It's natural, I think, for people to want to improve the things around them. And I believe that's a healthy instinct. The New Testament talks about "reaching for the goal." So I imagine that there are many things in our lives that could use improvement, and that it's important to discover those things and do our best to raise the standard.
But, there's lots of things that I'm learning fall into the category of "leave it." And some things do need improvement, but not in the way I think. I'm starting to see that almost always, the "leave it" things are the ones that are out of my hands anyway. And at other times I need to be cautious about my motives for wanting to "fiddle" with something, and my methods for doing so.
My brain hurts from all that abstractness. Let's get down to concretes.
The dogs have certain characteristics. I get into trouble trying to change things when sometimes these things are basic to their nature. Instead, what I should be looking for is how to shape these characteristics in a way that we are not clashing over what the dog wants versus what I want. When I do this, an amazing individual emerges - and if that dog doesn't fit here, there's most certainly somewhere that dog fits.
The more I focus on the dog, the fewer regrets I have for the choices I make. If I'm alert to the dog's personality and needs, and issue a correction in the wrong place, the dog will tell me and we can take that information and take a big leap forward next time!
I feel like I may have gone back over the bridge to the Land of Unicorns and Rainbows again.
I realized I've been making a somewhat major error in what I'm doing with Ted and really confusing him. But for the first time, maybe ever, I caught it myself and didn't spend time beating myself up about it.
It didn't feel like the end of the world and indeed we almost immediately got over it as it turned out. It's not that I care less about training than I used to, it's that I've finally learned how to enjoy the journey, I think. It's all about working with what's at your fingertips right now, and not comparing it to what "should be" at some future time. And that goes for my own progress, too.
The mistake, by the way, was that instead of a mild correction for taking the wrong flank, I was simply lying him down then reflanking. So, every time I stopped him, he was getting to where he'd automatically flank in the opposite direction. I was also using a bit too much drama to get him pushed back to where he'd cheat on me. Once I discover a level of drama that works, it's hard for me to let go of it and let the pressure off the dog!
But, there's lots of things that I'm learning fall into the category of "leave it." And some things do need improvement, but not in the way I think. I'm starting to see that almost always, the "leave it" things are the ones that are out of my hands anyway. And at other times I need to be cautious about my motives for wanting to "fiddle" with something, and my methods for doing so.
My brain hurts from all that abstractness. Let's get down to concretes.
The dogs have certain characteristics. I get into trouble trying to change things when sometimes these things are basic to their nature. Instead, what I should be looking for is how to shape these characteristics in a way that we are not clashing over what the dog wants versus what I want. When I do this, an amazing individual emerges - and if that dog doesn't fit here, there's most certainly somewhere that dog fits.
The more I focus on the dog, the fewer regrets I have for the choices I make. If I'm alert to the dog's personality and needs, and issue a correction in the wrong place, the dog will tell me and we can take that information and take a big leap forward next time!
I feel like I may have gone back over the bridge to the Land of Unicorns and Rainbows again.
I realized I've been making a somewhat major error in what I'm doing with Ted and really confusing him. But for the first time, maybe ever, I caught it myself and didn't spend time beating myself up about it.
It didn't feel like the end of the world and indeed we almost immediately got over it as it turned out. It's not that I care less about training than I used to, it's that I've finally learned how to enjoy the journey, I think. It's all about working with what's at your fingertips right now, and not comparing it to what "should be" at some future time. And that goes for my own progress, too.
The mistake, by the way, was that instead of a mild correction for taking the wrong flank, I was simply lying him down then reflanking. So, every time I stopped him, he was getting to where he'd automatically flank in the opposite direction. I was also using a bit too much drama to get him pushed back to where he'd cheat on me. Once I discover a level of drama that works, it's hard for me to let go of it and let the pressure off the dog!
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