How Training Your Dog Is Like Tending a Garden

Butchart Gardens-near Victoria, BC-Canada

The above is a picture from Butchart Gardens (near Victoria, British Columbia in Canada) and is one of the most visually stunning and magical botanical gardens I have ever visited. If there was one feeling to describle this place it would be awe. Everywhere you looked were beautiful and vibrant colors and meticulously and lovingly landscaped lawns and displays.

As we wound our ways through the beautiful displays, we started to notice many people working in the gardens. They were pulling weeds, transporting flowers, checking irrigation systems, pruning flowers….all with loving and constant care.

For something to be this beautiful, this flourishing, this thriving….it needs daily and constant love, guidance, and care. If left to its own devices, it will still be a beautiful and wild thing, but with love that never ends? It can transform into what it currently is.

And that got me thinking. This garden (and all the care that goes into helping it flourish and thrive) is a metaphor for life with dogs.

You can shape your dog into a different, beautiful and wonderful state of being than their natural state, but you MUST be willing to provide the proper environment to do so.

If you want your dog to succed in life, you have to first plant the seeds. But the work is not done. In order to maintain this beautiful state, you must prune, deadhead, weed, stake, transplant, fertilize, and water. Basically, this means that you have to be willing to constantly provide love, guidance, support, and growth so your dog can not only grow, but can continue to blossom and thrive.