Creating Routine: Scary or Freeing? You Choose!

Dogs need predictability so they can have control over the environment which will help them relax.

Creating structure can be a challenge especially if we hadn’t learned how to do this for ourselves.

Routines can seem overwhelming and confining for us.

What may be underneath the surface of the overwhelm and feeling confined may be:

Fear of failure?

Loss of independence?

If you can flip the script and choose to see the benefits for you when you set up a routine you encourage your dog to follow, your world expands.

Feel more confident because you’re now able to celebrate the small wins.

You discover your own freedom because you can see and even feel your dog being more relaxed and now you can let go more of the worry about what your dog is doing and you can do more of the things you want.

You achieve a sense of accomplishment and see the success. Your confidence guides you into reframing when something doesn’t work, you try again.

If you experience misgivings or resistance around creating a routine for your dog, taking a look at what shows up for you will give you insight into areas in your life you may need to tend to so you can fully show up for your dog in a loving and compassionate way.

How To Calm An Anxious Dog: Be Predictable

If you are curious about receiving support in letting go of beliefs holding you and your dog back, let’s chat!

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Are You Coachable?

Register Here: https://fourpawsandyoudogtraining.as.me/creatingresilientrelationships

I was reflecting on this question for myself, “are you coachable?”

I know I wasn’t always able to receive guidance from coaches.

One time in particular comes to mind when I was playing soccer in college.

I was in a new setting with others I didn’t yet trust and receiving a new way of doing things had me unsure about my capabilities.

I took the feedback of how I can make changes as a personal failure rather than an opportunity to grow and expand.

Now, I see how being coachable isn’t just for sports, but for anything one is stepping into that is new and pushes one comfort zone into new heights.

Learning and growing is lifelong for us, if you’re open for change.

I hear from others who feel the fear of growing show up as,

“this isn’t going to work”,

“I can’t do that”,

“I’ve tried changing and doing things differently before, but it never worked”,

“I have to do this all myself because my family and friends won’t help and they won’t change.”

These lies you tell yourself, can really hold you back from the things you want to achieve in your life.

It sidelines you from even dreaming about what is possible.

Being coachable is a muscle you can flex and strengthen, it just takes practice in your intention of wanting something different for yourself.

Lighting your own fire in what you want most.

Being coachable is about taking action even when you feel the fear bubbling up while allowing yourself to sit in stillness and explore what these feelings are trying to tell you.

Your vulnerability will open your heart to deepening your awareness of what is possible.

As you take action, your confidence will ignite.

You’ll start recognizing that when things don’t go perfectly, you are empowered to try again.

You no longer see the “thing” not working not as a personal fault, but just information of what else you can do.

When you’re flexing your coachable muscles, you express your willingness to stretch your comfort zone and realize your own potential.

You empower yourself in coming up with solutions and deepening the relationship with yourself and those around you.

Making change happen isn’t easy or fast or effortless or removed from you.

Any change you seek, starts with you.

When you’re coachable, you can receive support and guidance on your journey and don’t have to face it all alone.

Join me for the online workshop, Creating Resilient Relationships!

November 30th at 11am PDT

Register Here:

Register Here

Moving Beyond Traditional Dog Training

Dustin foraging as a way to settle down

This family right here is beyond measure one of the best I’ve served and continue serving.

They came to me wanting guidance on raising a puppy.

They are no stranger to the puppyhood experience, but it’s been a minute since they’ve been in the thick of it.

When we first sat down together, I immediately shared that what I’m going to say to them most likely will be 180 degree difference to what they learned about dog training and behavior.

Sure enough, that was the case.

Their open mindedness, their introspection and their ability in accommodating this new information and how to apply it has been remarkable.

Dustin, their puppy is just like any puppy. Morphing into a land shark and frustrating everyone in the home.

But, this family makes the choice to ask what the frustration is trying to tell them, allow their inner knowing to source their solutions in the moment based on the their learning and creating workable ways which meet Dustin’s needs.

The family comes together to do this because they all value Dustin’s emotional and social needs too.

They take heart centered action by prioritizing their relationship with Dustin.

The central focus is not on teaching sit, down, stay, or not to do something like nipping and biting.

But rather, the central focus and where they take action is what they want their relationship to look like and feel like.

I hear each time I meet with them, they want their whole family, to have a secure bond with him and they are making this happen with every choice they make.

The family shared with me that their routine changed the other day and Dustin was extra nippy.

Instead of allowing the frustration freezing them in place, they understood a routine change is hard on a dog to understand, they recognized the biting and nipping was because Dustin was frustrated and confused and they took heart centered action and found solutions that allowed the space for Dustin to relax.

He foraged the last bits of his food out of his food bin which helped him to self soothe and settle down.

What the family gets to receive from this is the feeling of relief from the shark teeth and a deepening of a connection with Dustin. The oxytocin overflows for both of them.

Building a relationship with your puppy or dog is not about the cues you teach them, but rather learning to flow with them, being guided to take action by what they need and being open to what unfolds on your journey.

Puppy and dog raising is much more than training a behavior or changing something you don’t like.

It’s about forming a relationship with them where you and your dog get to give and receive love from one another.

Dustin wearing his Halloween costume
Facilitating learning about Dustin’s needs to a younger generation.

If you’re willing to move beyond the limitations of what traditional dog training looks like, feel free to set up a call with me and you can explore what this is all about!

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