You don’t have to be a patient person, but you can do patient things-Chris Williamson (he is the host of an amazing podcat called “Modern Wisdom”. 5 stars. Highly recommend).
Sometimes training our dogs can make us feel less than. Like if you don’t have a certain skill set or characteristic, you won’t be successful with your training. I get it-patience is NOT something that comes easy to everyone. It is something that has to be practiced and cultivated. But just because patience isn’t one of your strong suits, doesn’t mean you can’t still do it.
Give yourself kindness and grace. Then regift it as much as possible.
The defintion of kindness is: the quality of being friendly, genuine, considerate, and respectful. We can sometimes do great with being kind to others, but can often fail with being kind to ourselves. Kindness is a gift to be shared with everyone, including yourself. Love yourself so you can love others with all your heart.
The word “yet” will change your life. I don’t know how to do that….yet. I don’t think I’m capable of that….yet.
Dog training can sometimes seem daunting and hopeless. There are so many things to teach your dog and you have no idea where to start…yet. (See what I did there? The power of “yet” is already hard at work). You can’t know what you don’t know. But you can learn. You can grow. You can evolve and you can learn how to do things you don’t know how to do. So level up and embrace this small, but mighty word.
Connection is why we are here. It is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives-Brene Brown
When I think of connection, I think of a meaningful relationship that is based on mutual love, trust, and respect. There are so many ways that we can connect with our dogs and when we are able to do this, the training pieces can more easily fall into place. Focus on connection, not compliance. It will take both of you so much futher in your training journey.

Neither one of you has to loose in order for the other to win. You are teammates-not opponents.
We can sometimes take an oppositional approach to dog training. If my dog doesn’t do the thing, then they are being stubborn, uncooperative, disobedient, and trying to be dominant. That is not the case. It’s not you vs. your dog. You are teammates. Partners. You cooperate and work together, not against each other.
It’s not the stongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change-Charles Darwin
Us humans can sometimes be stubborn, uncooperative, and dominant in our training approach. Frankly, traditional training methods that relay on the human being the alpha or the dominant one don’t work. You have to be flexibile and you have to adapt to the changing situations. If what you are doing isn’t working or is directly impacting your dog’s quality of life, you need to adapt and change it.
Dogs grow when their people grow.
If you are taking the time to work on yourself, your acts of self-compassion will flow over into your relationship with your dog. If you are working on regulating your nervous system, you will be better equipped to help your dog regulate theirs. If you are working on your reactivity, you will be better able to support your dog with their reactivity. If you are working on cultivating calm, you can help your dog cultivate calm too.
Do not confuse being kind, gentle, and compassionate towards your dog as being weak.
Similar to the Charles Darwin quote about being adaptable, this is about being kind, compassionate, and empathetic. There is no need for us to be overly strict or stern with our dogs. Do they need to be taught approppriate guidelines and rules for life and receive proper support and guidance? Absolutely! But can we do this in a way that is fair and respectful to them? Absolutely again.
Now take the knowlege from this article and go be the person your dog thinks you are; which is an amazing, kind, intelligent, capable, and compassionate person.
Comments