Use Your Values to Guide Your Action

The dog training industry is unregulated.

Not all trainers and consultants have the same level of education, knowledge or have kept up on their continuing education.

When you’re looking for someone who can support you in guiding you in how to help your dog change his emotional responses, how do you make a choice in who you hire to work with in teaching your dog?

What questions do you ask?

What do you value when you’re hiring a professional?

How present and aware of the answers you receive from the person on the other end of the conversation?

I have countless people reach out to me after they’ve had experiences with other “trainers and consultants” where they spent $$$$ for board and trains, in person lessons, promises and guarantees.

What the person came away with was a healthy mistrust of other “trainers and consultants” because they felt swindled because their dog’s behavior is unchanged or worse off after the experience.

When you mistrust another professional, you feel like you’re only option is to learn all you can from online videos, FB groups, reading books and articles.

Again, you find yourself sifting through more information and you’re still uncertain of where to go next.

The way forward in making a choice is connecting back to what you value.

In talking with someone yesterday, when the person was sharing about wanting to stop their dog from barking when he left, I asked him, “what I hear you say is you want your dog to feel more confident when he’s left alone and you want to experience more freedom being away.”

His answer was “yes.”

By recognizing what is going on beneath the surface of the behavior you want to change, you discover there’s more to it.

You recognize the emotional connection you have with your dog.

You recognize what emotional relief you need too, you start shifting into how to ensure the wellbeing and welfare of your dog.

You let go of what your dog is doing and connect back to how you want your dog to be feeling when you live the life together.

If you value your dog’s emotional needs and want to create a life you both can enjoy together and you’re willing to transform your life with your dog, let’s chat!

“Certainty Prevails Over Fear”

I heard this quote this weekend, “certainty prevails over fear.” Jesse Koren.

Certainty is the inner knowing of the trust and belief you have in yourself.

When you trust yourself and believe what you’re doing is aligned with your values and where you want to be going, your self doubt and fear of the unknown are quieted.

The gremlins that show up when you’re worried about the future are not haunting your mind when you are confident with the choices you’re making.

Certainty about yourself and the choices you make are not only cultivated by the information you acquire, research or squirrel away.

You can build a library of resources and books, but that knowledge doesn’t do anything for you unless you apply what you learn.

Certainty shows up when you take a step and apply what you’ve learned. Taking smallest step towards your goal builds your confidence.

For many of the families I serve, fear in what the future holds (regardless if the fear is related to their dog or not) influences how they take action.

Fear stops them in their tracks. They start retreating back to where they were before even if that place isn’t what they want, but it’s what they know.

Fear keeps you from reaching your goals.

How to use fear to shift it into certainty and trust in yourself and what you’re doing.

  1. Recognize fear is showing up. This is a great indicator you’re on the verge of a breakthrough. Keep going!
  2. Befriend your gremlins. Those limiting beliefs are just trying to keep you safe. Your brain isn’t hardwired for change and change is scary. You got this! Make sure to inform your gremlins of that same certainty!
  3. Go back to your vision. What do you want your life to feel and look like? Clarity sharpens your focus on what small step you can take to push through your comfort zone to your next level.
  4. Celebrate your wins! This is what excites you and celebrating what you’ve learned and achieved by taking that small step will encourage you to keep going! The celebration of your wins regardless of how big or small is an opportunity to recognize your own certainty and confidence.
  5. Trust that fear is your barometer that you’re on to something worth achieving. Certainty in how you show up is what will get you to the other side.

Having support on your side as you’re aspiring for something you desire can help you get there faster. We were never meant to live life figuring things out on our own.

Give yourself permission to ask for support! I’m waving my permission wand for those on the fence!

If you’re looking for a community of like minded folks, check out the Community Connections Member Group (next meeting 11 Feb at 8am PDT).

Looking for focused and intentional support, set up a Discovery Call with me!

Believe You and Your Dog are the Diamond

You’re searching for someone or something to tell you how to help your dog feel less anxious and overwhelmed by the world around him

You scour books and FB groups to find out how you can help your dog connect and bond with you.

All the other dogs you’ve lived with before NEVER had these issues.

They were easy and running into road blocks with your other dogs’ behavior was never a thing.

Now, your new dog is unlike any other dog you’ve lived with or experienced before in your life.

You don’t know what to do and you too are feeling overwhelmed and anxious about this new experience.

You ask yourself, what do I do?

Often we look outside of ourselves for the answers.

In a Discovery Call, a conversation about an analogy of diamond came up. From her perspective, she shared with me how she sees the creation of solutions, creating curriculum, and the product of the work she does with her clients is like “spitting out a diamond”.

I reflected back to her with a different perspective. I asked her, “instead of seeing what you produce and the outcome of your actions as the diamond, what if you see yourself and those around you as the diamond?”

Let that sink in!

When you feel into and start taking action from a place that you and your dog are the diamond, you shift.

Each diamond is unique just as each of you and your dogs all have unique personalities, interests and dislikes.

Recognizing and honoring the uniqueness within yourself and your dog, you allow yourself to shift in perspective and open yourself to have more compassion for yourself and feel more empathetic to your dog.

These shifts allow you to see yourself and your dog in a new way.

When you ask yourself, what is truly showing up in this moment of chaos and overwhelm, you peel back the layers and recognize the sparkle within the connection you have within yourself and your dog.

Finding the answers of how you’re feeling aren’t in the books and groups you’re in.

Looking within yourself and leaning into what’s showing up for yourself and asking yourself where you want to go and what you want your relationship to feel like with your dog, you release the expectations of what I “should” be doing and you choose to surrender into what truly matters.

What matters is believing you and your dog are the diamond.

I invite you to ask yourself, how can I amplify our sparkle?

Connect with me and you can have the space to explore what you envision life to feel like with your dog.