My Dog is Having a Hard Time and So Am I

If you follow me on social media or read my blogs, you’ve likely heard me talk about how your dog is “having a hard time“.

But, what I sometimes fail to talk about is how the human counterpart also struggles.

Does that mean you are doing something wrong? 

Isn’t having a dog supposed to be fun?

The truth is dog guardianship, while often rewarding and extremely fun, can also be very difficult and sometimes overwhelming.

So how do we have compassion for our dogs struggles without losing sight of our own?

I think one answer lies in letting go of expectations. 

The expectations of what we think a dog is supposed to do.

Expectations of what we think living with a dog looks like.

The expectations of the things we think a dog is supposed to like.

Expectation that our dog will be perfect if we just put in the work. 

The expectation that if our dog isn’t perfect that we must’ve done something wrong. 

Having a dog does not mean you’re guaranteed to have a pet that’s going to enjoy going to the local brewery with you, who wants to be a therapy dog, who can comfortably live around children, who can regulate their emotions well, and who will be “perfect” despite an imperfect human, raising them. 

The sooner we are ok with this, the sooner that we normalize this, the sooner we can just enjoy our dogs without labeling them or us. 

What’s one label or expectation that you have for your dog that you can let go of? 

Sara Sokol is owner of Mr. Dog Training in Brunswick Maine; A positive reinforcement dog training facility, offering both virtual and in person classes, that has been voted best training in Maine for 9 years in a row.