Meet Hank and His Lovely Family

Hank was found living out in the woods and just surviving out in Eastern WA.

Hank met his pet parent after Hank was rescued by a local shelter and his pet parent just happened to visit one day.

His pet parent fell in love right away and brought him home to meet his other pet parent.

Hank was skin and bones and unsure about people and other dogs.

Hank was adjusting to life in a home when all he knew was living outside and fending for himself.

He spent most of his early days at his forever home outside.

Hank felt pretty unsafe and even started growling at his pet parents and friends that stopped by.

His pet parents knew right away they needed support in helping Hank trust his new surroundings and build a connection with them that Hank felt good about it too.

They also wanted to teach him with love, kindness and gentleness.

Hank learned that both of his pet parents are the source of joy for him, he seeks both of them out, is more relaxed at home that he spends more time inside than outside and his pet parents are learning more about what Hank is communicating with body language.

They understand that the growling is a sign that something is distressing to Hank. They are learning how to help him before this happens because they learned about how Hank communicates and how to do greetings with people when Hank is ready rather than the strangers coming up to him without an invitation.

And since Hank never learned to walk on a leash, we are weaving connection with his pet parents with a leash walking pattern game 123 reward during a spider walk.

His pet parents learned the value of moving slowly and gradually and allowing space for Hank to guide them rather than them controlling the situation.

If you’re interested in strengthening the relationship with your dog through gentle approaches, set up your Discovery Call with me!

Learn More!

Flex Your Thoughts and Beliefs

There are times when we have to shift our patterns and challenge our limiting beliefs because they no longer serve us.

For many of the pet parents I serve, they are actively questioning their understanding and belief systems around their dogs because they are making the choice to see their dogs differently and desire to change their thinking.

Letting go of beliefs that dogs need a powerful hand, dogs need to be under our control and dominated or else they will take over.

When you are presented with new information and it contradicts what you were taught to believe can be challenging to do, but it’s not impossible.

It requires keeping your thinking flexible.

You may be questioning what you know about how you grew up with dogs and how they were treated when you were younger.

You recognize now, pieces of what you were taught don’t fit in with what you’re learning now, but you are open for accommodating the new information.

Go slow. By taking one small step in changing how you show up for your dog can shape how you interact with your dog and seeing your relationship with your dog with new eyes.

Stay empathetic. We have real needs like food, air to breath and a safe place to sleep. Our dogs do too.

It doesn’t end there. We share needs with our dog like the desire for connection, trust, safety and freedom.

When we can accept we have shared similarities it opens us up to see the world through our companion’s eyes.

When they hurt, we hurt. When they feel love, we feel love.

Challenge the pattern of thought when it arises.

When you experience your dog growling and the belief comes up that this is wrong and a dog shouldn’t growl at me.

Ask yourself, “is that true?” What else can be going on?

When you can take a step back and consider the point of view from your dog, you will start opening your heart rather than repeating patterns and beliefs which keeps you small and limits what’s possible for you and your dog.

Choose curiosity and stay open minded.

Do you want to live a life with ease with your dog? Set up a Discovery Call and find out you can achieve this!

Discovery Call

The Wild Willow

Willow was making choices that weren’t safe for her.

Willow’s foster wanted her to see that returning inside wasn’t the party ending, but rather coming back inside and following her foster mom led to the fun continuing.

This is especially important as Willow is tiny and quick, her foster mom didn’t want Willow staying outside without supervision.

She didn’t want Willow getting herself into a pickle of problems.

Since Willow learned that “come” was irrelevant or even a predictor that the fun is over, we introduced a game that will always mean the fun is happening.

Counting is one way you can do this.

After a few short coaching rounds, Willow is willing to follow her foster mom inside without hesitation and with a whole lot of exhuberance.

This game makes the interaction fun and engaging, both of which is what Willow wants and needs.

Willow has a head start on learning and you can adopt her through Hearts4Doxies Rescue https://hearts4doxiesrescue.org/about/

If you’re struggling with encouraging your newly adopted companion to form a strong and loving bond with you, set up a Discovery Call with me to find out how you can get started

Learn More