05/23/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/1ACjg7VDGx/
What’s the thing I see derail owner success the most?
Feeling uneasy, sad, or guilty about stepping in and actually leading their dogs.
As long as your emotions cause you to question yourself, tip-toe around your dog, and engage in half-hearted interactions, all the training info, skills, and tools in the world won’t deliver the results you claim to desire.
A little advice: before you embark on a training journey — spending time, money, effort, and hope — work on the emotional journey first.
Ask yourself if you’re truly comfortable leading your dog. Do you view leadership as a supreme gift of selfless guidance — sharing the kindest and healthiest thing you can offer — or do you equate leading with being a mean, tyrannical, killjoy oppressor?
And don’t let yourself off easy by simply giving the answer you think you should give. Instead, spend some serious time doing deeply introspective work. Get to the bottom of how you truly feel, and then figure out what’s actually behind those feelings.
It’s far better to wait, save all the resources I listed above, and ensure you’re prepared than to jump in before you’re actually ready — only to walk away believing this training thing doesn’t work… when it was never the training that was the issue.
PS: Sorting out my own dogs’ issues was a nightmare until I realized my mindset was the obstacle. Once I worked on that, and once I became comfortable being a leader, the answers to my “dog problems” came rather quickly — and were far easier than I’d imagined.
