I stumped a student the other day. They were listing off all of their training challenges, the behavior problems they were having, their struggles with finding space that was safe to work with their dog. They had no answer when I asked them if they were having fun. They couldn’t answer the question, “What fun are you having with your dog?”
They started to list off dog sports they were doing and things they thought their dog was having fun doing. But again, they couldn’t answer when I asked them about their fun with their dog.
It’s an easy place to get into with our dogs, especially if they have troublesome behaviors or if we, as the handler, are overly focused on achieving training or other goals. The lack of “having fun” is also a huge contributor to failing to achieve those exact same goals.
I started Hamish in Barn Hunt on a cold January day. The sun was out and a cold wind was blowing through the trial site. We had so much fun that day, mostly because neither one of us had any clue what we were really doing and we were mostly just playing at the game. I had no expectations and I laughed the entire time we tried. We got our first titles that weekend by pure chance and found ourselves quickly advancing through the levels of Barn Hunt.
But there was a point where we stopped having fun. I can’t tell you which one of us fell off the fun wagon first (probably me – the human is always the weakest link), but I do know our fall was fast and painful for both of us. I stopped laughing and smiling, I was in a hurry and stressed about trials. Hamish started getting stressed in the blind – acting out with vocalizations and bad behavior. He would just refuse to hunt with me in the ring, cataloging rats and giving me zero indication where they were. He wouldn’t tunnel when asked and even started marking in the ring. He was done with the game and done with me and I was slow to get the memo.
We took a long break from Barn Hunt – almost two years. We didn’t even practice. During that time, we were working and training a lot for other work and we started dock diving. When we did return to Barn Hunt, I made a focused effort to make sure we were having fun. I stopped worrying about the clock or the Q. I just wanted to go have fun with my dog.
It took me a long time and some hard lessons to understand that my attitude completely drives our success or lack of it in everything we do. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to be upbeat when you’re tired. It’s hard to be positive, when things around you or in your life are going sideways. It’s hard to laugh when you feel like others are laughing at you or judging your performance with your dog – or worse yet, judging your dog. It is not easy to shut all of that out and just be present with the dog in front of us and have fun.
But that’s my advice to you this week. Go have fun with your dog. Have a genuine, deep, belly laugh with them. Be silly and happy and in love with your dog. Then really step back and examine that feeling and capture it deep in your soul. Because when things are hard and you’re struggling, the ability to pull that moment back to the front of your mind can make all the difference in the world to you and your dog.
Dogs are NOW creatures. They live in this moment. They are quick to forgive. They don’t worry too far into the future. There is so much we can learn from our dogs and this is one of the most valuable lessons.
Live. Love. Laugh. Be more like your dog.