Patience
You know, as a dog trainer you must have patience with the dogs you are working with. When I was training to become a dog trainer, I was taught a saying. “Train as fast as you can, but train at the speed of the dog.”
Like us, every dog is different, and they learn at different speeds. It could even by the day for a dog. They may not be feeling well, or they didn’t sleep well, and they are learning or training slower than usual. Some are very tactile and don’t like the feel of some things under their paws. So they may start to regress a little.
If you have ever tried to clip or Dremel (preferred) nails on dogs, you definitely must have patience. Some dogs are like “cool do whatever” others just absolutely hate having their paws touched let alone their nails clipped. Every dog is different, and you must have patience to get through a session.
In every training session there is always something that the dog doesn’t want to do or is afraid to do but you must outlast their stubbornness or their lack of motivation to get through a training session. Once you give a command that the dog knows the command, you must hold him accountable to do it. But if you have patience with them or outlast them, they will execute on the command and they learn three things:
How to execute the command itself.
They learn to have the confidence that they can actually do the command.
They learn that you will hold them accountable until the command is completed.
Patience is key in our own lives as well. Whether you are dealing with someone, something, or yourself. Patience is key. Now I usually over-commit or overestimate what I can accomplish. I have learned that about myself. I used to get really stressed about completing those commitments and then I start to try and go faster and faster. What usually happens is I mess up a step. Remember, like training life is a series of steps to get to the outcome you desire.
When you have patience, you can separate yourself from the task or the person you are dealing with or even yourself. You see thoughts are things. Just like the coffee cup that is sitting in front of me. It’s a thing. Thoughts aren’t you. It’s something that you produce. Just like someone produced this coffee cup.
So, if you have the patience to look at what you are thinking or how you are thinking then you can start to dissect why something happened the way it did.
Did you get the outcome you wanted, then great, every time I must do that “thing” I am going to do it the way I just did.
If you didn’t get the outcome you wanted, then you must have the patience with yourself to dissect and figure out what and how it happened. Then develop another approach to get the outcome you want.
Just like in dog training. Every dog is different, every day is different, so different approaches may need to be applied to get your dog to the outcome you want.
Just have patience.
If you think I could possibly help you and your dog, click here and let’s talk. Join our Facebook page and see what’s going on @ Hill Country Dog Trainer.
Until next time don’t forget to live in the moment.
Sincerely,
Matt
The Hill Country Dog Trainer
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