June 14, 2023
When we hear the word stress, our brain’s immediate response is to think of something negative. Stress, and learning how to overcome it, is actually a brilliant aspect of life.
There are times when you are training that your dog may appear stressed. I want to reassure you that stress is not inherently a bad thing. Hear me out, let’s say you get hired for a new job, maybe it’s your dream position! I can guarantee that you are going to be feeling the jitters going in for your first day. If you say “not me!”, you’re lying to yourself. You are going to experience stress at this moment to lead you to a better place. This is GOOD stress! Just like a kid learning to ride a bicycle, it might not be pretty in the beginning, there will be ups and downs. Eventually, they’re going to be riding that bike like nobody’s business. Were they likely stressed at some points? Absolutely! Did they learn to adapt and overcome the challenge? 100%.
So often we coddle our dogs and they never learn to work through stress themselves. This is very, very problematic. It creates weak, insecure, fearful dogs. I want to build my dog’s confidence so they feel confident working through any and every situation imaginable. How can you do this? It’s fairly simple. Start asking your dog to do hard things that are out of the ordinary. Climb under a bench, go down a slide, search for food in a kiddie pool, climb that fallen tree on the trail. Challenge their minds with new obstacles and watch their confidence soar! Your dog is capable of SO much physically, where are they mentally?
Happy Training,
Bree ❤️
