I remember talking to my husband about getting both of our dogs trained. The first couple times I approached him he adamantly refused…”I don’t want my dogs ruined. They won’t have their personalities any more”.
How could I refute that? I didn’t want their personalities ruined, and that’s what I firmly believed would happen.
I wanted my dogs to have as much freedom as possible. I didn’t want to take away their ability to feel joy, and have fun. And telling them what to do without giving them a choice felt like treating them like a prisoner. So training? NO THANKS!
We didn’t decide to do training until my German shepherd started attacking other dogs. If you’ve ever had to break up a dog fight…a REAL dog fight…you know how terrifying it can be.
We needed training, whether it would ruin her personality or not.
I was surprised when I started training my dogs. Guess what? They didn’t lose their personalities…silly me! I was able to finally talk to them. And I’ll explain what I mean when I say “talk to them”.
The first time I took my dog on a walk with the training techniques I learned he LITERALLY looked up at me and was like “Oh hi, Mom! I love this walk. Can we go around the neighborhood again?”
And I said to him “Of COURSE we can, you’re being such a good boy, let’s do it TWO more times!”
His beautiful brown eyes looked up at me constantly, and as we walked I told him (in a calm manner) what a good boy he was and how I was so proud of him.
Did he lose his personality? Or become dejected? Or withdrawn?
NO!
He relaxed, became calm, and was actually able to enjoy his walk.
I learned that a dog that’s sniffing, pulling and tugging you down the sidewalk on the leash is not a dog that is enjoying a walk. It’s a dog that is overwhelmed by sights and sounds. A dog that is RE-active.
When I was able to get rid of all the nonsense behavior my dog’s personality came SHINING through! And it was a beautiful thing. When we got back home I sat on the steps, put my arms around my fur baby…and cried.
I had my dog back!
Don’t be afraid that training will ruin your dog. Training gets rid of all the nonsense behavior that’s cluttering up your dog’s mind. It gives them a free path to express themselves and love life.
Don’t make my mistake. Help your dog become a FREE dog.
