I am deep in the midst of admin day atm after getting back from Seattle and getting back into the flow of work, but I feel like my consistency is really up since a very wobbly start to the year.

If you want to keep up to date with what I'm up to then go follow me on social media @itscethedogtrainer but still do check in here from time to time as I do plan to delve into various things on here too!

So a little update for ya'll: Seattle was great, went to go watch my first ever NHL games and had a great time with my bestie. Honey are competing this weekend so excited for that and just otherwise continuing to make great progress with my clients and meet new ones!

Life really is GIVING right now on all fronts. Some of which I won't share just yet, but still just as exciting! Stay tuned hehe.

Feeling very thankful lately and, as always, I do always have to say thank you to everyone who has shown support to me over the years. Just yeah. Hope you're all good, too!

Ce xoxo 

Despite Candy (my van) dying at the start of the weekend, which meant I had to shift my Friday, I have had a very good weekend. Thankfully it was only a flat battery!

I had some huge breakthroughs with some of my clients over the weekend, with the stand-out dog being Leo the Australian Shepherd and how he BOSSED a reactive dog play date with another reactive dog I am working with called Fen. They've both still got work to do, but I am very hopeful that they will get to a point where they both know how to deal with anything that life throws at them.

Another highlight from the week was Charlie the bulldog... he really struggles to settle outside of his crate and the kitchen, but this weekend we built control and "rules" into his tug games and he SMASHED it. I then got sent a message and photo from his owners of him fast asleep in the living room! A HUGE win for Mr. Cheeky Charlie.

With regards to me and how I'm feeling though, I feel very focused again but the struggle is always maintaining that focus and not getting into a slump when/if things don't go exactly as planned.

I feel like I am getting better with this though and definitely am taking a lot more things in my stride both in my personal and professional life.

Despite it being over 3 weeks into the New Year, I finally feel like I'm bouncing back after the Christmas break, getting ill and then my almost-week-long birthday.

I've definitely been feeling a bit "off" recently and like I wasn't on the ball, but after a great day of in-person sessions today, I feel like I'm well and truly back on it. I also had a real nice moment in my own little head earlier while I was observing a client and her dog work together on some loose lead stuff... honestly it just felt like the love for what I do just hit me like a tonne of bricks.

Don't get me wrong, I do love what I do. But I've found myself in a bit of a mental and maybe actual rut lately in terms of my work. I was feeling demotivated and deflated tbh. But the moment I had today (the one that I literally just mentioned) honestly felt like a good slap in the face. Do you know what I mean? Hopefully you do.

Whilst I was watching this dog and his owner, I was thinking: YEAH THESE TWO ARE FIGURING IT OUT TOGETHER - THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. Which is what it should be about, right? Truth be told, I think the pressure of progress has been getting to me a bit and I've been neglecting some CORE principles of dog training in order to speed things up and you know what? It can actually just take MORE time and certainly create more frustration if you rush... ESPECIALLY when it comes to behaviour change.

I should know better than anyone that change takes time, yet I forget that very same thing when I'm feeling under pressure. But in reality... nothing good rarely comes quickly.

PS If you wanna see some clips from the training session I am talking about in this post, then make sure you keep an eye out for Ruger (@rhodesianridgeback.ruger) on my Instagram @itscethedogtrainer !