The Long Game
We’ve all done it. Entered trials hoping our dogs will be ready by then. It gives us a goal to shoot for. Now don’t get me wrong. I love goals.…
What Did You Say?
Communication is hard. It can be confusing and frustrating. We’ve all been there. On both ends. I say something to someone, and they totally misinterpret it. No, that’s not what…
Cookies
I use a lot of cookies when I train. Like really a lot. Especially when I’m teaching behaviors. I tug a lot with my dogs when I train. Like really…
What’s Your Story
Recently I haven’t been feeling right. Something was off, just wasn’t sure what it was…. As always, listen to the universe and the answer will come. Yesterday I picked a…
“Wherever you are, you’re a single step away from a new beginning” – Oprah Winfrey
I hear excuses from people all the time. Today I overheard a young man saying he was too old to start a new endeavor. According to him, people in the…
Failure Is My Friend
Failure is a word that has a bad bad bad rap. I mean the poor word really did get the short end of the stick. People just have it all…
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship. It’s a word we hear often. It’s written in every AKC competition catalog. It’s bandied about in professional sports. Lots of people have different opinions on it. We know…
Musings on Drive and Arousal
When I first learned to train for competition obedience, all problems were solved with more “drive”. “Drive” being loosely defined as getting the dog as “high” (aroused) as possible, i.e.,…
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
We are, on the whole, a pretty pessimistic society. We focus on what is going wrong, what went wrong and what could potentially go wrong. Which means, inevitably, things are…
Sticky Labels
Labels. That’s a sticky topic in the best of times. A landmine in current times. Because I’m not adept at navigating minefields, I’ll look at it in dog terms. We…
