. Fuck what everyone else thinks of you or what they think they know of you because everyone's gonna have their judgments. There's so much this happens far too fucking often where everyone has this thought of who they think you are and they box you in this fucking thing and then they get upset when you prove them wrong and they still try to convince themselves that you are what they thought because they don't no one likes to be wrong, right? Everyone wants to be right and they want to say their judgment is great and this and that. But when you prove them wrong that you are and it's not like you're trying to purposely prove them wrong. It's that you are showing something that they just are too blind to see because they've already made up their mind on who you are.

SPEAKER_02 45:50

It's like the saying that I like is it's none of my business what people think of me.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

Yeah. I think we've mentioned that on this podcast as we're that's very true. Fuck fuck people and their opinions on yourself. Be yourself at 100% turn up that fucking bitch to full blast and then if you have some more juice or sub wolf or you can plug into that to get it louder and get it more moving. Do that. I'll let you read the next one since I've been hugging the reading.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

All right the next one is from Nathan Savage. This is something I am constantly working on I used to hold grudges but I find that the older I get it's not worth the energy. I may discontinue contact with someone but like someone else said it seems the best thing to do is live your best life and not worry about those people. I have forgiven someone who apologized for being an a-hole to me and we have been great ever since. I have a really good memory and I definitely don't forget but that doesn't mean that I can't forgive you. It may alter the way I act or the things I am willing to do for that person in the future.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Yeah that's a mature great way to respond to that. Yeah. I like it.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

No the next one's uh from our buddy Kiris Emberborn they say forgive and move on I am not allowing anyone free rent in my head bye Felicia I love that you you you don't need that person living rent free in your head and your heart your soul and your energy any of that shit man fucking I punch them in the throat and move on then you have consequences of then they they still own a PCU because now you're punished. That's true. So just Yeah don't I was kidding don't actually do that.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

But in your mind throat punch them write a song about them that that always helps write a song called cunt about them. Oh my god here we go all right uh next one comes in from Mike Robinson grudges have been massive in my life and recently I've made amends with people that I've held grudges against while losing others in said process I've forgiven many people only to be stabbed in the back and burned many of which have been in my own family. Family's hard that does suck holding grudges has hurt me more than it's ever hurt anyone else that's a fact that's agree with you there Mike when I realized this through therapy it broke me in ways that I shouldn't have been broken. Some friendships of nearly 20 years have been ended due to grudges and lies. That really sucks that really really sucks. To me forgive but won't forget is still the hardest thing for me because it is for me and not them. But the I won't forget hurts far far more because I do want to forget it because it raises my stress anxiety and even more so more so my anger. I hate being an angry person because I'm the kindest most genuine person you'll ever meet. Shit gets hard as time goes on in your healing process and this ties back to last week's episode. When you're healing and there's a wedge driven between that it just defeats you in ways you thought you could beat. Don't fucking quit don't give up keep fighting the good fight and you will be stronger than you once were. Mike I 100% agree with that. And and yes I think when people say don't forget it's not that you're replaying that memory and I think that the what what we should be doing or what I do at least for not forgetting is that I remember the fact that this was done to me and I remember how it made me feel but I don't think about it daily. So what happens is if I'm in a situation where I meet someone that's doing something similar I instantly I'm extra careful with that person or I'm I'm guarded and I kind of look out and I'm just like it's not like I'm protected like I protect myself but I'm not like I'm not bringing my past situations to that person. But now all of a sudden I am aware and I'm paying attention and if more shit happens then you have to address it sooner than later versus not saying anything and then later you're exactly in the same situation that you were before. I think forgetting never forgetting doesn't mean that you have to keep replaying it in your head and keep being angry about it. It's more of a hey this happened it's kind of like it's kind of like I've talked about this before where my dad was abusive with my my mom and I seen that happen at a very young age and it didn't stop me from loving my dad but I knew what he was capable of doing and I remembered that and now I remember it like as in a way that uh it makes me angry when I hear about men that hit women or situations like that where people are are just abusing power and that kind of stuff. So I'm on the lookout for that and I do get angry if if I hear about shit like that and I believe that if you're a man that hits a woman you're a piece of shit regardless. If you're defending yourself and like blocking that's one thing but if you're actually swinging on a girl choking her or whatever the fuck like you're a fucking coward. Like if if a chick and I've seen it where chicks go crazy and they start beating on you or whatever you got to figure out a way to block it or run away or get out of the situation. If you have to call the cops and turn them in or whatever. But putting your hands on them like kicking them punching them whatever that's gonna that's that that right there I think you're a piece of shit. You're you shouldn't be doing that. No one should be putting their hands on anyone period but fucking uh I know it happens. So to me I would say that never forgetting doesn't mean that you're replaying that episode or playing replaying that moment over and over in your head because that is that's just going to hurt you in the long run. And and it's it's allowing that moment to take too much control of your life and your feelings and emotions and ruins potentially you living on your with your life and potentially meeting more people that are great. Are great. So I'll let you read the next one since I've been reading more and more.

SPEAKER_02 51:11

You better read it than Iird sweet I don't know about that. The next one is from John Gillian uh he says I used to I was ready to burn things to the ground instead of forgiving then I prayed something my now pastor told me to do when I was suicidal and in a really bad place for in a very bad place a few months ago and I asked God to forgive my ex for cheating on me and to give her hope, love peace. It changed my life and I have not held a grudge since and have forgiven more people than I can count as well as forgiven myself, which was something I was not able to do since I blew myself up as a kid at eight years old. I'm forty seven will be forty eight this year.

SPEAKER_01 51:52

I without a doubt believe in forgiveness true forgiveness not kind you just say but never mean wow yeah powerful that is very very powerful and very very true like there's a difference between just saying I forgive you and then actually just forgiving and letting it go.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

Like I'm done with this. I'm not letting it take up space. Thank you John for sharing that's powerful in that and I'm glad I'm hoping that you're feeling better and everything. It sounds like it so just sending you peace and love. Steve Metzler I used to hold grudges I finally realized that it wastes my energy see 100% it's a big energy sucker.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

It's just energy sucker and it takes away who you are and your good vibe and the fucking energy that people love about you.

SPEAKER_02 52:34

Yeah. Don't let it dim your light. Like there are shitty people out there and the older you get the more shit's probably happened to you. I mean I know it has to me. I don't know about you, but I there's a bunch of shit that I could let really harden me if I wanted but I I don't I choose to not I don't want to live again in that negative space. I don't want all those people that did me wrong for whatever reason or whatever the circumstance was to hold power over me and then have me be something that I'm not.

SPEAKER_01 53:04

It's kind of like when the good guy is after the bad guy and then all of a sudden like for example like the first Batman. When when Batman was after Jack Nicholson's character Jack Napier and then throws him in the bat of acid or whatever creates the Joker. Like don't let this person this other person create this monster in you and then you're that ugly ugly person. Like there's no need for that.

SPEAKER_02 53:25

No need for it. Um the next one is from Christian John Stanton. It depends on the person. I'm a kind person but was badly bullied in twenty s uh twenty seventeen because of my disability I hold grudge grudges against people who go behind my back. Well first off no one should be making fun of anybody like when they have a especially for a disability.

SPEAKER_01 53:45

We all I mean at the end we all have our disabilities weaknesses or whatnot. Some are more severe than others. So if someone's making fun of you, guess what? There's gonna be another motherfucker that can make fun of them for their disabilities or that one of the disabilities I can tell is that they lack empathy or fucking character of themselves and they're fucking coward if they're making fun of you for yours. So there's that.

SPEAKER_02 54:06

Absolutely I mean so I mean I do get holding a grudge but ultimately it I don't know just thinking about it. Is it something you want to hold on to forever just like we were just talking about earlier.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Don't let it eat away at you.

SPEAKER_02 54:19

Don't let it devour who you are like what Cody was saying I mean that just tells you like what their character is like if they can lower themselves enough to make fun of someone that has a disability. I mean are these the kind of people that kick dogs too like you know what I mean? Like fuck them. Yeah you're amazing fuck them Jason Carey says both.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

Jason Carey shout out to Jason he texted me the other day or called me or he tried calling me but Jason I don't answer my phone calls for anybody bro I'm sorry just do not I do not talk on the phone period. But Jason wanted to play a prank on the band and kidnap me when we get to go to go to Idaho because last time we came not last time but one of the times we played in Idaho at Pocketello I believe in 2018 we're on a tour he kidnapped me quote unquote and the band was freaking out and we were recording it from a distance and it was a big old shindig so he's like what can we do this time? Yeah we have to get more creative we're gonna do something not kidnapping but just do a fucking prank some other way you can you can think of something. Yeah well I'm I've always got pranks up my sleeve the yeah is that it I think that's it that's it all right that's it no shit that's it no shit all right guys well please stick stick around for a segment two with my guest Lexi the dog coach and make sure you tune in. Thank you so much for sticking around for segment two of the Liquid Shape podcast folks today I'm excited because I have a brand new guest that I don't know too much about here. Sometimes I have guests that are friends or people I haven't talked to many years or brand new guests and I love having brand new guests that I don't know much about because it makes for great conversation and for me to learn and for all of you to learn. So today's guest is Lexi the dog coach. Welcome Lexi hello thank you so much for being on here I'm so excited that uh we get to have you on and uh share a little bit about you go ahead and tell the folks uh about you what you do and whatever else you feel like sharing yeah thank you so much for having me I'm a personal professional dog trainer I'm registered through the AKC and I have been training dogs for over 15 years. I love that how did you how did that come about? I I mean I love I'm a huge huge animal fan and I love dogs especially I have two little guys how how did that all come about?

SPEAKER_05 56:24

Yeah so when I started working with animals I was in high school and I worked at a horse barn. I grew up in the Midwest so my neighbor had horses and that was my like school high school job uh he had Arabian horses which are very persnickety and kind of stuffy and I had to learn very quickly how to respect a large animal whether that be their space or their attitude or their and then from there let's see what happened after that. It's been a long journey.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

Quick question did you ever get hurt by those horses? Because those the big horses always have intimidated me so I keep far away from them.

SPEAKER_05 56:58

Yeah they can smell fear um I've got stepped on but I've never been like kicked or anything. I think the main point is to just let them know your presence like if you're coming up beside them you have to have a hand on them to let them know like hey I'm here I'm braiding your tail I'm behind you just letting them know where you are in relation to them because their eyes don't see behind them.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

Are they are they typically pretty calm or can they get aggressive easily or the ones that we had were not aggressive.

SPEAKER_05 57:24

They were just very opinionated which is fine. Like I respect that same but they had they were Arabians so they were bred to be very particularly genetic. So they were very kind of like uppity but that's fine. I loved them just the same. So I showed I showed them through the Eastern Michigan Arabian Association and I would travel to Michigan from where I was living and I would show them and I've placed I placed them a few times in the higher up like first second place. And then yeah it was a lot of fun and I I liked being part of that community because those people are really unique and like the the bull riding crowd, the roping crowd they would have their dogs there too like herding sheep with the horses it was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 58:09

How how often does those do those competitions usually happen and how long do they go for?

SPEAKER_05 58:13

Is it like a particular time of year or when I would go it was in the summer summertime. And it would be there would be different heats that you could compete in. So our heat was setting up where you would just have the horse kind of stretch and flex to show off their muscles. So my main job I know my main job was to work them so they had muscle build and then when it was time to show them basically they would just stand there and be like look how pretty you know that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 58:38

What what kind of diet typically would like those competition style horses they eat their typical hay mostly diet.

SPEAKER_05 58:45

They we would call them hay burners as a joke. But yeah they eat a lot of hay alfalfa they would have this special grain and pellet mix. They would eat a lot of sugar before the competition so they would be kind of like excited to go out and run around. And yeah yeah and then from there I ranching industry for a long time I lived in New Mexico the wilderness of New Mexico for a couple years and I did wilderness ranching and I had goats and chickens and horses and mules and sheep and I ran a hot spring alongside of that and we were a pack ranch. So we would help people come into the town the town was very small. We lived in the middle of nowhere and we would pack up their mules pack up their horses saddle them up and they would go on a hunting trip.

SPEAKER_01 59:31

That's awesome. What was your favorite animal of those of that whole different variety of West Jen. And which was which was the most difficult to deal with as far as like having to handle them or feed them or whatever?

SPEAKER_05 59:44

I think the show horses were more difficult than the ranch horses because the ranch horses were pack animals. The show horses were very much individual and especially the breeds that I was dealing with as far as Arabians go and separate from pack animals which are very much like quarter horses they're they're kind of a mixed mash of all the best breeds of horse whereas the ones I was dealing with in high school were purebred.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:08

So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:10

And then from there I went on to live in Utah Park City Utah where they held the Olympics a while back and I trained sled dogs for the Idid rod and that was a lot of fun. And that's kind of what got me started in dog specific behavior. The sled dogs were amazing. I loved every single one of them they all got good night hugs well and there was about I think there was about 40 of them. So I had 40 40 huskies and they were all athletic build and they were pack oriented as well. And because I was used to pack oriented animals through my ranch training I understood that these are not house pets these are athletes and they have a job and their job is to run really far really fast for a super long time and they would scream and scream about being excited about it. So yes and I had some people I've heard people's arguments towards race dogs that oh they're abused and blah blah blah. No my dogs were not abused. I I can agree that there might be someone in the industry that's not following protocol but my babies lived in a heated garage they had their own plush bed.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:14

They were spoiled rotten so and you had 40 40 something of them?

SPEAKER_05 1:01:18

Yeah they were my boss's dogs. We lived on site my partner at the time and I and yeah we would run the sleds we would go camping winter camping so I learned a lot about survival in the winter and how to stand on the sled and what they ate and how to work quickly because they had these ice pick brakes that were like a claw and they would drag behind the sled and you'd have to catch the claw into the snow and it would you would have to pray to whoever you served that that pop didn't happen, that the brake didn't pop because those dogs would go without you right and especially if you were in the wilderness they didn't have a home to circle back to so they would just keep running and probably get stuck around a tree or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:00

So and yeah how long would you guys go? Because I I I imagine I've never gone camping in the wintertime. I can imagine just how cold that's gotta be how long would you guys go for with that and uh would the how many dogs would you take at a time when you would be doing that?

SPEAKER_05 1:02:15

We would take all of them.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:16

All 40?

SPEAKER_05 1:02:17

Yeah. So we had my boss had this big truck that was custom built with boxes for every dog and we would try to put if they didn't like somebody obviously we wouldn't put them together in their kennel but we would make sure that they were with like their brother or someone they like in their kennel and then we would bring them all up the mountain and we would unpack them and our tent had a stove like a wood stove inside of it. So during the winter we could have heat in the tent. But the dogs themselves they preferred to be outside they did sleep inside at home but when we were camping they preferred not to sleep in the truck. They would scratch and scream until you let them out.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:55

Wow I I just it's hard to picture 40 dogs out there and camping and keeping track of all of them and and I'm sure all of them had their own names and yes yeah so there's it's hard to remember all of them now but they were named after they were named after sets of things.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:11

So one litter was like planets so we had Mars, Mercury, Venus and then the next set was like wine because our boss really was like a connoisseur. So we had Kava, brute, like wine names and then the next set was spooky names because his son wanted spooky puppies so they had ghost and ghoul stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:32

Yeah that is so cool. I mean that's that's I I I can I can imagine that kept you very busy with 40 dogs and was that like a full that was your full time job then to do that?

SPEAKER_05 1:03:42

Yeah that was my full-time job. And when we weren't running like if it was summer in in Utah obviously it's in the UN to mountains it's in the desert the snow lasts a little bit longer up in the mountains but when summer hit it was the desert again. So we would have dry runs where they would pull a four wheeler in neutral instead of a sled and we would just go out camping in the summer with a neutral four wheeler and have everyone together. And then obviously I do want to put the caveat if there was a dog that ever didn't want to run, like if they made it very clear like hey, I would like to retire this isn't really my thing. I don't feel comfortable doing this or if they ever got injured in any way my job was to check for injuries and stretch them and make sure their paws were okay. But if we got a dog that was like meh we would adopt them out to a family. So we never forced a dog to run if he didn't feel like it. So I remember driving out to Colorado and dropping off a a little guy that just eh it wasn't his thing and yeah so she adopted him and they do marathons. So it's kind of a slower distance pace.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:43

That's awesome. That's that's good to hear that you guys were were mindful of that all of that. So typically like with with with those sled the sled dogs do they compete pretty frequently or how does that how does that all work? I don't know too much about it.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:56

Yeah so there's qualifying races. I would consider the Iditarod itself to be similar to the Boston Marathon where you can't just sign up for the Boston Marathon. You have to compete in qualifying races to get there to prove that your body is capable of handling that level of stress and competition. So there were qualifying races leading up to the Ididerod. And so where my boss was at the time I was working with him was entering into qualifying races. So a lot of our races were smaller, shorter distances with a lot more community-based trainers and handlers is what my job was considered because I wasn't a racer. I was there to keep the dogs safe. Yeah so he was on his way through the qualifying races at the time I was working with him leading up to the big one in Alaska.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:43

Nice how and and how long did you do that for exactly? A year or two.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:46

Yeah. I worked with him for a year or two and then from there I I've lived all over the country but from there I eventually found myself in Portland and I was looking again for a job where I'd like to do dogs working with dogs and I find it it comes really easy to me. Like the behavior of animals I find to be really predictable and I understand it pretty simply. And I don't know who's in charge of my life, but they blessed me with the gift of communicating with animals. They're like, here you go. So I ended up working for a major pet supply chain and I became the first district trainer for Portland. So my job was to train the trainers as they came into our organization and send them to their home store to train in that community.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:32

Well, you're definitely in the right location. I'm in the Portland area myself, so I know how dog friendly it is around here, and I love that because I can take my dogs usually almost anywhere with me.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:43

Including, I believe there's a restaurant where they actually have like a dog menu. I forgot the name of the place.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:48

Yeah, the space bar.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:50

Space room. That one, or there's another one, I think. It's like a tin, it's like the tin or tin something.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:55

Tin shed or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:57

Yeah, I think something like that. But I remember seeing it and I was like, no way. And I looked into it a little bit more. I'm like, oh, I gotta take my boys here one of these days. And they also have my boy's birthday's coming up, so I always I'm like I said, I'm dog crazy.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:09

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 1:07:10

My boy's birthday is coming up in a couple of in on the 5th of July, actually. Um there is a place, a food cart downtown that does dog treats and dog food that's specifically just for your dogs. And they're all healthy, healthy like cakes and cookies and just all different types of treats for your animals. So every year we take them there for their birthday to get them a couple of treats. And it's all healthy stuff. It's not like if anyone's out there listening thinking that, oh, they're putting these crazy things. It's it's all organic and healthy, and they put they list out everything that's on there that's in in the food. So it's a really neat spot. I forget the name of the place. Uh it's typically my girlfriend that uh that well, it's the one that she she usually interacts with them. I just drive us there and then we take them in and she's tagged them a couple of times on on Instagram and all that. But a really cool, a really cool thing that is available for your pets, and it's like right in the middle downtown food cart, and Portland said Portland is definitely uh the right spot in the area for dog friendly, so you're in the right spot.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:11

Thank you. Yeah, I agree. There's a lot of people here, and they all are really respectful of animals. And so after my stint with that company, I had asked if I could have a raise, and this is a bit of a candid moment here. I asked if I could have a raise, and they shorted me my request by like 50 cents, and I thought that was pretty disrespectful. So I started my own training business because I thought to myself, why am I training for someone else when I could be training for my community and myself?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:42

And be able to price myself how I feel I'm worth. And to step the rules and regulations to my standard so that I can meet people where they're at instead of them coming to a store to sit with me in an environment that's pretty chaotic.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

Yeah, I I like that. And that's mad props to you for knowing your value and not taking anything less than that and and taking it upon yourself to build something. I I love that. I love the go-getter attitude. I always admire folks that do that. So that's awesome to hear that you've done that.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:12

Thank you. Yeah, and it's been a journey for sure. I can't say that that has always been me. I had to learn that through trial and error of personal endeavor. But now that I do my own training, I find that the people I'm meeting and coming in contact with are some of the nicest people that I've ever met. And generally speaking, every single dog I've ever met is just the most wonderful creature. And it's cool to me to meet someone in their home and sit and talk with them about okay, how can I help? Like what what do you need? Or what does your dog need? Like, how can I help you communicate? So I found that a lot of people, they get a puppy and they don't expect that it's gonna be a puppy. So you kind of have to talk to the human and be like, well, it's gonna do these things. It is a puppy. So how can we fix that so that you feel comfortable? And he grows up thinking, oh, this is a safe place. It's okay that I'm a puppy here. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:09

Because I'm yeah, it uh I was gonna say, do you typically go to folks' places to do the training there and do the consultations and all that just so they're in their comfort zone? Or do you have a place that the people go to that you do your training in? Or how does that all work typically?

SPEAKER_05 1:10:25

Yeah. So um when I first meet a client, they'll either reach out to me through Instagram at like say the dog coach or my email, which is the same at Gmail. And my first initial meeting with them is either a phone call or we'll meet someplace public like the park, or we'll go to a coffee shop because I have to vet them as humans. No offense. That's just my safety. So we'll we'll meet somewhere public first. I'll get to know them as people and their family. Oftentimes they have kids too, and we'll meet together and we'll discuss the goals. And then from there we decide whether or not their family and their dog is capable of meeting in the park continuously, or if their dog and their family would prefer to be at home. So they kind of decide for them what's best. And if it's at home, I will meet them at their place of living, their home, their apartment, wherever they be. And I bring my own treats and I bring my plan. I write up a plan the next time we meet to kind of discuss, okay, here's our goals, here's what our next steps will be. And I find a lot of people prefer to train from home just because that's where the most problems occur, or like, I guess not problems, that's where the most behavior needs ironed out, I'll say.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:33

That would make sense. Yeah, because they like, for example, like I've I've had a dog before where he just he's long gone now, he passed, unfortunately, but he would pee in random spots, but then he'd come back and then he'd smell that same spot and it would cause him to like want to pee there again, even after we cleaned it. Yeah. And my current two little guys, they're so funny because they're so different. One of them is just so chill and relaxed, but he's always like he's always got this look on his face like he's worried or waiting for something bad to happen. I don't know why. We got him right when he was like eight weeks old, and he's had nothing but love here, and he's had no reason to like be concerned. And then the other one, his brother, which is his litter mate, he is uh kind of like the alpha dog. Like he is just like he's like running around the house like he's security and huffing and puffing. And we could like we when we take them out on dog walks, they he can't see anyone or anything without him like barking at them. It's not like he's being aggressive, but he wants to be seen. Like he has like this thing where he loves attention, and so he barks and barks and barks until we like take him up to the people and we're like, hey, he's not aggressive, but he wants you to see him. If you feel like petting him, go ahead and pet him if you have permission. And and then finally he'll like chill out. But it's like he's like craving this attention from anyone or anyone that's within sight, and it's so funny that to see the two how different they are. But I always just wonder like how one of them is so comfortable with himself and he's just like farking and owning what owning his environment, and the other one is just so like chill, but at the same time, he like has this look of concern, like he's unsure of everything. So it's just it's funny how dogs have they they all have such different, unique personalities, and so I wonder like how is that like is that real is that challenging for you, or are you able to usually kind of tell, okay, this is the type of personality trait that they have, this is how I'm going to approach the training for this type of dog? Or how does that look for you?

SPEAKER_05 1:13:25

Yeah, I'm a I train with positive reinforcement, so I don't use shock collars, prong collars, like I don't spray water at them, shake pennies at them, kind of like old school grandpa would say, like, oh, just spray them with water. It's like buddy.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:39

Yeah, no, I could never do that to my boys. I that just wouldn't work.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:42

Well, they're their own, they're their own being, and I don't think it's really appropriate to tell a being, you can't do this, and if you do, I'm gonna physically infringe on your rights. I think that's inappropriate. So when I'm dealing with breeds, oftentimes you'll find that similar to the horses I was working with, let's say, for instance, a husky versus like a poodle, they're gonna have their own genetic standing where a poodle is bred to be a water dog, they're bred to be a hunting dog, they're bred to have like a really bold personality and they're bred to be smart. Huskies are bred to be smart, but they're bred to be kind of mindless runners. They're no offense to huskies. I love them dearly. They're meant to exercise, they're meant to go, and they're meant to be loud and excitable. So similar concept between the two of them. They're both athletes, but they have different purposes bred into their DNA. So if you're working with a chihuahua, for instance, they're gonna be pretty rough and tumble. Their ego and mind is a lot bigger than their bodies. So you have to work on you have to work on their scale and you don't want to overpower them because you're they're small and you're bigger. So you have to approach breed-based training with the knowledge of that breed. Or if they're a mixed breed, like a shelter dog, rescue, by the way, a dog don't shop. If you are picking up someone from the shelter, you're probably getting someone from Mexico that was mixed breed from a bunch of street dogs, and that's going to be a really good quality of life for that dog because they're not genetically inbred, their genetics are a lot stronger because they're the ones that survived. So I find that street dogs are really resilient and they're very quick to adapt. So depending on the family and the dynamic that their family has based on training that dog, you can work with, hey, let's get the kids involved. Let's get dad taking them on walks. We'll take the older son, we'll go with you, then the mom. So I I find you have to orchestrate this community-based training, whether or not the dog is breed specific to. So you kind of have to approach each case individually, which is another reason why I ended up leaving the corporate world, because the corporate world had a rule book and the rule book was for each dog. And the book was five. That was law.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:00

And if you right, so if you broke breached that at all, it was obviously because we're dealing with corporate, it was an overstep of boundaries. And when I was training in that environment, I realized that this single mom and her son and this golden doodle have a very different set of circumstances than this family with five kids and a pit bull mix. Love pits, by the way. So and if you're following a rule book, they're getting the same information, but they're not receiving it the same, or the dog is unincapable of following that exact path to success. So when I stepped away and I started training for myself, I realized I can meet you, like we talked about, where you're at, and I can create a plan for you. That way I'm not just following a corporate book that says A, B, C. It's uh sometimes it's A, D, C, B. Yeah. Each family.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:55

Yeah, I I love that you take a uh different approach versus this whole like because dogs are they're they're just like people, right? You can have two people that are they come from the same environment. It could be brothers and siblings, and they're just very different and just different personalities. They may have some similar traits, uh, like a lot of these animals that it's good to read up on your breed to see like what are some characteristics, what to expect, and and whatnot. But it doesn't necessarily mean you have to hold it to that exactly. That dog is going to be different depending on its environment, and depending on if it was abused or not, and if it's gone through shelters and all that kind of stuff. So it it you could have dog two dogs of the same breed and they've had two different qualities of life. And so you have to kind of sit down with the dog, get to know that dog individually and approach it based off of what you're observing, not just some corporate book. And I love that that you're doing that, that you're getting to to to your own way of doing it versus just by this book that a corporate company puts together.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:55

Yeah. And I find that if I'm talking to someone, I can meet them where they're at, which I think is how meeting most people should go. I I believe, like when you're working in a community-based setting where my word of mouth is my main income. Like if your parents tell their friends and those friends tell their friends, then I find myself in a community in that way. Um, I don't advertise, I mean, I have my Instagram, but a lot of my clients are they all know each other in some way. Or they leave my card at the dog park for me and or they pass it out for me. So I'm finding that these people are they want training, they need help, and I'm not a millionaire, they're not millionaires. I mean, at least I don't think so. But some trainers charge a lot of money, and I find that that is a little charge what you're worth, please. I I agree your skill set, if you have a degree in animal psychology or animal behavior, please charge what you're worth. For me, my approach to that is I want to charge where the family can afford because I believe every dog and every family deserves training at a price point that doesn't break their bank.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:07

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:08

So when I have a single dad and he's got a little dog to keep him company, I'm gonna work with him in the way he feels most comfortable. And so I find that a community-based effect on my pricing really helps people understand that I'm approaching this situation with them through compassion and understanding towards their situation as well as the dogs, because everyone is different. And if if I can find myself a niche in that market where someone can say, Oh, I can do this and my dog would love to be at home, great. Let's get you on the schedule. Because I find that that's more rewarding for me than pricing people out of training.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:48

But that's just me. I I I I love all that, and I could I can sense the passion that you have for this, and that what everything you're telling me right now just makes me want to support you even more because you're you're you're right. Like sometimes definitely charge what you're worth, but with anything, sometimes people get greedy and then they want to overcharge. And me as a customer of, you know, I like to keep things local. I typically don't like to, you know, if I'm I'm if I'm getting something work done, I don't typically hire a huge national company to come do it. I like to find something in the area in the region uh to keep it, keep it around here. But when when something is just completely like you can just sense it, like I'll just say this. I I had recently some work done here in my yard, and I got a bunch of different quotes for the same I I I mapped out exactly what I wanted to be have done to my yard to put a patio out there. And the price range went anywhere from and I had like I I dealt with probably like over the last number of years, I dealt probably with like seven or eight different different companies, and I had anywhere from a three thousand dollar quote to twenty thousand dollar quote, which is insane. Like, I'm like, how does it like I I told you exactly what I want, and it sounds like you understand what I want based off of what you're telling me and your and your quotes you're giving me. How does that go from 7,000 to 20,000 with all these different companies? And so I looked around on Google, I searched and I looked at reviews, I looked at the ratings and the comments, and just I ultimately made my decision. I didn't go with the cheapest option, I also didn't go with the most expensive option either. I kind of met in the middle based off of what I read and based off the price. Yeah, it's like some of these other folks, they completely lost me as a customer for any other projects I may want to do in the future just because of how price gouging they were when I realized that many more of these other companies were more reasonable, where a few of them were just like 20,000, 18,000. I'm like, like, I got this done for $9,000, $10,000. I don't know how you're gonna charge me double for the same like results I got here. Like I it just it's like I don't like it when people get greedy. So I mad props to you for meeting people to understand what understand your value, but at the same time not taking it to an extreme of I just want to get paid. And and it sounds like you actually have passion for what you do, and I respect that. So I think that's really cool. One of the questions I have, just because of me, like I said, I've I've had dogs all my life, and sometimes it gets challenging with some things where it's like you try to train, you try to train, and then there's just like you finally just give up and you're like, there's no this dog is just this is the way they are, and I'm gonna accept them because I love them. Do you ever get to a point where you're just like so frustrated and you just don't know what to do? And typically, how do you like what kind of skills do you have to use or tell yourself or do to keep yourself motivated or to keep pushing forward to get the the results that you want, or training some of these dogs that are not your dogs, but somebody else's.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:45

I mean, they're all my dogs. Well, yeah, but they're all my babies. So I I think I think that I guess the best way to approach that would be yes, I get frustrated. Yes, I find myself questioning like, am I doing things correctly? I think that's how I that's how I grow, is being like, all right, approach this from the left, approach it from the right, dig under it, go around it, like how can I solve this problem, which I think is part of the fun, because like I said, everyone's different. So you kind of have to you get a little Rubik's cube every time and you can be like, okay. So when I get frustrated, I have to remind myself, like you said, this isn't my puppy, but I do want them to achieve that goal. I let the family tell me when they're ready for training to stop. And I've had that happen where someone will say, let's take a small example. I can't get him to sit. And I've tried and tried and tried and he just won't sit. And like you said, you can either accept maybe he can't sit, maybe he has a genetic disorder in his hips that make it painful for him to sit. Maybe he doesn't understand because we're doing the cue wrong. Maybe he doesn't like the tree we're using. There's a lot of variables. Um, but if someone were to accept the fact that he's just never gonna sit and I don't think training is working for me, I'll say okay, and we'll kind of leave it there, or we'll close out our agreement together, or maybe they'll call me and ask for an update, or can you stop by? I'd love to start again. I'm always reachable by my clients. But then sometimes you'll have a person who is dead set on a dog becoming a cat. I mean, they'll say this dog is not a cat, this dog is not a cat, and they'll pay me every week to tell them, I'm sorry, but this dog is not a cat. Okay, come back next week. I'm sorry, this dog is not a cat. Okay, come back next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:28

So I I at a certain point have to tell them myself in a respectful way. I don't see that this training is working because I think our goals are becoming unreasonable for what this dog is capable of. So then we we try to pivot, like, okay, since he's not a cat, what behaviors of the cat do you prefer your dog experience or like do for you the most? Is it snuggly? Well, how can we reach that goal? Yes, he's not a cat, but can we teach him cat behaviors that make you feel most comfortable? So I think a lot of it's pivoting, a lot of it's trying again, a lot of it's hitting dead ends, a lot of it is finding that wall of like, oof, I'm frustrated, you're frustrated, your dog doesn't understand us. What can we change to make everyone be on the same page again? So if I do find myself getting really frustrated, I have to hold that in. I have to keep that to myself. And I have to continue to work with these dogs and clients and find a path that is of least resistance for all of us, even if I'm frustrated, because it isn't about me at the end of the day, it's about what my clients need. So I find that I have my boundaries. There might be a time where I have to say, I'm sorry, we can't work together. Like maybe we're just not a good film because I'm a unique person and you're a unique person.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:42

But you have to approach that subject with professionalism. You can't just overquote someone on their back deck and expect them to listen to you. You have to kind of say, okay, well, 20,000's not going to work for you. What about we cut it in half or let's make a deal?

unknown 1:25:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:58

Yeah. I what's funny is I was just thinking right now as you were saying, uh, or as I as I asked the question, as I I'm willing to bet that with when I asked that question, there's a couple of dogs situations that come to mind that you will always remember for the rest of your life that were more challenging or difficult than others to train. Is that am I correct in that? Or yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:17

I'll be honest with you, I've only ever met one dog that didn't like me. And I don't say that to be like, oh, look at me. I mean, seriously, most dogs come around because I'm the treat lady. Oh, I'm the treat woman. I show up, I smell like dogs, I have treats. They're like, heck yeah, it's you, I remember you.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:32

Love that.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:32

I've had one dog that never really liked me, and he was always very suspicious, and he never really went far. He he took treats out of my hands, but I've known I'd known him for years, and it turns out he had a neurological behavior problem. And there was something wrong with his processing in his brain. So that was not his fault.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:50

And what kind of dog was it?

SPEAKER_05 1:26:52

Uh it was a small breed. It was a orthodoxin. So most of the time, and I I say this with candor and respect, most of the time the issues that arise come from communicating with people. I'd say 98% of the issues in training come from miscommunication. And be that someone's unwillingness to learn or unable to understand or not being appreciative of being told what to do, I can say that. I have a certain amount of clients that really just want everything I say and they write it down and they send me an email, send me text messages, send they'll send me videos. Is this right? And then I have some clients that are like, oh yeah, that's not gonna work. I'm not gonna do that. It's like, okay, well, why are you paying me? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:40

I'm sure that it uh I'm sure that it all varies and it it depends on what the goals are and whatnot. But on average, what would you say is typically the length of time that a typical training session typically takes you? Like, is it a couple of days, a couple of weeks, a couple of months? Um, what what is your usually your average that you work with an animal?

SPEAKER_05 1:28:01

That's a valid question. Um typically my classes are one hour and people schedule themselves into my schedule based on what they need. So some people prefer weekends, most people prefer weekends. If I have a dog from puppy to adulthood, I can I can say with confidence my average is about five years or more.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:22

I've had some clients are beyond that, whether that be through just now we're friends, and I show up and they'll be like, hey, why don't we do a training?

SPEAKER_03 1:28:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:31

Or their dog is obsessed with training and they keep running out of things to do. So they keep messaging me like, hey, he's mastered this. Can we do something else? That's really cool. I also it is cool because I have lifelong dogs. I have dogs from puppyhood that I still remember, and I show up and they're like, Oh my god, it's new. Even if I haven't seen them in a few months, they'll call and say, Hey, let's catch up over soda and the patio, and they'll be obsessed. And I love that. So and because I teach AKC, a lot of that's the American Kennel Club, a lot of that stems from training never stop. So I try to put myself out of a job in that when the family tells me they've learned enough, my job is done, I've succeeded. When a dog, we've decided this dog is not going to be a service animal, he's just gonna be a couch potato, my job is done. I've succeeded. So the dog in the family tell me when it's the time, and on average, five to seven or eight years is the longest running dog relationship with the family that I've had, to anywhere from three or four months of just, oh, we need a touch-up, I'd like to learn some new things, or one specific goal, and they master it and they say, Cool, thanks, that's all I needed. So it varies.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:46

I love that. That's that's really cool. And you did st you did mention just now about so service dogs, I don't know how that all works, but uh do service dogs have to go through like a special certified trainer to get uh to be labeled as uh service dogs, or how does that how does that work necessarily?

SPEAKER_05 1:30:03

So it varies from state to state on the federal level. There does need to be some recognition, I believe, that your dog has been trained. You can't just show up at Walmart with a dog that has a vest that says service animal and it's unruly and crazy, and expect everyone to believe that your dog has been through rigorous training to prove its worth as a service dog. But unfortunately, people do that, and it does give trained dogs a bad name in public. So there is a stigma against that and breed bias too, that's a thing. So I trained through AKC. So my first step in that process is star puppy. So when they're a baby, they pass the star puppy class, it's very simple. It's do they have a collar? Can I pet them? Do they like being on leaks? Simple puppy things.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:46

And then beyond that, there's an adult version of AKC, which is a 10-step test that proves they have the wherewithal to manage under stress and to manage requests with respect to the human and without treats or with the suggestion there might be treats later. And once they pass their canine good citizen, is what the adult version is called. There's things beyond that. So there's training for urban settings, there's training for do jumping, there's training for agility, there's training for therapy dog, there's there there's training for emotional support animal, the ESA, then there's training for service animal. So service animal is, like I said, it varies state to state. In Oregon, you are allowed to train your own service dog. Um, and there's only two questions that a business or a facility can ask you if you show up with your dog and they're incredulous of you, which is already kind of like suspicious because not all disabilities are visible. They can ask, what does what does this dog perform for you as a service? And is he a service animal? Basically, I believe. You you could quote me if I'm wrong. But basically, in Oregon, you can train your own dog to do at least many more to multiple, but at least one service for you. So I have clients who have CPTSD from uh military service, and they need DPT, which is deep pressure therapy, and they need they need jostled when they get stressed. So the dog bumps their leg and says, like, hey buddy, I'm here. I've just recently talked to a trainer who is training her dog to detect migraine. Um, I have a client who is teaching her dog to help her stand up from a chair. Uh I have another client who is teaching her dog to bring her her keys or pick up her cane. So it base it basically varies on what that person needs their service dog to do. And in the state of Oregon, you can teach your dog to do that for you, and you can claim then yes, he's a service animal, but training is required.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:44

I don't know where I heard this or where I seen this, but maybe you can you can clarify for me. But was there something I may have seen at some point that there is there's training for a dog to be able to detect when someone's about to have a stroke or a heart attack? Am I correct in that?

SPEAKER_05 1:32:58

So there are dogs for that, yeah. And I was talking, like I said, with the gal who's training her dog to detect migraines about this, because apparently she was telling me, she's also a positive reinforcement trainer, that a study she read said that dogs can detect the slightest hormone level in a human being because their scent is that good. So oftentimes a service dog will detect, like, ooh, you kind of smell weird. And they tap your leg, like, you smell weird, you smell weird because you've taught them to smell this specific hormone change.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:31

And when you're stable, they don't smell it. So if they start to jostle your leg, like, hey buddy, you should probably sit down. Here's your meds. They can bring you your meds, they can bring you a bottle of water, um, they can make sure you're seated comfortably and they can sit on top of you so you don't get up. And then you can properly have your seizure or properly have your pots episode, or some people like narcolepsy.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:52

Animals, dogs and everything are just they're beyond amazing. Like, I like you just telling me all this right now just makes me just appreciate them on a whole other level. Just I I absolutely love them. They are I always tell people that don't have animals. I'm like, I don't know how you cannot have an animal. I realize that some people just can't, but like where's your creature? Yeah, like I I give I give my friends crap that don't have animals, and I get it. Sometimes people just are like, I don't have time for them. I didn't have time for mine either, but they came into my life and now I just cannot imagine my life without them ever. Even when my when my boy passed away, I instantly was like, I'm not ever gonna replace him, but I need that love in my life, like where I have at home that I come home and I'm able to relax and I have my two dogs with me. They love me, and I get to spoil them and spend all my love on them and take them on walks and all that stuff. So it's like I always tell my friends, I'm like, if you don't have a dog or an animal, you are like you're not living.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:46

Missing out.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:47

You're missing out, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:49

So yeah, they're perfectly sinless and without blame. And I think they're angels for real because no, they just are unconditional, and I love that. And I think through positive reinforcement training, you can reciprocate that unconditional love back to them through mutual understanding. And that's a beautiful thing when a human eyes light up and they're like, Oh, I get it. You don't you don't get it. How can I tell you? And then the dog goes, Wait, I get it. It's such a wonderful feeling.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:15

Yeah. Is there a specific like is there certain breeds that you like to like to work with the most, like or your favorite, I should say?

SPEAKER_05 1:35:23

I like shelter dogs with mixed breeds. Um, one tail at a time is a great rescue that kind of operates under them. There's plenty of Mexico street rescue, um, people that ship dogs in from California, Hawaii, Texas, just like road dogs. And they're very rough and tumble, and they are very cool. And I really like working breeds, so husky, obviously. I really love German shepherds. I really love pit bulls, I like doodle, uh Australian shepherds, I don't know if I said that. Corgies, I love corgies. I like them all.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:54

I can't tough question. Is there ones that are more challenging to work with? I'm not saying you don't like them, but they're you're like, oh, this one's gonna be interesting, or this one's gonna keep me on my toes.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:06

Poodle.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:07

Poodles.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:08

Absolutely. Poodles, 100%. Because they're so smart, they're smart to evolve. Kind of like giving a child who's really good at math a ton of math to solve, and then they're done and they look around, like, what else is there to do?

SPEAKER_04 1:36:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:22

And they've already outtaught the teacher. And the teacher's like, I don't know what to tell you, like this is calculus. And the kid's like, Well, what's beyond calculus? So you get an older person or someone with a family that has a poodle, and the dog is learning their boundaries are flexible, and the person doesn't really know how to communicate to the dog, specifically a poodle, occasionally. Uh, hey, the here's why, but then the poodle says, That doesn't matter, my don't have boundaries. It's a it's a it's a what is that self-fulfilling prophecy because the dog is too smart. And I think you really have to be on your toes with poodles because they're so cool and they're really, really smart. So you have to be prepared that a poodle comes with the challenge of teaching beyond what you think they're capable of because they're that smart.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:08

I I believe it. So my my little guys, uh Taz and Lorenzo, they're peeking these poodles, so they're peek a poo. And they are beyond smart. It's unreal how smart they are. Like they know like they know us so well. They know exactly like when we're almost home, like if like they know the time. Like they like I'll I usually am home before my girlfriend, but they know exactly what time she's gonna be home. So what they'll do is they'll go over to the little doggy gate that we have by our hallway closest to the door. So they know that by like 6 15, 6 30, that mom's gonna be home from work, and so they run over there and they just sit there and wait for her, and then they do like this huge yapping, like like cheerful bark when she gets in. And it's just it's so funny to see how dogs pick up on our patterns and they know when it's time for bed, they know the process of like when right before we go to bed, if we're watching TV downstairs, they know that we take them outside, and right after they come up from inside, they run upstairs because they know that it's bedtime, like at a certain time, and it's just it's crazy how animals can pick up on our behaviors and know us so well, and they know when we're sick, like all of my animals I've ever had, they know when I'm not feeling well, and they'll come over and they'll be extra lovey, extra cuddly, and and all that. And it's just it's it's amazing that animals can can sense that and know us so well. And I always think too, it's like I like to spoil my dogs mostly because they have such a short time that they get to be here, and it's like yeah, I want to make the best of their life and give them the best love and the most love that they can have and most attention they can have while they're here. Uh even my last dog that I had, I never I've never forgotten him. I'll still bring him up in conversation and I'll think back on like moments that we had, and I laugh and pictures and and all that. And it's like these these animals are your family.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:54

I've noticed I don't know if you've noticed this or not, with with how long have you been doing this the dog your own business with the dog training?

SPEAKER_05 1:39:01

Since 2022, like right after COVID, or during COVID, I guess. So I don't even know what that was.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:09

It was a bl I I I feel like more people are becoming dog people than ever before. I don't know if you recognize that or not, or seen that, like where I'm seeing them out more out and about than ever, and even just like I mentioned earlier, like friends and family that typically were never really close to analyzed. I see them buying them and then they're loving them and falling in love with them and showing them off and treating them like they're family. When I was a kid, I remember people would keep their dogs outside, which is to me, it's cruel. Yeah, I don't like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:39

But that was normal. Like when I was younger, like I I'm from 86, I just remember in the 90s, it was normal for people to have like a dog house outside, and there's a dog that's outside, and then there's an indoor dog. And now I don't think I see that anymore where there's an outdoor dog, they're all inside, which is which is nice, but the dog doesn't deserve to be out in the in the cold, especially here in Oregon when it's raining and nasty.

SPEAKER_05 1:40:00

Yeah. But I think animal advocacy has come a long way. And I think uh not just positive reinforcement, there are other like fear-free training, that's another philosophy. There's a lot of new dog training philosophies out there that advocate for animal. And I think having that voice for animals that can't, I guess uh, what's the word I'm looking for? That can't say what they need. If you know your dog needs this and you refuse to give it to them, that's on you. Yeah. So I I think now training has come a long way. Like I said, we're no longer shaking pennies, we're not leaving them outside, we're not spraying them in the face, we're not shocking them. So now we're kind of recognizing that, oh yeah, this is a sentient being. And uh, I myself am ordained Tibetan Buddhist. So when I see a creature, I'm like, oh, you have a life. Like you have weird little thoughts. And you know, I have a hamster right now. I don't have a dog currently because I focus on my clients, but my hamster has his own little personality, and he prefers not to be touched right when he wakes up. So I'm not going to.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:03

So yeah, they're all, I mean, like all over animals, they're all they're all very different and very unique, and I love that. And it's like, like when you mentioned, again, I'll I'll I'll praise you for this. When you mentioned that you cater to your clients and their their dog's personality to see what is needed to be done, I love that and I I respect that. So I think that's really cool that you are you're not uh you're not relying on some corporate book like you mentioned earlier. I just I feel like that's that's that's really uh that's really neat that you're doing that.

SPEAKER_05 1:41:30

Thank you. Yeah, dog training is not one size fits all, but dog training is for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:34

Yeah, 100%. Well, is there anything else you would like to share with the rest of us here? Like where can people get in contact with you? And do you do virtual training by chance for any folks that may be around in different states or all that fun stuff that you can share with our listeners?

SPEAKER_05 1:41:50

So I do virtual trainings. I can do Zoom, um, Google Meet classes. Those are pretty reasonable pricing because neither of us have to go anywhere. Um, you do have to keep in mind it's not a hands-on experience, so a lot of that comes with just a chat. I do in-home visits here in Southeast Portland. And you can reach me through my Instagram at Lexi underscore the dog coach, or you can email me at lexi the dogcoach at gmail. Um, either one of those channels will get you involved in the training process since, like I said, I'm an independent person. It's just me and my training goes through word of mouth and things like this where I get to talk to people and just reach out. It's me on the other end of the line, and we can figure out how to help you and your pay.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:34

I love it. So for anyone out there, uh reach out to reach out to Lexi, the dog coach. You can find her on Instagram as she mentioned. Go check out her page. Do you share a lot of uh like just video of you in in sessions and trainings and um what kind of content do you typically share on your on your Instagram?

SPEAKER_05 1:42:52

Just dog pictures right now, mostly my clients. Um I find that keeping people's training private is part of their right. And I don't post people without their permission or their dogs without their permission. And I actually do just I just built my website, so I should also say LexiTheDog Coach.dog is my website. So that's also another way to learn more about me and the classes I offer. And you get to see more pictures of dogs. There's some client testimonials on there as well. Um, but my social media content is without consent, nothing is posted. Uh, and it's mostly pictures of my clients because they're so dang cute. And who doesn't want to like look at a cute picture of a dog?

SPEAKER_01 1:43:33

I love it. I love looking at animal pictures, they are always the best. So thank you so much, Lexi, for sharing. And I hope that our listeners will reach out to you if they're in the area or even if they're not, that you can do it digitally. That's really cool that you offer that. So thank you for being a guest and for sharing all about your company.

SPEAKER_05 1:43:50

Thank you. I appreciate it. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:51

Have a great one.

SPEAKER_05 1:43:52

You too. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:53

Thank you very much, everyone, for tuning in and listening to segment one and two. That is the end of this week's podcast. Thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys so much for the love you guys give us. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you very much for answering the questions of the week. I absolutely love those. I love hearing from all of you guys, especially when you become a frequent commenter. I I love hearing you because I feel like I'm getting to know you a little bit more and we're talking about real things that matter and all that. And so thank you guys very much for tuning in. Please continue to share this podcast. I want to give a shout out to our monetary financial contributors, which are Eric Sheets and King John. Anyone out there that wants to contribute to the podcast, there is a button down below in the description that allows you to contribute if you want to contribute a dollar, two dollars, three dollars, four dollars, five dollars, ten dollars a month, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:43

A million dollars.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:43

A million dollars. I'll take it all. This podcast, as I always say, does cost us money, costs us time and everything to do it. So anything helps and we highly appreciate it. One of the things I'm thinking about doing, and I haven't really posted about this yet, but I'm gonna share it on here, is I'm thinking about making some merch. Some shirts. I think it's time that we make some shirts with some good positive sayings and positive sayings and some cool, like just design stuff. So might be doing that, and that's another way that you guys can help with the podcast. And uh thank you guys very much. Seriously, like that's all I really got to say. I hope you guys have a great rest of your week. That's it from us, from the loving Lorenzo and the uh terrific Taz Mania Devil as he's looking at me. Like, what are you? He's like, Dad, you never called me that before. Look at Lorenzo, he's looking at me too. No, we're gonna enjoy the rest of our Sunday with our boys and uh enjoy some of that sunshine that we still have out there. Thank you guys all very much. Let us know if you like the whole video thing. If you like the video, we like to hear feedback. So you can always reach out to us on our Facebooks, our Instagram, whatever, our email, theliquidshape podcast at gmail.com. I appreciate hearing from you guys. Love hearing feedback, what you what works, what doesn't work. If you think this video idea is stupid, then we might scrap it. Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 1:45:58

We get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:59

So have a great rest of your week, guys. We love you. Be sure to find us on all social media platforms.

SPEAKER_00 1:46:05

Follow and subscribe.