ca. 2001 — Girl Preparing to Pool Dive — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Do you remember that moment as a kid where you are standing on the edge of a dock or diving board and debating on whether or not you should jump?

Of course, as a kid, you would imagine all sorts of creatures that lived in those dark (or not) waters.

I recently was vacationing with my family at Palisade State Park in Utah and was reminded of this road block in my own development as I encouraged my kids to jump from the floating dock.

It wasn’t really long before my two oldest kids were secure in the safety of their life jackets and where jumping over and over again.  They were having a blast!  Obstacle overcome.  Courage reinforced.

I thought about how we ask our dogs to do a lot of things.  Many of these things might warrant a bit of hesitancy and may even seem a bit “scary.”

In a supervised training situation, our dogs have a metaphorical life jacket that allows them to take chances – a leash or Ecollar are excellent examples – but still keeps them safe.

A good trainer will encourage and challenge a dog and will even let them mess up so they can communicate good boundaries to them.

Such an approach doesn’t inhibit them, it helps them have the time of their lives!

As our dogs learn to “jump” and gain greater confidence, their world will open up to new and greater opportunities in the future.

Let’s get training.