01/06/2026
I get it, sometimes you look at the dog in front of you an you cannot help but to compare them to a previous dog. We have all done it, but let's talk about the beauty of training the dog in front of you.
When I had my Murphy, I was consistently in awe of how smart he was. He was the smartest dog I have ever owned or met to this day. His ability to problem solve was unlike any other dog- and I loved that about him. When he passed away, we adopted Dash. Dash is not the same as Murphy.
Dash took longer to find his confidence and try to problem solve. As a puppy, his frustration tolerance was very low and he lacked the same skill that Murphy had. I found myself getting frustrated until I decided to just train the dog in front of me and let go of my expectations.
Dash loves enrichment- if he is having fun, he will push himself to solve problems and learn new things, but the key for him is it has to be fun. So now, instead of planed training sessions, we do play sessions with games designed to help him grow and learn. The result? Dash is resilient, he loves to problem solve now and his frustration tolerance is much higher. He is content, not anxious, and we have a great relationship.
Through the process, I learned that Dash sees the world very differently than Murphy did- just like no two people see the world exactly the same- trust me, train the dog in front of you for a great experience.
