One true dog woman to another…
I get distracted easily. I forget the point of why I want to do something because I’m worried about being the best at it or proving that I’m the most knowledgeable or capable.
Even if I’m the only person I’m trying to prove that to.
I worry about things like being the best and canine husbandry, grooming, training, showing, evaluating dogs, analyzing pedigrees, memorizing facts about canine behavior and breed standards.
But all of that is pointless if I’m disconnected from my dogs.
Connection with dogs is what got me into all this. That peaceful feeling I’d find in the company of animals that I never could find in the company of other humans is what I was searching for when I decided years ago (albeit with less clarity than I have now) to become a dog woman.
It was when I started hanging the security of my own ego on my dogs that I started losing that connection, and lost my motivation to be present as my best self with them.
One could even venture to say that is when I lost view of my best self altogether.
These days as I struggle to be a good person, let alone a good mom, for my kiddos I need to keep that best self in view more than ever.
As I reflect on that thought, of how the basic connection is where I need to get back to with my dogs I start looking for it in other areas of my life.
And it shows up in my relationship with God. How the basic practice of sitting down and reading the Word with a readiness for something (anything) to resonate maybe doesn’t make me feel connected in the moment but definitely has an impact on how I’m showing up.
Like that practice of connecting to God with little moments of curiosity as I read the Bible is focusing my internal spirit lens on the identity I have in Christ a.k.a my best self.
So while I’m not trying to draw parallels between my dogs and God, and I’m not deifying dogs in anyway, I’m seeing that when we pour our connection energy (using curiosity to guide us in doing that) we can find fuel to step into our best selves.
So as dog women, when we pour our energy into connecting with our dogs in that fully present and zero stakes way–without ego and without a striving to prove our worth or our dogs worth–we can find an authentic connection with them that brings us into alignment with our dog woman identity.
And, at the risk of going off on a tangent, if you’re a wife or mother as I am, it’s worth exploring how investing time and energy into the simple low stakes moments of connection can grant us larger returns in our home lives.
The last few weeks I have not done much of anything with my dogs. I’m not going to dwell on that. But I am going to be grateful for what I felt was a win this past week.
I packed up my two boys, a preschooler and a nine month old, and took them to their Grandma’s house for three days. She lives about five hours away.
The win as a dog woman? I took my seven year old whippet with me. She was a dream, except for when I missed her cues and she pooped in the guestroom at my mother in law’s where the boys and I were going to be sleeping for the next three nights.
No harm no foul, I cleaned it up and kept a careful eye on her the rest of the visit.
It felt good to have her be part of things even in the simplest way.
It soothed the sadness I felt over mine and my husband’s mutual decision to forego a puppy for the foreseeable future (more on that in another post) and it also soothed the grief I felt when we stopped in at a dog show on the way home to watch a friend take her Beagle puppy into the hound group (also something to talk about in another post).
I encourage you, my fellow dog women, to keep your foundational Layers at the forefront. Connection with our dogs is why we do this, we can’t lose sight of that in the high distraction environment of expert husbandry, dog competitions, and breeding programs.
So, until next time, let’s go connect with our dogs. Even if that just means sitting on the front step with them and taking a few deep breaths before diving back into the busy-ness of family life.
Sincerely,
A True DogWoman (Jess)
TruChoice Trainers 