All the small things

All the small things

New year, new beginnings! New year is a great time to re-evaluate, take stock and plan for the year ahead. I can’t be alone in diving into January with a whole load of new resolutions. Eat more lettuce, less chocolate, exercise for 2 hours a day, run a marathon and of course dry January. What usually happens is you are all rested from a week of eating and drinking, full of cheese and avoiding the scales. So, you start with great intentions and unrealistic expectations. I will run a marathon in March, when you have never run in your life and going up the stairs leaves you out of puff. Oh, and you HATE running.  Sound familiar? We all do it to some extent, and then because it is either not achievable at all, the time frames are too short, you lose enthusiasm and skip a training session, eat a chocolate, have a small G&T and then motivation fails completely. ‘There is not point, I can’t do it’, so, you stop altogether. I remember doing it with running a couple of years ago. I tried a short (usually free) course on line to get me running 5 k with 6 weeks. Did great the first week, and then it got too hard to quickly and I gave up. I just couldn’t get my breathing right, kept getting out of breath and having to stop, I lost all my motivation and eventually gave up feeling rubbish. The problem? The course was too short, it wasn’t suitable for me and my fitness level. It ramped up to quickly. I eventually paid for a course, it was super cheap but the aim was to get you running, none stop for 40 minutes, not distance, just consistently running over 12 weeks which sounded ridiculously long. I started and because the sessions were in doable chunks, because it talked about building a sustainable pace, a good habit, confidence, you guessed it after 12 weeks I was running regularly, I loved it, I could easily run for the 40 minutes non-stop and wasn’t gasping for breath afterwards and once I had that foundation. I started to build up my speed and distance. All this meant that after 12 weeks I had achieved my goal. Rather than after 6 weeks I had failed. 

How does a mouse eat an elephant? One bite at a time…………

Goals are important but setting realistic goals even more so. People do it all the time with their dogs. The expectation that just because they sit at home and wait patiently for their dinner, they can do a solid wait, in class, in a busy park and get frustrated and annoyed when they don’t/can’t. ‘They know sit they are just being stubborn’. Do they really know sit? Or is a contextual, they sit when you are holding a food bowl, they sit only when you have a piece of food in your hand. Positive training isn’t about throwing cheese around, it is about helping your dog learn a foreign language, learn to navigate our world what is acceptable and what isn’t. Setting goals on what is important to you, finding out what makes your dog tick, what they enjoy, what you enjoy and what is going to make your life together better.

For me I have realised it’s the small things, don’t get me wrong I absolutely love teaching my dogs tricks, scent work, hoopers I enjoy going to lessons learning new things and for ages I felt I should be pushing myself to compete to excel at a dog sport. But I don’t enjoy competing, I just don’t. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing nicer when my dogs have done well at a hoopers course it is amazing and all those people that do compete regularly I understand the buzz they get and I applaud it.

What I have realised this year is that I like walking, I like being out in the countryside with my dogs, enjoying putting one foot in front of the other. Looking at the scenery, taking a breath, mindfulness, watching my dogs, sniff, explore, run after stuff, barking at the squirrels in trees taunting them. This what I love and to honest this is why I have dogs in my life. It has taken me a few years to realise this, but it has taken so much pressure off, I have let go of thoughts of I should be competing, going to shows, being fabulous with my fabulous dogs or I am letting my dogs down. They are clever, they love learning new things and are always up for training but if you asked them, I am sure that they enjoy there walks more.

Goals

My goals for the year are enjoy more time with my dogs, enjoying more walks, the walking group I joined has given me so much joy. It is that simple and utterly achievable. The skills we need are loose lead walking and recall. That’s it. Everything else is a bonus.

‘Beginners want to do all the fancy stuff; more advanced trainers know the value of the basics’ Sue Garrett

I want you to go away and think about why you got a dog. What did you imagine your life together would be like? Was it just getting out of the house every day and walking? Do you like competing? Sports? Does your dog? What skills do you need to achieve this? Most sports need a the very least for your dog to have basic obedience skills, to be well socialised, to be able to cope around other dogs and people. So, start there. If like me you just want to walk, you maybe need to work on loose lead skills and recall. Whatever it is have a plan, a doable, realistic goal, small steps, little and often, and make a start.

If you want a free copy of my training tracker, just drop me an email info@bark-ology.co.uk keeping a log of your achievements goes a long way to keeping you on track.

If you want help in achieving your goals, I do offer 1-1 support programmes, as well as online courses. Check out my website www.bark-ology.co.uk.  Or if you want to have a quick chat just text me 07817 241130 and we can set up a call.

Whatever you are doing enjoy.

Karen