Meet Oli Juste, leading dog behaviourist and trainer

This week, we were fortunate enough to catch up (virtually of course) with leading dog behaviourist and trainer, Oli Juste. We talked all things, from his career and some of his inside tips & tricks, to what exciting projects he has in the pipeline.

Here is what we learned in conversation with Oli Juste…

MBFKC: Oli, your catalog of achievements in the 'Dog World' is endless! From TV shows, to your very own podcast, your academic accomplishments & training, awards and even your own online store!

Can you tell us a little bit about the essence of your work, your values not only as a behaviourist but also as a public voice for the industry and what you set out to achieve by doing what you do?

Oli: My main goal is for the people who I work with and who follow my career and advice to become their dog’s safe place. Becoming a dogs ‘safe haven’ or ‘safe place’ is something that you will hear some behaviourists talk about, but I really want to make this my primary mission. There is of course the physical aspect of providing a ‘safe place’ in the home which could for example be a crate or puppy pen, but for the dog parent to become their dog’s ‘safe place’ themselves is also crucial.

As humans, during this pandemic, I think we are reevaluating what a ‘safe place’ is. I think of my home as my ‘safe place’, and it is, but people are finding it very difficult having been unable to see family and friends during this time and this has reinforced the concept of ‘people as a safe place’. 

Encouraging good behaviour through basic training and obedience such as teaching ‘sit’ or ‘stay’ is very useful, however, what I really want is for dogs to not develop separation issues, to not become resource guarders, to not become reactive on a lead, to trust their humans.

Care, love, engagement, celebrating your dog’s success; this is what is most important for your dog.  

MBFKC: As a professional doggy daycare, we understand the importance of providing dogs with regular physical and mental stimulation. Can you explain why this is crucial for dogs? We'd also love to hear about your favourite enrichment games or exercises! Perhaps you could share one that would be suitable to practice whilst in isolation?

Oli: When it comes to stimulation, breed specific enrichment can be a great way to allow your dog to ‘quench their thirst’ for the specific behaviour that they may have originally been bread to demonstrate. Often we wait for a dog to start demonstrating destructive behaviour rather than employing the ‘predict and prevent’ concept. So for example, for beagle owners, it may be useful to engage your dog in scent work, rather than waiting for the dog to make this decision whilst off lead in the park later!  

I once had a client who had trouble with their dog digging up the flower bed. Rather than getting upset with the dog, the owner installed a sandpit where the dog was allowed to demonstrate that behaviour in a non-destructive way. 

One of my favorite fun exercises for dogs during isolation is the ‘Muffin Tin Challenge’. Check it out on my Instagram.

MBFKC: Our wonderful team are all qualified to provide excellent care to our pack of puppers, but we are SO excited that you will be coming out to our facility to further our education on dog behaviour and training later this year! Aside from team training sessions like these, can you let us know what other behavioural and training services you provide?

Oli: I offer both behavioural and training services and some readers may not be aware of the difference between the two. Training refers to teaching your dog techniques such as ‘sit, ‘down’ ‘stay’ etc. Training can be used as a tool to change animal behaviour, such as separation issues or resource guarding during a Behavioural course. 

In addition to my one on one training and behavioural services, I create content for private companies (which can usually be found on my Instagram), I have my podcast, and I offer group talks/consultations to carefully selected daycare and/or boarding facilities whereby I help teams to be able to spot any areas which could be improved, or even better, to set up their puppies and dogs for success from the get go! 

MBFKC: Your behaviour and training approach is centered around positive, ethical, science based methods. Please explain why this is a more effective form of training than punishment and negative reinforcement?

Oli: As an owner, promoting yourself as a safe place and being kind to your dog is very important. Owners should view their relationship with their dog as a collaboration. Owners and trainers who use punishment for training *may* find they can alter a behaviour using this method, however it is very likely that using punishment as training will inadvertently create distrust in your dog toward you, which can lead to more serious issues such as a reluctance to recall. 

MBFKC: Like you, we are passionate about feeding our dogs a nutritious diet. Can you explain how diet correlates to behaviour and recommend what owners should be feeding their dog?  

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Butternut Box. I have worked with the team at Butternut Box for a long time. They have a great product and they are passionate about providing dogs with FRESH food, which for me is the key to ensuring your dog thrives!   

(Note *We highly recommend listening to season 2, Episode 5 of Oli’s podcast “Eat, Sleep, Success” for more on the correlation between diet and behaviour in dogs*)

MBFKC: At daycare, we are always sure to have plenty of treats to hand to reward and reinforce positive behaviour. However, we are dog owners too! We understand that when dashing out the door with your dog, it can be easy to neglect to remember the packet of treats (even we are guilty of this sometimes).

Can you explain why it is important to be generous with (the right kind) of treats when walking on lead, exercising your dog off lead, and generally redirecting your dog’s attention to you while out and about?

Oli: It’s all about building trust. Depositing metaphoric money in your dogs ‘trust bank account’, together with your own positive behaviour toward the dog and promoting yourself as your dogs’ ‘safe place’, ensures that  when you have to make a ‘withdrawal’ from this ‘trust account’, you have created a relationship where this is possible and are preventing a metaphoric bankruptcy. 

MBFKC: Over the summer of 2019, you launched your own podcast, A Dog's Best Friend! Can you tell us a little bit about some of the topics that have been covered and that we can look forward to, which exciting guests listeners can expect to hear from and where people will be able to find and consume 'A Dog's Best Friend'?

Oli: Having enjoyed the experience of working on a TV series, I decided I’d like the opportunity to talk to people through my own platform. Very early on, I received a lot of lovely feedback about the style of the podcast. People seemed to enjoy the fact that whilst it was fun and entertaining, it was also science based information and combined a lot of human analogy which is sometimes what it takes for the penny to drop! 

Some of my favourite episodes have been those in which I sit down with both Sarah Whitehead and Susan Friedman. They are inspiring, funny, kind and clever women and if I had my choice of guests at a dinner party, I’d likely have Sarah and Susan (and not too many others as I wouldn’t want to share them with anyone else)!  

(Note *We recommend listing to Season 2, Episode 7 of Oli’s podcast “Dogs and Puppies during COVID-19 Lockdown”. We particularly enjoyed Oli’s discussion about defining socialisation.*)

MBFKC: You are arguably the most well respected behaviourist in the UK. What is it about the service that you provide that has your clients and other industry professionals gushing about you? 

Oli: Thank you very much for the kind words! I have been lucky enough to “sit on the shoulders” of some really great dog trainers and behaviourists such as Sarah Whitehead, Chirag Patel and Susan Friedman. Having relationships and working alongside wonderful people like this has allowed me to share and practice their ideas and vice versa. I think that people enjoy the fact that I try to make the process of training and behaviour engaging and fun for both dog and human! 

MBFKC: We've touched on some of your outstanding achievements in the dog world Oli, and we are in awe! Now tell us, what exciting projects can we look forward to seeing from you next?

Oli: We are working on some really exciting collaborations, some of which may come to fruition as early as late 2020! The podcast is going to grow, I have more and more listeners and people are really getting excited about each episode as they are released! I would also love to do some more TV at some stage! I want to promote the idea of dog owners becoming their dogs ‘safe place’, and if the podcast or TV are going to help me to do this, then why not – it’s fun! 

At the end of the day, I love my job and I have to say, if all I do for the rest of my life is to go into people’s homes, sit down with them to have a cup of tea and discuss how we can help their dog, I am happy to do this forever – no retirement necessary!  

Having previously worked in hospitality where I would cater to a variety of different characters, it is refreshing to work with dog people, who are generally good people. People who seek out my service are generally looking to make improvements in their dog’s lives, so I’m really lucky that my services lends itself to catering to kind, progressive people. 

We hope you enjoyed our chat with the wonderful Oli as much as we did! If you are looking for behaviour or training services for you pup, get in touch with Oli at oli@olijustedogtrainer.co.uk