Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs Podcast, the show for dog lovers who
see dogs not as toys or tools, but wise souls worth our respect and care.
I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.
I talk to poor some humans, people who do great work for dogs and their people.
So come and join us for today's conversation.
Lisbeth: Hello and welcome, Lisbeth.
I'm super excited to have you here.
So am I.
Very exciting.
We just learned to know each other a little bit before we started to record.
And I'm just very excited about our little chat that we're going to have.
Yeah, me too.
Anke: Me too.
And I can't wait to, to introduce you to people.
Well, there's a doggy podcast, like there's going to be dog barking.
That's funny.
Um, all right.
So let's just start like, where are you based and, you know,
what's your business with dogs?
Lisbeth: Okay.
So, uh, I am based in, in Norway.
I actually, uh, right now I'm in the South of Norway, but.
Four years ago I moved way up north, I mean above the Arctic Circle, in
a small village with 280 people.
It's like, you know, the most remote place, uh, on earth.
Yeah.
Not on earth, but well, pretty much so.
Um, and, uh, I'm the founder of Nordic Dog Trainer.
The whole name is, um, Education Center for, um, Ethical Dog Trainer.
So in short, Nordic Dog Trainer, which I started in, uh, 12 years ago now.
2011.
Yeah.
Anke: Wow.
So what inspired you to, like, I mean, is that your first career or
did you do something else before?
Like, how did you go in there and also, you know, how did you find the
path to be, you know, to literally even name it ethical dog training?
Cause obviously you would have experienced something else where
you thought like, this isn't right.
Okay.
I'll
Lisbeth: try and keep this short.
So, um, I'm 54 years old.
So I started my business in dog training when I was 42 years old.
So that's number one.
You're never too old.
Actually, it was the perfect time to do it because everything I've done before,
which is a lot of different things.
I used to work for hotels.
I used to work for the Red Cross.
I have a master's degree in international politics, which doesn't, you know,
make sense for what I do today.
So, um, yeah, First, I had a stroke.
I had a stroke in my mid thirties, and then I had not
only one, but two heart attacks.
So at the time I was working as a teacher, as a lecturer at the university here
in Norway, but due to my Unfortunate circumstances, that kind of job was
not really, uh, something that I wanted to continue doing, uh, because
I needed breaks during my workday.
I loved my job, but it, and it was the most difficult thing I've ever
done, uh, career wise, was to actually resign from a very good, secure job.
I loved my colleagues and everything.
It was very interesting, the job I was doing, but I've always loved.
running my own businesses.
Um, in 2003, I started a pet shop in Norway.
I continued, I saw open another one.
So I actually had two pet stores and I had an import company as well.
And okay, so in 2001, I got my first dog as an adult because
I lived abroad for 11 years.
In 1989, I went abroad.
I lived in different countries in Europe, and I came back to Norway in 2000.
And in 2001, I got my first dog as an adult, because I wanted
to stay in Norway for a while.
I was working as a teacher.
And then, by coincidence, I found Thurid Rugo's book on talking terms
with dogs about the calming signals.
And I still remember it.
I was sitting outside on the veranda, actually, reading the book during
just one weekend, and I thought, wow, it really resonates with the
same way I'm thinking about dogs.
It was not about training or anything.
It was just about the behavior.
and the dog language.
So in 2003, I met Thudit because she is kind of the, she's not, of course, she
didn't make up these comment signals herself, but she did a study, an
observation study, for many years in dogs.
And she was the first one to actually write it down and publish a book about it.
Wow.
In the late 90s.
And she's Norwegian.
So I got to know her in 2003 and later, because of my stroke and everything that
happened health wise, I wasn't able to do her dog trainer school until 2011.
And since then, I have been so lucky to that has been my mentor.
She's been my teacher when it comes to calming signals.
And now she's.
teaching at our dog trainer school, you know, the table center.
She's
Anke: out.
So, yeah, you will say that that it's.
I mean, like that makes, I think that's probably what even drew me
towards when I came across your work.
It's that idea that it's like our job isn't necessarily to teach a lot of stuff.
It's almost like it's our jobs to help the dogs relax.
Like we put them in an environment that isn't necessarily
their natural environment.
So our job is to help them relax and you've got some
magic tricks up your sleeve.
Lisbeth: I do.
I do.
And that's the fantastic thing because I, I am the crazy dog woman for real.
I mean, this is me.
So, um, I ended up with eight dogs just because I could, I was living on my own,
so I could, I didn't have to ask anyone.
I took in rehomed dogs.
So I had eight dogs.
at the most and my interest in is in behavior and I just want dogs to have
the best possible life that I can give them domestic dogs because I hate to
say it but they are not free they're in captivity when we have them as pets
and I think it's our responsibility.
to know what kind of, uh, species that we're living with, to know
the basic stuff with them so we can communicate and understand them,
so we can provide the best living conditions possible for our dogs.
It's nothing to do with being spoiled or anything, it's just
the minimum requirements, I think, is that we understand What we
decided to take into our homes.
That's so true.
Anke: Is there something like one or two things or whatever,
something in particular that you think, oh boy, I wish people knew.
Something where people constantly put their foot up.
Lisbeth: I, I wish I knew myself.
The calming signals, the language, the small subtle signs to dogs because they
speak all the time and we all think we know the dog's language like when it's
wagging its tail it's happy and when it's growling it's you know angry or
aggressive even you know but it's so much more to that and what I learned
through my um school going to uh Turid's dog trainer school reading her books
being mentored by her was just too good.
Relax and stop training and start living normally relaxed,
stress free life with my dogs.
So we were talking earlier about the hand signal.
We have something we call magic.
And yeah.
And I thought, how do I describe the way we train?
We don't really train.
We are teaching.
We want to teach our dogs the same, same thing as training.
Okay.
So Positive dog training or ethical dog training, the way I see it, is not
about drilling obedience or anything.
We have to have boundaries.
Our kids and our dogs cannot, you know, uh, walk all over the table
and, you know, they have to be quiet at certain, uh, times and so on.
So, they have to learn things to be able to live with us, but we don't do obedience
or anything, and we, Don't speak so much.
We don't give any cues or commands.
So instead you can use your body language.
You can show the palm of your hand to your dog and in most instances
they will understand it immediately.
Sometimes it takes a couple of times.
depending on the dog in the situation and how you do it.
But when I started using my body language in the community, and it's
not a weird thing, we don't go, you know, with weird things, dancing or
anything, it's just, you know, turning your head a little bit to the side.
When you know how dogs communicate, it's so much easier to talk with them,
to have, you know, a real conversation.
Anke: Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, and I try, I mean, I, I saw, you know, your, your webinar with
the hand signal and I literally, I went off and tried it and I
was like, I can't believe it.
This is really magic.
And it's so simple.
It's like, we do it to people all the time.
It's like, I'm talking on the phone, like, yeah, give me a second.
Right.
It's like literally that movement and they get it.
Lisbeth: So that's
Anke: fascinating.
Lisbeth: A beautiful example how we can do things is instead, so what it
helped me doing was to stop saying no, stop, don't do that, you know, and we
try and do, you know, if, for example, a dog is jumping on you, you don't want
your dog to jump at you at this moment.
For example, I was carrying my, um, grocery bags.
So this is a scenario.
I come home.
I have eight dogs waiting for me.
They're very happy when I come home and I have two grocery bags.
And, you know, the way I used to do it was to try and carry the grocery bags above my
head, you know, so they couldn't reach it.
And I went, Oh, stop it.
You know, I'm very happy to see you.
I was talking a lot and maybe even with a very loud voice, like stay down, you
know, giving them cues and commands.
And then when I learned more about this, I realized, Is there a
problem to let them sniff my bags?
No, it's not because I am in control of the grocery bags.
So, one day I walked into the house with the grocery bags.
I opened the door to the garden and I let them choose.
And it took like 20 seconds.
All of them had smelled my grocery bags.
No one started eating what was inside of them.
Nothing weird was happening.
They just didn't jump anymore and they didn't bark and it
was all more stress free.
And I thought, wow, why don't I just continue behaving normal?
Anke: Yeah, that's so true.
And I love the, I love the like talking less, you know, I mean, I at home
often get in trouble because like I do, I don't say a lot, you know, and
then I'm getting accused for like, well, you let them do everything.
I'm actually the, the more like strict ones.
Like I love, I won't let them.
back at the table because I don't want them to get used to it if visitors
come, you know, but it's like, I just don't say much, you know, and, and it's
so common that people like, you don't know, but you know, it's like, oh, it
drives, you know, it makes me nervous.
Lisbeth: We're making it so difficult.
And when I see, and I've been to, I promise you, I've been to a lot of courses
and webinars, trying to learn everything.
And it's, It sounds so complicated, you know, uh, it's like we have
a protocol for everything we do.
And when I was in the beginning, when I went to courses myself and I
tried to learn it, I was like, Oh my God, this is too complicated for me.
So I, I can't do complicated.
I just want to do easy.
So what I want is my dogs to have a good life.
I want them to have nice, relaxing walks because that's what I like, you know?
So you can teach them to walk on a long, loose leash.
Very easily, without cues and commands.
Anke: And that's so refreshing.
I just love it.
Absolutely love it.
So where can people go to, you know, to find out, to watch your webinars, to find
out how to take your classes, join your
Lisbeth: school?
Yeah, because now we have a free lecture on or a free video on the
hand signal that you're talking about.
And this spring in May, we're going to do quite a few free webinars as well.
So if you go to NordicDogTrainer.
com, that's our website.
There's a lot of free content.
We have a lot of free lectures.
Because, okay, I have crazy goals.
I want as many people as possible to hear about this so they
can make an educated decision.
I'm not saying that my method is the best or what we are doing is the best.
Of course, I think it is because it made my life much easier.
Um, but, uh, it, it really, surely is ethical and less stressful for your
dog, and then less behavior problems.
Anke: That make, it just makes so much sense, right?
So I highly recommend, obviously the link, we're going to pop it in the show notes,
underneath the video, in the newsletter, so it's going to be easy to find us.
So do yourself a favor, check, check them out, they're absolutely fabulous.
And also,
Lisbeth: um, so on Wednesday evenings at 7 o'clock Central European Time, I'm on
Facebook, on our Facebook page, Nordic Dog Trainer where I do free Facebook
lives, and all of them are recorded.
And we talk about these things, just like we are now.
Yeah, and I've seen, I've seen a
Anke: couple, so they're absolutely awesome, so do join that and And,
you know, because it makes for a lot, much, much more relaxed and happy life
for pretty much everyone involved.
So, thank you so much.
I'm so glad you confirmed this.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It was an absolute delight having you.
So, I will hope to see you soon.
Thank you.
Thanks so much for listening.
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That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.