~ Well-Being ~

Well-Being is essential for humans and dogs!  We all need some basic things in life:  healthy nutrition, exercise, mental and emotional wellness, personal renewal time away from the daily grind and to feel cared for and validated.  It feels good to know that we are making some kind of contribution on this planet.  Our dogs need similar essentials, but in different ways.  It is so easy to satisfy these needs for them by integrating them into our daily life.  One of the things we can do for our dogs is to make sure that we spend some quality time with them every day.  This can be 30 minutes a couple of times a day.  If that's all you can give-up, they'll accept it and appreciate it.  In addition:

• Healthy nutrition that suits the dog's lifestyle.  I've coached some people on a private basis.  Being human, it's easy for all of us to spoil our dogs with food.  Food is love for some humans too.  It makes us feel good, until our dogs start piling on the pounds and become lethargic.  A healthy diet is essential and cost effective in the long run.  It will increase your dog's longevity.

• Exercise, individually planned for your dog, is vital.  This can mean a short walk a couple of times a day or a good romp in a fenced-in yard.  A pearl of wisdom:  the more places you walk your dog, the more socialized and mentally stimulated they will be.  It is satisfying for them to go to different places and sniff!  Allow them to sniff as a reward because dogs have a very strong olfactory (sense of smell ).  In fact, it is 40 to 75 times greater than ours.  Exercise is good for all of us, so take a walk, breathe in fresh oxygen with your dog and release those stale toxins and waste with each exhaled breath.  Breathing is a precious gift.  Think of what the alternative is?  (see Breathing Exercise further on).

• Positive-Reward-Based-Training:  All puppies and dogs deserve training, so they can successfully integrate into a human household.  Left to their own devices, some dogs do rebarkably (the spelling is fine) well, but the abandonment rate at shelters, although better, is still too high.  Most of these dogs are relinquished due to housetraining issues.  It's really a shame because a little planning, commitment and training that can easily be integrated into your day-to-day living situation is all it takes to build a trusting and rewarding relationship that lasts a life time. 

• Engaging with and connecting to another species, like our dogs, carries over to every other relationship in our lives.  If you haven't read Wyatt Webb's book,   "It's not about the Horse", we highly recommend it, along with our book "Train Your Dog, Change Your Life", Wiley & Sons, 2001.  The message is simple:  you can't change anyone's behavior until you change your own.  The road to insanity is to continue doing the same behaviors over and over again with your dog (or anyone else) and expect different results.  It doesn't work that way.  We all need to look inward and "shift" our own behaviors.  With dogs, even the most experience trainers and behaviorists go back to the "beginner's mind" when we become stagnate.  If you dog isn't responding, there is a reason.  It may be the training approach, your dog may be having a bad day, or not feeling well, or YOU may be having a bad day.

• Canine Massage Therapy (see Programs):  Massage is the manipulation of the physical (muscles and skin) and the energetic body to increase circulation of blood and energy flow.  With each compression and stroke, we squeeze the old blood and toxins out.  Metaphorically, as we squeeze and release a sponge, the sponge expands, as the dog's body does, allowing the flow of fresh blood and oxygen. If you would like to learn more about Canine Massage Therapy please see our programs.  Another excellent website and teaching program is www.petmassage.com.  Interested in learning more about meridian pathways and acupressure points?  One of the books we recommend is "The Well-Connected Canine" by Amy Snow and Nancy Zidonis, Tallgrass Publishers, www.animalacupressure.com. 

[ A BREATHING EXERCISE FOR HUMANS ]

Breathing is as natural as … well ... breathing.  Apparently not!  Most stress-relief and wellness counselors agree that the majority of us require re-training or re-connecting with our breath. Breathing with awareness is essential to healthy digestion, enhanced respiratory and improved elimination functions.  It helps to increase our energy level, enhances our posture, improves circulation for a healthier heart and lowers our stress and anxiety levels.  It helps us become more in-tune to our emotions and the needs of our body.  With practice, a natural rhythm will soon assert itself and you will (a) oxygenate your brain; (b) massage your inner organs, aiding digestion and circulation;  (c) clear out pockets of stale carbon dioxide in your lungs ---- and you may even (d) fall asleep asleep more easily at night. 

It definitely will increase your ability to make on-the-spot decisions and be more aware when training your dog.  Dogs live in the here and now.  They don't need a yogic guide for that.  It is inherently natural for them.  This knowledge alone, can increase your training power. 

Before you begin any training session with your dog, breathe in at least 3 deep, belly breaths.  Activate your diaphragm, fill up your abdomen, then the core and what should be strongest part of our bodies, behind your ribs and lastly, your chest.  If it helps, breathe in to the count of 4, hold 4 and release (exhale) 4.  While training, if you get stressed, confused, frustrated, stop and breathe.  It takes a mere second.  Our dogs are keenly aware and have strong instincts and senses, far beyond ours in many ways.  They sense changes in our chemistry (and this include stress) and body language before we do.  Our dog's response to us, and a good training sessions, will depend on their associations and response to our stress.  If you can manage your stress level ... you can manage your dog's stress level too.  They usually respond (mirror) in kind to what we are putting out to them.  The next time your dog zones out, ask yourself, are you present?  Is it meaningful or are you just going through the motions?

Getting centered, focused, setting an intention and visualizing what your training practice will be like, what the outcome will look like, will benefit you and dog's performance. 

Most importantly, breathing with awareness teaches us to live in the moment.  Breathing is a gift.  The alternative is not breathing, which means no longer existing in our present form on planet Earth.