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Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience


Feb 17, 2020

How can you train an “untrainable” dog?

Do such dogs even exist? When Kathy met Maya, a six-month old border collie with a sweet temperament, she had already been re-homed three times and Kathy was her fourth. Each owner said the same thing as the last. Maya was out of control. She was “untrainable.”

Poor Maya had a rough time of it but thankfully, Kathy wasn’t about to give up on her. She took what her previous owners said with a grain of salt. After all, how bad could it be?

What followed was months of foundation building, bonding, and training. Above all else, Kathy made sure that Maya’s needs were being met and that she felt safe, calm and happy with her new forever family. Kathy shares Maya’s story in this episode of Enlightened By Dogs in hopes that it’ll inspire you to never give up on your “untrainable” dog.

 

In this episode:

  • Hear about Kathy’s border collie Maya, the “untrainable” dog
  • What partnership principles Kathy used when training Maya
  • Three questions you should ask yourself before making any training decisions
  • Why you should focus on building a foundation with your dog before jumping into the difficult stuff
  • What the “95% rule” is and how you can use it with your dog
  • How Maya’s incredible transformation proves that no dog is “untrainable”

 

Quotes:

“I was very mindful to let her know that she was never going to be struck or punished again.”

“When Maya first came home, the very first thing I focused on was building our foundation.”

“We just took it one day at a time and I stayed in the dialogue loop with her.”

“It's important for us to first have a foundation that is built on trust, confidence and communication, so that we know how to dialogue.”

 

Love this and want more?

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Kathy is offering a big “thank you” for rating and reviewing the show on Apple PodcastsSubscribe on Apple Podcasts

 

Want More of Kathy?

To read the blog post on this topic, click here.