Improving life with your dog can often feel daunting- impossible, sometimes! Even dog trainers can feel overwhelmed by their goals and the things they want to work on with their own dogs. Most of the time, people get so overwhelmed that they get stuck in analysis paralysis and never get past thinking. If you can get past the thinking stage, it can be equally difficult to reign in all of those pesky things to work on. Should you start with the jumping? The counter-surfing? The reactivity? The fact that Fido still won't even lay down?!
Human beings only have so much energy and only so much time! In fact, we all have the same 24 hrs in a day, so how is it that people are able to do so much with their dogs? Well, the answer is most likely at least in part due to an ability to prioritize. In his book, The ONE Thing, Gary Keller explains (in only a couple hundred pages) that a priority is one thing- not many things. People who pick the most important thing at any given point and finish it are able to get more done and do so more efficiently than people who part out their energy to lots of things at once. Training can be hard in that things might look sloppy or inconsistent for a while, and then one day- voila! You're dog nails it! During this period, it can be tempting to start working on something else..... until that gets overwhelming and you give up on it too.
In another book, Atomic Habits, James Clear explains that literally nothing happens to an ice cube as the temperature rises, degree by degree, until the temperature exceeds 32 degrees- at which point the ice will begin to melt. Sooner or later, all your effort is going to break out of "the plateau of latent potential" and yield some change!
So how, then, do you decide what the "number one thing" is for your dog? good A good place to start is to schedule a meeting with a professional dog trainer in Southern Utah (or wherever you live)! A pro can help you understand what kind of training or management solutions will improve your situation most. But if you want to go solo- that's okay too. Start by making a list of your top three wishes for your dog. These things could include things like:
Go on a 1-block walk each weekday
Stop a dog from running and barking at the fence
Stop a dog from digging
Stop a dog from humping
Get a "head up" heel
Stop leash pulling
Stop dog aggression
Stop counter-surfing
Stop jumping up
Teach a Middle command
Teach a dog to shake
Teach a dog to speak
Stop barking
Help your dog lose weight
Now that you have your top three wishes, look at each one and consider which one is deteriorating your relationship with your dog the most. If you just want to train skills and there is no real problem with your dog, which one might help you make the most overall progress with your dog? For instance, you may want to start with a recall because it will more easily enable you to get your dog over to you and hold his attention in order to teach a sit, down, heel etc. Or if your dog's digging makes you wish you hadn't gotten a dog, get that under control first so that you can start feeling good about things and have the desire or energy to pursue "other stuff."
Another way to narrow down your choices is to ask yourself which goal you are most likely to actually work on each day or each session. Even if there are major things that need attention in your relationship with your dog, it doesn't do any good if you don't take action.
The point is that if you want to move the needle of your dog's behavior, you need time and you need a good honest effort put into each of your goals, and you are going to make the most progress tackling things one at a time. I have seen some truly unskilled people make amazing progress with their dog simply because they kept showing up! Others, who actually had some natural dog training talent, basically quit before they even started. Stop thinking about working with your dog, and start doing!
So what are you waiting for? Decide what your number one thing is, and just begin! You can print out the goal sheet you see at the end of this post by clicking this link. There are slots for two goals, so you may want to include whatever came in second place for you so that if you finish #1 you still have something to work on for your Take 15 challenge!
Want to take things to the next level? Try training, playing with, or exercising your dog for 15 minutes a day for 29 days! If you need ideas, inspiration, or support, reach out to us or follow our Facebook or Instagram accounts. We will be working with our own dogs all month long. We'd love to see what you are working on- tag us in your social media pupdates!
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