Coconut Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

This dog training thing is really hard. After our behaviorist appointment last week I began questioning their method. It felt like we were rewarding positive behavior and were getting nowhere for mega $$. Besides I recalled our previous puppy training where the #1 goal was to be the alpha in the house, which required your dogs respect. This positive treat deal was not demanding my dog’s respect for me. Without respect what do you have? The dog will walk all over you. Treats aren’t the answer.

With this in mind, I contacted my friend Kai who owns Happy Paws in Boston to get her advice. We worked with Kai while L was a puppy, and she was amazing. When Kai walked into the room L submitted to her immediately. It was magic. As expected Kai recommended we stop with these behaviorist sessions because (shocker) this “pure positive method” is not successful. Kai recommended a friend of hers in our area who is a dog trainer that follows the same training style. We met with her yesterday and I swear it was like Kai was in our living room again. The minute she walked in, she got lambeau to 1) stop barking and 2) submit to her with just a snap of her fingers. It is all in the energy. Dogs are so intuitive and can instantly read your thoughts through the energy your body is emitting. For example if you raise your voice and match his aggression, the dog will become even more aggressive. Rather if you stay calm, the dog will eventually pick up off your energy and learn to respect you as the leader.

Tina, our new trainer spent 2 hours with us going over all the basics. L was so mentally exhausted he passed out at 6pm through the rest of the night. Now it is up to use to practice consistently with the tools and methods Tina taught us. We saved ourselves lots of money and time and I could not be happier with this decision. AH! Patience is the main factor. It has taken me over an hour to just write this post because I have had to stop and reprimand L 3 times. In each instance I am supposed to remain in place in front of him until he stops his growling and submits to me. This has taken anywhere from 5-20 minutes so far. If you start to lose your shit too, he immediately senses it and you’re back to square 1. Yea, you get the picture.

In life though, good things take time, hard work and dedication. This situation is not any different, and I am determined to become the alpha dog in this house! I will be happy to share my stories along the way. This is a “food & health blog” and many of you may be wondering why I am discussing my dog training woes. Well, a healthy lifestyle isn’t solely about food and fitness. No, everyone and their mom has stress and their own shit to deal with on the daily. If you think that doesn’t affect your eating habits and exercise routine than think again. It is about how you handle that “stuff” while simultaneously managing to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. This is why wine is a great stress reliever. Better than a pint of ben&jerrys!

(Tina and Kai were both trained by Caesar Milan and follow the K9 Lifeline training style. For those of you with pups in need of some discipline or who think they are the alpha, I recommend this book, K9 Lifeline by Heather Beck which helps with the basics.)