11/09/2023
Hanging out, working while I make dinner.
The other day someone asked me the age old question, how often do you train your dogs. I usually reply, "Everytime I interact with them, because that's how often they're learning from me. For the better or worse." Which is true, but may not make sense to everyone. I have to also do my other household and family and work duties of course, so if I'm living a life, how can I train around the clock?
The same way I parent. We have times a day we allocate to homeschool. But when I'm not teaching math, I don't stop raising my kids. I have to also teach them how to think for themselves, how to interact appropriately with others, to advocate for themselves, to mitigatate life's hardships, and those things aren't in a curriculum and have no lesson plans. They're just life organically happening. I wouldn't stand back and let my dog struggle with how to handle a loud noise, loose dog on a walk, or interactions with a new person. I coach them when the occasions arise. We train here and there to incorporate a new behavior, putting it on cue, but 95% of our "training" isn't math, it's how to navigate life calmly and mindfully. 🫶💚🐾
