Client Eddy the Australian Shepherd was a very well-trained dog, in the sense that he was obedient, knew a copious list of obedience commands, and was active in several sports including agility, frisbee, and Rally-O. Being a bright and driven Aussie, he excelled at all these activities.
Outside the sporting ring, he led a very active lifestyle with his energetic and dedicated mom who took him on frequent walks, hikes, and swims at their local indoor pool. During the week when she worked, she had a dogwalker take Eddy out. She also fed him a wholesome diet, holistically managing a mild case of food allergies.
Still, Eddy was reactive to just about anything – critters on their walks, people near and far, dogs near and far, and noises outside the house, to name a few. He was insecure and “lacking confidence in the world,” as his owner put it. Smart as he is, he lacked the capacity to consider the various stimuli in his environment in a thoughtful manner and modulate his
response. Going to new places, trying to swim, and other activities were scary to him. In sport, he was easily distracted and reacted to things outside the arena or working area. He was clearly talented but also erratic and inconsistent. In his day-to-day dealings with his owner, he took it upon himself to bark his needs at her and herd her around their apartment.
Of course, my client was at a loss. She’s a smart, studious, and serious dog owner who thought she’d done everything right with her Aussie who was also her first dog. She understood that Australian Shepherds are a work-oriented and intelligent breed that needed to be challenged but she could tell something was amiss. She sensed her dog’s unease and lack of trust, which saddened her and made her question whether they had a good relationship.
Working together, my client learned that a dog’s optimal way of life involves more than obedience and sport. She learned that sometimes we can have too much of a good thing, which in this case was too much obedience, too much “programming” of the dog’s mind. My client got to see that Eddy’s extensive vocabulary, while helpful in a lot of ways, had also undermined his capacity to think for himself, weakened his natural instincts, and fed into his insecurity and therefore his reactivity.
She learned that there can also be such a thing as too much stimulation in sport, even for an Aussie. Stimulation turns to agitation as opposed to stability when we don’t have the right kind of relationship and way of life outside these competitive spaces to balance things out. As an example, Eddy was around all the time. No schedule and no crates, no downtime or real rest from all the learning and stimulation. That was the case pretty much from the get-go. Like many, my client had dispensed with crating soon as Eddy was housetrained. She now realizes how “lost” he must have felt, without a schedule or a minimum of structure. No wonder he hid behind the couch, looking for a break and a little privacy. She understood that herding breeds thrive on law and order. Absent her decision making, he decided for himself by hiding inside and chasing after things outside.
As our work progressed, my client and I went even deeper into our coaching and worked at the level of the co-dependent relationship she had with her dog, which really was the core issue behind any of the visible symptoms of insecurity and reactivity. She was single, an introvert, and the dog was her world. She realized how much she’d relied on him to provide for her emotional needs. She came to see that this was an unfair burden for a dog to carry, and how it had caused him to lose confidence in himself as a dog.
My client says that Way of Life Dog Training changed her life and that is indeed what we do. We help people understand where their dogs are coming from and coach them in living differently with their dogs. We don’t try to change the dog. Rather, we change how dogs live. We change the people they live with.
There is now structure in the dog’s way of life and much more independence and leadership on the part of his owner. The fear she felt handling his reactions and the sorrow she felt witnessing his lack of confidence are gone. We have a more assured handler working to grow herself and her canine partner in soundness and strength. Their hikes and swims are enjoyable now and Eddy is back in sport after a short hiatus required by our work.
To help her dog, my client realized that she needed to become a more whole and grounded person. She needed to become the person that all along, she was meant to be. Much as the changes in the dog are to be celebrated, it’s when the people change that the coaching work is really done.
