2025 Reflections
It’s hard to believe that Christmas is only 8 days away. Where has this year gone?
Reflecting on this year, Vincent and his owner, Tia, have made tremendous strides forward. Both have gained a lot of confidence in themselves, and their relationship has been steadily improving and growing. Tia has been learning how to communicate clearly and effectively, she’s been learning how to remain calm and focused, and she’s been doing a fantastic job of reading Vincent’s body language. Meanwhile, Vincent has been learning to look to his handler for direction and guidance in stressful situations, and he’s been doing awesome with meeting new dogs. This team has grown so much over this year, and I am so, so proud of how far they’ve come together.
Sprocket and his owner, Audrey, are finding their way together. Sprocket is still highly reactive to other dogs and other animals, but Audrey has been doing her best to help him work through those moments. Between scheduling issues and weather, we couldn’t seem to dig into things after the initial 3-day workshop. But, I’m happy to say this will be changing in the new year, after the chaos of Christmas is over and life has mostly returned to a more normal state.
Over the holidays, I’m going to be looking at where I am and where I need to be going. The past few years have brought a lot of changes; some of them have been good, but many haven’t been. If I’m going to continue helping owners and their dogs, I need to adapt to those changes by making some adjustments. I’ve been working with owners and their dogs professionally for 10 years; change is a necessary part of life, and if we can’t or don’t want to adapt, we get stuck and left behind. I don’t want that. Hence, the need to look at where I am and where I need to be going.
I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you to my followers on YouTube and Facebook for staying with me and engaging with me, and thank you to all of my clients past and present who have been supporting and encouraging me by referring me to others and keeping me updated on your lives with your dogs. You don’t know how much I appreciate you all.
Have a great day, and remember to stay calm and lead on.
Vincent Wins Big Challenge
The latest session with Vincent and his owner was both a smashing success, and an indicator of things we still need to work on. I am so incredibly proud of this team that I really can’t find the words to convey it. This is how it went.
The session was held at my home. The neighbourhood is usually fairly quiet during our session time, but on this day, there was some intermittent, ongoing activity – just enough to work Vincent without overwhelming him or his handler. If you’ve been following Vincent’s journey, this video of our session will put a huge smile on your face. Please take a moment to offer words of encouragement and praise for Vincent and his owner; she has been working so hard with Vincent, and she really needs to hear from people that she’s doing great.
Have a great day, have a great weekend ahead, and remember to stay calm and lead on.
Happy Dawgs Obedience Training 