How many people tried to sell you something this week? Dog training-wise, I mean. Aside from me 😅
A new course. A new tool. A new method that fixes everything. Everybody’s got their way, and a lot of them are pretty sure your way is wrong.
It’s LOUD out there. And I’m not immune to it, you guys. Over the years I’ve bought the thing, tried the thing, and second-guessed myself because somebody with a big following said I was doing it wrong.
So I did something about it. I sat down and wrote out what I actually believe. Not what I’m supposed to believe. Not what would get the most likes. What I’ve learned the hard way, from a lot of dogs, a lot of runs, and a LOT of mistakes.
It took real work to get these clear. But now when the noise gets loud, I’ve got a North Star. I can hold any new idea up against this list and ask: does this fit what I know to be true?
Here they are.
About the dog
- Outcome is welfare. Not intent, not method, not how it looks to someone watching.
- If your dog can’t be free outside the ring, don’t expect freedom inside it.
- Confusion is the real aversive.
- A dog who can hear “no” is a dog who can be trusted with more.
- Management is not training. Controlling the environment forever is a cage with better PR.
- Complete communication means the whole vocabulary. Half a language is not kindness.
- Resilience is built, not protected.
About me (and you), the handler
- You didn’t enter that trial for fun. You entered because you hoped. That hope was never shameful.
- Clarity is the kindest thing you will ever give your dog.
- Judge the training by the dog’s life. Judge yourself by the work.
- Your identity is the training, not the title.
- Wanting to win and loving your dog are not in tension.
- “Serious” is a measure of commitment, not of level.
- Feeling good about your training is not evidence that it’s working.
- Your dog can only be as steady as you are.
- The ring doesn’t test your dog. It tests what you brought with you.
About the work
- The recipe is not the relationship. A handler running a procedure has stopped watching the dog.
- No course can teach you to read the dog in front of you. It can only build the room where that happens. Mine included.
- A framework is scaffolding, not a script.
About the noise
- Ideology is what you reach for when you don’t have results.
- The people most afraid of saying “no” to a dog are often managing the most anxious ones.
- You are allowed to change your mind in public. Everyone worth listening to already has.
That last one matters to me. Some of these I did NOT believe ten years ago. I changed my mind, out loud, and my dogs are better for it.
You don’t have to agree with every one of these. That’s kind of the point. They’re mine, and they keep me steady.
Underneath all of them is one thing. I don’t want followers. I want to help you on your journey to use your dog training SKILLS to make dog training ART. So steal any of these that help you find your own North Star.
Tell me in the comments: which one made you nod the hardest? And which one made you go “hmm”?
Every one of these is baked into how I teach inside The Agility Challenge. If they had you nodding, that’s probably your room.