Is it dog training or human training?
At Strong Bond, we believe that true, lasting transformation begins with the human.
When you focus on personal growth - becoming a more patient, confident, and capable leader - you create the space for your dog to follow your lead.
Your dog isn't a machine to be "programmed."
They're a partner who reflects the energy, clarity, and consistency you bring to the relationship.
This is why what you take away from training is the most important part of dog training.
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Obedience Mindset vs Cooperation Mindset
Obedience Mindset vs. Cooperation Mindset
Which one you have makes a big difference when it comes to relating to and training your dog.
Obedience is self-serving and always lowers trust.
Cooperation earns trust through acts of service.
The greater service we provide to our dog, the more influence we earn.
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Your Dog Speaks the Language of Emotions
How you are feeling in any given situation is going to communicate more to your dog than anything you say or do.
Becoming more aware of your emotional states will help you identify what you need to work on within yourself.
You cannot lead your dog somewhere you cannot go.
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Slow Down
Dogs help us live in the present moment.
They have a lot to teach us about slowing down, enjoying things fully, and never passing up a moment to soak in the sunshine.
Squirrel Chasin' in the Rain
Lumps will risk it for the biscuit. 🐿⚡️
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Your Dog Has All the Answers
Everything your dog does communicates how they are experiencing life.
The more you see your dog’s behavior as honest feedback, the more their decisions (good and bad) will transform into valuable information.
When you become a student of your dog, their authentic expression will help you course correct quickly and without frustration.
The Practice: Treat Everything Like an Experiment
Every dog is a puzzle. By making creative and conscious changes in your dog’s life, then paying attention to how they adapt, you will start to get a sense for how your dog learns and what they need to be fulfilled.
Another way of saying this is, if what you’re doing isn’t working, try something different. If that doesn’t work, keep experimenting until you discover something that does work.
Your dog has all the answers. It’s up to you to ask the right questions and listen to how they respond.
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The Secret to Effective Dog Training
The secret to effective and easy dog training...? Is to always start by Looking to Yourself. 👀
You control everything in your dog’s life.
Where your dog lives, what they eat, who their friends are (dog and human), the amount of exercise they get, and what learning opportunities they have, are all determined by you. When things are going well and when things are going poorly, the likelihood that your choices play a role in these outcomes is very high.
The Goal: Meet your dog's needs.
Since dogs have a wide variety of physical, mental, and social needs, if the life you are creating for them is not meeting these needs, your dog will begin to suffer and struggle. If you want to earn a leadership role in your pack, it is your job to create a fulfilling life for them.
The more your dog sees you as the source (rather than an obstacle) to what they need, the more they will want to be in a cooperative state with you.
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"Contrafreeloading"
"Contrafreeloading" is an observed behavior in which an organism, when offered a choice between provided food or food that requires effort to obtain, prefers the food that requires effort.
This means your dog will actually enjoy their food MORE if you make them "work" for it.
This could include asking them to do tricks before a meal, investing in a puzzle feeder, or playing "go find your food" before meal times.
Remember to have fun with it! 🐶
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Lead by Being
The 1st principle we teach people when they come to work with us is that a good leader LEADS BY BEING.
This is different than lead by example. That motto stays too surface level. It's only about your actions.
LEAD BY BEING is about who you are as a person. It goes a level deeper, which means it affects all of the decisions you make.
This matters to your dog because you are the source of everything in their life. Not only their food, their shelter, and basic needs. But you're their example of how to be in the world.
Can you be calm, patient, and listen well? If you can't... how can you expect your dog to be that way?
Are you brave, open minded, and generous? Not until you can embody these things can you expect your dog to even know what it looks like to be that way.
Want an awesome dog? Start with you. 👍
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Paws In Challenge
Paws In Challenge ❤️
Lumps will never not be "in". 😂
What is leadership?
Leadership is the process of earning your pack’s permission to influence their decisions.
Read that again.
The role of leader is given to those who make daily decisions which prove to their pack that they are capable and caring. True influence is only ever the consequence of demonstrating that you have your pack’s best interest at heart.
There is no finish line to leadership. It is an ongoing way of showing up in relationship to your pack that creates mutual trust and respect. If you are skipping this step and simply trying to gain influence with control, you aren’t leading. You’re managing, and no person or dog wakes up in the morning looking forward to being managed.
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What is success?
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 strong, healthy 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 we say leadership is a process, this is what we're referring to. Taking one step forward, paying attention to how our pack changes as a consequence of that step, and making the proper adjustments based on what we’ve learned.
Clients often ask us, “How long do I have to do the things you’re teaching me?” Our 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.
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