Lianne Shinton (00:49)

Hi everybody and welcome to my podcast. I'm Lianne Shinton from Automation Dogs. Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Karly Brandemart. Welcome, Karly. Hi, and Chad Hunter. Hi, Chad.

Karly Brandimarte (01:01)

Hi.

Bye guys.

Lianne Shinton (01:07)

Hey, hey. So ⁓ Karly, if you weren't on Dogbook recently, Karly and Chad just had an amazing accomplishment competing in French Ring at the French France National, and you won, which was incredible. Congratulations to you, Karly, and to you, Chad, as well, because

Karly Brandimarte (01:32)

Thank you.

Lianne Shinton (01:37)

This is huge for your kennel. And I saw something on Facebook from my breeder saying, I hope people, I don't think people realize how big of an accomplishment this really is. So congratulations. Also seeing you on Ivan's podcast. And I wrote down some of something he wrote ⁓ about your kennel. And he said like

That's an amazing accomplishment of its own. Two dogs on the top of the game. ⁓ so that was something he gave pause to in the podcast. And seeing that, you know, was was really powerful. And I I hope people really realize that your dogs are absolutely incredible.

Karly Brandimarte (02:27)

Thank you very much. Yes, thank you.

Lianne Shinton (02:30)

So ⁓ just as a like little icebreaker before we get started, I like to ask a fun question. So if Jurassic Park were a real park and you could go visit the dinosaurs, Karly, would you go?

Karly Brandimarte (02:49)

wow. yeah I think so. I think I'd go.

Lianne Shinton (02:56)

And Chad, would you go?

Karly Brandimarte (02:58)

I zero hesitation had to be there in a heartbit. I I think I was just I don't even know why she hesitated. Well I thought there was gonna be more either yes or no. I thought there was gonna be more. I'm like we are talking about dinosaurs, not dogs. Okay.

Lianne Shinton (03:10)

Ha ha ha.

Well,

yeah, I think it says something about, you know, a person if they're a little bit more of a risk taker. ⁓ I you you know David Broderick. I'm come from a Mondial ring background. So I know David. I know he was in France with you guys. And when I asked him that, he's like, of course I would. I would right right on, I would be right there. I want to clicker train a Velociraptor. And I thought that was freaking hilarious, right? Right. So I think we need to use AI. Yeah, we need to use AI.

Karly Brandimarte (03:23)

Yes.

No my god.

That's David for ya.

Lianne Shinton (03:43)

And we need to put David into the Jurassic Park clicker training a Velociraptor. Perfect.

Karly Brandimarte (03:50)

Yeah, for sure. That's David.

My my brain went to, okay, well, I'm like a thinker, so like there has to be a plan. So I'm like, I can't just be like, yeah, I'm doing that for sure, unless it was like something that I guess I'm always thought of doing. But I guess I haven't really thought about going to Jurassic Park much.

Lianne Shinton (04:11)

Now let's dig into a little bit about your guys' amazing accomplishment here. Could you share a little bit about ⁓ I I I'd asked you before we got started, making sure I'm saying his name right, but the amazing maestro.

Karly Brandimarte (04:28)

That's it. Set it perfectly.

Lianne Shinton (04:32)

And and I I had to look it up before we started because I was thinking, and maybe I'm I'm speaking Canadian ⁓ because that's where I'm from, but we say ⁓ maestro, and maestro means ⁓ I'm just kind of looking at the actual like definition, but I thought it was pretty powerful. It's Italian and it means the master or teacher, and I thought that was pretty powerful, but I'm saying it in a Canadian way, so tell me.

Karly Brandimarte (04:39)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yep.

Lianne Shinton (05:02)

Tell me about his name first since we're on that.

Karly Brandimarte (05:05)

Well I'll actually jump in on that one. Yeah. So it's actually very fun with how his name evolved because v very little people know that he was actually my dog before he was her dog. And I had him, ⁓ obviously he was bred ⁓ and born and raised right here in this house. And he was my pick of the litter basically since they were three, four weeks old. I just had my eye on him and he just

course all the features and qualities that you like to see in in in puppies for you know specific sport homes and having the experience in the back and of of having you know other dogs from the past. I I said this this particular puppy I I'm keeping my eye on. And it was he was seven weeks old. I had him out on my field ⁓ and I was doing a little session with him, a little prey drive session with the rag, getting him to chase the rag and using a stick with him and he's just super just

Almost like he is now, just he's almost been the same dog since day one. It's just been such a such a cool dog. And my neighbor from down the road was walking down the street and said, Hey, that's a cute puppy. And I'm like, Thanks. And he says, What's his name? I said, I don't know. Gray collar, because he was the gray collar. I said, I don't have a name. And I'm kind of I'm kind of ⁓ old school in the sense to where like I don't really name my dogs until it really like clicks and I like really feel this and feel that sometimes my dogs are four or five months old before I name

And I said, Well, I said, I don't have a name for him yet, but it's gotta start with an ⁓ because this is my litter. All the puppies in the litter start with the letter ⁓ He goes, Man, Maestro would be such a cool name. And I literally s took a step back and I looked at him, I said, Thank you. I said, That will be his name. And literally from that day on, that was his name. And so it was pretty cool. People always smile when I tell them that story.

Lianne Shinton (06:55)

It's like from that day on you knew he was gonna be a great puppy. From that day on you knew this was gonna be the perfect name for him. And so I'm saying maestro, but it's maestro. So it's that accent that I'm missing. Need to lean into the Canadian, French Canadian.

Karly Brandimarte (07:09)

Yes, yeah.

And his name now, like it actually I feel like it really does fit him, like what a maestro is, however way you wanna say it. Like if you search it as like a master of your craft, like the best of the best, like it very much fits him being a very powerful name too. And like he's a very, very powerful dog in in a lot of ways. So gotta thank the neighbor the next time I see him because I think I've only met him one time, yeah.

Lianne Shinton (07:22)

Hmm.

Karly Brandimarte (07:41)

I didn't technically get my estro until he was like ten months old. Yeah. That's when I moved to Arizona from New York and he was kind of just hanging out here and Chad was like kind of back and forth on what he was doing and he had his dog at the time that was injured and then he like kind of just started to bring him back and so he was like, All right, I actually have some more time with with my old dog and he kind of just fell into my lap. It was like

I think inevitable, but it I definitely did not intend on getting a Malinois when I moved out here and it happened very quickly.

Lianne Shinton (08:19)

Wow, so little puppy, just pick of the litter, awesome. Ended up in your hands, Karly. When did you think we're we're going to France? When did you think I I have big aspirations for this little puppy?

Karly Brandimarte (08:26)

My hands.

You know It wasn't until way later on. Yeah, it wasn't until it wasn't until basically he got into ring three that it was even remotely a thought. It was I think for the first two-ish years of his life, Chad and I were really just trying to keep him alive because he's so fast and so reckless. And then

Lianne Shinton (08:47)

Mm.

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (08:57)

We finally did his first ring three and we had brought out a French decoy and we were kind of just chatting with him about the selectifs and the process in France and he was like, You really should try to do that with this dog. Like I could really see this dog doing well. And and then I think Chad and I kind of just looked at each other and we were like, Could we do it? Like, do we wanna try and do it? Like there was a lot of variables that kind of went into it and

Lianne Shinton (09:13)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (09:26)

That's when we were like, All right, I guess let's give it a go.

Lianne Shinton (09:30)

Awesome. So it took took some time for you guys to go down this path with my Estro.

Karly Brandimarte (09:38)

Yeah, mainly because I mean, I had a German shepherd before him, but he was my he's like my first upper level dog that I've ever competed with. So it was not that I didn't think the dog was capable of it. It was more so just okay, like it's a lot for a handler to go and do these things too. So and I've made my fair share of mistakes. I'm sure Chad can can tell you.

It it had it had always been something that I have dreamt of for fifteen years since I've been heavily involved in the sport. I just didn't have really the time and the resources to be able to go to France and compete over there. And I'd always told myself, if I'm gonna do it, I wanna do it with a dog that can be a contender for sure. You know, obviously I'd like to go play with any dog in France over there, but with how much

Commitment, time, resources, the money, everything that's involved with that. I s I I was telling myself, we we need to play with an exceptional dog, a dog that's definitely more than capable. So kind of kind of make it worth our while in a sense. And ⁓ we just reached a point with him where it's where we just had thought about it, but then we just kind of had the confirmation from a handful of other people, like, hey, I don't think you understand that. I think I think you could do very well with this dog if you go over there. And we were kind of at a point to where.

We did now have the resources and the the the the possibilities to be able to do so. And so we just looked at each other and said, Okay, I guess we're doing this. So that's kinda how it went.

Lianne Shinton (11:14)

And we keep talking about him. Tell us a little bit about like what's his funniest quirk. Like tell us about this dog.

Karly Brandimarte (11:24)

he's a character. I think his quirks are also what make me really like him. I mean, the people see him as this really fast, really reckless but technical, and his obedience is very precise and he puts a hundred percent effort into everything he does on the field. And then like off the field in my house, he's never

Lianne Shinton (11:31)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (11:52)

Two feet away from me, completely glued to my side. You know, just a really funny dog. I mean, like, if I'm laying on the couch and he comes to to come lay with me, he's gonna be upside down on his back in three seconds. Like that's he's just he's a lover for with all of his people that he that he likes, ever everyone in my house. Like, same way with Chad, with my daughter. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (12:08)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (12:21)

He it doesn't take much to get him excited. Like life is just very exciting for him. So I feel like between me and Chad he probably hears chill out four hundred times a day. I what would you say is ⁓ yeah, exactly. It's him right now. He's like someone's coming in the house. What would you say is what makes him we joke all the time and say that he's a very special

Lianne Shinton (12:33)

Ha ha ha.

Chill out.

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (12:51)

Almost like a special needs dog, because of how just like sometimes we look at him and we're like, I can't believe that you can do the things that you can. And you're very special. I mean, we'll have we'll sit there and we'll be in bed and I'll even just mention his name just lightly under my breath. And he's upside down on the bed, in between us, paws straight up with his tongue hanging on the side of his mouth, just looking at

Lianne Shinton (13:02)

Ha ha ha.

⁓

Karly Brandimarte (13:17)

Yeah. Like, cool, you might you must have mentioned my name. So Yeah. but yeah, like she said and like she had she had actually said it perfectly in and when we did the podcast with Ivan too, that the dog even pees with a hundred and ten percent of everything that he does. He bre he eats the way he goes potty, the way he everything he does is a hundred and ten percent. And it's a blessing and a curse. For sure.

Lianne Shinton (13:22)

Wow.

Ha ha.

What's ⁓ his what's maestro's favorite exercise in French ring? Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (13:52)

And French Rain? ⁓

wow, that's a good one. No one's ever asked me that before.

And I don't know about face attack. Yeah. Face attack. Yeah. Running down the field and knowing I am I'm gonna do everything in my power to get a hold of you. Like that's and then when he misses, then he's like, Okay, now I'm coming back, we're doing this again. It's just like the technicality and just how his brain processes that I think I I would say that's his favorite exercise. Yeah. He it's it's hard because it's like I said, he he thoroughly enjoys doing everything like

Lianne Shinton (14:00)

Not your favorite, his favorite fa face.

Karly Brandimarte (14:27)

I he was a super easy dog to train. I mean, like super motivated in every way, shape, or form. Want wants to please, please, please. Like that's just part of what makes him so cool too. Is like he he likes to bite, but he loves to work for his handler. So it's like a very cool balance that you don't often see. And so for sure in the bite work, I mean, he definitely likes to bite. I would agree with him that he for sure likes the face attack for that, but

I mean he gets jacked to jump, super, super jacked, loves to do retrieves. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, it's not not a classic dog like my dog I have now. He jumps. It's not his favorite thing to do. He jumps fine, he jumps well, but he's not like thrilled to do it. He does the obedience. He does it because it makes me happy. He does it very well. But Maestro's the opposite. Maestro's just jump, my God, this is the greatest thing in the world.

Retrieve, my God, I'm gonna see how fast I can do it. So he's just he's a very big pleaser and he loves really anything you tell him to do, anything you teach him, the dog absolutely loves to do, which is a very, very cool quality about the dog. That obviously, you know, typical malware, they like to do things, but he's a dog that literally you show him anything and he is gonna gonna do it and do it with a with a with a tail wagging.

Lianne Shinton (15:52)

Wow, I love those tail wagging dogs. Just, you know, they're out there and they just I mean, that's part of the training too, ⁓ as well as part of the dog. So ⁓ I'd asked what's maestro's favorite exercise within French ring? What's his favorite like game or thing to do outside of French ring?

Karly Brandimarte (15:55)

Yeah.

Yeah.

He loves to go for hikes. We've got another another house up in Williams, Arizona, so very close to Flagstaff where we were talking about before. And he loves to be up there. The weather's so much cooler. run around the property. He he just loves to run. Like there's not much that he does walking. So anything that in involves going out and you give him a give him a tug or some sort of a ball and you just

Lianne Shinton (16:22)

Yes, I know Williams.

Karly Brandimarte (16:42)

He loses all brain cells and that's that. All the dogs walk with us and he's already done three back and forths in the time that we've walked. Just one f it I mean it's yeah, that's him. And and to elaborate on what she says, obviously the dog I mean he's all of our dogs are are pets outside of ⁓ outside of working. So right now I've got three dogs, three ring three dogs literally laying at our feet right now.

Lianne Shinton (16:50)

Yeah.

Gets his steps in.

Karly Brandimarte (17:11)

I mean, just that's just how our dogs are. All of our dogs live in our house with us. They're with our, you know, with our families, with our clients. But at the same time, as we were mentioning earlier, because of how intense this dog is, because of how fast he does things, it's also we got to be very careful with things we do outside of even sport work because the dog is a liability to himself. he's not a dog you can just go throw the ball for on the field. He will literally he will break a tooth, he will roll his ankle, he'll bust a nail, he'll do something. So it's

Lianne Shinton (17:12)

Amazing.

Karly Brandimarte (17:41)

We've been very selective with like how what we do with him and how we do things with him because he's literally a liability to himself in that sense. Again, the the downside, everyone's wants a dog that hits hard and bites fast and jumps like that, but at the same time the trade off is is he's a dog that you have to be he's n he's he's not a dog you just go throw the ball for unless you know what you're doing. So you gotta be very careful because he's a liability to himself.

Lianne Shinton (18:01)

Yeah.

I hear that. How about swimming? Is is he okay with swimming or is he gonna break a nail at swim?

Karly Brandimarte (18:10)

⁓

you know, we had a we had a pool here and I I'm not exaggerating when I say this. The first time that I ever took him in the pool, I think it was like he was like ten months old. Chad probably had done like a when he was a puppy puppy swimming and stuff, but I don't think he had he hadn't been in the pool for a long time. And I'm like, All right, so I brought him and my German Shepherd. I opened the gate, he ran full speed up the stairs and then was just in the pool. I don't even think he knew.

what he did or that he like he didn't know what happened until he was in the pool. And I'm like, okay, well, I guess you figured out how to get in. So then it was game over for that. Same thing. He's just a crackhead for anything and he loves the water. Loves the water. But our pool no longer exists here, which is I'd love to be able to swim swim more, but as you know in Arizona there's there's it's dry here. We don't really have rivers and we do have a couple of lakes, but they're not really the best lakes.

So we don't get the opportunity to swim as much as we can, but no, the dog, the dog he loves water, loves water. And he's a great swimmer. I tried ⁓ I was messing around because Chad's ⁓ niece, Violet, used to do a bunch of dock diving and stuff, and there was a competition happening like 30 minutes from here, and she was like, Let me enter my estro because he'll fly off a dock. He doesn't have much experience doing it, but he'll fly. I'm like, all right, yeah. And I know that it takes someone that kind of knows what they're doing to throw that bumper.

And so I'm like, all right, let's go. I'm like my very athletic ring three dog going to a dock diving co ⁓ tournament in the in a parking lot at a at a Shields. And Violet gets up there with him and he is jacked to do it. He's so excited, he jumps like ten feet. I'm like, what the hell? But yes, he he loves he loves to do anything that is anything in the

Lianne Shinton (19:55)

Haha. ⁓

Karly Brandimarte (20:05)

What you're doing, if it's sitting here on the computer, as long as he's with you, if it's running, hiking, on the bike, outside, doing something, building something, as long as the dog's with you, he's the happiest dog in the world. Yep. That's how all of our dogs are. They like to be like to say, they like to be inside your soul, no matter where you go, what you do, like to be close to you as possible.

Lianne Shinton (20:22)

Yeah.

That sounds great and it sounds great for the obedience side of things too. So it's not boring for anybody. And he sounds like when it comes to the fun stuff, it's more instead of like ready, fire, aim, he's like ready. Yeah, he's ready, fire aim. Like he is just doing it. Ask questions later. Just go all in. ⁓ so that's awesome that you shared, you know, a little bit about like I guess his personality and

Karly Brandimarte (20:28)

Yeah.

Yes.

Yep, a hundred percent. Yep.

Lianne Shinton (20:54)

thinking about like hunter canine and I'll have you say the your kennel name so I don't mispronounce it with my sorry little French Canadian. Du Chesser. Du Chenille de Chesser. Chesser. Chesser, Chesser, Chesser. I like that. And that means Chesser. And that means Kennel Hunter, like Hunter Canine, Chad Hunter. Got it. Okay, excellent. Very cool. And

Karly Brandimarte (21:02)

Du chenil Du Chenil de Chasseur.

Chasseur.

So

Kennel of winter.

Lianne Shinton (21:24)

So you've described maestro's beh behaviors a little bit and his personality. And do you f find that that's like a lot of the personality of your other very successful dogs? I know you've won ⁓ three nationals with three different dogs.

Karly Brandimarte (21:42)

Yeah, it's kind of it's it's a conversation that we have all the time because it's we'll say with Horace, who's his father, who is also the father of many other there's in the last ⁓ in the last four or five years there's there's come to be ⁓ ten ring three dogs ⁓ that have come from the kennels from our kennels here. ⁓ and

Front ring three dogs, and I believe that seven of those dogs are from Horace. So Horace has been the dog he was obviously my dog I won the championships with back in 2016. ⁓ and he's been probably one of just the most as you as we've all had many dogs you know throughout our time, but he's he's the he's the one dog that just ⁓ that stands out the most in regards to he's been become the basis for my breeding program.

⁓ he we've now bred him enough times to know now what he's gonna produce. ⁓ he throws himself very heavily when it comes to sociability and the trainability, bid ability, all of that. ⁓ and just absolutely exceptional temperament. and I've really, you know, the style of dogs that I had even 15 years ago when I started a ring is much different than the style of dog that I've had now, now that I've kind of evolved and figure out like, you know what, in

you know, when I was twenty years old and started getting very heavily into these dog sports, we want the hardest biting and the fastest and just the most intense, just most fired up dog. But at the end of the day, that's great. But it's hard to make points with dogs like that sometimes. Sometimes you get dogs with outing issues. It's hard to find a balanced dog. And it's been a really a pleasure to see now adding into the mix, you take a dog like Horace, we add him into the mix. And personally for me as a dog that has produced what I look for in a dog.

And that's what I see in my dog Caratos. That's what I see in Violet's dog, MJ, Maestro with Machiavelli, the other dog that that did well in France with us. all these outstanding qualities. And it stems from from Horace. You know, people say, you know, well, how do you where that comes from? Well, I bred the dog enough, you know, my dog that I just retired a few years ago is a three-quarter brother to maestro.

Lianne Shinton (23:43)

Yeah, Eric's dog.

Karly Brandimarte (23:59)

all very similar qualities. Now seeing some of the puppies that Maestra has produced, how they are very similar to his half siblings. It's just very cool to see how these genetics have evolved. And Maestra represents four generations of my breeding, ⁓ which is something I'm super proud of as well. So be able to have not just one, not two, not three, but four generations. And we're already going into our this last few layers we had, it represents five generations of dogs that I've bred that are all

doing very well and it's just that's that's a huge accomplishment for a breeder and I'm very proud of that.

Lianne Shinton (24:34)

It is, yes. And yeah, I saw that with Stephanie O'Brien's post. And then when Ivan was speaking with you and just pausing with such a great accomplishment. I mean, it's it's magic how much work you've put in and figuring out, you know, the the best over time has evolved. It's just magic. So ⁓ I don't know French ring like I know Mondial rang. Do you guys have a dog in white? Chêne de Blanc? Okay.

Karly Brandimarte (25:03)

Yep. Yes.

Lianne Shinton (25:04)

In in at the world level in Mondial Ring, we weren't allowed on the field in the dog and white. Our team captain would go on, our team leader would go on and come back and tell us what was supposed to happen and it was terrifying. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, okay, I'll just figure it out when I get out there. ⁓ so Karly, how how did that work? Did did your team captain have to go out there and then tell you, or did you get to walk on the field for dog and white?

Karly Brandimarte (25:16)

This is the same type. This is where the little wood is, yeah.

No, so for the selectifs and for the final, you're not allowed on the field for dog in white. ⁓ you just kind of stand on the sidelines and you watch. ⁓ we don't have team captains, so there's really just the judge, the decoys, the dog, the handler, ⁓ the deputy, you know, the the direct people for the trial that are on the field. ⁓ and

Between my team, I mean, we had plenty of eyes watching. We'd okay, take a look at where the landing zones are for the jumps, you know, ⁓ where's the food on the field, like stuff like that. But for the most part, ⁓ no. I mean, in he in in America, USA here, we obviously are allowed on the field a lot of the times for dog and white, but I feel like they didn't did they let us on the field for the championships? I don't think they did. Here. Here?

Yeah. I don't think they're No, you're not allowed on the field, period. No. It's it's like a f like the the French protocol is like no one no one's especially for the selectifs and and for the for the championship of France, you're not allowed on the field, period. Yeah. Like for any of that. The only time you step on the field is when you compete. Mm-hmm. So that's also what raises the bar of being an experienced handler and being aware of what's going on and paying attention and trying to, you know, bear with the nerves and all of that that comes with it. It's it's it's a lot for sure. It's a lot.

Lianne Shinton (26:59)

Yes, yes. ⁓ I've I've been there and that's what I'd love to dig into, Karly. Can you walk us through that? Can you walk us through your performance?

Karly Brandimarte (27:11)

Yeah. ⁓ like my warm up routine too, like that kind of or just like my my thought process while I'm on the field.

Lianne Shinton (27:21)

If you've got a warm-up routine, then that sounds like something we would love to hear because yeah, not many people make it to that level. And it's so stressful. It's ⁓ almost debilitating to step out on that field. So yeah, I would love to hear any you tips for younger handlers too.

Karly Brandimarte (27:41)

So I'll start it for her. And the way it works is she was dog number seven this year. Right. So dog number five, you start, okay, we're getting close. And she has in her head, okay, dog number six, when that dog starts his protection routine, is when I'm gonna go get my dog and start my routine. So for her, dog number six comes up, I look at her. That's when her and I, because I I turn into a nervous wreck. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (27:52)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (28:10)

Only time I get nervous is watching her compete. When I compete myself, it's just another day of training for me. I I I thoroughly enjoy competing and I don't really have the nerves that I used to in the beginning. But when she competes, I can't I can't even You can't I can't function. So I say my I give my kisses and my good lucks and my, you know, you know, right before well before she goes on to the field because I actually don't even see her right when she enters the field because we kinda have our own little routine that we do, so

Dog number six comes along. As soon as I I know what that means for me, I go and find her. I give her a hug and a kiss, and the rest is on her. She heads to the car, she goes and gets her dog. And yeah, I tell Chad, like I can tell like when we're when I'm getting close. I'm like, okay, ⁓ see you later. Because he just stresses me out more when I see him get all worked up. I'm like, I don't need that. So I feel like I'm I get really nervous.

Lianne Shinton (28:58)

Yeah. Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (29:05)

before I go on the field and and it's like I turn it off when I walk on the field because for me, I know that my dog my dog deserves to have the best version of me. And if I'm if I'm not there mentally, then I can't be the handler that he deserves. And so it's taken it's taken time and it's taken experience for me to I think like think like that because I definitely didn't throughout his entire career. But I mean in I think it we

kind of did the math. It was like two, it's been like two just about two years, a little over two years of him being in ring three, two and a half years maybe. And he's done nineteen ring threes, ⁓ which is a lot. So it's kind of forced me to, you know, breathe and and figure my life out. But I don't really have like a strict warm up. I I like to take him out, ⁓

Lianne Shinton (29:54)

Mm-hmm.

Karly Brandimarte (30:02)

I like to take him out usually like two dogs before just to go to the bathroom and like hope that he like poops and then I'm like, okay, well he pooped. You you learn that taking him out to warm him up is actually not what the dog needs. To go out and get him jacked up with a ball and a tug and doing those things is not what the dog needs. He's a dog that's you go and grab him, hey bud, this is what we're doing. Let's hit the field. Yeah. And it's hard because like we were explaining, he's a dog that, you know, all it takes is me to walk him and he's jacked.

Lianne Shinton (30:09)

yeah.

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (30:31)

You know, he's super excitable. So I try not to bring him out too soon before I go on the field too, because I don't want him to get himself like already halfway tired. ⁓ so normally when I take him out like those two dogs before, I'll, you know, just do a little bit of obedience with him to kind of refresh his brain, let him go to the bathroom, make sure he gets a good drink, ⁓ make sure he's got some electrolytes on board, and then put him back in the car. I put a ⁓ back on track.

Jacket on him, and I really love those things. It's a big horse product, but they do make dog products, and it's supposed to warm up his muscles before he even really like comes out of the car. So I I I love that thing. I think it helps with injury and recovery and all that stuff. So I swear by my jacket, I bring it everywhere. Chad makes fun of me, but he's got his jacket on. ⁓ there's our kid. So Chad's gonna go take care of that for a second. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (31:25)

Ha ha ha.

Karly Brandimarte (31:30)

And depending on I try to one of the big things I definitely try to do is not have my car parked like super, super close to where the field is. Sometimes that's not really an option in France because the parking is like basically on top of the field. But for the final at least, we we tried to well, it was really, really hot too. It was like eighty three to eighty-five degrees. So I bought a massive Illuminate.

From one of the shops there to cover my entire van. Obviously, that's the one downside to coming from the US. We we already packed so much that I try to prepare to not have as many things. So I ended up buying that Illuminate. And it was funny because my dog doesn't even really need a crate. Like, but it was so hot I had to have the doors open. And honestly, he would stay in the car the entire time with the door open. Like he would never leave.

But I just didn't feel warm and fuzzy either with like people walking by. So I used that aluminette as kind of like a drape over so like nobody could see the back half of the car. And I had what was essentially like a soccer net that I bought off Amaz Amazon. And I just clipped it. He could have jumped over it in two seconds if he really wanted to. But that was his crate for the final. He was just loose in the back of the the van. Yeah. Yeah. He's really good like that. But

Lianne Shinton (32:36)

Mm.

wow.

Karly Brandimarte (32:57)

yeah, I I walk him out. and I I do like just I do a lot of like backing up, trying to like get his his hind quarter like ready for jumping and stuff like that. ⁓ but I don't do a huge warm-up because like I said, I I'm like very careful about just how long I have him out before he goes on the field. But with that being said, you get docked a huge amount of points too. If you're like not right there at the gate, they'll take your general allure.

You know, it's just points that you really don't want to lose before you even step on the field. So I think I was I put him in the shade and I was in the shade with him for like probably eight minutes before I walked onto the field. I always try to prevent him being able to like listen and hear the stick and the gun and all the things happening because it obviously gets him really geeked. But I feel like he's definitely a dog that is

He he knows he knows the game now. Like he knows he's gonna get to bite. ⁓ but he's gotta do his obedience first and he's gotta do his jumps. So he's not a dog that like tries to rush me through a program or like do things to kind of make it happen faster. He just he knows it's gonna happen and then when it does happen, he's like, All right. And, you know, one of the things that I feel like having competed, I'm kind of going all over the place now 'cause I'm like, okay, this and then this. So I know we're talking about warm up, but ⁓

Lianne Shinton (34:08)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (34:25)

One of the things that Chad and I have sat here and like we're waiting for the day and I'm hoping gonna knock on wood that it never comes, but competing that much in a short period of time, like I feel like the dog gets trial-wise, right? And he knows he's not dumb. He knows he's on a on a trial field. And I've had my fair share of trials where I've been like, okay, I I gotta go work this after. Like he for sure is he's getting a little bit too fired up on the basket, or you know, he's just

Lianne Shinton (34:36)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (34:53)

Decoy hunting a little bit, things that we've had to kind of work through, like I'm sure many people do. But one thing I will say that has stood ⁓ very strong within him is his patience at the line. He has never once threatened to ever leave me at the line. And that's crazy. Cause I feel like most dogs get really buzzed on the line eventually, and they think about potentially leaving, but

Lianne Shinton (35:08)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (35:23)

He just stares at me the entire time. And I can tell like as the decoy gets further and the stick gets harder to hear, like I'll just see his like mouth start to like slowly close and he like holds his breath a little bit. But he's been he's been like super, super compliant on the lines, which I'm very, very grateful for. I'm like hoping that I never have an issue with him breaking a line. But ⁓ yeah, that's my rant.

Lianne Shinton (35:26)

Wow.

Then Wow.

Karly Brandimarte (35:53)

From

Lianne Shinton (35:53)

So I'd love that you gave us so great so much great information. I know there's going to be people listening that are newer and all of these little tips and tricks. yeah, definitely flying to Europe and not having access to your car and your crate and all that. You've got to figure it out and have a plan. And I would love to hear, like, just walk us through a little bit of your actual performance when you were on that field. Tell us about.

Karly Brandimarte (36:01)

Yeah.

Lianne Shinton (36:20)

some of those moments that may you probably blacked out for some of it and you probably remembered other moments of it. So please feel free to share.

Karly Brandimarte (36:25)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So it was it was ⁓ an incredible moment. And it's different from any other trial that I've obviously done because you actually get to walk onto the field to go to the podium for like your like walk out with your team. And so I remember standing there and kind of like looking around me and just seeing my family, my best friends, my training group, and like just feeling like you're on top of the world. I mean, it's

You're you're no one without your team, right? And so I will stand by the fact that I've had the most amazing group of people and and ⁓ and help for getting us to this to this point. But walking out, it it was like it was go time. My my one friend in France who's been a huge help, Florian, who has been one of my Estros decoys, he he sent me a bunch of pictures after and he was like, We look like we're going to war. And I'm like

Lianne Shinton (37:29)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (37:30)

Because we were, you know, kind of. And ⁓ so that was the the beginning. Walking walking out and not like going to compete right then and there was a little bit different too. Just okay, now I have to go walk up and stand in front of people, which was a little nerve wracking too, because everyone's just like listening to the speech that you give and and staring at you and your dog. but after that, walked onto the field and I think, you know, the first thing that that goes into my my head.

even before I I walked out was just making it through the routine because it was it was so hot and they decided not to split the routine. ⁓ normally with the temperatures that it was, they were surprised that the routine wasn't split. So I was just really praying that we were gonna hold out because it was it was really hot. ⁓ I gave them a ton of water and just made sure that I kept his stomach really wet.

Lianne Shinton (38:07)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (38:28)

with cold water. I gave him probably water every other exercise throughout the routine and it seemed to help. But always when I get on any field, whether it's it's the final or it's the selectifs or it's even a club trial, I'm like, all right, I just gotta make it through the jumps because he gets very, very excited to jump and sometimes he doesn't use all of his brain. So

As effortless as those jumps are for him, I feel like I can take a deep breath after I after I get through the jumps, especially the long jump. I feel like the long jump is the hardest jump in French ring. ⁓ that distance jump. I know you guys have it in in Mondio. So I had jumped him at four meters to start. And my plan was to go max, which would be four point five ⁓ after. And he cleared four, and then we went four five and he cleared four five. And I could hear cause

All of my team was like right there on the fence. I could hear everyone's like, Let's go. And I'm like, my gosh. I have to kind of like stay in my head too. I feel like throughout the obedience, I don't really worry. This is the most consistent he's been this year with obedience and stuff. He didn't lose a single point in obedience for the entire selectifs or for the final this year. So ⁓ I wasn't super worried. I think

Lianne Shinton (39:32)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (39:51)

The one thing that crossed my mind was, all right, well, this is the first field that he's gotten on that he's never been on, because even the selectifs, you know, there's there's no open field, but you can you can go, you know, the week of and get on the field and and do some training. And obviously you can't do that for the final. So just okay, doing a send-away on a field that, you know, the dog's never been on, a blind search, the field's really, really big for the final. ⁓ but

Chad reassured me at that point. He was like, I'm not worried about your send-away. I'm not worried about your blind search. Like your dog has ran on the most wonky fields in France with trees and clubhouses. And this is the most straightforward field he's probably ever been on, other than, you know, our fields, which are probably the closest thing to things to perfection here for French ring in the US. ⁓ but once I make it through the obedience and then I just like

take another deep breath and I'm like, hey, this is when the fun stuff happens and this is where a lot of it is still in my control, but also a little bit out of my control. So, ⁓

Pretty much I know my dog's gonna do what he's gonna do throughout the bite work and I just need to make sure that I blow the whistle at an appropriate time for the stop attack. And that's once the stopped attack is done, I also feel like all of my stress kind of just goes away. I don't know, anything else that you can that you can think of that we worry about for him, but really it was it was

Lianne Shinton (41:07)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (41:24)

I tried to really enjoy the moment because I A have never competed in the final and I don't know if we ever will again. So it was like I'm gonna I'm gonna do what I can to keep calm and and just enjoy the moment, but also to do the best that we possibly can because going into the final, my dog sat the third highest average going into it. So I I knew that we could do well.

Lianne Shinton (41:28)

Mm. ⁓

Karly Brandimarte (41:53)

I knew that we couldn't win the championship, based off of the French rules, but I mean, Chad had even said he's like, You play your cards right, you can win everything, you know, not by their rules, but technically he was the dog that obviously had the highest average at the end of the final as well. So

Lianne Shinton (42:14)

It sounds like everything went according to plan. It sounds amazing. It sounds so inspiring.

Karly Brandimarte (42:21)

I don't think there ever really is a plan. So it's like when it goes well, I'm like, okay, perfect. It went how I knew it could go, you know, but but there's so many variables, especially as much as he's a compliant dog, he's a dog that's very easily overstimulated and really, really jacked to do everything. So sometimes it's, you know, his own intensity and stuff that kind of bites me in the butt.

Lianne Shinton (42:24)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (42:49)

But ⁓ with maturity and kind of figuring out what works for him going on to the field, I feel like I'm I don't really worry about the same things that I worried about when he was two years old, you know, first and new in in ring three. It's it's been a growth thing with him for sure. ⁓ and I feel like his head and his, I guess just everything is the best it's ever been. I feel like there's a magic number in the age, ⁓ age of five. Five yeah.

five years old for a dog, I feel like they're they're just everything just clicks and it makes sense for them.

Lianne Shinton (43:24)

I hear that. Now, Chad, I have a different question for you because with Karly, we're more digging into the actual ⁓ performance in France. But for you, since you've competed so much, I would love for you to share like what is something that advanced handlers like yourself do that maybe a beginner might not even notice or realize or think about.

Karly Brandimarte (43:50)

I think

Part of and again, everyone's different, but this is what I what I tell people as well is that obviously for a beginner or more of a rookie, first-time type of a handler, is that they are so worried about what the next exercise is. And and people will write it on their hands and they'll write it on paper, and some people will

Lianne Shinton (44:15)

I do. Yeah, I do that.

Karly Brandimarte (44:16)

will put it in and in their pockets and stuff. And that's great. And I know there's some people that they want to know, especially in Mondio, when you're allowed to cue certain exercises, you want to know when those exercises are. But as we know in French ring, we're not allowed to do that. So I see that's in French ring specifically, I see that's where it actually gets some people into trouble is because they are so they get almost neurotic of just worrying about what the next exercise is. And I tell everybody, listen, take a step back. There's a reason why you have a deputy judge on the field. You have somebody that is going to lead you.

Lianne Shinton (44:22)

Yes.

Karly Brandimarte (44:46)

And tell you what the exercises are because it's okay. You don't have to remember all of this. And people just get so just so fixed and so worked up over that that they honestly send themselves into a downward spiral. And so I tell people, go out there, plan it out in your head what you want to do. And if you forget something, it's okay. Ask the deputy judge. That's the reason why he's out there. They're out there to help you. They're not, they're not there to try to get you to fail or to ruin your day. They're out there to to communicate what it is that you need to be doing. Let's just hope when the exercise

comes about that your dog does it the way he's supposed to. But that I see that really gets a lot of, you know, rookie handlers, they get they all they overdo it in that sense where they just get so worried about what the routine is and they memorize it and man was a stop attack before this and what do I do and this. And it just it's like it it doesn't matter. You're gonna go up to the prep line. You're gonna take a deep breath. You're then gonna have your deputy judge tell you what the exercise is. You're then gonna leave your prep line and go to there. You're gonna have time to take a deep breath.

strategize everything that you're gonna do in your head when you walk up to that start line and you're gonna make it happen, you know? And I I feel like just that little piece of advice has helped a lot of people that I that I've worked with and and people that always ask for advice. ⁓ obviously much easier said than done because nerves are nerves and everyone handles nerves differently. there are the people that like you had mentioned, they're the people that literally black out and they're like, I don't even know what I just did. But I think it was good. I think I think it was good. Like I I think it went well. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (46:09)

It's also me. Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (46:15)

But for me, that's probably one of the major ones that stands out is is again easier said than done. Take a deep breath. But really I'm the kind of guy to where right before I go on the field, it's kind of like her too, like she was just mentioning. I, as much as my team and my family and everyone that's there is important to me, that's I start reaching a point like for me, because of how technical I get in my own head, I start kind of fading out about an hour before I'm about to get on the field. I start kind of fading away from everybody.

And no disrespect, but that's just my routine. I go away, I get in my own mental space. Like I might even listen to my own type of music, whatever I'm doing. I'll spend a little time with my dog, have a little little conversation in the back of the car. All right, buddy, let's go out, let's do this. And that's it. I turn everything off because I don't need the distractions. I don't need, you know, you know, I don't need people sitting here, don't worry think about this and don't forget about that. And like, nope, I'm I know what I'm doing. I need this time for myself right now. And then when I get off the field, then we can resume our party as as normal.

Lianne Shinton (46:45)

Mm-hmm.

Karly Brandimarte (47:15)

normal normally scheduled. But until then, I I just really take my own time to find out what works best for me, paying attention to when the next dog comes off the field, when I'm getting ready to walk onto the field. I really just slow things down to where I'm not caught off guard because that's also a big mistake I see people make as well is that they they don't they don't prep appropriately to where they're short on time. And now all of a sudden the judge is honking the horn. Where's the next competitor? And then if you do that, where you think your brain's at for the first 15

the entire routine that you're on the field, your your brain's gone because you're stressed out because, you know, you you ticked off the judge or you were a little late to come onto the field and and and I don't know how it is in Mondial, but in in ⁓ French ring they rewrote the rules twenty twenty three that now if you're even remotely not ready to come on the field you're losing two points general allure right off the bat.

Just for that. And that also stresses people out to where now they're don't want to lose those points and now they're sitting at the gate waiting, but then they have a certain type of dog. It's now getting jacked up when the protection work's going on. And now they came out too soon. So again, you really gotta know your dog and find the balance of what that routine is before you walk onto the field. And when you walk onto the field, you have to say, Listen, I'm walking down there like I have the optimistic mindset of knowing I walk on that field, I have 400 points. Like really, I walk on the field, I have 400 points.

I'm not okay, let's see what I can screw up. Like I gotta stay optimistic. I have four hundred points and what we do from here on out is gonna determine my my final score. I'm gonna slow down if I need to take a deep breath, if I need to give my dog water. Again, people need to take in consideration that you're allowed to do those things all within within reason, right? Obviously they'll there's there's deductions for like training on the field and things like that that they'll happen. French ring if it's you know something's excessive or you're trying to do engagement drills with your dog in between exercises, but

I think everyone kind of understands my point of take your time. This is not a rust event. ⁓ I tell every single person that works with me for the first time, and I'll usually, okay, let me watch some of your obedience. And then after we're gonna have a conversation. Do it what you normally do, and when you're done, we're gonna have a conversation. And the first thing that I say to everybody after is what? Slow down. Slow down. So first thing I told Karly when she started training with me, the first thing I said, her healing routine with her German Shepherd looked like an IPO.

Lianne Shinton (49:27)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (49:34)

Just, I mean, she was off for the races. She was flying. And it very pretty. But guess what? French ring doesn't score based on that. They score based on where the dog's head is and relevance to your knee, the position of the dog. And that's it. It's not a it's not a race. Slow down and being able to slow down will help your nerves. If you're a nervous person, it will one hundred percent help your nerves if you can take that extra time and you don't need to rush things. Things do not need to be done fast. Things do not need to be done the way people think they need to be done.

And that's what gets them into a tiffy. So, yes, people want to make a bumper sticker for me. It says Chad Hunter says slow down, but that is my biggest piece of advice is slow down. I walk up to my line, you have we have a prep line and a start line, just like you guys do in Mondu Ring. I walk up to my prep line, I tell my dog to sit. I doug one Mississippi, two Mississippi, I tell my dog to stay. I then look up at my deputy judge and say, All right, what are we doing? They tell me what we're doing.

Lianne Shinton (50:07)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (50:32)

As soon as they tell me what the exercise is, okay. Next exercise is your send-away. I then take a deep breath. I look down at my dog. I tell him to heal. I walk up to my start box. I let my dog take his position, which is always going to be a sit if I stop. Once he sits, I then tell my dog to lay down, which is my position for my send away. Once my dog lays down, I take another second and a half. I do my separation. We have to sew separation with our dogs. And that's it. And I did all of that in

A 15 second time frame when most people tried to do that in less than five seconds. And you're jacking your dog up, you're moving too fast, you're doing these things. And when I just do that and slow down, it just helps me immensely. And I see how much it has helped with the dozens and dozens of teams I've worked with and helped now. Like, yeah, no, it's this is not this is not a race. Like, we don't have to do things as fast as we think we do. And slowing down actually does help immensely. So, yes, slowing down.

Lianne Shinton (51:08)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (51:28)

Knowing your routine when you come onto the field, what what's gonna work best for you and your dog, and just really knowing where you need your head to be at. If you're the person that you can walk out with your team right there and have the best moments and laughs and memories up until the moment you walk on the field, then great, more power to you. But that's a little different than the way my mindset is because I need to be able to focus on what I'm about to do. And especially playing at the high level, it's it's it's it's a lot, you know. Brevets brevet, a brevet for a dog is is a lot of work.

And as we know, as we go into the higher levels, especially going into level three, it's it's it is a whole different it is a whole different ballpark when you get to there. And it's like, whoa. So

Lianne Shinton (52:01)

Yeah.

What's what I found really interesting was slow down is a a great, you know, suggestion for folks. But when you actually started explaining it, I think like Karly and I went into like a methodical like state of like it's it almost felt like you know you really were helping us all slow down. ⁓ so I could see where you would be just such a great leader to help like as a team leader or as a a coach.

Karly Brandimarte (52:20)

Stop.

Lianne Shinton (52:33)

because I mean I was like, we gotta slow down, Flirty. We better slow down. ⁓ can you guys share? I'd like to hear from each of you on what you think it takes to make a great teammate. Because I know that what you guys went through was very, very stressful. And you've got to know how to be patient and and forgiving because we're all like freaking out. So what what does it take to make a great teammate?

Karly Brandimarte (52:47)

Yes.

Well, it's one thing to be a teammate, but to have your significant other as your teammate is also a whole nother level of it. ⁓ I

Lianne Shinton (53:09)

I'll just tell you, my

mine has never even seen me compete. He's never been to a single competition. I didn't allow it. So yeah, you guys deserve you guys deserve an award.

Karly Brandimarte (53:15)

wow.

And sometimes I wish it could be that way.

Sometimes I wish it could be that way. Yep. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (53:24)

Yeah, it's it's tough.

It's tough.

Karly Brandimarte (53:27)

So one thing I'll I'll say and this and this actually will mean a lot to her when I say this, but one thing that we learned in the very beginning of our career together is again, this is this is part of what made us really the the the picture perfect team, is that I'm the type I'm the type type of guy, like we always kind of make jokes, but it's kind of the truth in a sense where she does the obedience, I train the bite work, right? I'm the guy in the bite suit.

I'll I'll train your basket. I'll get you 30 points. I'll do all this. We'll do this. You do your obedience. Cause let's face it, like I love the obedience. I love that stuff. But that's what she is phenomenal at, right? I've done very well, had great success with my dogs, obviously in the past, but she is incredible when it comes to that stuff. Just taking her time and nitpicking things and just doing all this, the the precision, the same stuff that I do in the bike work when I'm in the suit for a dog. And that's where, that's where I feel that I'm incredibly, incredibly valuable to the teams I work with, is that.

my knack for being able to be so precise of how things need to be done the suit is the difference in everything, especially the level that we've competed at. But what she told me in the very, very beginning of our relationship, five years now, is she would go on the field and she would, I I would say, okay, go do your obedience and I'll come out and I'll throw on the suit and we'll work some bite work. And that lasted literally for a week and she came in and she sat down, she had a conversation with me. She says, Listen, here's the deal. She goes,

You have a lot more experience than I do. You've been doing this lot more than me. And if we're gonna be this team, I need you to be there for all of my training sessions to be able to just tell me if I'm doing it right, tell me if doing wrong, like just break things down and like just be there for that, you know. As much as the obedience stuff is not stuff that I get like overly to the moon about, as opposed to the bitework stuff, like I keep saying. But like from that point on, like she'll tell you, like, I've been to every single one of her training sessions that she's had. I watch, she'll wait for me, I run the horn for her.

We break it down, I tell her what I wanted to do different. And that that honestly is like finding that balance between the two. Like we've we have like we have not even had a single hiccup other than the typical, I told you this, I told you that, screw you, screw this. Yeah. Kind of like a kinda kinda kinda like a ⁓ an episode of Yellowstone where it's like ⁓ where it's like, you know what? Screw you. I love you, but screw you. Yeah. Right? I love you, but screw you. Right. Let's ⁓ so

Lianne Shinton (55:38)

Ha ha ha.

Karly Brandimarte (55:51)

There's ⁓ yeah, you could you can only imagine, especially with the selectifs and the success that he had in France and things like that. There's just so much pressure on me, you know, because at the end of the day, obviously it's her and her dog, but it's like it's it's my training, it's me in a suit, it's me doing everything to get this dog to where he's at. And certain things that she does, I'm like, don't do that. Come on, we had this conversation, we're not doing that. No, I'm doing this. We're gonna we'll talk about it later. It's just like it's it's it's a lot for sure. But to just to have that.

That mutual respect and and really like, okay, you know what? Maybe right now we go and have a sit-down conversation in the car, like we've had a few times, and say, like, listen, this is this is she'll tell you how many times I've had to talk her off the ledge when it comes to her dog and him getting hurt. Your dog has a broken toe. He's got he's got three other toes on that foot. He's gonna be just fine, right? We're gonna wrap it. He's gonna get by in life, he's not gonna die. We're gonna do all these things.

We're gonna compete him. He's gonna be just fine if as long as we wrap that foot. Like just just little things like that that just that that we have to be there for. And and it's and it's hard. It is not easy in the slightest, especially being a significant other, you know. But it's kind of the same thing with my club now. And I tell everybody, there's a reason I have a very small club now. I used to have 25 dogs in my club 10 years ago, and now now we're down to I think we have less than I think we've got eight, nine dogs in our club right now.

Lianne Shinton (56:55)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (57:19)

There's a reason why I have a small club because my mindset and the way that I do things is like I'm very precise. I do this because, yes, I want to win. Obviously, I want to have fun. This is a hobby of mine, a passion of mine, but I've been very successful with it. And when I know what the finish line looks like, obviously that's that's what you want. That's what you shoot for. So my training philosophy is a lot different, right? For the people.

That just say, I'm just, you know, I just wanna try I just wanna try to get a brevet with my dog. Okay, that's fine. I I'm all for that and I will help you for that. But when you come and work with me, I'm gonna break things down in a sense to where like I'm gonna regardless if you do a brevet or you end up going to ring three or you just try to attempt for a brevet. My mindset and the way I do things is is is very particular because I promise you, whether you jump on board right off the bat or you learn to adapt to it, I promise you you will you will you will make out in the end. But

I'm I'm a little bit more, I guess you could say, I don't know, intense, direct with people. But at the end of the day, people come to me like, man, I've got Chad's voice in my head and I have not made those mistakes since he's been he's been telling me those things, you know, and it's like I don't it's hard. It's hard because I gotta find the right balance with with some people too. Cause I really want to help them, of course. And but there's also conversations I've had with people. It's like, hey guys, like what what are

Lianne Shinton (58:29)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (58:47)

What what do you I have to ask you a question, really? What are you doing here right now? Because there's some people it's like they're it's like they don't even want to compete, I feel like. It's like what why what are you even doing this for? Like you're over here screaming and you don't I don't even think you really want to do this, you know? And sometimes I have to have those conversations with people too. It's like, yeah, like I don't know, my breeder just wanted me to do this. I don't really like this. Okay, well then have that conversation with yourself and let's figure that out, you know? But it's been ⁓ it's been a process for me too. I've I've my ways to

evolved, especially the last six, seven years that I've been real, real heavy in the sport. ⁓ with just kind of how I go about things. But people come to me because they know they know what they're gonna get when they work with me now because I've I've kind of built that reputation for myself for a little while now. It's like, hey, wanna fix things, we're gonna clean stuff up and we're gonna we're gonna go from here to here. Let's go. You know, I might I might hear some things I don't want to hear right off the bat, but in the end, we're gonna we're gonna get it worked out and and ⁓ it's it's gonna be

We're gonna have success.

Lianne Shinton (59:48)

And you mentioned that you've you've come down to a very small member ⁓ count in your club. So in working with you for people that work with you, maybe lessons or in your club, what kind of qualities do you look for in people that you're gonna work with, that you're gonna surround yourself with and help them to grow?

Karly Brandimarte (1:00:09)

I think that's a wonderful question. I think that's one of the best questions. And I'm glad you asked that question. Because that is what separated me from what I did things, how I did things 15 years ago. 15 years ago, when I first started started getting involved, it's cool, you want to do French ring? Perfect. Join the club, let's go. And then I realized is that there's several different types of personalities of people, people with different goals within your club. And that's fine. That's what makes the world go round. But really.

really being able to see people that have the dedication and the commitment. you you you just know, especially if you're if you're involved in the smallest bit of dog training or you're a super advanced handler and trainer, like you can just see, like for instance, when you work with a client, you know the first session you do with that client, man, this lady's this lady's gonna pick up on this. She's she's she's gonna do well with this. Or boy.

I gotta really I gotta really work with this gal and l let's let's hope she can figure things out. Let's let's hope when she comes back here in three or four weeks to work with me again, let's hope that she can even get her dog to walk on the leash the way I want it to, let alone be able to just communicate anything to the dog. Right. So for me, people that come in, and that's kind of what narrowed down my my club, is that people had the same mindset as me of saying, like, you what, I wanna do this. Maybe I'm not gonna be a champion, maybe I will.

But I want to go into this and I want to do the best I possibly can. And the people that come into it with that mindset, it's like, listen, I I wanna, I wanna put all this because let's be honest. We don't do this because, you know, and and and and again, getting kind of into the some of the theories of things, but a lot of people say, I I just wanna pass. But at the end of the day, come on, let's be honest. We've all said that, but we all know we do not commit.

Lianne Shinton (1:02:00)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (1:02:00)

Three days a week of training,

absolute sacrifices for your family, babysitting, the money, the gas money, the time you spend traveling and driving in a car, the time you spend sitting around a field just for your dog to get work for ten minutes that day. We don't do that just because we want to pass. We don't. That's that's not No. No. And if you're saying you do that for fun, you're you're off your rocker. Like you There's other fun activities you can go do that's kind of stressful. Yeah, for sure.

Lianne Shinton (1:02:15)

Yeah, or just for fun. I'm just doing this for fun, no.

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (1:02:28)

So, but when people come to me and and like, here's here's what what I've seen in people that I've worked with especially the last few years. I'll get people, I'll get teams. I got a team a team last year that came to me and says, Hey man, my my my basket is a mess. My dog just does not have a good understanding of the object guard. He just does not. And I said, Okay, this is what we're gonna do. I did some sessions with his dog, cleaned it up. He spent about 10 days out here. We did this, this, and this, and this. And I said, You're gonna go home.

You're gonna work exactly what I just showed you now, this all this progression that we've made, and you're gonna send me videos. I cannot tell you how many albums I have on my phone of people that do shared video albums with me now because they send me every time they do a train session just to validate, to make sure that the things I've given, the tools, those are the people that I will go out of my way for until the end of this earth. The people that

Just they they want to progress, they they they take the the the constructive criticism, they they work on things, they change things, they they ask the questions, they wanna make it better, they wanna fix it. Like those are the people I'm a sucker for. Like she'll tell you, like she'll look at sometimes, she's like, I don't why why are you why are you doing this with this team? Like we we don't even know these people. Like why are you helping them so much? I said, because I have a soft spot for the people that that want, but also for me, that's that's what makes me a competitor.

In a lot of ways, is because I want these people to be on the field with me. I want to compete against these people. Because at the end of the day, we're we're we we can all be a team and work together. But at the end of the day, it's like, yeah, we're we're in competition. Like I I want I wanna see the best dogs. That's why we went to France. I want to compete with the best dogs in the world. And that's why we went there. And if I can help people here, I wanna see the best people. I wanna see the best dogs in competition. I want to see that dog do well. I want to do see that dog succeed. I want to see that dog.

And as much as people think I'm crazy when I see this, I wanna see that dog beat me. Cause guess what? Now I gotta go back to my drawing board and realize that I'm only human and that what can I do to even get better to make those things, even with as much experience as I have. Right. That's what that's what motivates me all the time. And people, you know, make jokes, all you do is win and you just every time you walk on the field you win. No, people don't understand the amount of failure I had in the beginning of the sport. I I I could that's a whole nother podcast. The amount of failures I had.

In this sport getting and that's where once I tell people that story and how I evolve from that and how I change things, people are like, my wow, this guy is this guy has literally done it all. He didn't just start training dogs and go right to the top of the podium. Like, no, he he he actually worked to get to that point, you know? And once I find and surround myself with people with that mindset and they come in, it's that's it. I'm I'm I'm all yours. I'll do anything in the world for you, I'll help you to the end of time.

But the people that, you know, hey, ⁓ what ⁓ you know, what let's work this defense with this dog today, defensive handling with your dog today. Okay. But do the defense, okay, why why is the dog still doing these things? well, you know, my, you know, ⁓ this happened and my dog ate my homework or whatever, whatever excuses are. And the people that have excuses of of of why they can't listen, I get it. We've all got lives. We've all got families, kids, businesses. We all have lives outside of this.

But the people that have excuses, continual excuses, are the people that unfortunately it's hard for me to hard for me to make the time for those types of people. Because at the end of the day, with all due respect, it's a waste of my time. You don't you don't want what you don't want what we want. You don't want what you think or you don't think you want, if if that makes sense. It's like you need to you need to figure out what what you're doing. Go back to the drawing board and let's figure this out. But I I'm working on the same thing with your dog six months ago.

What we're working on today. We have not progressed at all because you have not applied any of the things that I've been able to help and give you. And stuff that you could just do in your basement at home when there's four feet of snow on the ground. And you're still not working or addressing these issues. And it's hard for me to help you when we're not progressing. So.

Lianne Shinton (1:06:09)

⁓

I I

really like what you said about how you know you you've had failures. And that's I think how we evolve ⁓ in business with our dog sports. You know, you gotta get kicked in the face, especially right before the championship. Bring it on. Make me make me have to work for this. Because if I pass a bunch of trials and then I go into the championship thinking I'm all that.

probably gonna be in big trouble. So yeah, I think it's it's good to get kicked in the face, even with business and life too. You know, you when you fail and you lose things and then you have to work and you really appreciate how hard you have to get to get there. I totally get that. So I that was great. I did want to ask you, Karly, that question that I'd asked Chad. What makes a great teammate?

Karly Brandimarte (1:07:17)

patience. I feel like patience is a huge one. And I feel like, you know, he he did a lot of explaining for, you know, the beginning of our our relationship and training. And and I I definitely needed a lot more guidance than I probably wanted to admit. As much as I'm capable of teaching obedience, I didn't know and understand.

The specifics of the rules. And that's what makes you a very good handler in French ring is understanding the rules because you can cost your dog so many points. And I didn't want to do that for my dog. And I, you know, to the extent of what I obviously can control, and there's things that happen, but I needed him and his expertise on a the fact that he's a judge and he knows the rules.

But also his experience and being able to ⁓ to kind of be like, hey, be careful, you're doing this. Like even as something as silly as dropping the sock for the scene retrieve, you know, ⁓ how I prep my dog for getting into the boxes, you know, Chad Chad will he'll joke, like people will have people that have never actually like

trained their dog to get into a spray painted box will have a hell of a time trying to do it the first time they try to do it in a trial. And and it's so accurate because there's just so many little things about obviously French ring and I'm sure Mondio ring as well that really make or break you and and your dog when you're when you're competing. And so as for the the the aspect of being a teamy, I have

Really, really learned so much from just the the rule aspect of things and how to prep my dog for certain exercises, following, following exactly what he's done. I mean, obviously my obedience is my obedience, but my my prep lines to my starts, how I walk on the field now is literally all taken from him. And I will give the credit where credit is due. We definitely bump our heads and I feel like now.

I know a little bit more. So sometimes maybe I'm a little bit more bold in putting my foot down if he tries to tell me something. But we we've both grown, I think, to adapt to each other. Chad obviously is probably the most accomplished person in ring sport in the USA, right? With with all of his accomplishments. But I can now, if he's doing something that I'm like, he can't do that, or he's just getting frustrated because you know, we we all do. I can

Look at him be like, stop. Don't do this. Go take a breath. We'll come back to it. And he'll actually listen to me. I don't think he would have done that five years ago when we first met in the slightest, but I absolutely can tell him to knock it off now and to like pay attention and and you know, as as for he can do this to me, you know, to an extent. We both we don't like that we can do that to each other, but we we listen, you know. So I think being able to adapt.

Lianne Shinton (1:10:07)

Mm.

Karly Brandimarte (1:10:26)

makes you a good teammate. ⁓ you know, I think in general, you know, he he hit the nail on the head with it. Okay, being a teammate is difficult, but also being a significant other in that as well. But even even my club members now, I mean, my really, really good friend Summer, she's a phenomenal, phenomenal handler. She's won the NARA championship with her dog Gus.

⁓ she's got a son of maestro now and he's very different from her old dog. And I feel like in the beginning I I even though I've accomplished a good amount in the sport now, they're still like, Well, okay, you know, I don't want to step on toes, but I can also see the things that she's struggling with with this dog because it's very similar to what I dealt with with maestro and it's a son of him, you know. So it's

Lianne Shinton (1:11:17)

Yes.

Karly Brandimarte (1:11:17)

It's

we've all kind of come full circle in that none of us take offense in our team if I go up to her and tell her something, even though you know, up until a year ago, she technically had more experience than me, you know, with with this sport. And it's not an ego thing. It's, hey, I'm watching your training. You're watching my training. I'm seeing things that you may not notice you're doing. And I think that finding a group of people that you A get along with really well, but

Like Chad said, your training kind of aligns, like your goals are the same, is very, very important because you're just not going to get where you need to be if, you know, some of your club members are, I don't want to say but like half assing, you know. It's we all have to have the same the same goals. And that's I think really where you kind of set everyone up for success. Yeah, the the and again, just to generalize to elaborate on that.

as far as goes with just not even just her and I as a team, but just a team, a club in general, is is just the just the involvement. Like in other words, I I I I know, like my my club knows, even though one person's running the horn, I've got six other people out there. Everyone needs to be up front, involved, paying attention to what's happening, asking questions, being on deck with their dog, that type of stuff. And and that that right there is what also how I can get a very, very good gauge of

Lianne Shinton (1:12:31)

Yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (1:12:43)

Who's really in this and who's not, you know what I mean? You get the people that go up and they get their dog worked and then it just turns into social hour. Okay, that's great. But that that doesn't that doesn't work with what I'm doing. You know what I mean? And those are the people that need to be on board. And everyone needs to be held accountable and have to understand that they have the parts and necessities that they need to abide by as well. So for instance, we work on this today. Perfect. Go home and read the rule book.

Lianne Shinton (1:12:46)

Yeah.

yeah.

Karly Brandimarte (1:13:12)

And now these things are gonna make much more sense to you. And next week when we work on it, we're now gonna reapply it this way. Or again, it's it's not just a one-way street. Like you gotta do your part. You gotta go home and work on these things with your dog. Change the positions we're ch we're working on with this dog right now in our club. Like that's not gonna get fixed by coming out to club twice a week. You need to work that every day at home, if not twice a day, and create a five, ten minute session out of this if we wanna get past this point. ⁓ and

If those people and I know and and and I I say it in the pet dog business is that the best part about any dog that I work with or any dog I do follow up with outside of the business here, or excuse me, after they go home from a board and train or lessons, whatever the case is, the dog will always tell me if you've done your homework or not. The dog will always give me the truth. Like I'll I'll always see it, whether you think you've been working or not, I'll be able to see in that dog of what you've actually been applying and what you've been doing. And that's big. And that's that's that's how

My team has evolved and I'm very proud of them for it. Sounds, you know, some people will listen to me have this conversation and like what I just chatted about with you a couple minutes ago. And some people go, man, that guy's way too intense for me. That doesn't even sound like fun working with a guy like that. But again, w w you need to take a step back and reevaluate. Like, what do you understand what you're doing? You are competing in martial arts for dogs. Do you think that this is going to be easy? Do you think there are going to be rough patches? Do you think that there's going to be

some headaches along the way. Do you think there's going to be some outstanding victories along the way and success and champagne showers and all that fun? So sure, you can get a balance of all of that. But I w for as much success and going back to what I was saying earlier, as much success I've as I've had, I can guarantee you I've probably had just as much, if not more, failure, believe it or not.

Lianne Shinton (1:14:59)

Excellent, excellent. I wanted to go into some rapid fire questions. So this is like a lightning round, and I'd like to hear from both of you. So some of them will be front ring related and some of them will be fun. but the first thing while we're kind of into the still a little bit of the front ring and just trying to help people be successful, one word that defines success.

Karly Brandimarte (1:15:31)

Tenacity.

Lianne Shinton (1:15:35)

All right, best I I I'd say Karly won that round. I love that answer.

Karly Brandimarte (1:15:35)

Gotta do a big. ⁓

For sure. I was like, yours might sound

like a smarter word, but at least mine was like I'm like, all right, it's rapid fire. I gotta think quick. I'm not rapid fire, I'm over here choking on my tongue.

Lianne Shinton (1:15:50)

All

right. This one it might be a little harder. I don't know. Best advice in six words or less. So best advice in a few words, basically.

Karly Brandimarte (1:16:01)

How you hand that's not like eight words. Six words. ⁓ put the time in. Success is based on how you handle failure. That's more than six words. Success is based on how you handle failure. Seven, eight words. my gosh. Okay.

Lianne Shinton (1:16:15)

Close enough, close enough. I think we're

good. All right. Favorite exercise to train.

Karly Brandimarte (1:16:21)

Object art.

Retrieves.

Lianne Shinton (1:16:27)

Mm, least favorite.

Karly Brandimarte (1:16:32)

Positions

Lianne Shinton (1:16:34)

Mm, I'm with you there.

Karly Brandimarte (1:16:39)

Come on, it's a speed round. I know. I'm just I'm thinking about too much. search and escort. Search and escort. Yeah.

Lianne Shinton (1:16:47)

Everyone says positions. Really? ⁓

I love that one. No, it's positions. Everybody says positions. ⁓ favorite decoy.

Karly Brandimarte (1:16:53)

Mm.

Trial or training? Training trial deploy. Trial deploy.

Lianne Shinton (1:17:04)

They're both different. Yeah, w ⁓

okay, trial decoy.

Karly Brandimarte (1:17:09)

⁓ Phil Rider. Adele Sadi. I was doing just USA. ⁓ Sorry.

Lianne Shinton (1:17:17)

I I gotta hear training decoy though, 'cause it is different. You're building the dog up more.

Karly Brandimarte (1:17:22)

David Broderick or my husband. I have to say my husband because he'll get offended probably. David Broderick. David Broderick. You can't take mine. We can have some.

Lianne Shinton (1:17:28)

⁓ I'll say David Project.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

⁓ all right, hardest exercise to train in French ring.

Karly Brandimarte (1:17:41)

Object guard.

A or search and escort, I would say, too.

Lianne Shinton (1:17:44)

And it's your favorite.

Karly Brandimarte (1:17:53)

That one takes a long time.

Lianne Shinton (1:17:53)

most

most underrated piece of equipment.

Karly Brandimarte (1:18:01)

Most underrated piece of equipment. Flexi. I was gonna say a leash. A flexi. Yeah, I was gonna say a leash. I hate flexies more than you can ever imagine. But for what I use them for. Yeah, object car, defensive handlers, retrieves, positions, all those things. So many things I use. Just opposition. Chewing. Yep. Yeah.

Lianne Shinton (1:18:04)

Yeah, you can Okay.

Object art.

Like for the opposition with the fl

yeah, yeah. Stabilize. one training myth you wish would disappear.

Karly Brandimarte (1:18:40)

⁓ gosh, why does my brain go here? ⁓ you go first. I'm trying to think of ⁓ That people that are successful in the sport only do well when they compete on their own home field. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (1:18:59)

Good

one. She's really good at this rapid fire.

Karly Brandimarte (1:19:03)

Yeah, I know. I could I would have said it faster, but I'm like, do I wanna say it? It might trigger some people. But I decided to say it anyways. ⁓ Training myth. ⁓

Lianne Shinton (1:19:12)

It can be a disadvantage because the dog, you know, they've had other types of repetitions on their home field.

Karly Brandimarte (1:19:17)

My my my d my dog now,

actually her dog and my dog now, our two dogs now, both in level three obviously, the worst training sessions they ever have is on our home field. Always. Even trials. I feel like they don't do well on on our home fields.

Lianne Shinton (1:19:28)

Yep.

Karly Brandimarte (1:19:34)

I'm trying to think of a trending myth still. my gosh. We're gonna be here for another ten minutes and it's not a speed round anymore.

⁓ I I'm thinking on something along the lines of of it's kind of more of a general, not necessarily training, but like myths of people that, you have to have ⁓ a dog that does X, Y, and Z in order to do this sport, you know, like like ⁓ like I've seen people that have done wonders in this sport with a dog that doesn't have the same qualities or things, but they have outstanding training. You know what I mean? So it's like you have to have this in order if you want to compete in French ring. Yes, it helps, but

Lianne Shinton (1:19:44)

All right.

Karly Brandimarte (1:20:11)

Believe it not, you have very good training. I've seen dogs that probably should have never made it past a ring one do very well in ring three because they have some outstanding training.

Lianne Shinton (1:20:20)

Like maybe a border collie doing Schutzend. W wasn't that your first intro into the sports? One P I bet. One piece of advice for someone entering their first trial.

Karly Brandimarte (1:20:24)

Yep. Yep. Yep. I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Already know what he's gonna say. What am I gonna say? Slow down.

Lianne Shinton (1:20:40)

Slow down.

Even I know that.

Karly Brandimarte (1:20:45)

Go down. ⁓ I would say don't put a time frame on when you feel like you need to step on the field. Cause I feel like a lot of people, like it says in the rule book, your dog has to be one year old in order to compete. And then I feel like feel like people get in their head, they're like, My dog's gonna turn one. I have to go compete it. There's plenty of people that don't step on the field until their dog's two years old.

Lianne Shinton (1:20:56)

Good advice.

Karly Brandimarte (1:21:12)

Or four or five or six. Two, three, four, five, six. Don't rush, don't rush it, I guess, is my advice. You still gonna Slow slow down. You're gonna okay. Yours is slow down like when you're competing, like on the field. No, but also right before you step on the field. Yeah, I guess slow down. Slow down on the field and slow down to to get on the field. Yeah.

Lianne Shinton (1:21:22)

So down yeah. Yeah.

So down. To get to the field, yes.

All right, last one, and I love this question. One word that describes maestro.

Karly Brandimarte (1:21:49)

I was gonna say Unicorn. Yeah. Unicorn. I was gonna say big heart, but that's two words.

Lianne Shinton (1:21:55)

That works though. I love it. I love it. Cool. Cool answers. ⁓ well, can you share before we wrap up how folks can reach you at Hunter Key9?

Karly Brandimarte (1:21:57)

Yeah, unicorn, a literal unicorn.

Yep. So ⁓ my Instagram handle is Hunter K9. I there's two. There's one for the pet business. Hunter K9 spelt out. And there's Hunter K in the number nine. That's my personal ⁓ handle on Instagram. ⁓ that's ⁓ that's how most people will like reach out to me. They'll see some things I post through stories and they'll kind of reach out message through there. They're welcome to reach out for me through through there. ⁓ also ⁓ I'm on Facebook. I'm pretty anyone that's

In the dog industry, it should be very pretty easy for them to find me on Facebook. They're happy, happily, ⁓ they can happily message me, reach out to me there. And the same thing for Karly. Facebook. Yeah, that's the question of what what people could reach out. Yeah. My Facebook is Karly Elizabeth and then I don't remember what my Instagram is. Carr or something.

Lianne Shinton (1:22:51)

Perfect.

And the website

for your breeding program is it different than Hunter Canine or did they can they find sh

Karly Brandimarte (1:23:07)

It's yeah,

no, so Hunter K9 is the pet business itself. So that's just like the board and trains and the and all the pet dog training. And then that the sh it's chassormalinois.com, C H A S S E U R Mallanois.com. And that's the that's the breeding website with all of our dogs posted on it. And then also we have the Instagram as well, Chassor Malinois Instagram, which people could find on Instagram as well.

Lianne Shinton (1:23:27)

Perfect.

Perfect. And we're gonna wrap up. Stay on though at the end, because I do wanna make sure you're fully uploaded. But is there anything else, Karly or Chad, that you guys would like to share? And who is visiting us?

Karly Brandimarte (1:23:48)

This is my estro.

Lianne Shinton (1:23:51)

my goodness he would like to share. Look at those eyes. He's just the sweetest little boy.

Karly Brandimarte (1:23:58)

I told you he's very special.

Lianne Shinton (1:24:02)

wow. Well, I think that's a great way to wrap it up. What a sweet face. He's a good boy.

Karly Brandimarte (1:24:04)

Yeah.

Sorry, what was you just said asked a question? I'm sorry, what was the question you asked?

Lianne Shinton (1:24:13)

All right. Yeah, we got all distracted

there. is there anything else that you'd like to add ⁓ as we wrap up?

Karly Brandimarte (1:24:21)

No, this was fun. It was it was different from from the one with Ivan. And it was I liked the questions that you asked. It was a lot of fun. So thank you for having us. And no, it was great. For sure. Thank you for everything.

Lianne Shinton (1:24:32)

Awesome. Thanks you guys.

Thank you. And I'm so glad Maestra was able to join us at the end there too. So thank you. Thank you also to our listeners. And I'll make sure to put all the websites and such in the the description. And again, I'm Leanne Shinton from Automation Dogs and thank you everybody for listening.

Karly Brandimarte (1:24:37)

I'm like, this will be a good touch. Thank you so much.

Thank you everybody. Thank you.