Dogs have taught me to accept imperfection and recognize that everything is a work in progress.
I was talking with a friend recently who is training her first dog, now a teenager, and I told her that no dog is ever perfect. With my third dog, I now worry less about certain things—not because they’re unimportant but because my perspective has shifted over time. The most important thing isn’t having a perfectly trained dog but instead enjoying the life you have together.
Dog life has given me plenty of reminders to not take anything for granted, as well as reality checks to question what’s really worth worrying about. Nothing sets your baseline like worrying about losing a dog, as we did with Astra a few months ago – I suddenly cared a whole lot less about her irritating teenage traits.
Now I realise that on any walk, something could happen, and we could lose one of the dogs forever – a good day with a dog now means nobody died, got injured, or got sick.
I know it’s morbid, gruesome, and uncomfortable to think about, but I want to say this because I spent most of Nell’s life taking her existence for granted, even though she used up all of her nine lives very efficiently by e.g. running through wasp nests, eating drugs, nearly drowning herself, ripping jackets by jumping over piles of branches (i.e. thankfully not her belly)… The list is long and colourful.
We also had a couple of close calls with Nell during her chemotherapy, and every time she pulled through, I was just grateful she was still with me. Even though we prepared ourselves for her eventual passing, nothing truly prepares you for that day. It’s something you never want to think about, but when that day comes, nothing is ever the same.
So, when I think about my dogs’ behaviour and training now, I ask myself: is it a problem for me, the human, or does it impact the dog’s wellbeing?
The latter is always worth addressing, but the most important thing isn’t for a dog to be perfectly trained – it’s to enjoy the time you have with them, because I promise you there will not be enough of it and your regret won’t be all the training you never got around to.
BusyDoggie 