Lianne Shinton (02:21)

Welcome everybody. Welcome to my podcast. I'm Lianne Shinton from Automation Dogs and I commonly interview folks to help other dog trainers. And today I have the pleasure of interviewing a longtime friend, dog sport competitors and dog trainer, Crystal McClare. I'm going to start again. I am like tongue-tied.

Okay, thank goodness for editing and we're not live. All right, take 99.

Crystal (02:55)

Right?

Lianne Shinton (03:01)

Welcome everybody. So I'm Lianne Shinton from Automation Dogs. Welcome to my podcast and we commonly speak with folks who can help other dog trainers like ourselves. And today I have the pleasure of interviewing Crystal McLaren from Bow Nose Dog Training and welcome Crystal.

Crystal (03:21)

Hello, I'm happy to be here.

Lianne Shinton (03:24)

I'm happy that you're here. I've been trying to get you on forever.

Crystal (03:28)

I don't know.

Lianne Shinton (03:30)

I've known Crystal for a very long time. We've competed together. I've been out to her place in Cape Coral, Florida. Just, yeah, competed all over the US with you. But there was something I wanted to jump right into. You got flown out by, I think, dock dogs out to Italy to help train their dock diving team. So like, at what point did you realize that

your life is just completely ridiculous in the best possible way because that is amazing.

Crystal (04:04)

It was super amazing and it was actually ⁓ Vail who owns Doc Dogs Italy. ⁓ She actually flew me out and let me bring a friend who's really good with translation and just taking videos and stuff. ⁓ Tim Lake, which many people know him. And yeah, it was such a blessing and a compliment. ⁓ you know, Vail and I have become great friends since then. She has amazing...

⁓ facility, her students are amazing. ⁓ They are very serious there about any kind of training. They take you seriously, they listen, they follow directions. It was really, really nice.

Lianne Shinton (04:45)

That's cool. So what can you share about maybe the different dogs that were like, was there more of certain breeds? Were the dogs better behaved?

Crystal (04:48)

Yeah, it was.

So, the big difference I think in their dogs and ours is ⁓ her facility is kind of like in a suburb of Rome. So it's a pretty congested area. The dogs don't like ever get to run, I don't think, except for on the dock. They don't maybe in a small backyard. So ⁓ it was really unique situation just teaching the dogs how to run.

you know, down the dock. are not the best behaved dogs, no. But socially, they put our dogs to shame. So obedience-wise, not as much, but socially, ⁓ it's such a different environment over in Europe that I was shocked at how many dogs can just be together, get along. You you always have your exceptions. ⁓ There were a lot of labs, a lot of turves. ⁓

We had some mixes, just some random mixes. I was shocked at how many labs. I had no idea how big labs are over there. And some really, and their labs are huge, like really big. ⁓ Athletic, very nice dogs. ⁓ Yeah, so that was really interesting to me. They had some Collies, Collie mixes, Pure Breadboarder Collies. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (06:14)

Interesting.

Crystal (06:27)

There were a couple little Italian dogs that I don't even honestly know how to say the name, but they're like a medium-sized dog, really cute game little dogs. But yeah, a lot of labs.

Lianne Shinton (06:41)

That's interesting. the ⁓ last, I don't know if it's the last time I saw you, but I was in Florida and you took me to, is it your aunt's restaurant, The Lobster Lady, which was delicious. So.

Crystal (06:43)

Yeah.

Yes lobster lady! It's so good everybody

who comes here like that's a staple.

Lianne Shinton (06:59)

I know you like good food. What was something from Italy that you were surprised by or you loved food-wise?

Crystal (07:10)

So hopefully Vail doesn't watch this. I did not like the food in Italy at all. I'll be honest, I didn't like it. And they have a problem with ice. They do not have enough ice for me. ⁓ Being a Florida girl, I want ice in my drinks, all of them. ⁓ But the one food that I really did enjoy was the focaccia. Like the focaccia, I mean, it's pretty much all I eat. But ⁓ the focaccia, it's like a...

Lianne Shinton (07:16)

Really?

Bye!

I don't know what that is.

Crystal (07:41)

almost it's they use it for just regular appetizers and then they make pizza out of it but it's a light very airy light thick crust super soft that the focaccia's they do like some parmesan on it that was fantastic the rest of the food it was not my favorite I hate to say it but their pasta is al dente

Lianne Shinton (07:48)

⁓ I know what you mean.

Sounds good.

Wow.

Yeah.

Crystal (08:08)

So the pasta's like real chewy. ⁓ The first thing I did when I got home is went to Carrabba's, if that tells you anything.

Lianne Shinton (08:17)

my, we're so American.

Crystal (08:19)

Yes.

I know I'm so American. So American.

Lianne Shinton (08:26)

Now, I wanted to ask how did you find dock diving? is there a story there?

Crystal (08:27)

⁓

Yeah, so before ⁓ I moved back to Florida, I was running really big horse farms in South Carolina for 10 years. Towards the end of my career doing that, started horses professionally when I was 15, but I moved to South Carolina out of college, got offered a really good job there. ⁓ Horses are very political. My back was done and I was already running my dog rescue and already doing dog training.

through my dog rescue. So I made the decision just to transfer all the way to dogs and give up horses. ⁓ So when I moved back, I still obviously had that competitive spirit and I kept driving several times by the dock where Vicki used to have it. And my boyfriend at the time had a lab and we took the lab, said I gotta try this with Moonshine, took the lab.

And Bo, I think was a year old and he had just started swimming. So I didn't even think about him, honestly. It was all about the lab, took the lab and Vicki saw Bo, this tall hound dog in the truck and said, well, what about that one? And I said, well, I don't know, we can try. She's like, does he swim? I said, yeah, he swims. He goes to the beach. well the beach is different, you know. So took Bo up there and I think she had a jolly ball for her lab. And I just.

took him back to like 20 feet and threw the toy, the Jolly Ball, and he jumped like 20 feet. And Vicki's like, wow, do that again. ⁓ So quickly, Bo became the objective. The lab was good, but the lab, you know, he was like a lawn garver. He didn't have any natural abilities, just loved the water. So very quickly we saw Bo's talents and I became addicted to dock diving.

Lianne Shinton (10:25)

Mmm.

Wow. Well, and that's a special story for all of us in Doc Dogs because we have known him. I'm getting choked up. But yeah, he, yeah, he was an incredible dog. And it was amazing to be able to compete and be at his level with my little Malinois boy. And yeah, what, what an honor. Yeah.

Crystal (10:46)

The Bobo.

Rex who was the best.

Lianne Shinton (11:03)

Okay, we gotta talk about something else.

Crystal (11:03)

Rex was amazing and. Okay,

okay.

Lianne Shinton (11:08)

but maybe

share a little bit for folks that don't know your dock diving history, like some of the big accomplishments that you have because there's just so many.

Crystal (11:22)

there is ⁓ quite a few years in dedication and I think from my horse world I have an eye for a nice dog. ⁓ you know with real quick back to Bo but right before I lost my horse, he was 23 when he passed I kind of lost my passion along with you know other issues with the horses and I went into a feed store and Bo

Lianne Shinton (11:31)

Hmm.

Crystal (11:51)

was sitting there in a pen with the animal shelter and I ran my own dog rescue. I did not need a dog, right? And for some reason, like I had to have this puppy and my friend at the time said, what are you gonna do with the hound dog? And I said, I don't know, I'll find something for him to do. So next thing you knew, I adopted Bo. He was like seven weeks old. We moved to Florida and

you know, we already talked about how we started and I think it was, ⁓ WISP was our first really big event. We had gone to a couple of club events and one other national event and we qualified to go to WISP and it was regionals back when they did regionals. And I saw Dave Skoletsky and Jaeger do EV and at this time Bo only did big air. And I left that event and I think Jaeger had grabbed eight two or eight four at the event. And I said, Vicki, we are teaching.

Bo Extreme Vertical. She looked at me, she said, oh, I don't know if he'll do that. I said, oh, he'll do it. So, Wisp was at the end of the summer and Bo debuted in Extreme Vertical. I want to say in the fall, maybe January, no, because December, he set a world record. So it was in the fall.

Lianne Shinton (12:53)

You

Crystal (13:17)

He did it and then we went and competed against Dave and Jaeger at the Orlando Yucanubo event when they used to have it. And it was ⁓ Bo's first national event doing vertical and he ⁓ set the world record, the indoor world record. And then he later broke the outdoor record too. So then Bo went on, he took me on, know, what a ride he took me on and I never took it for granted and rode it the whole way.

Lianne Shinton (13:25)

Mm-hmm.

Crystal (13:46)

He won Iron Dog four years in a row, Extreme Vertical, he won it two or three times. Dueling Dogs, he won two or three times. He set, I think, 21 world records in his career between Dueling and Iron Dog and Vertical. So he was just, you know, and it's crazy how the, he was a game changer and then it's crazy how the...

sport evolves so now some of my dogs that can't even win the world championships have better iron dog scores than Bo did which is mind-blowing. It's wild how it has evolved but he'll still be the goat forever.

Lianne Shinton (14:26)

Yeah, it is.

It has, it has.

Yes,

and your other dogs, your other dogs are also so amazing. Rosilla and other dogs that you've bred as well. So sweet, Falcor. So yeah, just just.

Crystal (14:38)

It was such a.

Yes.

Alcoria, but

after Bo I still kept I mean most with Bo most my team was still all rescues. Yeah, I don't know if you remember. Yeah, yeah, I set the big she was a rescue. I set the Big Air World record with her at Worlds that it was 30 feet 3 inches. And then kind of when I lost Bo, I decided to really do my breeding program because he passed away of degenerative mynopathy and.

I never wanted to go through that again and I still wanted nice dogs. So I, you know, that's where, and at the same time we lost ⁓ Jazz to a spinal, genetic spinal disease, who was one of my rescues that Chuck and Rebecca Grove had. And that's kind of when I decided I'm going to do this and I'm going to do it right. And these are preventable things and I don't want anybody to have to ever go through what I went through with losing Bo. So that's how my breeding program started.

Lianne Shinton (15:47)

I did not know that. And that is just such an amazing, like that you were open. You saw that you had that vision because that's hard work being a breeder. I mean, you just, you know, I don't have to tell you. Yeah, that's a lot. And you've produced such amazing dogs. And I saw that you had an announcement today, I think. And I love the names that you're always coming up with. Meet the Fokkers.

Crystal (16:00)

It is so rewarding.

Try to be creative, meet the Fokkers. Getting Sonic collected in Ohio and getting it shipped to Kansas. Jen, Olivia and I basically were like, this is like some crazy stuff. And I was like, that's it, they're gonna be the Fokkers.

Lianne Shinton (16:18)

Yeah, yeah.

That's so exciting.

Crystal (16:41)

So that's we came up with the theme because I

was like, this is a debacle. So that's how the theme became Meet the Fockers because I was like, this is such a debacle. Like with the vets in Ohio, like they wouldn't ship to Dr. Law, who's like one of the top reproduction vets in the country. They wanted to ship to Zoetis. We didn't have time for that. It was just a cluster Focker, cluster Fockery.

Lianne Shinton (17:02)

to bark.

But that is so exciting. ⁓ Brett is always saying like, what amazing dogs you breed. ⁓ Just we love the names. It's amazing what you've been doing. And that is just really interesting that, you know, that I don't want to go through this pain anymore of these genetic issues that the dogs are having. And you've solved that for you. And you've also solved that for other people who get your puppies.

Crystal (17:19)

Thank you.

No.

Lianne Shinton (17:35)

I love that.

Crystal (17:36)

And yes, and that's really the most rewarding part for me. You know, like at Banna, ⁓ so many of my MC family, the people that have had my puppies were there. I think there was probably 20 of them. And we cooked out every night. You know, we're just a big family and we all support each other. We all help each other. Really cool part. And you know how big of an event Banna was, but ⁓ the top nine iron dogs were all MC dogs.

And it's things like that that just make me happy for everybody.

Lianne Shinton (18:12)

Yeah, it's your family. MC is that from McLaren or what is MC? Okay, that makes sense. That makes sense. Now you mentioned earlier when you saw Bo. Yeah, it flows well. Now you mentioned earlier when you saw Bo as a little baby puppy and you just thought there's something special about him. So I know you know puppies, you know dogs.

Crystal (18:15)

Yeah.

McLaren, yeah, McLaren. MC's McLaren, yeah.

It had a better rhyme than.

Lianne Shinton (18:42)

and you know world level dogs, athletic dogs. So when you look at a puppy, what signs make you think this one might be special?

Crystal (18:56)

⁓ For me personally, I like the more stoic puppies and then you'll see sometimes I keep two out of a litter. Usually it's because the one is the one I wanted to keep and the other one is the one I'm afraid to send somebody else. So I usually keep the stoic really chill like you know lots of drive but Bo was very stoic he was very serious.

I've always been a firm believer that having a malinois rescue for so long and having so many malinois in my hands on them, you don't need a crazy dog to have drive. And people get confused with that a lot. They think that a dog acting spastic and crazy means that it's going to be higher drive and work better, and that's completely false. ⁓ So I like more of a serious dog that's really, you're like, this one's going to do its job well.

And then usually there's one that's a little sassy or a little, you know, cuckoo that settles in a little later that I want to keep my hands on. you know, I'll keep that one as well. A lot of times ⁓ sometimes I end up placing it down the road once I let it level out and put a good foundation on it. ⁓ But for me, you know, when they're little, you can't, it's not like you can look at them and go, ⁓ wow, that one jumped off the box. It's going to be an eight foot vertical dog. You know what I mean? Like you just.

There's no way of knowing, but so you have to look for traits that you like personally. And I think from, started my dog rescue in 2002, a long time ago. So I've adopted out hundreds and hundreds of dogs. So I've become really good at picking a dog and placing it with the appropriate family. That's kind of my favorite part too about breeding is finding that dog that matches their needs. ⁓ So, but it's.

Lianne Shinton (20:48)

Yeah.

Crystal (20:50)

You know, some people want the more energetic one. Some people, you know, they have a dominant male or female. So you have to look at that aspect ⁓ and really just match them with the lifestyle. But personally, I like the crazy one. And then I like the stoic one.

Lianne Shinton (21:06)

That is interesting, very interesting.

Crystal (21:07)

And I think really it's

what you put in is what you're gonna get out of it.

Lianne Shinton (21:15)

Now, when some...

Crystal (21:15)

I've gotten lucky,

I would say that.

Lianne Shinton (21:19)

You've gotten lucky a lot of times though, so you've got to have something there. That's for sure.

Crystal (21:27)

I don't know.

I don't know what it is. I think, mean, honestly, I think, ⁓ you know, back to my horses, I trained at a very young age, ⁓ American saddle breads, very big money, very, very big, you know, farm. the people that hone, HoneyBake Tam were my clients. So we're talking horses that start, like your lesson horses started at 20,000. So from a very young age, I got, I worked with some of the best trainers in the world.

Lianne Shinton (21:46)

wow. Yum.

Crystal (21:57)

and developed a really good eye. You know, and that's not something you can learn. You know, it's not, it is something, it's not something you just have. You have to learn it. have to live it. Just like dogs to be, you know, a true dog person, dog man or dog woman. You have to live, breathe, eat it for many, many years to actually understand how to handle every situation and what to do in situations to give proper care. It's, know, so was blessed in the horse world that that gave me a really good start.

in the dog world to be able to have a good eye and pick out nice dogs.

Lianne Shinton (22:30)

That was well said. You've got to eat, sleep. You've got to really live it. You mentioned high drive dogs. What's one of the biggest mistakes people make with high drive dogs?

Crystal (22:35)

Mm-hmm.

what don't they make, right? ⁓ I really think, are we talking in pet world or are we talking in dog sport world?

Lianne Shinton (23:03)

I would say both, gosh, both now that you mentioned pet dogs, but I was thinking sport dog world.

Crystal (23:10)

Okay, so for sports, like the most thing that I see ⁓ is they, everybody wants results and they want them now, right? So with a dog, especially a really high drive dog, you're not gonna kill its drive by putting on some good obedience, by putting on structure. ⁓ You know, I'm not saying you have to drill obedience by any means, I do not do that. I did not have time to do that. But you know, when I have a really high drive puppy, it's really important.

to put a foundation on them, proper foundation, make sure they understand the foundation. ⁓ You know, baby steps, building blocks before you start trying to get it to tracks or start trying to do vertical. mean, there's things like just properly teaching them how to stand. You would never guess how many people come to me for lessons. They want their dog to do better in EV, but their dog's just sitting there barking, slobbering.

and it doesn't even know how to stand with its head up. So how do you expect this dog to stride right and be able to grab a vertical bumper with its legs crooked, leaning forward, it's gonna unload on its front end, its back end's gonna fall apart, like you're not gonna be successful that way. So you really, really have to put the proper foundation. ⁓ Obviously you have to give them the proper exercise, ⁓ but don't let the...

high drive, you know, I hear it all the time with people who have labs, malinois my dog can't do that, it's too crazy. Dogs only do behaviors that you allow or you shape or teach. It's not complicated. So I think people need to take more, give their dog more credit of what they can do and what they can't. It's what you want to do or don't want to do.

Lianne Shinton (24:53)

I... I...

And your answer is like you.

Crystal (25:04)

And for pet

dogs.

Lianne Shinton (25:07)

go ahead for pet dogs, yes.

Crystal (25:08)

Pet dogs,

high drive? Don't get them, just don't get them.

Lianne Shinton (25:12)

Yeah, yeah, I wish.

Crystal (25:14)

That's what I say

to my clients, just don't, you don't have time for this. Just don't do it. Now there's, you know, obviously you get dogs that are just happy and I mean, even some of the doodles are, ⁓ I wouldn't say high drive, but they're crazy, know, hyper. So it's really important. You know, they take them to burn that energy, do obedience, you know, play frisbee with them, swim them. lot of people in Florida have pools in their house. So that's really nice. know a ton of my clients swim their dogs.

But a true high drive dog, cattle dog, is malinois, is a working German shepherd. You know, don't get it. Just don't get it unless you're, you know.

Lianne Shinton (25:51)

Yeah, good advice, good advice.

Yeah. When you, ⁓ it's like we were, you know, we share the same brain because when you said, you know, it's okay for them to, to be calm and to be control, controlled. I remember with Rex, I was just dabbling in fly ball with him and just the start, just holding him at the start and then letting him go when it was the perfect time and just really working that muscle of be calm and explode. And that was.

Crystal (26:14)

Mm-hmm.

Right,

Lianne Shinton (26:26)

something that we

Crystal (26:26)

yeah.

Lianne Shinton (26:27)

got to practice that start again and again in fly ball. So then when we transferred of course to dock diving, I'm like, this is kind of cool for speed retrieve. It's the same thing, but it helped.

Crystal (26:32)

Yep.

Yes, yeah, because he's gonna

just go from zero to a thousand.

Lianne Shinton (26:42)

Yes, and now it's over.

Crystal (26:44)

But Rex

was that way. He was so stoic and he stood so nicely. He let you lean him back, you know, and that's what you want. You don't, it's supposed to be an enjoyable, yes, it's a competition, but it has to be enjoyable, right? And I see so many people out there that they get off the dock, they're mad at their dog. Like if that's you, you're doing it wrong. You know, it should not be that way.

Lianne Shinton (26:49)

Yes.

It's interesting that you,

yeah, when you say that, so flirty, who's my perfect angel, who I love, I actually don't like her. Yeah, but when she's doing dock diving, I don't like her. I don't like her at all. And that's where I'm like, Brett, you can jump flirt in dock diving. I don't like her to see her like that. Yeah, she's just, she's a pain in the butt. And there was a

Crystal (27:17)

The process.

I don't like her.

Right, because we get so animated.

Lianne Shinton (27:36)

a period of time where we were competing in Mondial Ring aiming for that world level, trying to get on the US team. And I pulled her from Doc Docs because I'm like, I don't want to see her like this when we're trying to accomplish this.

Crystal (27:42)

I remember, remember.

Right.

Yes, exactly, exactly. And of course you're gonna have, you're always gonna have those dogs ⁓ that are gonna be more animated up on the dock. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying that's bad, but when you have a dog that's continuously dragging you up the stairs, down the stairs, won't sit, stay, grabbing the bumper out of your hand, like just totally unruly, that's not fun. Like I don't find that fun. Like teach that before you,

Lianne Shinton (28:15)

Agreed. Yep.

Crystal (28:18)

ever teach it to track before you ever teach anything. Teach your doc obedience.

it'll save you because then you get like you know the unfortunately the people from NAD who have this I don't even know what to call it but they all kind of if you ever watch the videos and I'm not talking crap about NAD I have no problem with it but you've watched the videos they all mimic each other right they all hold their dogs they're all barking they're all leaning forward the handler's at the end banging the toy on the dock

And then they just limited themselves that they can only go to that event. Because they go to a dog dog's event, they have nothing. they have no obedience or it's a soft dog. You put it in a sit-stay and its world crumbles, right? Because it's never seen it. It's a new picture that it doesn't understand. So it's just really important to be versatile. I could take my dogs wherever. It doesn't matter. Or is it going to look the same?

Lianne Shinton (28:59)

Yes.

Yeah, that's a very

good point. I like what you said too about the high drive dogs and the pet side of things. So let's talk a little bit about just dog training stuff, not doc dogs. What separates great dog trainers from average ones?

Crystal (29:41)

Can you, you're cut out just a little bit.

Lianne Shinton (29:44)

⁓ what separates great dog trainers from average ones?

Crystal (29:53)

you know, we're gonna go back to live, breathe, eat it, right? You have to physically have your hands on enough dogs and you have to have some natural ability, okay? You can't just go to school in a month not saying that's wrong, but have a dog trainer license. You still gotta put 10, 15 years in my book to be a...

real dog trainer, you know, and I think it's just experience. I think it's flexibility, knowing what works for one dog, what doesn't work for another. You know, with pet training, you've done enough of it that you might get a dog in that works for food. You might get a dog in that absolutely doesn't work for food. You might get a dog, I mean, you get every walk of life of dog.

every different breed. So you just have to be flexible, be balanced. What works for one doesn't work for the other. ⁓ And communication with the clients. I run a very small but big business and I pick my clients. They pick me, I pick them. If I'm not comfortable, if I meet someone and we have an evaluation and I know our relationship isn't going to work well together.

I'm very honest with them. I'm polite, but I'm like, we're not going to, you know, this is not going to be a good relationship. We're not going to work well together. And I refer them to somebody who I think they would work great to. it's knowing that, knowing your limitations, knowing where, you know, what I think the, the moment you start taking dogs because you want the money, you're going to, it's a failure. You've got to take the dogs you're comfortable with. used to specialize in only

you know, aggression, like true aggression. Reactivity, I do now, but I used to specialize in true aggression. And now that I'm in my forties, I know my limitations. I'm not comfortable. It's not worth, you know, my, like, I don't feel as stable with my back anymore. ⁓ and I'm not going to do as good of a job as I used to be able to when I was younger. So I just, I refer those to somebody else. So you really have to be honest with yourself, honest with your client and honest with the dogs and, ⁓

and put the time in and I think you'll be successful.

Lianne Shinton (32:23)

Are you good at work-life balance?

Crystal (32:28)

Yes, I work to play. I am, I love, I work to play.

Lianne Shinton (32:30)

It seems like you are. Okay.

Yeah, to see you travel to events and have a dog training business and you're traveling to Italy and hitting these different events, that's hard to do ⁓ when you're wearing all those hats.

Crystal (32:51)

It is

hard to do. It is. But I also...

And I'm not saying everybody should do this, please don't. Do better than me. But I live.

Like by the seat, you know, like I just have always, lost my dad when I was 15 unexpectedly. And my mom, frustrated my mom so bad always. And she gets it now. Now she's like me all of a sudden, now that she's older, she's like, I'm going to be more like you. Um, but it's, you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. I could be dead tomorrow and I'm going to really regret it if I just spent my whole time building an empire. And what does it matter when you're dead? Right. So.

Lianne Shinton (33:11)

You do.

Crystal (33:37)

Could my business be bigger and better? Probably. Do I want it to be new? Because then that limits me more. So I try to do enough and keep it exactly how I want it and to give me the flexibility. Always have my ⁓ staff trained to do all aspects so that they can all pitch in ⁓ when I'm gone. I usually, like this last event, I had to fly a girl in from ⁓ up north just to come watch the house.

Does that mean I'm loaded? No, it means I make enough money to do what I want and then you come home work your butt off for three four weeks or maybe five months or four months and you know, so I'm not the best business model, but I Think I have a good life and I love it and that's my choice. I don't have kids I don't have a husband so if I die tomorrow all my dogs have places to go and who cares right? I don't care if my empire crashes. I

I love my job, but I also love to do things with my dogs. And I think it's really important. You have to have a balance. You can't just work, work, work, work, work. I think I do best when I'm here for like six, seven weeks and I'm gone for a week or two. I come back, I feel refreshed, rebooted. And I think it's really important for people to do that.

Lianne Shinton (35:01)

and you live by the ocean. So are you able to take mini breaks and just chill out because the ocean is so relaxing.

Crystal (35:12)

It is, but ⁓ my relaxing place is my, I don't, we didn't go to my parents' house when you're here, did we? Next time. But my parents have a beautiful house and it's an old Florida house, nothing glamorous. They've just done it really well and it's on a direct access canal. So when you're at their house, just, you can see down this canal and then it tees and see, you know, every which way. There's really nice houses, beautiful landscaping, palm trees, coconut palms.

Lianne Shinton (35:21)

No.

Crystal (35:43)

They have a gorgeous pool back there. it's just, that is heaven for me. ⁓ I love the beach, but that is like my solitude. Just sit there. Dad makes you some drinks, cooks you some ribs or whatever we're eating. And you just sit out there and it's so relaxing. You can watch the sunset. That's, you know, here locally, that's kind of my happy place.

Lianne Shinton (36:08)

have trouble just relaxing. I'm like, I would need to be on the beach, but maybe that environment I could relax, but I always get a little, I'm bored. I'm bored.

Crystal (36:08)

But the beach is great.

You could, you would.

Yeah. Well, I mean, let's be honest, I'm there for like two hours. And then I'm like, all right, relaxation over. Now back to home to let dogs out.

Lianne Shinton (36:23)

Yeah.

Yes, that's the life.

Crystal (36:30)

That's all I

do, all day, every day.

Lianne Shinton (36:32)

Yep.

Now, you mentioned having boundaries with certain clients that might not be the right fit for you. You might not be the right fit for them. Could you elaborate a little bit more on maybe some of those pieces or what you might say if you don't wanna take on that client?

Crystal (36:55)

So you've known me well enough. Some people know me watching. Some people don't. I am very direct person. ⁓ That's just who I am. I really have a hard time sugarcoating things. I've gotten much better with age. I'm brutally honest. ⁓ And it's for the love of the dog. It's not because I'm being mean or rude. And I'm not rude, but I am very direct. So you get those clients that they come in.

They know everything, they're talking over you. And you can just tell, like there's no way they're gonna listen. There's no way they're gonna do the homework. And they're the people that I'm gonna put a lot of work into this dog, they're gonna go home, do nothing, and then throw it back on me. And you don't want that. That's just bad business for everybody. So.

Generally, just, I'm polite and just say, you know, thanks so much for coming in. I don't think that ⁓ you, never say the dog. I just say, don't think that you're the best fit for my facility. I would love to refer you to some other people that I think you would work really well with in a story. You know, and usually they're like, okay, thanks so much. They're kind of shocked that they just take the, you know, referrals and go.

There's other instances, and like I said, it's always about the dog, but there's other instances where you get a dog and all the training is done here at my facility. We do group class ⁓ and we'll do private sessions once they've gone through one of our programs, but I don't have time to be running around town all day. So everything's done here and you get a dog that comes in that's super high anxiety, fearful, and you're just like, this dog is not.

gonna thrive here and I'm not gonna make that dog suffer because I want a paycheck like so absolutely not so you always have to keep that you know that doesn't benefit anybody and I'll be honest with them and then you know I just did a really cool eval Saturday that a dog came and he I mean I could hear this dog in my driveway from inside the house and I go out there in this pit bull and he's sweet as can be

I he is tongue hanging down, just barking, barking, barking, bark. And I'm like, how old is he? And they're like four, no, five. I'm like, has he always been like this? They're like, yes. And I'm like, my. Like so much anxiety, but happy, thank God. I mean, he doesn't have a mean bone in him. looked like he almost presents himself that way, but he doesn't. But it was so sad to see this dog carrying so much.

you know, anxiety, he's on a flat collar, you know, every time they try to pull him one way, he's flipping, you know, backwards and he knows how to pull them the other way. And he's just a hot mess. Pitties are kind of a soft spot for me. That's what I started my rescue with was all pit bulls. And, you know, I said, we're going to, I think we can do that. I think we can do something with this dog. So they're going to do a board and train, but I want them to bring him for several weeks for daycare.

to get him acclimated because I'm like afraid this dog is going to have a heart attack. He gets so worked up. So we're going to do some meds, daycare, slow acclimation until I feel comfortable with him being able. And they said once the newness is worn off, he usually settles. So I want to get him to that point before I just book him in for three weeks. So it's just really important, I think, to always make sure you're doing the right thing for the dog and the client.

Lianne Shinton (40:45)

Well said to all of that. And yeah, that's interesting to just be so direct. Like, I don't think we're the right fit. Here's some referrals. And yeah, they don't dig further. Like, what do you mean we're not the right fit? Or do they just take the referrals and go, huh?

Crystal (40:57)

No,

mean, one lady, yeah, usually they're just like, thanks so much. And, you know, usually it's good. Like I think I'm so directed. It's like, okay.

Lianne Shinton (41:10)

Interesting, interesting.

Crystal (41:14)

I

mean, I know that's not everybody's style and I don't recommend it, but it works for me.

Lianne Shinton (41:19)

Well, probably, I mean, sometimes, you know, it would be worse if we took the dog on, took the client on, and then it's not working for anybody. having that as part of that toolbox in business to make sure you protect yourself and your staff from the wrong client is really important.

Crystal (41:29)

Right.

right. Yep, always. And always, I don't care what I've learned the hard way, if you do boarding, don't ever do boarding without an evaluation. Because it'll be that one dog that they're on a cruise ship, or just got on a plane that you went back to let out, and we'll let you let it out. You know, so anybody's new starting a business, anything, always do the eval.

Keep the dog for the day, make sure you, your staff, you know, back when I was just running the business, mostly by myself, no big deal, because I'm handling it, but I don't work the kennel anymore, you know? I have staff that does that, so I need to make sure my staff is safe.

Lianne Shinton (42:26)

Hmm. Yes. And we actually, yes, take care of the dogs, take care of your staff. So important. And I think one thing we're not taught as dog trainers when we go through dog trainer school, for example, is what to do if shit happens. And that's one of the things that I like to talk to other dog trainers who've maybe been through some stuff and

Crystal (42:30)

Always make sure your staff is safe.

Great.

Lianne Shinton (42:56)

They've come out the other side so they can share things to help other newer dog trainers so they may be able to avoid some of the pain. One is we have our sales club for dog trainers, sales and system club for dog trainers. And I have a special guest coming on and she specializes in lost pets and finding them, preventing it and just...

Crystal (43:11)

Right.

Okay.

Lianne Shinton (43:21)

Yeah, she's amazing at it. mean, if a dog jumps your fence, who's going to put up flyers? Who has a drone? Because there's things that you can have in place because others have been through it.

Crystal (43:28)

Right.

Right. Right.

There's some amazing local people here that I know through rescue that have a whole operation. We've never had to use it, thank goodness, but ⁓ that's really important. That's something most people wouldn't think about, but it's really important.

Lianne Shinton (43:51)

Yeah, you want to have a process. You want to have SOPs for anything, whether it's a big storm comes through, like, you know, in California, we would have an evacuation plan. I'm sure you do with the hurricanes there in Florida.

Crystal (43:55)

Mm-hmm.

bright.

Yep.

Storm, fire, I have a fire when I leave. I have this is what you do if there's a fire. This is how you unload the dogs. This is where you put the dogs. This is what we do. ⁓ Same thing if I go on a trip and I die. This is, it's literally saved on my computer if Crystal dies. I have a will to, but I have a will to, but just for a quick reference guide in case it changed a little bit, this is it.

Lianne Shinton (44:18)

Yes.

You

Crystal (44:36)

You have to be prepared.

Lianne Shinton (44:39)

Yes, yes, my friend Brie. ⁓

Crystal (44:41)

for it fires

the one that's scared.

Lianne Shinton (44:44)

Yeah, yeah. ⁓ Yeah, my friend Bree, I'm here helping her with her facility and she's like, yeah, if anything ever happens to me, the rule is give Lee in the purple binder. And, you know, it's all there in that purple binder. But yeah.

Crystal (44:56)

Yes, yes, I have those friends too. Yep, that's the I have

those friends too that they all know where it's saved and it's like this is what you do.

Lianne Shinton (45:06)

Yes, yes. So let me just shift to.

Crystal (45:09)

Because it's important, I mean

you don't think about it. Yep, go ahead. I you don't think about it when you have lot, multiple dogs. Like, if you kick it tomorrow, like, where do they go? So you just, everybody, know, if you have more than two dogs, or even if you have two dogs, but if you have a lot of dogs like me, you have to have a plan.

Lianne Shinton (45:31)

Yes, yes, I'm a planner so that, yep, I don't fly by the seat of my pants. I'm a planner, so I love that.

Crystal (45:35)

⁓ I

do in life, but not with real stuff. I do in life, but ⁓ not the real stuff.

Lianne Shinton (45:40)

Hahaha.

Now you mentioned just some fun questions, kind of lightning round. So you mentioned that if pitties have a special place in your heart, Bo is kind of like a hound doggy kind of guy. Who knows? He was a tall, leggy thing. I know as dog trainers, we're always changing our mind on our favorite breed, but what's your favorite breed?

Crystal (45:59)

Hound and Doberman. It was Hound and Doberman. Yeah.

Whippersnapper, duh.

⁓ I really like I for where I'm at now

I really love them. A well-bred lurcher. They're just easy to handle. Keep the intelligence. But originally, I'm always a pit bull girl. I've always been a pit bull girl. Most people don't even understand what a real pit bull is. You should not own a real pit bull unless you are a professional. But they are my heart. In South Carolina, I rescued, rehabilitated, trained, and adopted out.

over 250 of them when I was in my 20s. So yeah, it was pretty insane. But love them. just lost Meatball who was 15. He's the last he was the last of I shouldn't say the last of my pitties, but the last of my OGs. I still have Tarantino. He just turned seven. He's loved me some Tarantino, but he will in pitbull fashion, you know.

They are not trustworthy with dogs a lot of the times and you have to understand what you have. And not put, you have to be very careful. ⁓ But they're, they are definitely, they give a different kind of love.

Lianne Shinton (47:41)

Yes. And yeah, maybe elaborate a little bit when you say like most people shouldn't, I think have like a real pit bull. Like, are you talking like a game type pit bull?

Crystal (47:55)

Yeah, like a real American, I mean, all real American pit bull terriers should be game bred, right? But there's always the exception, like our malinois, we have our really well bred, nice malinois for work, and then you have the people in Miami that are breeding malinois to get malinois. And some of those are not gonna have the drive. They could be duds, they could be soft, they could be scared, they could be aggressive, you get such a variety. ⁓ So real American pit bull terriers, I mean, they're bred.

to fight, they're bred to hog hunt, they're bred for certain jobs depending on where they come from. So they're not a dog. Like Tarantino, he's great. He's well trained, I can take him in public, dogs can come by, he's not reactive. And that's the part about a pit bull that people don't understand is, it doesn't look aggressive, it's tails wagging, it doesn't act aggressive. Just trust me. They are the definitely F-O, fuck around and find out kind of dog.

⁓ but Tino's great. But if a dog comes up, I mean, it could happen in a split second. He's going to be there perfect. ⁓ but if a dog comes up, hits him the right way, goes after him, game on. Like he's not even going to think about it. He's going to take action. ⁓ if my head's turned or, you know, he's good. If I just yell or at, you know, all my dogs who say, ⁓ and they're like, but if you don't catch that split second, you're going to, it could be a problem. And people.

that don't know how to put that control on a dog or have that control or what they're dealing with that aren't willing to separate them and go, know, like, Tarantino can go out with my Greyhound, my Catehula, he was raised with them, they're both females, they sunbathed together, they love each other, right? I'm not turning him out with other dogs that he doesn't know, it's just not worth it. But the dogs he was raised with, under supervision, it's just, they're good until they're not.

Lianne Shinton (49:47)

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Agree. Yep, 100 % agree.

Crystal (49:55)

That's just, that's who they are.

but they will always

love you. But they will always love you. I've never ever in my life been bitten by a pit bull.

Lianne Shinton (50:05)

knock on wood that that's good. Now, talking about this breed or that breed, and it made me think about Rosilla and not from a breed perspective, but from a female versus male perspective. Because when you know, just like in humans, like the males can be genetically superior, and jump higher run faster. So Rosilla.

Crystal (50:08)

Yeah.

Yes.

bright.

Lianne Shinton (50:35)

I mean, how did you know when she was a little puppy? You're like, this is the one.

Crystal (50:41)

Um, I, you know, we always from the beginning in the litter, Rosalina was just a brute. And we were like, she's a man from the beginning. It was like, she's a boy. This dog is not a girl. Like her whole temperament, just everything about her was like, tall, you know, very tomboy. Um, and, um, she would, when you pet her as a puppy, she would just growl and fuss, but.

Lianne Shinton (50:54)

you

Crystal (51:11)

It's just how she is. Like she's not being aggressive. It's just she talks. She, she'll, you know, put your, her teeth on you and when you get her excited, but that's just who she is. So when everybody was meeting the puppies and I pair them, I don't let people pick their puppies, but every single person in that litter, except for Melissa said any of them, but Rosilla, her name was Rose because it was a Rose heart. I think that's what it was, but

Any any of the puppies but rose and I was like, okay and then as she was getting a little older six seven weeks she was getting more leg and I was like I'm not heartbreaking that Absolutely. Nobody wants her. That's a easier reason to tell my mom. I'm keeping four out of this litter Poncho Pearl Rosalya Sally so I Mean it was my first like big big breeding, right? so yes, I kept four and

⁓ But then Melissa came and it was between Falcor and Rosilla and she thinks that she chose Falcor but I had a really like good plan about manipulating her to pick Falcor because I wanted Rosilla to stay but still to this day and every time I'm like girl you didn't have a choice and she's like I did have a choice and I'm like okay.

Falco was hers, Rosilla was mine. ⁓ But yeah, it still is definitely a boy. She's a boy.

Lianne Shinton (52:39)

Wow, so.

So she was just a little firecracker and everybody was like, don't don't know. That's too much dog for me.

Crystal (52:51)

yeah,

no, you I mean, she would come right over to you and then you'd pet her and she'd be like, like start biting them and not mean but like, and she's still that way. Like when I rub her neck, she just is snapping off at me. But it's all out of love. But everybody who meets her at first is like, ⁓ she's intimidating. And I'm like, she's ridiculous. This is nothing like this means nothing. It's all talk.

Lianne Shinton (52:57)

Wow.

A lot of dog.

I've never seen that about her. I know, I've just been around her. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Velkor is just such a sweet boy. Such a sweet boy.

Crystal (53:20)

She's funny and you've seen her and well you've seen her in line. She's a maniac. Yes. She's lovely.

He is. He is just a sweetie and that's how my poncho is. The poncho was the one in the litter that from the day he was born. I don't know what it was. I was like, give me like, I don't know if I could live without the puppy in my life. And he's he is my best friend. I love that dog. I love them all, but they're, you know.

Lianne Shinton (53:45)

Yeah.

He is very special boy.

All right, so what?

Yes, I do. do. ⁓ Yeah, some are just ⁓ yeah, I get it. ⁓ So one last question and this is lightning round question. If Jurassic Park were a real if Jurassic Park were a real park, would you go?

Crystal (54:09)

Alright.

Would I go? 100%. Yes.

Lianne Shinton (54:17)

Yes.

Okay.

you'd be out there clicker training clicker training of the velociraptor I'm sure.

Crystal (54:23)

I'd love to get a dress. ⁓ No,

I'd probably try to wear camo and be a little discreet about it. I'd be an observer. More of an observer, not a participant.

Lianne Shinton (54:34)

Probably smart.

Awesome. So, Crystal, could you share your website? How could people could reach out to you if they want to learn more? Maybe reach out to you through Facebook if they want to learn about your puppies or your dog training.

Crystal (54:44)

for sure.

Absolutely, ⁓ It's bo, B-O, dash, knows, N-O-S-E, dot com is the website. There has the email on it, ⁓ in the office phone number, every way you can get a hold of me. On Facebook it's Crystal McLaren, Bo knows, which is funny, I actually did that on accident when I.

long like seven years ago I was trying to put like Crystal McLaren and then I thought you could put an inner and put bow nose so people could associate and it just changed my name to Crystal McLaren bow nose and it just stayed that way it just worked ⁓ that way for my breeding group it's MC Lurchers so it's MC apostrophe S Lurchers on Facebook it's a private group answer the questions and maybe I'll let you in maybe I won't so it goes ⁓

Lianne Shinton (55:30)

you

Crystal (55:52)

And yeah, and I do dock lessons here. I don't really do any seminars. I don't think that they're really beneficial for like more of a hands-on approach when teaching dock, but anybody who's really serious about dock diving ⁓ wants some great expert advice. I recommend coming down. Usually people come down for a week to two weeks. They make a vacation out of it. And I have lots of lesson dogs that...

I teach with for dock diving so they wouldn't waste your dog. Really cool experience. So if anybody's really serious about becoming the best dock diving handler they can, you can hit me up.

Lianne Shinton (56:32)

Awesome. And I have been to your facility. It is beautiful. And yeah, that that just I didn't realize you did the that and what a great way for people to vacation with their dog. And you're so close to the you you pointed us in the right direction to find the ocean and go for lunch and you know, the lobster lady restaurant and all that. what a smart vacation that would be for folks.

Crystal (56:38)

Thank you.

Yes.

There's a lot of good stuff.

Lianne Shinton (57:01)

Yeah. Love.

Crystal (57:02)

Yeah, a lot of people do it. A lot of people. Yeah, it's wonderful.

Lianne Shinton (57:08)

Super. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Crystal. It was a lot of fun.

Crystal (57:12)

You're so welcome.

Thank you for having me.

Lianne Shinton (57:15)

And thank you everybody for listening again to visit Crystal's website. It's bow-nose, N-O-S-E dot com, right? Yeah, okay, got it. Awesome, awesome. And thank you everybody for listening and thanks again, Crystal.

Crystal (57:30)

Yep. Yep.

Thank you. Have a good night.

Lianne Shinton (57:40)

Thanks. Okay.