An Intentional Practice of Kindness

Trust is born out of an intentional practice of kindness.

Everyday, you show up and allow your dog to guide you in what he or she needs to feel safe and loved.

This is a lifelong commitment to your dog’s wellbeing and her quality of life.

Doozy and his pet parent exemplify a loving bond.

Doozy came into his pet parent’s life afraid of everything.

He was overwhelmed and unsure about all the changes going on.

Doozy wasn’t comfortable exploring the home, his safe spot was on his bed where he spent most of the day.

He was reluctant to go outside.

When meeting new people, he struggled.

Doozy’s pet parent took action because she wanted Doozy to feel safe and confident.

We took great care in holding Doozy’s trust and prioritized his welfare as we encouraged him to make choices.

Choices like seeking out his pet parent when something scary or unfamiliar happens like a car driving by, seeing people walk by the window and even when a guest comes by.

The latter is still a work in progress. His pet parent easily adapted the training plan to include new scenarios and situations she wanted Doozy to be more comfortable in experiencing.

One of the biggest leaps forward was Doozy feeling more comfortable going out the front door.

This leap took a few weeks of slow and gradual exposure to the door and being guided by how Doozy was feeling and what he felt safe in doing.

By slowing down and following Doozy’s lead, Doozy trusted he would be safe which also fostered a stronger bond with his pet parent.

Their bond opened the door to Doozy taking the next step on his journey of feeling more confident in surprising situations.

Her love is healing Doozy.

Curious how a tailored approach and learning how to follow your dog’s lead can bring you closer together?

Set up a Discovery Call with me!

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Meet the Author: Linda Michaels

It’s not merely adopting a dog, but opening your home and your heart in inviting a companion into your world.

You are creating a home for an otherwise homeless and abandoned animal.

You commit to ensuring to his or her welfare through meeting your dog’s needs.

You do this because you assume the role of becoming a pet parent.

As a pet parent, the loving bond begins as soon as your companion enters into your guardianship and you intentionally build trust with kindness right from the start.

Create a nurturing space so your dog can thrive will the keys for your love to blossom.

Gain a deeper awareness of pet parenting and understanding how stepping into this role is more than just training what you want your dog to do.

Come on by for an interview with the trailblazer herself, Linda Michaels MA on Saturday, 10 September at 10am PDT!

You for sure don’t want to miss this!

Join Us On September 10, 2022

Play Uplifts Not Just Your Dog’s Mood

Life moves along.

You find yourself working more hours.

As soon as you wake up, you hit the ground running.

Solving problems for colleagues, putting out fires and the next thing you know, it’s 9pm.

You don’t know the last time you ate let alone the last time you spent time with your dog.

You do know that over the last few months, you’ve seen a change in your dog.

Your dog is panting and pacing, cowering when you walk into the room.

You have no idea what happened or what to do.

Unpacking the layers of stress in your life, you discover the change of routine, the transition from having joy and fun to trudging along impacted your dog socially and emotionally.

Through our time together, you recognize the pivotal moments in the preceding months of where the routine and your dog’s behavior started changing.

You didn’t recognize it at the time because your busy life took over.

What you receive when we put the pieces back together, the glue that keeps the pieces from pulling apart is how play is so vital for you and your dog’s wellbeing.

Play through an engaging game of tug with your dog, or for one of my clients having a treat party when she animatedly uses her hands to talk (her dog cowers, freezes and looks away) helped shift her dog from distress to her dog seeking her out.

This game is silly. It makes us all laugh.

Physiologically, it slows down the heart rate, slows the rate of breathing, it’s a total body stress release for the pet parents and the dog.

You start seeing a new pattern emerging.

Your dog is more relaxed and confident during and after our sessions together.

You continue through the weekend, but as soon as Monday rolls around, you see the impact of your work life has on your personal life through the reflection of how your dog’s behavior changes reverting back to cowering and freezing.

Rather than focusing on changing your dog’s behavior, we start seeing how you can make empowered choices in working in more of what you want like spending time having fun with your dog.

When you make the connection and create an action plan to feel more calm in your life and experiencing that you can achieve this through play with your dog, your dog also benefits.

Discover how you can create the loving bond with your dog and what you want more of in your life for what you want with ease.

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