12/05/2025
Working on big projects for our dog training program and I want to share a thought...
When it comes to dog training, far too many people make the mistake of thinking that acquiring techniques is what defines the level of mastery. It does not. Being able to train a thousand tricks in general will never be nearly as valuable as being able to train one trick perfectly.
I'm starting to realize that the rules of mastery are universal. They're not constrained to one art or another. Bruce Lee said he is more concerned with the person who has done the same kick 10,000 times than he is with the person who has learned 10,000 different kicks. If you look at this on the surface level you will utterly miss the great depth and gravity of what he is saying. He is not giving neat advice on how to stay focused and stick with what you start. He is not giving a trite saying. He is openly and plainly describing the difference between a master and others. 100 times out of 100, the master is the one who has done the same kick 10,000 times. And not because he is done 10,000 kicks over the last hundred years and therefore has done each of those kicks probably 10,000 times over the last 100 years or whatever. No. It is because he gets up every day and practices the fundamentals. It's because he sees that the fundamentals are not basics, they're the core. Techniques, skills, tricks, they will reach an end. How many times can you teach a dog to sit? That's the first level.
The second level is when you've done it enough that you start to realize there are many different ways to create the same outcome. You start to explore and break the rules that you once kept because you're starting to look at the principles though you don't see it yet.
You start to break out of the written path. You develop confidence and some skill, then you face the thing that challenges you and grows you. You get to the point where instead of having to consciously think about what to do, or having done it so many times that doing it is second nature, you come to the higher level. The place where you are no longer doing, you are being.
Don't let me lose you.
When you get to that place you realize two things. The first is that the principles are universal and a never-ending well of depth. You are no longer constrained to this way or that way you are free to move however because on the inside you have -become- the thing you were once only "doing". It is once you reach that point that you realize the things that you thought were basic are the things that are the fundamentals and those things will never stop teaching you.
That is why upon achieving mastery, a martial arts master will go to the same spot and practice the same kick that they've been practicing since they first started. A concert pianist, or Joshua Bell with his violin, will practice their scales and their arpeggios everyday. Keep in mind they aren't just practicing small things they are learning the most profound things they possibly can in their art from those small and simple things.
When it comes to mastery the mark of a master is a freedom from technique but a devotion to fundamentals and discipline.
This is universal.
True mastery is about self-development, not control of external things. When it comes to dog training, we call it dog training because fundamentally we do not understand the true nature of what it is we should be trying to do. We see somebody on social media walk around with 30 dogs and think how amazing that must be. We see somebody teach a dog how to jump through a flaming hoop, balance on a tight rope, jump through a window and bite somebody, and all these things are techniques, skills. Are they neat? Yes sure. Are they impressive? Perhaps.
However these are not hallmarks of mastery and they are not what most people should be seeking or measuring themselves by. You don't have to do that in order to get peace in your household and harmony with your pets. Becoming an excellent dog handler or dog trainer is the exact same as becoming a master in Kendo, aikido, piano, chef, or anything. The better you can master yourself, the better you can see and understand yourself, the better you can self-regulate, the more you will accomplish. That is the point. That is the art. That is the work. Whatever you happen to be doing is simply the arena or the means.
I'm not impressed by trainer or a performer who can get their dog to do 30 tricks. I am not impressed by somebody who has met 100 dogs or trained 100 dogs. If someone wants to show me true mastery, instead of showing me how you can walk 10 dogs well, show me how you can walk one dog perfectly. If you can do that, that simple otherwise "basic" thing... If you can do that then you can do everything. You can do anything.
Techniques are tools. Presence, understanding, and timing are the art. Reality is the sculptor, if you let it be. The dog is a mirror, if you can learn to see. You are the sculpture. Don't forget that.
