As I sit here writing this blog, Riggs is on a bed in front of the patio window sound asleep. Elsa is up on the big (human) bed asleep as well. My life pretty much revolves dogs; my dogs and lots of client dogs. Are you living the k9 lifestyle if you have a dog? Not always. For me, the k9 lifestyle is sort of like the whole ”Living your best life” with Oprah. It means living your best life with your dog/dogs.
I have been a dog trainer for a very long time but living a great life with dogs is a lot more than just training. It is true that dogs that have no training or guidance can be a real pain to live with but it is the humans who need to do the work. If they don’t do the work then they suffer the consequences.
So let’s look at the definition first.
Lifestyle - the habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level, etc. that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group.
So what one lifestyle may look like another will not. Your lifestyle probably does not look like mine. But within all of the different lifestyles there is the k9 lifestyle. The style of living with dogs as family members. There is lies the difference; it is not how you live but how you live with your dog.
As a dog trainer I help clients live their best life with their dog. That often means that I am giving nutrition advice, purchasing of beds help, recommending great products and sharing about waste of time products. There is so much more that goes into the canine/human relationship than training.
K9 lifestyle can improve and decline by taking certain actions, purchasing products and better understanding of the “dog.” I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There is a big difference in just a dog trainer and a dog trainer/dog lifestyle coach. I hope to share my K9 lifestyle work with you all in my upcoming blogs.
There are a lot of products out there and sifting through them all can be daunting. I’ll share what I think is good and not so good. There are some things listed already on my website under my “store.” Some behaviors of our own can make matters worse for our K9 lifestyle; one of those is allowing our dogs to make the rules. You can read about that in my first free article on my website. l will be adding to the article page soon.
So stay tuned, lots of life with dogs coming soon.