Libsyn Directory

EBD286 Stories of Hope: Dog Moms Overcome Reactive and Difficult Behavior Challenges

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

Release Date: 11/06/2023

EBD307 How a Partnership Approach Radically Improves Your Life and Relationship with Your Dog

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

Adopting a partnership approach can dramatically enhance your life and your relationship with your dog. This approach fosters a harmonious and respectful relationship, where both you and your dog actively contribute to enhancing the quality of your life together. Here are some key aspects of the partnership approach: Heart and Connection: We focus on building a foundation of heart connection, and trust, supporting our dogs’ development. Emotionally Intelligent Choices: By engaging with our dogs through emotionally intelligent choices, we lead to a more harmonious home. Shared...

EBD306 How the Magic of Laughter Prevents and Diffuses Doggy Behavior Drama

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

Have you ever wondered how a simple laugh can change the entire dynamic between you and your dog? Laughter is known for its stress-relieving qualities among humans, but its effects are just as impactful on our dogs. When you laugh, you emit signals of safety and joy that can help calm and reassure your dog. Laughter acts like a reset button during stressful situations. It helps to reassure your dog that there's nothing to worry about, calming their nerves and transforming a potentially tense situation into a moment of bonding. In this episode, we explore how laughter can not only diffuse tense...

EBD305 A Tale of Togetherness: How Playfulness and 'Doing With' Built Amazing Relationships with My Dogs

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

As devoted dog moms, we often focus on training and caring for our dogs in ways that involve doing things "to" or “for” them. But what if I told you that shifting from "doing to" to "doing with" could revolutionize your relationship with your dog? This simple change moves us from a dynamic of control to one of collaboration, which not only strengthens our bond but transforms everyday caregiving into moments of shared joy. For more insights and practical advice on how to deepen your relationship with your dog through playfulness and collaborative practices, tune in to the full...

EBD304 Using Personality Traits as a Bridge to Connection and Cooperation with Your Dog

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

Our dog’s personality traits offer a roadmap to their heart and mind, allowing us to work with their nature for deeper connection, smoother communication, and better cooperation. Every dog is an individual, and knowing what makes your dog tick can be the key to unlocking a harmonious relationship. 🗝️💖 Understand their personality traits, and you'll understand how to communicate effectively and cooperate joyfully. 🐕💬 Dive deeper into how to connect with your dog on a whole new level by tuning into this episode with Kathy. Tune in to explore: The Importance of Understanding...

EBD 303 Diffuse Reactivity by Embracing Your Dog's Sensitivity

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

In this episode of Enlightened by Dogs, we explore the topic of understanding and navigating the sensitivities, preferences and quirks that affect our daily lives with our dogs. Here’s what we unpack in today’s episode: Understanding Mindset: We begin by exploring what a mindset is and how it influences our interactions with the world and our dogs. Your beliefs and perspectives can significantly impact the success of your relationship with your dog. Exploring Our Sensitivities: I invite you to think about your own sensitivities. Whether it's loud noises or crowded spaces,...

EBD302 Nurturing Trust: Beyond Avoiding Triggers

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

In this episode, we journeyed further into the heart of understanding the unintended consequences of avoiding triggers and how such actions can inadvertently escalate reactivity in our dogs. Be sure to listen to part 1: EBD301 “Shrinking Worlds, Growing Reactivity: Why Avoiding Triggers Backfires.” One of the insights from this discussion is that trust is not transactional, and we can’t buy trust from our dogs at any price. Instead, trust is earned through consistent, reliable actions that demonstrate to our dogs that they are safe with us and can rely on us to...

EBD301 Shrinking Worlds, Growing Reactivity: Why Avoiding Triggers Backfires

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

Recently, I've had the joy of exploring the often challenging terrain of reactivity in dogs, peeling back the layers to understand the underlying causes that sweep us and our canine companions into this whirlwind. It's been an enlightening journey, especially during my "Growing Together from Reactive to Remarkable" workshop, where we shared breakthroughs as dedicated dog moms. In our latest episode, we've ventured into a topic that's both pivotal and potentially mind-bending: the counterintuitive truth about avoiding triggers. Yes, you've heard me champion the cause of green zone...

EBD300 Reactivity in Dogs: Redefining the Narrative

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

This episode unfolds a compassionate and insightful exploration into what reactivity in dogs truly means, advocating for a profound shift in our understanding and response to it. Kathy introduces listeners to a reimagined definition of reactivity, rooted in the complexities of canine communication and the frequent misunderstandings that arise when these communications go unheard or unheeded. It challenges the common definition of reactivity—behavior that is inappropriately out of proportion to a situation—by suggesting that what is often seen as reactive behavior...

EBD299 Simple Steps to Break Free From Reactivity with Your Dog

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

In this episode Kathy explores the nuanced communication between dog moms and their dogs, emphasizing the importance of understanding and reframing our perceptions of our dogs' behaviors. Kathy shares the idea that behaviors we often interpret as disobedience or refusal are actually our dogs communicating their unmet needs. She advocates for a shift from correction to connection, suggesting that listening and engaging in a dialogue with our dogs can lead to a deeper understanding and a more harmonious relationship. Kathy offers practical advice on becoming a guide for our dogs by...

EBD298 True Story: Reactive Dogs Become Remarkable Partners

Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

In this inspiring podcast replay, Kathy interviews Ros about her transformative experience with her two Hungarian Vizslas, Phoebe and Myrtle. Ros discusses the initial challenges of their reactivity and her subsequent journey to understanding and connecting with them in a way that led to an enjoyable life together. The episode highlights the pivotal role of a dog mom’s mindset in influencing dog behavior, the importance of addressing the underlying causes of reactivity, and the effectiveness of the 'Safe, Calm, and Happy' approach. It showcases the significant behavioral...

More Episodes

Today, we are replaying a compilation of inspiring tales from dog moms who faced various challenges with their reactive dogs and then completely turned things around.

From dogs barking incessantly at fences, reacting aggressively on leashes, fearing strangers, or simply refusing to move on sidewalks due to panic, these stories shine a light on hope. No matter the existing relationship with your dog - even if it's already good - there’s so much more!,

These dog moms embraced the partnership principles, and with a change in mindset that led to a trust-based approach, they transformed their relationships and their life with their dogs.

Key Takeaways:

Importance of Partnership: Many dog moms who faced challenges with their dogs achieved transformation by adopting the 'partnership approach’. This approach focuses on mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation rather than traditional training methods.

Mental Shift Over Training: A recurring theme is the transition from trying to "fix" the dogs through intensive training sessions to changing one's mindset. By understanding and connecting with their dogs on a deeper level, many dog moms found that their dog’s behavior transformed, without intensive training.

Challenges Vary: Dogs can exhibit a range of unwanted behaviors, from aggression to fearfulness. Each story emphasizes that regardless of the nature of the challenge, there is hope for improvement and transformation through a trusting partnership.

Empathy and Understanding: In multiple stories, dog moms expressed a profound sense of empathy, both for their dogs and for other dog moms facing challenges. This sense of community and understanding underscores the shared experiences of dog moms.

Continuous Journey: While many stories highlight significant improvements, they also suggest that the journey with their dogs is continuous. The emphasis is on mutual growth, understanding, and exploring the depth of the bond between human and canine.

Listen to these live interview snippets and get inspired to nurture a partnership lifestyle with your own dogs. Their stories are testament to the transformative power of a partnership-driven approach.

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