Strategies Dogs Can Teach You About Being Stuck or Unstoppable
A little while ago we installed one of those invisible electric dog fences for our dogs so they'll have more space to roam around and play in the yard instead of staying stuck on the couch.
Little did we know that it would be a nerve-wracking training for the dogs (and their bosses) to figure out the system.
Here's what happened.
Which dog do you identify with the most? In the first days of training, our little dog jumped sky-high when she wandered accidentally into the electric fence.
She screamed like a baby, and we both cringed.
It was awful, and I apologized profusely to her.
However, the next day we had to do it again.
The second day she got her second shock and that was it.
She must have vowed not to move at all anymore.
From that moment on she sat paralyzed from fear in the middle of the yard.
She wouldn't move an inch.
The training with our big dog went the opposite way.
She turned around as soon as she got her shock when walking into the invisible electric fence, and everything seemed to go according to plan.
We thought she did excellently.
Unfortunately, a day later she walked straight through the fence without blinking her eyes.
She saw me on the other side of the fence and her dream of walking 'outside the lines' was bigger then the risk it took to stay stuck in the invisibly fenced yard.
I called up the company and told them the story about our small dog, who was now completely stuck.
She didn't even want to go into the yard anymore, traumatized by the failed attempts to move outside the invisible electric fence.
Was her behavior caused by her traumatized past because she lived on the streets in Puerto Rico when she was little? Whatever the cause, she must have drawn a conclusion after experiencing two shocks that it wasn't safe to leave the house anymore.
Our big dog was completely unconcerned and unstoppable, no matter the level of pain, and was going after her dream to get to the other side.
Having had a beautiful and loving upbringing, fear is not part of her makeup.
The contrast between the behaviors of the two dogs was a great example of how we respond to painful experiences.
We have two strategies to choose from: we can stay stuck in fear and pain, or we can become unstoppable, the pull of pursuing our dreams drawing us to cross invisible lines.
What strategy do you follow when going after your dreams? What is your electric fence? Is the risk to stay stuck behind the fence bigger than your dream?
Little did we know that it would be a nerve-wracking training for the dogs (and their bosses) to figure out the system.
Here's what happened.
Which dog do you identify with the most? In the first days of training, our little dog jumped sky-high when she wandered accidentally into the electric fence.
She screamed like a baby, and we both cringed.
It was awful, and I apologized profusely to her.
However, the next day we had to do it again.
The second day she got her second shock and that was it.
She must have vowed not to move at all anymore.
From that moment on she sat paralyzed from fear in the middle of the yard.
She wouldn't move an inch.
The training with our big dog went the opposite way.
She turned around as soon as she got her shock when walking into the invisible electric fence, and everything seemed to go according to plan.
We thought she did excellently.
Unfortunately, a day later she walked straight through the fence without blinking her eyes.
She saw me on the other side of the fence and her dream of walking 'outside the lines' was bigger then the risk it took to stay stuck in the invisibly fenced yard.
I called up the company and told them the story about our small dog, who was now completely stuck.
She didn't even want to go into the yard anymore, traumatized by the failed attempts to move outside the invisible electric fence.
Was her behavior caused by her traumatized past because she lived on the streets in Puerto Rico when she was little? Whatever the cause, she must have drawn a conclusion after experiencing two shocks that it wasn't safe to leave the house anymore.
Our big dog was completely unconcerned and unstoppable, no matter the level of pain, and was going after her dream to get to the other side.
Having had a beautiful and loving upbringing, fear is not part of her makeup.
The contrast between the behaviors of the two dogs was a great example of how we respond to painful experiences.
We have two strategies to choose from: we can stay stuck in fear and pain, or we can become unstoppable, the pull of pursuing our dreams drawing us to cross invisible lines.
What strategy do you follow when going after your dreams? What is your electric fence? Is the risk to stay stuck behind the fence bigger than your dream?
