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Dogs have it easy. They adapt well to whatever environment they’re in. The first year of my mutt’s life was not ideal. He lived with a family that kept him in a kennel nine hours a day, never walked him (not once) and never trained him. Even so, when I met Ace for the first time, he seemed happy. He didn’t know what he was missing, so he was doing OK anyway. I took him home, began running with him, training him and taking him everywhere, and he adapted to his new lifestyle just fine. If he had to go live somewhere else, I’m sure he’d adapt to his new lifestyle again. That’s just part of being an animal.

Like our dogs, it’s easy for people to adapt to the mundane world around us. But fortunately or unfortunately, we need a bit more to feel fulfilled. At what point do we begin to tolerate what we have instead of dreaming and working for what we desire?

Steve Pavlina had a post last week that said to strive for what you love by quitting what you are tolerating. Many of his posts have a strong influence on me, but this one in particular reached me at a perfect time. Pavlina challenges us to stop tolerating or settling for things in life, whether it’s our careers, relationships, lifestyles, etc., and shoot for what we love.

But at what point do we give up on striving for what we really love? When we graduate from college and land that first “great” job? When we find ourselves stuck in a career path we chose at age 19 (hmm, I can write, I’ll go into journalism)? When we tolerate a relationship or marriage? It’s too bad that as adults we slowly let go and just stick with what we have or what comes to us. We choose the easy option, which is settling for something instead of taking a risk at something better.

At what point in life were you the happiest? High school? College? Middle school?

For most of us, our happiest times were years ago. Could it be because at that point we didn’t feel so trapped? We had options because we allowed ourselves to dream big and no one told us no.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I said I wanted to be a vet, a writer and an artist.

Well, here I am writing about dogs. My wish to be a vet has passed (hate science, bad at math). But my passion for helping animals is still here, as well as the need to express myself through writing. In many ways I haven’t changed, I just need to remind myself of what I really want.

Take your dog out for a long walk this week and ask yourself:

What am I settling for?
What am I happy with?
What am I missing?
What are my true passions?

I hope you find your answers.

(Some of you may have noticed my Saturday posts are often loosely related or unrelated to dogs.)

I am working with my dog to perfect his heeling. Our trainer suggested this tip last week that allows me to look straight ahead instead of at my dog all the time. It is a simple trick that works.

1. Start with your dog on the left. Hold the leash in both hands with a little slack. A choke collar works best for Ace.

2. Hold your left hand at your side touching the seam of your pants. I actually pinch a piece of my pants so I don’t move my hand. Allow just enough slack so your dog can go only as far ahead as you want her to go. In my case, I don’t allow any more than Ace’s nose to pass in front of my leg, so that’s how much slack I leave in the leash.

3. Keep the collar high up under the dog’s chin and walk forward with your left hand remaining at your side. Look straight ahead. Do not look at your dog. Instead, you will be able to tell where your dog is by the tension or lack of tension in the leash. When it is tight, that is when you correct your dog with a quick leash pop. Glance at her through your peripheral vision as needed, but don’t let her know all your attention is on her. Walk at a brisk pace so she is focused on following you.

This method works well for Ace and I. Before I learned this basic trick, I was always looking at Ace and giving him way too many leash corrections. But when I hold the leash at the seam of my pants, Ace is actually more aware of where he is supposed to be because he feels the slight tension immediately. With time I won’t have to worry so much about keeping my left hand at my side, and it will become a habit not to look at my dog.

It’s not going to cure a dog that pulls over night, but it is a small step in the right direction.

What tips do you use for training a dog to heel?

(Image from dogsunlimited.com)

For the past week or so, I have practiced “roll over” with Ace three or four times a day for very short periods. This is the hardest of the five commands for him to pick up on. I don’t think he understands it yet because he usually just stares at me, like, huh? The only times he has done it right on his own were while we were out in the grass. This is probably because he likes to roll in the grass anyway for fun. It’s just natural.

Tomorrow I will make a point to practice “roll over” with him out in the grass. Instead of focusing on all five commands like we did today, I will just focus on roll over. My plan is to take him on a long walk and every five or ten minutes, stop in the grass and have him roll over. If he gets it right on his own, maybe I will make a big game of it and have him chase me. Ha, if anyone could see that!

The problem with roll over is Ace doesn’t seem too interested in it. He has learned “fun” commands like jump and climb in literally one or two short sessions. But with roll over, it is taking forever.

Another problem is Ace’s ball obsession. When I practice all five commands in one session, he can’t focus because a ball is involved for two of the commands. After this challenge is over, I will be working with Ace to learn to ignore a ball. It is a real problem because he can’t even respond to basic commands if he is thinking about a ball, even when I hide it in my bag. This drives me crazy, because he will not focus on me.

I’ll see how he comes along in the next week. Today was day 23 of my 30-day challenge to teach my dog five new commands: bang, crawl, roll over, go long and bucket. Click here to see my other 30-day challenge posts.