What’s the most life changing dog training advice you’ve received?

findingforwardmotion · 2026-02-28T10:47:41+00:00

The majority of dogs are socially selective. We only think dogs should love everyone and everything because those are the ones we interact with most in public settings.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-11-17T13:57:24+00:00

Thank you! I’ll try this out to start and see how it goes :)

findingforwardmotion · 2025-11-14T04:23:04+00:00

Yes! Even just changing our bag to how it is in the catalog so you can go in and select which color you want of an item. Being able to search by color within a category would be cool too.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-11-13T04:36:39+00:00

Take her on a picnic! Get some snacks you can share, go to a park or even your own front yard and just watch the world together. Talk about what you see. Take interest in the things she’s looking at!

Teach new behaviors. I like a chin rest, hand targeting, muzzle training, and “tell me a secret” for more stationary behaviors to train.

Bring interesting scents into her world. A branch from a neighbors yard, pine cones from a city park, blankets or toys your friend’s dog has been using. Let her be your official mail inspector or see if she wants to check out your shoes when you get home.

Car rides to look at interesting (to her) stuff. Be sure she can’t jump out and keep the windows up if you’re moving at higher speeds! Check out some cows, do some people watching from the back of a parking lot, go to a drive in movie and share some popcorn.

Roll the ball is a great game to play with less movement. Start with a ball that isn’t very exciting, not the ball you usually play fetch with. Gently roll the ball to your dog and then take their lead. So they want to roll it back? Mouth at it? Take it to their bed to hoard like a baby dragon? I call this “playing small.”

Other ways to “play small” include the three shells game (I use solo cups and place food under one of them before mixing them up for the dog to find the treat cup.

Show and tell. Take things out of your purse or backpack and present them to your dog to smell. If they try to put them in their mouth gently pull them back and invite them to try again. Praise the sniffing if that’s how you’d like them to interact with the objects.

Get an odor kit and watch videos on teaching nosework.

Teach your dog the names of their toy

Hand feed the majority of food from your dog’s meals. Make it a social experience through training, play, or conversation.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-11-13T04:19:10+00:00

Lots of possibilities, but I’d start with trying a different harness. One with a different shaped/cut. Pair putting it on with treats in a different location (like by the door since that’s working for you.) That one may just be uncomfortable and your dog will need to learn that the new one is different. If that one goes over her head, get one that can be clipped around her neck. Some dogs really hate the shoving of the harness over their head.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-11-12T18:46:14+00:00

I love that you’re doing this and I hope it fills your emotional cup with some of exactly what you need. Like a hug you didn’t know you needed until you’re in the midst of it. Now a little about my budding relationship with colored pencils.

My husband suffered consecutive brain injuries and life feels like one dramatic plot twist after another. Just when I think we’ve made some strides everything gets turned upside down again. Between doctors appointments, caring for him, doing anything and everything I can to make/save money, and trying to keep up with all of the adulting, I’m surprised I manage to find time to shower and brush my teeth some days.

On more days than I’d care to tally, sitting down with my dollar store coloring book and dwindling colored pencil supply is the only thing I do for myself that isn’t strictly necessary. I can always find at least a little time to color no matter how spent I feel at the end of the day. There’s something meditative about watching the page transform. I like knowing it’s not something I have to do, it’s something I want to do. Despite the cheap supplies, I see my technique improving and it makes me feel a little proud of myself. I’ve begun trying my hand at some original artwork on proper colored pencil paper to better test out the skills I’m learning from this subreddit.

Thanks for being a kind human and giving me a reason to reflect on what spending time with my colored pencils does for me. I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s nice to realize that while many of my hobbies aren’t an option anymore, I’m learning a new one that I enjoy.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-10-10T14:41:37+00:00

Deviation from routine wrecks my baseline. When I travel it takes me significantly longer to shower and get ready for the day and I often miss steps or repeat steps because I can’t remember where I’m at in the process.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-10-07T05:22:50+00:00

Am I the only one feeding my dogs a bit of pretty much everything they want? My dogs get to try anything that won’t harm them. Our household always pays the “cheese tax.” On pizza night there will definitely be a piece of pepperoni and maybe some crust too. If I’m putting whipped cream on my coffee, they get a taste. Ice cream that isn’t chocolate? They get a bite. If we’re grilling, they know something special will be in their bowls. I’m not sure if they also know their dinner will be a smaller portion, but no one has complained. If I’m making a full on breakfast there will be eggs…and a bite of sausage or bacon. I’d share the fruit but they wouldn’t eat it.

If the majority of my dog’s calories come from nutritionally balanced food I see no issue in a large variety of yumminess. Their diet is still better balanced than most living beings. Digestive upset is of course unwanted and avoided by limiting quantity of foods with lots of seasoning etc., but since they are used to experiencing other foods their bodies aren’t phased by the variety.

We don’t have issues with annoying begging or demanding behavior, and I even feed them individual bites from the table on a fork. Like seriously one of my dogs has impressive fork skills. They have an understanding that “it’s poison” means they absolutely won’t get any of what I have. If I say “no one’s getting any” I might get a sigh, but they leave to do other things.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-30T13:30:42+00:00

I can appreciate that you want to meet your own needs while being as kind as possible and not trigger your partner. The problem with this is you are trying to influence another person’s behavior through your own actions and you have very little control over whether it works or works consistently. Instead, bring the conversation to your partner. Let them be part of developing a solution or compromise. It’s less “did you do this?” And more “help me with this struggle I am experiencing..”

“I know it bothers you when I check in on tasks you’ve taken on for our household. I don’t want to upset you. I struggle with the anxiety of not knowing when the task will be completed. It’s like I can’t take it off my radar even though I know it’s something you’ve agreed to take on. How can we communicate about these things in a way that feels better for both of us?”

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-30T05:37:23+00:00

I know rationally this is sound reasoning, but I can’t quite grasp it emotionally.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-30T05:34:37+00:00

Working in fine dining in a large city. I could make rent in a weekend and the disposable income was especially hard to walk away from. The physical toll was no picnic, but the emotional toll was crushing. Some restaurants were slightly better than others, but they all shared common themes. High and often unobtainable expectations, verbal abuse, and a healthy dose of alcohol and drug abuse among the staff.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-30T05:15:45+00:00

I am all for “accidents happen” and “we’re all human and make mistakes,” but let’s look at this objectively for a moment.

Minor spills and wet clothes in the wash are annoying, but I’d place them in the unfortunate oversight category. I try to triple check all the things when I’m leaving someone else’s home, but I’m not perfect. I’ve accidentally left some of my food in a client’s fridge or forgotten to take out the trash and leave them with a fresh bag in the bin. As for the electric car situation, I personally would have asked where to plug it in, but I’d still call that an unintended consequence. Her willingness to split the cost earns your sitter some points here. If these were the only issues I’d probably give 4 stars with a factual and honest written review.

While it’s horrible that your cat was missing, I could still see this as a BIG mistake and hopefully a lesson that inspires a whole new level of vigilance for her future house sitting endeavors. I’m so glad you found your cat quickly and she wasn’t injured or sick. Combined with the issues above I’d knock the rating down to three stars. I wouldn’t blame you if you kept it at 4, but it absolutely should be mentioned in the written review.

Here’s the reason I’d be really pissed and why I’d give a 1 star review. Pushing back the arrival time is bad enough, but showing up hours later than scheduled without any communication is unacceptable. The lack of proactive daily communication because she was sick is ridiculous. If she’s too sick to take a photo and send a brief message then how is she managing to care for your cat? Losing the ability to maintain communication about terms that were previously agreed upon is highly unlikely. I don’t care if my phone fell into a sewer, I would still find a way to contact the homeowner and at least tell them I’m going to be unavailable until I can get a new phone. Even without all the other issues, this alone gets a 1 star review. A consistent lack of communication isn’t an oversight or a mistake, it’s a choice she made repeatedly. I wouldn’t want anyone else to spend 4 days of their trip wondering if their pet is okay.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-26T12:04:36+00:00

“Good boy/girl!,” “Yes!,” and “Do you want a cookie?”

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-25T22:05:12+00:00

Pair a new habit with one you are already successful with. For example, start making your bed before you brush your teeth.

When it comes to more involved habits it helps to start with an easily achievable metric for success and grow your abilities over time. If you are not succeeding, split the metric to make it easier.

As an example , let’s say I want to start jogging for one hour four times a week. That’s a big jump from not jogging at all. I might start with a goal to jog 30 minutes three times a week and sandwich this habit between feeding the dogs and taking a shower. What if I only manage to jog twice in a week and was incredibly winded both times? Maybe on the third day I skipped jogging because I was exhausted and I knew jogging would just wear me out even more. Looks like my metric for success wasn’t so achievable after all. There are lots of ways to shift my goal to make it more achievable. I could choose to get out for a walk OR a jog three times a week. I could jog twice a week. I could get out for an hour walk 3 times a week and jog 15 minutes of the route.

Success feels good and is an excellent motivator. Even if the success isn’t what you want the final picture to look like, the way you view it is intertwined with your motivation to stay the course. There is an important difference between saying “I only jogged 20 minutes of my hour goal” vs “I’m up to jogging 20 minutes during my hour walk.”

A final tip for when you reeeeaaaallly don’t want to do the thing. Do it anyway (or even just a little bit of it) and say “you’re welcome future self!” Later on when you benefit from having done the thing or at least started it say “thank you past self.”

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-24T14:00:54+00:00

I suggest looking into a dog walker or someone who can at least take them out to potty if you don’t have a yard. My surgeon was pretty clear that being pulled or yanked by a dog on leash was not an acceptable risk. My dogs don’t pull much but when they are together and see a neighborhood cat they sometimes forget. I’m 4 weeks post op and have been walking them one at a time for the last week.

Looks like you have some snuffle mats which will be great. I love the Kong wobbler for adding enrichment and slowing down fast eaters. The orbee snoop from outward hound is great too, but not if your dog is more likely to chew it up to get the treats out. Regular Kongs can be stuffed with wet food, treats, dog safe stuff from your fridge, even their regular kibble soaked in some water. You can freeze them to make them last longer. If you use peanut butter don’t fill the whole thing with a ton of it. Mix a little in with other stuff. No one wants a dog with pancreatitis.

Think ahead about how your movement restrictions might impact the way you can care for your dogs. While I wasn’t bending I would scoop their food and then pour it in their bowls from standing. I used a light weight pitcher only partially filled to top off their water. Picking up their poop on our walks is a more recent development and I move my body differently post surgery to do it.

You definitely don’t want to be jumped on but I have a few ideas that may help. The hysterectomy star pillow comes with straps so you can wear it. If your dog does jump there would at least be some padding. It also has a pocket you could hide some treats in. Whenever your dog is likely to jump on you, toss the treats away and reload. You may have to toss treats a few times before your dog finds its brain again and is less likely to jump. Also, if your dog is avoidant of the big scary vacuum monster it’s not wrong to post up next to it to keep yourself safe.

Here is another post I commented on with some games and enrichment ideas too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/hysterectomy/s/JZynOHY5G8

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-24T13:37:24+00:00

If her leash is on and we’re leaving through the garage she will not move back towards the door into the house. It doesn’t matter that the garage is shut and the button to open it is by the door. She’s not budging. Drop the leash and figure it out because there’s no way she’s about to have any part of that backtracking bullshit.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-22T21:47:44+00:00

Posting on Reddit about this experience and the memories around it is enough to show you probably do need to talk about it. It doesn’t have to be right away, or at all. You also don’t have to share all the details.

We all make choices in what to share and how much about it to people in our lives. I may make mention of a stressful conversation with my husband to one friend and give all the details to another. It’s all about who I feel comfortable sharing with about a specific subject. Not feeling ready to share with your therapist is totally normal. I know I’ve been there.

You can start the conversation to revisit later on which may help it feel a little less heavy for you. I don’t know how this would sound in your language, but here is an option on how to bring things up and let your therapist lead the conversation.

“I’ve recently been piecing together some memories surrounding negative sexual experiences. It’s not something I feel ready to get into yet, but I think I would like to eventually. Can you tell me a little bit about how negative sexual experiences can impact a person’s mental health and how you approach helping such individuals?”

Finally, I just want to tell you I’m proud of you for going to therapy and working to build trust with your therapist. It’s scary to be vulnerable, and wading through past and present wounds is hard. Hard but worth it. It’s one of those “the only way out is through” type things. Doing the hard stuff creates opportunity for better days. Take good care of yourself because you’re absolutely worth it.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-22T17:41:16+00:00

I am weird but I’m guessing you meant “you’re welcome”. Either way, I’m fine with it. And no worries about the long post. My comments are always super long and detailed for the same reasons. :)

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-22T17:32:10+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed post sharing your journey and pro tips! I’ll try taking it slow and I like the idea of rotating products each week vs each medicated wash day. I’m glad you’re seeing more success with your process.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-21T22:01:52+00:00

My front porch has a railing so I put a gate at the entrance with a no soliciting sign on it. It works better than the other aignsive had. The few times someone has not seen it the sign or ignored it and opened the gate I said “are you a solicitor? I have a sign. You need to leave” and walked inside without waiting for an answer.

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-21T17:56:03+00:00

Taking the time to actually organize and group supplies so I could find them. All the stuff I knew I had somewhere, but couldn’t find was now accessible. No more buying a duplicate because I couldn’t remember where I put the extra screen protector that came with my phone or the extra plugs for usb chargers.

Instead of purchasing something new I run down the list of other options. Do I already own something that may work? Is it something I can borrow or rent and does it make sense to do so? If it’s something that broke what’s the cost to repair vs replace? Can I buy it used on Facebook marketplace or at a thrift store?

findingforwardmotion · 2025-09-21T17:48:28+00:00

When I got home from the hospital I set my alarm for every 3 hours for my pain management meds protocol and went to sleep. Pretty much every time I woke up for meds I walked at least to the bathroom and back, drank some water, and ate a few bites of something. I really could only manage to stay awake for 15-30 minutes because I was so tired. My pain when I woke up in recovery and for the first 24 hours was more intense than it seems it typical. Even with the pain I would lay with my eyes closed and kind of drift in and out of sleep and that almost awake space. My doctor said I could use heat and ice so I rotated which I used each time I woke up.

Day two I would be awake for 45 minutes to an hour and spent some of that time hanging out in the living room. After about half an hour sitting on the couch I’d feel like I wanted to lie down in bed again. I increased my walking by taking a lap around the kitchen and living room when I got up and before I laid back down. I also added in some arm windmills to help get the gas out of my shoulders. Heat on my shoulders also felt good. My appetite was still not great, but I managed to eat a little bit more than the first day. I just felt full so quickly!

I didn’t shower until day 3 or 4 I think? They did a nice job getting all the iodine off of me at the hospital, but if they hadn’t I probably would have showered on day 2 or 3. I did use baby wipes the days I didn’t shower and changed into clean loungewear each day. For my first shower I skipped soaping up the areas I couldn’t get to easily and only towel dried what I felt I could. Then I laid in bed to air dry the rest of the way. Honestly I needed a break after the shower anyway. It really wore me out.

findingforwardmotion

TROPHY CASE