Come here … a little closer. Little bit closer. I want to tell you a secret. A secret about dogs that you may or may not know. A secret that may help you understand your dog better while you are training … or dealing with issues.
There are NO perfect dogs. There, I said it. There may be a perfect dog for you, but there is no dog out there that is perfect – perfect in obedience, perfect in behaviour. THERE IS JUST NO SUCH THING.
I think, to a point, social media skews this perception of perfection because most of the time, we are seeing videos of perfection, small clips and snippets of an awesome moment in time where the dog “did it perfectly”. And when this is presented over and over and over again, it can look like there are a whole wack of perfect dogs out there, and we just got the duds. I mean, I am guilty of putting small snippets up too, of course I am, as I want to showcase certain aspects, but I think it’s also important to showcase the “not so good” aspects because that is where real life sits. That’s where it actually helps people.
It’s kind of like those fashion magazines and ads in the 80’s and 90’s in which those “perfect” specimens of women and men were showcased. We saw it and said, “look at all these perfect people, why can’t I be perfect?”. Look at all these perfect dogs on social media, why can’t mine be perfect? Or something like that.
When we then expect perfection, because of what we’ve seen online, we set our dogs, and ourselves, up for failure. Erase that from your mind. There is no such thing as perfect. When striving for perfection we either put too much pressure on our dogs/ourselves, or we quit altogether because we are not obtaining that “gold standard”. Neither is helpful, and neither will move our dog forward in training.
My dogs aren’t perfect, far from it. They can be obstinate, jerky a$$holes some days. But I expect that. They aren’t robots. They are living creatures with feelings, desires, drives and sometimes, attitude. They can make mistakes. They can be tired, crabby, not feeling well or feeling too well. Each day is different, just like it is for us. There is no way to build a dog who is perfect since, we can not build a human who is perfect. So stop trying.
Instead, what we need to focus on is progress. We can all make progress. Steps forward towards a greater goal is easier to obtain and less daunting than trying to create perfection. Progress can be measured and built upon, perfection can not. Progress allows us to celebrate the little moments, and enables us to maintain joy in the task of training because we are at least seeing some results and not putting unrealistic expectations on our dogs. Practice makes progress and progress makes both dogs and people happier.
My suggestion; look for progress in everything that you do with your dog (and kids). Looking for progress will take you much further than only striving for perfection. And remember, those “perfect” dogs you see, whether online, on the street, or at the park, they all have their a$$hole moments, they are not “perfect”, they all do dumb things, make up their own rules and decide not to listen, just like us. So don’t worry if your dog isn’t perfect, no one else’s is anyway.
Happy training!!
Smart Dogs Canine Training Milton 