“IT MUST BE THE CBD OIL”

That was clickbait. This is not a post about the popular panacea. This is a post about assigning the correct casual relationships to your dog’s success.

I realized recently that I run into a phenomenon quite often and I am really curious about why this happens to so many owners I work with. Maybe you guys can help me out. Here’s the 411.

Humans have a problem with their dog. We meet, have our Complete Consult, the behavior plan is written, and we get to work. Now, these hypothetical owners are all in. They are implementing management, acquiring tools, and attending to other issues like consulting about meds with a vet or behavior vet, etc.

They are setting us ALL up for success.

We start doing some work sessions and they are committed to daily practice towards the agreed-upon goals. We get to the point in the engagement where we reach flow - everything begins to gel. The frequency and intensity of the target behavior goes down. Positive reinforcement for human and dog goes up. True behavior change is happening.

All good, right? Totally good. The weird part? More often than not, I hear my very excited owners try to pin their dog's successes on something other than their hard work.

STOP IT RIGHT NOW! Your dog would not be where they are without YOU - your commitment, your love, your energy, your strength, courage, and resolve.

I can tell you, sure as I am sitting here with years in this business and thousands of experiences to share, no single drug, calming chew, or magical oil is going to change your dog’s behavior. Without you actively working on it, these strategies are unstable. Even on meds, if put in a problematic situation without new coping skills, your dog will behave similarly to how they did in the past.

So, if you see yourself in the above description, stand up and acknowledge yourself and anyone else who is actively changing to help their dog.

^ That is the foundation for success - it’s not the CBD oil.

Images: Small sample of client dogs with owners that deserve a little pat on the back. This is not even remotely close to an exhaustive list! There are definitely more of you out there!