What Counts as "Success" with Dog Training

The word “success” comes from the word “succession”. 

Succession meaning both an advancement in progress or development, and the condition of enduring over a length of time. 

Dog training is a step by step process.

Walking from the base of a mountain to the top requires a succession of steps. One after another. 

Training your dog to live successfully in our complex human world similarly requires a succession of trial, error, and course correction.  

Success is not about crossing an imaginary finish line. Nor is it solely about winning.

To become success-full means to have a life filled with a succession of attempts, both effective and ineffective, made in the direction of goals that matter to you. 

This is why forming consistent training habits is so important. Goals are simply benchmarks that help us measure our progress and keep us moving forward. Whether we achieve or fail to achieve a goal is an outcome based on a process. If I have a goal of losing weight but a habit of eating ice cream and pizza at every meal, no amount of goal setting will fix the problem. Even if someone manages to meet the goal of losing weight, but does not make a habitual change to their lifestyle, achieving this goal will not lead to sustainable improvements in their health.  

When I say dog training is a process, this is what I’m referring to. Taking one step forward, paying attention to how your dog changes as a consequence of that step, and making the proper adjustments based on what you’ve learned. 

Clients often ask me, “How long do I have to do the things you’re teaching me?” My answer is always the same, “For as long as you care.” Relationships don’t ever reach a place where we can simply coast on the investments we made before. They are living, breathing experiences that require attention and effort in order to remain meaningful.