How to Make the World a More Loving Place One Household at a Time
My professional approach
It was Friday, June 28th, 2013, the day I had been waiting for all week long.
Just a few hours after I had come home from my job working with an online community, a van pulled up outside my house.
From the van emerged a woman…and a puppy.
This was the day that Puppy Loki entered my life.
One of the greatest days ever!
But, little did I know how much this little Mischief Machine was about to radically change everything.
Uncharted terrain
Loki was my first puppy. I had no idea what to expect. A German Shepherd-Siberian Husky mix, he had high energy and high intelligence.
He was my greatest blessing…and my worst nightmare.
I struggled. Too often I just didn't know what to do.
At one point, after we had a rough time together and he had finally calmed down, I felt too overwhelmed. While caressing his cheek, I looked at him through teary eyes and said, "Buddy, I don't know if I can do this."
As I gazed into his bright, happy eyes, I realized what I had just said.
I had spoken my greatest fear.
In that moment, a switch flipped inside me.
I looked at him and told him right then and there, "I'll figure it out. I'll make this work. I'm not giving up on us. Ever."
Up until that point, I had watched a lot of videos and read plenty of books about dog training. But it was time to double down. I absolutely immersed myself in it more so than ever before.
In the process, I came across a book by Pat Miller entitled The Power of Positive Dog Training. It changed my perspective on everything. And it started me on a journey down a very specific path.
After the dog-training immersion, I discovered that I absolutely loved training dogs. I even got another dog, Lugh (my Siberian husky, who probably has some Australian Shepherd in him) on December 19th, 2014.
As a result of it all, I decided it was time for a change. I left my job working with an online community and took the plunge into the wonderful world of modern, science-based, force-free dog training.
On October 1, 2016, Puppy Tutor Force-Free Dog Training entered the scene.
Dog training as a ministry
One of the most important things I discovered about dog training is this: There are many different approaches, and not all of them treat dogs humanely.
Once I saw this, I could not unsee it. With this new insight, I looked around and noticed the extent to which many harmful techniques and tools have been normalized in our culture.
As you already know, love is central to my spirituality. For me, love isn't just an emotion we feel. It's a way of being in the world, a way of relating to others.
It seems to me that if we love our dogs, then we would want to use tools and methods that give expression to that love, rather than tools and methods that contradict it.
Yet, because most people think that dog training is dog training—in other words, it’s really all the same—they unknowingly and unnecessarily treat their dogs in ways that are harmful.
Part of my goal with my own dog training is not only to educate people on the science of dog training but also to help them become aware of why some approaches will contradict the love they feel for their dogs.
So, my dog training has become an expression of my spirituality that revolves around love.
My personal mission
A while back I asked myself, what is my overall mission in life? And this is what I came up with…
I strive to make the world a more loving place one household at a time.
That's my personal mission. Regardless of what I'm doing or where I'm at, that's what I want my fingerprint on this world to be.
But, how does that translate into dog training?
If I want to be faithful to my personal sense of mission in this world, then I need to align my mission and my values for my dog training services toward that goal.
This is how it all plays out…
My business mission
In alignment with my personal mission, here’s my business mission:
I make humane dog training accessible and affordable.
The three key words there are humane, accessible, and affordable. That business mission is the framework for everything I do.
My business values
My business values represent what I stand for in the marketplace. Because they are unique to me, they differentiate me from all other dog trainers. And, each of my values points me back to my business mission. I display them proudly on my website because I want people to know what I’m all about.
Here they are…
Science: the standard for excellence
Science is important to me. It is the best tool we have for understanding our universe, and it is an integral part of my spirituality.
I'm a science-based trainer. Science helps us to understand how dogs are processing information during training. Studies have been performed to explore what works and what doesn't, as well as the effects training methods and tools have on dogs' physical, emotional, and social well-being.
There are a lot of dog-training tools and methods that dog trainers pass off as effective, but we sometimes see that they don't really work as well as assumed, or they work but they also diminish the well-being of the dog in some way.
The bottom line: Science is revealing that force-free training is the most effective and healthy way to train dogs.
Compassion: the measure for boundaries
Compassion means that there are certain things—the unloving—that are out of bounds for me. I do not use aversive tools or techniques (“aversive” is code for leveraging intimidation, fear, pain, or violence to generate a response.). I rely only on methods and tools I consider to be harmless and appropriate expressions of love.
But, what if science were to show that aversive techniques and tools were more efficient than force-free techniques and tools? (After all, science is a value.)
If I have to make a choice, I will choose the force-free approach. Sure, it might take more time and energy. But, I know that the approach will also nurture the spirit of the dog as well as its behavior.
Relationship: the foundation of all training
The approach that I take to training is all about facilitating a vital relationship between canine and human companions.
In fact, the very methods I use enhance the human-canine relationship as a side effect.
As I like to say on my website, our goal is to “achieve resonance and responsiveness through science and love”. Resonance and responsiveness are what make up a relationship.
Justice: removing the economic barrier
I believe economic justice is one of the greatest issues that we face today in America. In a world in which dog training is quite expensive, I’m the “economy dog trainer”.
Yes, I specialize in online one-on-one private lessons, which are more expensive than group sessions. But when you compare the average price of private dog training in my area to my prices, you're looking at my competitors being two to three times more expensive on average.
Even after that, I realize that my low prices can still be too much for some families. So I make it clear on my website that I am willing to work something out with those who are on a tighter budget. I don’t want an economic barrier to prevent people from getting help for their canine family members if they need it.
Empowerment: freeing from future reliance on a pro
Rather than "giving someone a fish", I "teach people to fish" with my dog training.
If more people knew how to lovingly communicate with their dogs, it would lead to less stress and increased harmony in households.
I approach my flagship program, the Canine Coaching Course, with that in mind.
While almost all other dog training out there teaches you skills-based learning (sit, come, etc), I teach you the basic principles, concepts, and techniques of modern, science-based dog training so you can start to think and train more like a pro.
I have condensed the essentials of dog training into a 4- or 6-week course (depending on the level chosen), without watering it down. In fact, it is the exact same system that I use when I train dogs.
Of course, it takes time and practice to learn and internalize the system until it becomes second nature, but the core is all right there. Once you learn it well enough, you can generalize from it and create your own training on the fly as you need it.
When you are able to do that, you are no longer reliant on a pro.
Sure, situations may arise in which you need a bit more help. But for the most part, after completing the Canine Coaching Course, you can enjoy the same kind of independence I do.
Making humane dog training accessible and affordable
So, how exactly do I make humane dog training accessible and affordable? Let’s look at those 3 keywords I mentioned earlier: human, accessible, and affordable.
My methods (humane)
The number one change in science-based dog training over the last 50 years revolves around its primary concern. Dog training used to be about “obedience”. In other words, “behaviors”. If you tell your dog to do something, you expect the appropriate response. If your dog is misbehaving, you alter the dog's behavior so that it is behaving more appropriately.
Today, we are not just concerned about a dog's behavior, but rather its overall health and well-being, of which behavioral health is one part. We've discovered that addressing behaviors with aversive corrections can actually do emotional or social damage to a dog, damage that may remain hidden from view initially. So, modern, science-based dog trainers, like myself, shun aversive training methods and tools for the sake of the dog.
This evolved ultimate concern leads science-based, force-free training to take on a very different orientation at its core when compared with more traditional training.
More traditional training methods are all about exercising “power over” your dog. Force-free training methods are all about exercising “power with” your dog.
There’s another term we can use to accurately describe this “power with” dynamic. We call it…
Love.
From my spiritual perspective, divine love is more than just a feeling. It's a way of being in the world. It's a way of interacting with others.
Ultimately, through my dog training, I am helping people to learn practical ways to choose and implement a “power with” dynamic rather than a “power over” dynamic.
As I like to tell my clients, what I really do in my business is help people to take the love that they experience in their hearts and get it out into their relationships…starting with their dogs.
And this brings me back to…making the world a more loving place one household at a time.
My platform (accessible)
I specialize in online training. I work with clients over Google Meet. This enables me to work with anyone who has internet access.
By focusing my work online, I have effectively removed the barrier of distance. I live in Wisconsin, but if someone in California wants to work with me, no problem.
A nice side effect of this approach is how it affects my pricing. I live in an area with a lower cost of living. Those who live in areas with higher costs of living will have to pay local dog trainers much higher rates than they would if they worked with me.
In fact, a while back I was talking with someone who lived in New York. They had just signed up for dog training with a local trainer. The cost: $650 for six half-hour sessions in their home. Working with me, they would have gotten more than twice as much time, a higher quality of education, and spent about half as much. During our conversation, the man said, “I really wish we had found out about you before we paid”.
My rates (affordable)
Sometimes people come to me after researching dog training in the area. When they find out about my rates, they are very happy.
I don't want economics to become a barrier that prevents people from getting help with their dogs. So, I have made a commitment to keep my prices as low as I can while still staying in business.
One of the ways that I have accommodated those on the lower end of the economic scale is by creating some DIY eBooks. If people do not have the funds for private dog training, but they still need help in certain areas, I have created resources at a very low cost that they can purchase. (Here’s a DIY program I created for separation anxiety.)
Of course, as I've said before, if people are really struggling and need help beyond the resources that I have, I am willing to work with their budgets.
A new kind of business
I want what I do in the dog training industry as a business to stand for something more than just making money as a dog trainer who helps dogs and families harmonize.
For me, it's also about aligning the business itself with my spiritual drive in a way that challenges the status quo of how business is done in our society.
I believe the way businesses are run in general in America is a major source of our problems in society, problems that include systemic poverty, mental and physical health care issues, and violence and crime, among others.
I want to see the landscape change for how business is done. So, I choose to incarnate that vision and become the change I want to see.
The advantage of running my own business
I realize that running my own business gives me the luxury of being able to set the tone for how the business is run. Most people don't have that luxury.
My general recommendation to people who work for others is simply this: do the best you can. Ask yourself, "What personal/spiritual values do I want to incarnate in my workplace?" Then, do what you can to implement them into your day.
Or, if your workplace is not the best place to start incarnating your values, maybe another part of your life is.
Next week I want to talk about a part of life that all Americans share. It is a part of life that I believe should be very heavily influenced by one's spiritual perspective: politics.
Peace, Bo
www.evolvingchristianfaith.net
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