It’s springtime and we’ve been talking about how to teach your dog to come into your house politely, have their feet wiped, and even how to wipe their OWN feet.
These tricks (sit, stay, give a paw, and stand) are very basic. Perhaps I have you questioning: How is this BEYOND dog training?
Here’s how: When you put all of these basic commands in a sequence and utilize them to help make your day-to-day life with your dog better, you’re one step closer to enjoying life with your dog.
Every moment with your dog can be joyful.
Your life is made up of tiny moments.
Think about it: You spend a moment putting on your dog’s leash (is your dog jumping on you in this moment?); you spend many moments in your kitchen (is your dog begging from you while you’re cooking?); you spend moments relaxing on the couch (is your dog barking at everything, making this time unenjoyable?); you spend moments on car rides with your dog (are they able to settle down and enjoy the ride?)
My answers to these are: No, no, no, and yes. That is why I do what I do: help dog lovers become dog leaders. I help owners go BEYOND DOG TRAINING and learn to LIVE harmoniously with their dog each day.
Happy dogs, happy people, happy world.
If you are meeting your dog’s needs, they should be able to relax and rest while you are cooking, cleaning, relaxing, or working out.
When I meet a new client, oftentimes they are at their wits end. They say things like: “I like him when he’s sleeping,” OR “He’s an a**hole,” OR “She’s an awesome dog except when she’s on the leash.”
Beyond Dog Training helps you create a relationship with your dog where you love EVERYTHING about your dog and EVERY minute of your day. They’re not here long enough. They have short lives, and they live with US because WE brought them home promising to fulfill THEIR needs (to walk them EVERY day, to train them, or in the case of my first rescue dog: to NEVER have to hold his bladder for 18-20 hours ever again!)
More often than not, dogs are expected to fulfill OUR needs (cuddling on the couch and being furry therapists as we tell them about our bad day at work) without THEIR needs ever being met.
Think about that for a moment.
What if this happened to you? Let’s flip this around for a second. As an athlete, I liken it to this: If I had been adopted by a family that had ONLY taken me outside to use the outhouse, talked to me non-stop in a foreign language that they NEVER bothered to teach me, and NEVER allowed me to run free, play soccer and beach volleyball, swim, or go rock climbing — I would have been (and would still be) a holy TERROR! Add in the expectation of “cuddle on a couch all day” and seriously SHOOT ME NOW!
Of course, I’m not a dog. There are some breeds who were designed by humans to love sitting on laps — but that doesn’t mean they don’t require daily walks, exercise, and training.
Ask any of my clients how nerve-wracking it is to own a lap-dog that bites everyone in their family and every stranger— They’ll tell you how important it is to meet your dog’s needs first, before meeting your own. You can have lap time, but there’s work to be done so that you’re not holding a loaded, pointy-toothed gun on your lap.
Ask yourself: Can family members and strangers safely approach me while my dog is on my lap?
Beyond Dog Training encourages owners to get back to basics and then use those basics to create a better life for all.
We want you to enjoy car rides again.
Cruising with calm dogs is fun.
We want you to be able to go back to work after the pandemic is over — and for your dog to suffer ZERO separation anxiety when that happens.
We want you to have a dog that you can take anywhere — to your friend’s cottage for the weekend with other dogs; to your parent’s house for a backyard BBQ; or to visit your friends and their children at the park.
Don’t leave your best friend behind. Work toward your goals of being able to bring your dog everywhere with you.
We want all of your other pets to be safe and fulfilled too.
Magic the Rottweiler and Boulder the Patch Tabby Cat sharing a sunbeam and possibly a secret.
We want you to have a happy life!
Find your smile again. It’s never too late to get the relationship with your dog that you ALWAYS wanted!
Sometimes the blog will be dedicated to the little things — things that seem too small to matter, like sit and stay. I like to imagine all of those little things as puzzle pieces. Each one is necessary and they all need to be there to reach the big picture. The big picture is your life with your dog. What do you want yours to look like?
Once you’ve envisioned it, let’s make it possible. Arrange your free phone call here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/take-action
Chat soon,
Alyssa
Photos by: Kareli Lizcano (man jogging off leash on a beach with Boston Terrier,) Saar Ovadia (dog on towel looking up at human,) Sarah Wardlaw (Golden Retriever puppy sitting beside owner with a nice loose leash,) Ana Martin (Golden Retriever lying down on her side on a hardwood floor with a bicycle nearby,) Angelina Litvin (Chihuahua on man’s lap,) Roberto Nickson (Golden Doodle racing down a dock toward the water,) Alyssa Foulkes (Rottweiler and Patch Tabby Cat sharing a sunbeam,) Yingchou Han (girl with blonde hair lying on her back in the forest with a little black dog snuggled up to her,) and Man in convertible with two dogs,