Enjoying the journey
How to fall in love with the process of training your dog 💚
Learning is not something that stops. Throughout our dogs lifetime they are always learning, whether that’s through specific training or just through going through life and experiencing new things.
It’s the same as us. We go through lots of learning, I don’t think we ever stop. From nursery up to uni, to new jobs, life experiences, different phases, other training courses and more.
Just like the saying goes … you learn something new every day.
I like to shift my clients mindset from training being a chore to learning to love the process and actively training throughout our dog’s lives.
Training is not only fun for our dogs but also fun for us. We can often get tunnel vision and just think about the end goal. Maybe the goal is to have a great recall, not have our dogs bark and lunge at other dogs or have a nice loose lead on dog walks.
Thinking about our end goal is great but training doesn’t happen overnight so learning to enjoy that process is vital.
Celebrate the smaller wins.
One good way to do this is to break that end goal into many little goals. When working towards a huge goal, we can get easily frustrated as it feels like we aren’t accomplishing anything. Instead break up that end goal into smaller ones which are more achievable. It allows us to celebrate the small wins and gives us motivation to keep going. Instead of having our dogs recall from the other side of the field, lets look at accomplishing a recall from a few feet away, then a few more and so on!
Have a breather!
Take breaks! Burning yourself out will be no good for you or your dog. This is especially the case for those more challenging behaviours like our reactive or anxious dogs. Remember training is most effective when it’s done in short, sweet and regular bursts. Maybe you book a private dog field once a week so you and your reactive dog can have an easy walk or perhaps you have a rest day.
Having a break will not slow down your training. In fact, regular small rest periods and downtime allow our dogs to learn more effectively and helps keep your relationship strong.
You’re in this together 🐶
Have fun with it. This is why I love using training games, they are fun for both us and our dogs. I view training with my own dogs as a fun hobby, something we can do together, spending quality time together and improving our bond. Even if you don’t have any specific training goals, try teaching your dog a new trick like spin. You can see the excitement in my collies face when we do a spin or learn a new trick. It makes us both smile.
Don’t be afraid…
Ask for help, talk about it or simply just have a rant and a moan. I’m from Yorkshire so of course I love a good moan. Dog guardianship is not all happy and fun, some days are good and some days are a disaster. I have many of my clients who will just send me a quick text to say that their dog has been a little so and so, that they are unsure of their training or they are going through a bad patch. I’m always happy to listen, reassure and help put things back into perspective.
Keep track 📔
It’s easy to get caught up on all the bad times and forget about all the progress and successes. So how about writing a diary to remind yourself of those good times/the smaller accomplishments, even if it’s just a notes app on your phone and don’t forget to reward yourself. We deserve treats too… but maybe in the form of chocolate and a bottle of wine, not pate ;)
Start adjusting your mindset on training today, you’ll be surprised how much impact it can have!
Casey 💚