August 2018

Trust is not always an easy thing to earn, but oh how important trust is in any relationship. That relationship with your dog is no different. You and your dog need a relationship built on trust, your dog trusts you to feed and water him, your dog trusts that you will keep them alive. Why don't we trust our dogs to listen. Because they haven't? Because they don't understand? Because we haven't held them accountable? We should have peace of mind to know we have control of our dogs, yes I said control, does that sound mean? Well if you had a pet tiger in the home I'd hope you have control over him. He's an animal, at the end of the day, so are our family pets. We need to build a relationship where they have rules, we teach them the correct way to behave, we teach them what not to do, we develop a bond, a love, and ultimately a trust. Does this mean they will never make a mistake? Nope, sure doesn't. They are after all animals, but I trust that we will fix it. When I'm training a dog, today for example, teaching one to sit, simple right? Well imagine this dog doesn't quite like you yet, has bit someone before, and is unsure of what I'm trying to communicate. Not so easy huh! But I trusted that if worse came to worse, I knew what to do to get control of the situation. So I proceeded with confidence and repetition, until finally we got a sit. Then another, and another, and then we had a working relationship. Pretty cool! But why did I feel that way, because I've put it in the time already with this dog walking, but also because I trusted myself. You should feel that way with your own dogs, will it always work out with whatever you try, maybe not. But what if it did?! Wouldn't that be cool! If you don't trust your dog to listen or have the confidence that you can work through the situation then you probably haven't put in enough leg work with your dog on that situation. If you need more help with that then seek a Trainer! You know I do trust my dogs and our training dogs, but more importantly I trust myself, my relationship with those dogs, and the results. Again if you haven't seen the results, then back up and teach it again, so many people come and tell us their dog can stay. But only certain times, then no your dog is not respecting that word stay and they aren't respecting you. But chances are you haven't held them accountable to stay in multiple situations...they need consistency. I'll end with this, it is so freeing for both me as an owner and my dog to live with a trusting bond, my dogs have rules, they are happy, they have corrections, they have rewards, they have freedom, they have love, and we have respect. I want that for all of you! If you need help then ask us how to achieve a trusting relationship with your dog.
Happy training!