Dog Training=Human Training

We got a 6-month-old Doberman puppy right in the middle of the pandemic. He is beautiful, of course, and wickedly smart.

The last Doberman we had was trained to almost perfection by my boyfriend years before I met her.

I have always had dogs as an adult, and they are moderately trained.

My pets can usually sit and do a few things. My last lab mix is still a jumper and a puller on the leash.

Our friends have reasonably well-behaved dogs, some with counter surfing tendencies or skittishness issues, but we know this and plan for it when socializing the pack.

Our new dog is going for his Canine Good Citizen Test.

Training him is a ton of work. I wake up at five-thirty, and we walk, train, throw the ball all before breakfast. Every moment he is in the house, there is an opportunity to reinforce a good habit or teach him a new skill. I never realized how hard it was to have a well-trained dog.

The parallel to psychotherapy is not lost on me.

I have clients who come in ready to change their world, and then the hard work begins.

Somatic work is embodied work.

Moments of unresolved overwhelm live in our nervous systems and cannot be released until they are acknowledged and felt.

The feelings are similar to those touched during the initial trauma experience. Not as intense as the initial impact and felt in a supportive space, and they let go safely.

Once a person experiences this for the first time and understands how quickly the discomfort exits and what a feeling of spaciousness, it leaves behind there is nothing like it.

The work is not always comfortable and can be hard.

My relationship with my puppy is a lot of work right now. He won't always be this unmanageable, and after several months of crazy training, we will have a solid foundation that lasts the rest of his life.

Several months of doing the hard work of releasing and rewiring your nervous systems is big and forever.

To live the rest of your life behaving and thinking in a way you have always wanted to, it is worth the effort now.

Schedule your free Somatic Therapy consultation now.