A dog trainer’s dog…

As I watch my border collie liberty make her rounds around the yard, trying to clearly be a good girl, but antsy, I realize it’s been several days since I’ve worked with her.

I wonder how I can do better to give all of my dogs everything they need as I work tirelessly to build a thriving business and help all the other pet owners that are my beloved clients.  This is a running joke amongst dog trainers, “a dog trainers dog is often the most misbehaved”.

I have to remember that I’m just like all of those pet owners, and that I really should be kinder to myself. Libby and her siblings are loved and fed and they do get to still have some adventure. They come when they’re called they’re pretty good on leash and the foundation stuff is there…

But it is REALLY hard to go out and do several private sessions, teach classes, answer voicemails, text messages, emails, scoop poop, rotate boarding dogs, OMG the list goes on, AND still have enough in my well to work with my 3 dogs.

Like all of our clients, life happens.  We work, have kids, and all of the other stuff that sucks us into life’s vortex of chaos.

So…I need to remind myself of these things:
– Try to find 1 or 2 minutes.  I feed my dogs twice a day.  There’s two opportunities to do better.
– It’s okay, they really don’t FEEL the same about it as I do.  Its my guilt, and they are happy just being with me.
– Be kind to myself.  If I am stressed, so are my dogs.  Its OK to not train every day all the time.