Your Beliefs Shape Your Dog’s Reality

Once you decide a dog is a "slow thinker," or "clumsy," or will "never be as good as your last dog," your brain goes to work. It starts looking for proof to back up that claim. The same thing happens when you label a dog as your "one and only heart dog." Your brain continuously looks for evidence to support the story you have chosen. That story then changes how you respond to your dog, how you think about them, and even how you talk to them. Before long, the story feels like an absolute truth. It feels like destiny, but in reality, it was a directive coming from you. We have the power to choose the stories we tell ourselves, and those choices dictate the relationship we build with our dogs.