10/16/2026
๐ Friday Night Vibes
Itโs Friday night, and Iโm sitting here with Vada, reflecting on the true meaning of dog ownership.
Vada, at almost 8 months old, has had no formal obedience training since I brought her home at 9 weeks. Sheโs one of the happiest, most confident, resilient dogs I know. A BIG part of this is exceptional genetics/breeding.
Does she pull on the leash? Yep. Does she want to annihilate every critter she sees? Absolutely. Will I teach her a reliable recall and calm walking? You bet.
Vada reminds me that formal obedience is only a sliver of raising a dog.
Changing the dogโs behavior is secondary to **changing the expectations and behaviors of the human. One donโt work without the other. **
We expect dogs to understand things we havenโt taught. We demand consistency while being inconsistent. I canโt yell at her for pulling before I teach her not to. But I also canโt complain about it.
Owning a dog means accepting 100% accountability, not 100% blame, or guilt. Thatโs whatโs stopping you from even reaching out. Well now you see, Iโm just like you.
Thatโs what I want people to understand.
Which brings me back to tonight.
Itโs Friday evening. Iโm sitting here with Vada, yep sheโs on the couch.
Weโre just sharing space. Completely comfortable doing absolutely nothing.
If you and your dog can genuinely enjoy doing nothing together, you have already mastered the most important part of training.
And maybe, just maybe, youโre the one whoโs finally been trained.
And yeah, I wrote this, not AI.
