Meeting Your Dog Where They Are

Have you every had a day that you were overly tired or your brain was just not functioning as well as it normally does?  Have you had a day that you just couldn’t do what was asked of you?  We all have good days and bad days- and so do our dogs!  When training your dog, it is important that you recognize if they are having an “off” day and change your plan accordingly.

Dogs can be amazingly loyal and they will give us everything they have, unfortunately sometimes they have “bad” days, just like us.  They may be overly tired or sore from excess activity or they may be distracted or maybe they don’t feel well.  It is important o recognize when your dog is having one of those days and you need to adjust your expectations.

It is also important to recognize this in yourself as well.  If you are having a bad day, if you are not feeling well or if you are in a bad mood, it may be appropriate to avoid training altogether or adjust your plan.

No one can do their best when they do not feel their best (humans, dogs, horses or any other animal).  In our current situation with COVID, life is more stressful than ever.  Sometime training our dogs can be relaxing and fun, while other days it can be overwhelming and just too stressful.  Although we cannot ask them, I believe that our dogs are experiencing some stress from the pandemic as well.  They may notice our stress; they may be stressed because we are back at work after being home for months or they maybe stressed if the pandemic has caused us to move or make big changes in our lives.  Regardless of why we or our dogs are having a “bad” day, we need to respect it and if we do, our trust in each other will grow. Sometimes it is important to lower our expectation of ourselves and our dogs so we can both be successful.