Over the years I’ve asked my students to describe the connection with their dog in different environments. How is it different inside your house versus your front yard? What about the park? Or, around other dogs or children? Often the response describes the emotional connection “to” their dog; not the two-way connection “with” their dog. We’re covering what that difference is between the connection to versus connection with our dogs, why it's super important to understand, and how growing one can also grow the other.
In the episode you'll hear:
- How connection TO a dog differs from connection WITH a dog.
- What weakens and strengthens the relationship we have with dogs.
- Common words used about dogs that signal a connection crisis.
- The reasons understanding and empathy will grow your relationship.
- How the sport of dog agility, or any dog sport, is like an amplifier of connection.
- Why it's essential to protect your dog's confidence when beginning agility.
- How one of my agility students, Jenny, went from overwhelmed to elite competitor with her Siberian
Huskies. - The story of Cait's Shiba Inu, Moshi, a pandemic puppy, and how their connection evolved.
- That game by game, layer and layer, you can see the connection with your dog blossom.
Connected Dog Video Series
Resources:
- Hear From Jenny Kerwick About Her Amazing Agility Transformation
- Watch The Story of Moshi the Shiba Inu And Growing Connection With Cait
- Podcast Episode 36: Puppy Selection: How I Do It and Why I Didn’t This! Time
- YouTube Video: Normalizing Imperfection in Dog Training
- Podcast Episode 122: Being Present With Empathy In Dog Training
- Podcast Episode 114: Dog Agility Training: 3 Big Mistakes All Dog Owners Should Avoid
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
Loved this podcast. The comments on agility and weak connection really resonated with me as I see it in my own dog. We had been slowly building our connection well with the original agility club but a change circumstances meant a change of club / environment. However this has not been a positive move as the dog has lost confidence and our connection has weakened, and now I have quit the class to rebuild my connection with my dog.
This podcast made me feel so good about my relationship with Bessie. She has been a tough rescue girl. She’s been with me for 2 years and 3 months, and two vets told me that she’d be “unrehomeable” if i had listened to the people who told me that she was “too much” for me. We worked with a behaviorist last year, which gave me the confidence of knowing that she is not “aggressive.”
But we really started seeing progress and having fun together when we began training online with Susan Garrett and her team.
My gratitude is immense. Bessie is already doing things I never thought she’d be able to do and, most of all, related to this podcast, when we are out in the woods she checks in with me continuously.
It is possibly the strongest connection I’ve ever had with a dog in my adult life.
And that is saying a lot.
Good morning to all the team. thank you for this Podcast. I had never seen it that way. This podcast was an eye-opening moment!