I had a great experience the other day. I'm so excited about it that I want to post the result here.

I did a c0nsultation with an extended family and their two new australian shepherd brothers. The two boys couldn't be more different; one being easy going and slightly aloof and the other timid, suspicious and slightly threatening. The people were great. There were three of them and they were all engaging and interesting.

What happened that was so interesting to me was that one of the women in the family kept repeating the same question to me, " What do we do?" and, "So, how does this apply to the dog?" and, "What is the training part?" And I kept answering her in the most literal and respectful way that I could. I would say, "Well, the first piece is to teach you self-operation so that when you go to do it with Leo you'll know what to look for." And she didn't understand what i was talking about so I offered to show her. I said that the first part to learn of self-operation was less about something I could describe but more about an experience to be had. She kept giving me cues to continue with my "explanation" but the reality was that what I was talking about was not already a part of her experience.

But that's the thing that was so cool. I couldn't shake the feeling that I wanted to be able to translate better so that she could really grasp what i was talking about. And it was in thinking about how to deliver this stuff in a way that made sense to people who weren't calling me for a personal evolution that i came up with it:

Relaxed dogs behave better.

In order to relax you dog you have to be relaxed, not just on your terms but in a way that a dog will recognize.

By being the person that relaxes your dog, you become Mom-dog to them.

Dogs listen to Mom-dog better than anyone else.

So, the first step is to learn the language of relaxation so you can make it easier for your dog to learn from you.

And with that I am going to go and relax.