Why is patience important and what is working at my dog's level?

When I was trying to figure out what to write my blog post about, I had “trainer’s” block. So I had to meditate. Then it came to me. Patience. Anytime you are working with animals, patience and working at your dog’s level is definitely required.
This is so easy to forget. We are a microwave society and we want that instant gratification. Everything has to be fast. However this mentality does not apply to our pets. It is easy to forget that our pets don’t work at our level of immediate response time. This is where adapting patience comes in and working at your dog’s level.
Your pet is on their own training journey whether it is fast or slow. It is our job to adapt to this and have compassion and understanding during this process. From my first hand experience, whether it is Animal Reiki or Dog Training, the animal will take what they need or learn at their pace. Not at our pace or what we think they need for their healing journey. If we get frustrated because it isn’t going according to “our plan” our frustration does come through and then they get frustrated. It does happen. Your dog can shut down, go backward in training and really take longer and sometimes people just give up on training. Here is a Tip: If you see a training session isn’t going successfully, end on a positive note. No matter how short it is. It’s always better to end on a postive note than a frustrating one. Both of you will feel better about the session.
With patience and working at your dog’s level, your dog will learn and so will you. You have a brand new connection with your pet that you couldn’t have imagined that includes compassion and trust.
Wags,
Allison