The Wrong Problem

You’re doing everything right. You’ve followed the advice, watched the tutorials, repeated the steps. Still… nothing seems to change.

It’s frustrating, disheartening – and maybe even making you question yourself.

I’d love to share something so important with you that not many people talk about: 

Some challenges, especially the ones that come with reactive, anxious, or unpredictable dogs, can’t be solved through sheer effort. They often require a shift in perspective, not just more persistence.

If you feel like you’re stuck in a loop with your dog’s behaviour, no matter how hard you try… it might be time to stop seeking more and more answers, and start asking better questions.

Here are some different questions for you to ponder today.

Am I solving the right problem, or just the first one I noticed?

Often the ‘big' problem is not the one you should work on first. There will be smaller problems you should prioritise right now that actually reduce the big one – or make it disappear altogether!

What constraints am I treating as fixed that might be flexible?

A lot of the “rules” we follow aren’t rules at all – they’re just habits, assumptions or old-fashioned ways of doing things. Most dog owners we work with have built invisible constraints, making things so much harder for themselves. 

What would I do if I wasn't afraid of being wrong or judged?

So many owners play it safe; avoiding training, avoiding asking questions – because they’re scared of looking like they don’t know what they’re doing. But progress requires curiosity and mistakes. Imagine what you'd try if you weren't holding back out of fear of embarrassment?

What if I tried the opposite of what I've been trying?

If you’ve been throwing everything into training: more cues, more reps, more effort – and still feel stuck, you probably need to stop with the ‘more more more mindset’ and take a different approach.

Am I trying to untie something I could just cut through?

Are you painstakingly trying to desensitise your dog to a trigger that could be avoided? Are you obsessing over the “perfect” lead when you don’t even feel safe leaving the house? Not every problem needs to be unravelled to be resolved; some can be bypassed, and others just need a brave, clean cut. There will be things on your to-do list that you're hammering away at, that really need precision not persistence – so you can spend your precious energy where it truly matters.

These questions may be uncomfortable or challenging, but your next breakthrough is found in the answer to one of them.