This is The Puppy Training Podcast Episode # 14: The Common Phases of Learning. This podcast is for those looking to train their own dog, whether as a family companion, a service, or a therapy dog. And I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the puppy training podcasts, and I'm your host, Amy Jensen.
speaker 0 Hey, hey, hey, everyone! Today we're talking about the common phases of learning. I am getting a new puppy in exactly seven days. It's another puppy that we're going to train. He's going to be a service dog, hopefully. Most puppies let you know whether they're in the work or not in the work, so we'll see how this one does. I'm really excited about him. He comes from a great breeder in Michigan, Bunji Doodles. Jen does an amazing job with her dogs, so I'm so excited to meet him. His name is Boots and you're welcome to follow along on his journey. Head over to my website BaxterandBella.com and there will be a link there next week with all of his videos.
speaker 0 With the new puppy coming to my house and a lot of you have new puppies at your house, there are some things that you should expect along the way. We're gonna go through what we call the common phases of learning. Most people that I know, anytime they have something new in their life, they go through these phases and I find it super applicable to new puppies. Each time I decide to start something new, I remember going through multiple phases of progress along the way and I believe others come likewise relate. Please know that I'm choosing to share my learning phases with you is a way of offering encouragement along your journey to keep you keeping on when those difficulties or frustrations arise. It's important to recognize your upcoming feelings and emotions are likely to fall into various stages and may be similar to the ones that I'm gonna describe on this podcast. Despite the anticipated obstacles and challenges, please promise to never give up. Continue to motivate yourself as necessary, and you will find success.
speaker 0 First things first. When people experience something new, it is normal to go through unpredictable levels of interest, curiosity, desire, confidence, craziness, willingness, enthusiasm, hope, optimism, all of these things, as well as success and achievement. As you take off on this journey of pet ownership and you encounter struggles that are likely going to come with it, I want you to review these phases and recognize that you're making progress. Appreciate the growth you're having and pushed forward through all the distractions. I anticipate that this new puppy adventure will be similar to a riot on a roller coaster and the feelings you experience will be character building, to say the least. Just keep your arms and legs inside the car and hold on tight.
speaker 0 The first phase is called beginner's bliss. In the beginning, a new puppy is super exciting, really exciting, and it's common to get lost and everything going on thinking, "How hard can this be?" This is typically the first phase and trying something new, which is what we call beginner's bliss, where you have a lot of interesting and curiosity, but you don't know all that you don't know. It's kind of a surprise sometimes.
speaker 0 After you've finished beginner's bliss, you lead right into intermediate desire and determination. Soon after you get started, your desire and your determination is strong, but reality starts to set in. Although you understand better than before, all the things you did not realize in the beginning are now starting to impact you and in unexpected ways. What's more, in this intermediate phase, it is not uncommon to start to second guess your original puppy ownership decision. But just stick with it and things will get better, I promise.
speaker 0 As long as you haven't given up yet and you're continuing forward with your puppy training, you will eventually reach the phase of being competent but crazy. In short, you simply begin to understand how to make it work, how to survive. Your competency increases, your insanity starts to subside, and your craziness consistently creeps in. As a new pet owner, you now know most of what it takes to care for your puppy, and it can be overwhelmingly crazy. Why would anyone do this? Who will watch the puppy when I'm busy? How come he doesn't let me know when he needs to go to the bathroom? Why does he chew on the things he shouldn't? It may seem that the more you know, the more crazy it is. But don't worry, this is normal and you were almost over the hump.
speaker 0 The next phase is what we call proficiently pleased. You start to settle into a consistent routine, and it's a sign that you are entering this next phase, and that your willingness and enthusiasm are likely increasing as well. In this phase, you mostly know what you know, as well as what you don't know, and that it's okay because you're making progress. Things are starting to go well, you're figuring it out, you're getting the hang of it, and improvements are happening. Recognizing all of this makes you feel happier and helps you realize that you can do this. Great job, keep it up.
speaker 0 After this phase comes what we call the seasonably skilled. As hope persists and optimism grows, you enter this phase of your learning progress, becoming much more proficient with all of your ongoing puppy and pet responsibilities. You may even wonder what all the trouble was ever about, and you'll start to contemplate the idea of taking additional tasks and responsibilities. In short, you know what is needed, you have ideas of how to do it, and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It sure does feel awesome to have learned so much in such a little amount of time.
speaker 0 About now, you're entering what we call the advanced and adventurous phase. This is marked by knowledge, experience, ability, and effectiveness. You now know what you know, and you understand what it takes to manage for your desired outcomes. In this phase, you're advanced and adventurous, even occasionally overlooking things when you know better, but falling into somewhat of a cruise control style of living. Regardless, you're feeling good about yourself and might begin looking for ways to potentially take it up a level or two or even three. At this point, the sky is limitless and you are willing to push yourself higher.
speaker 0 The last phase we call is expertly efficient. In this final phase, by many standards, we consider you to be an expert in puppy training. You have achievement under your belt and success on your resume. You likely have opinions about what works as well as what does not, and you can remember many examples of both. Likewise, you enjoy sharing with others your tips, tricks, tools, and techniques to help and and encourage them on their way and cannot believe how quickly your progress happened. In summary, you've made it. Not only learning something completely new, but having become best friends through love and learning with your cute, cuddly, house trained, well mannered, obedient, and super socialized puppy.
speaker 0 Those are the seven phases. Remember, you start out with that beginner's bliss. Your brand new puppy comes home; you're super excited. We almost call it a honeymoon phase. Then you start to get into that intermediate desire and determination were like, "Okay, we got this, we can do this". You start to reach those phases where you're competent but crazy, definitely crazy. Puppy hood can make you feel overwhelmed and second guess your decision to ever get a puppy. Just realize that you're gonna move through those four, five, six or seven phases, and you're going to get to the point where you feel like an expert puppy trainer. You've got this, you know what you're doing. Your puppy knows what he's doing, you know how to work together, you've built that bond and you're gonna have a great life together. When you first get your puppy, recognize that these phases exist, so when you get to that phase where you're like, "what did I do? Why did I do this?" and you start to second guess, that you'll realize you can get through it and you're going to get to a point where you feel like you know what you're doing and you're so happy that you made the decision that you did.
speaker 0 All right, you guys have a wonderful week training. Enjoy your summer, and I look forward to talking to you next week. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training questions, visit my site BaxterandBella.com to contact me.