Embrace The Challenges

[MyDogBitz]

Creating stable and go-anywhere dogs is an ongoing job. When you find that one environment your dog struggles in, embrace it and go into it head on.

I finally found the one environment my pup struggles in, my son's highschool soccer games. There's a lot of reasons why he struggles here but the main temptations is the constant movement of the game itself.

Instead of ignoring it and leaving my dog home, he is going to come with me and we're going to figure it out together.

If you truly want to create a go-anywhere and do-anything type of dog you MUST search these opportunities out and take them head on.

 

[Malakai The Great]

This is such a solid approach. It’s easy to avoid the tough environments, but like you said, that just leaves holes in the dog’s confidence. Facing it head-on with patience and consistency is what creates that go anywhere dog.

I had a similar experience with one of mine around crowded farmer’s markets. The constant movement, food smells, and tight spaces were overwhelming at first. Instead of skipping it, we worked through it bit by bit, and now it’s one of the easiest places for him.

Love seeing you take Bomber into those soccer games. That kind of work pays off in ways most people don’t realize until much later. Keep us posted on how he does as he gets more exposure, it’s inspiring to see.

 

[Kaia Murphy]

This is awesome! I love that you’re turning the soccer games into training opportunities instead of avoiding them! Honestly, it sounds like your pup is probably rooting harder for the ball than the players. I can just picture him thinking, Why isn’t anyone letting ME chase it?!!?

It’s really encouraging to see you embrace those struggles. Makes me feel braver about leaning into the tricky stuff instead of steering away from it.

 

[MyDogBitz]

I'm pretty confident we conquered the soccer games. He's been A+ on our last few visits. We haven't made any of the away games yet so we'll see how he responds in unfamiliar territory when we get a chance. One thing I've learned is generalization matters and just because you're getting perfect behavior in one scenario doesn't necessarily mean you'll get it in another. Especially with young dogs.

 

[Malakai The Great]

I'm pretty confident we conquered the soccer games. He's been A+ on our last few visits. We haven't made any of the away games yet so we'll see how he responds in unfamiliar territory when we get a chance. One thing I've learned is generalization matters and just because you're getting perfect behavior in one scenario doesn't necessarily mean you'll get it in another. Especially with young dogs.

That’s awesome progress. Getting an A+ in an environment as distracting as a soccer game is no small thing. Huge credit to both of you for working through it instead of avoiding it.

You’re spot on about generalization too. Shepherds are masters at learning “in context,” so they might nail it at one field and then act like they’ve never heard the command somewhere else. The good news is every new place you take him to work through it just layers more confidence on top.

Can’t wait to hear how he does at those away games, those kinds of tests are what really round out a solid go anywhere dog.