Tag: positive thinking

Call off the Dogs: Increase your Success by Removing Negativity

stick out tongues

Call off the dogs: to stop attacking or criticizing someone.

I’m writing this post specifically geared towards dog professionals as it continues to be an ongoing problem amongst us, which I think has to do with what a passionate and emotional group we are. Many times, I am ashamed by our industry, but overall I tend to feel disappointed. I am sure this happens within any industry, but I feel it is a large problem within dog training, or rather the pet industry as a whole; critiquing and fighting against each other. We are far too concerned about what others are doing, do not support each other and we are suffering for it. We are happy when another business makes a poor choice, fails with a client or is facing a challenge. We sit on the sidelines and judge each other, and we become obsessed with communicating what others are doing wrong. We have all been guilty of this and in the long run, we are only hurting ourselves. In today’s post, I am going to share some of the situations where we tend to react poorly, share some stories and identify how we can change our behaviour to bring more positive change to our industry.

“We took our dog to this dog training school and saw zero results and we were unhappy. We would like to register with your classes instead”

I know we have all heard this at one time or another. And it could be a very valid statement. However, what do we tend to first think about? We validate it by jumping to conclusions about all the things wrong that business did. In my experience, these should be more of a flag for us regarding lack of compliance. Or perhaps it was not the right approach or class for that client, but the business may not been aware of the challenges until the client was already there. And like we have experienced many times, the client may have appeared happy in class and never provided any feedback that their goals were not being met or even what their real concerns were. We have the advantage of starting out differently with this client because of this feedback. This does not make us better than the other training school. I always try to use this as more of a flag about client concerns versus a negative against another training school. In Calgary, we are full of excellent dog training schools, so if a client tries to complain about one, I do not participate and encourage the negative response. I may instead say, “I am sorry to hear this and I am sure it was just a miscommunication as we know that dog training school typically sees excellent results. We are happy to help you…” Do not encourage negativity and complaining, as you will then bring it into your business.

“They are stealing my ideas”

I know this is a hard one for all of us. I did write a full post on this topic as it is a challenging one for us. However, I think this is the most common concern amongst trainers. The industry is full of trends and over the years I have seen how this works. We have seen the introduction of fear and reactivity classes, playtimes for puppies, clinics and so much more. None of these ideas are unique and can be found around the world. We each have our own unique way of delivering the material and packaging our programs. We have our own client base and network. Unless someone steals an exact full program of yours or a specific name, try your best not to think about how they stole it from you, and instead think how wonderful it is to see they are offering it as well, and take it as a sign this new service is obviously in demand and will be successful. I have seen people tear themselves apart obsessing over what is being stolen from them. Put on your blinders and just keep focusing on what you are doing. Research similar businesses in other countries for new ideas and focus on what makes the most sense for your business, not on what others are doing. You truly get what you put out, so avoid focusing on the negative and what makes you angry, as this will have a negative impact on your business and your overall well-being.

“They are doing it all wrong”

We all do this at times and it has become one of the biggest problems of our industry. Ultimately, we are all reaching the same goals, but just have some different steps to get there. Or perhaps we have different goals and what one business is reaching for is not the same as another. For dogma, we do not strive for perfection in obedience. It is impressive and we love to encourage clients to excel at these skills, but we just take a different approach. It is not about a perfect sit stay, but perhaps a successful tool to prevent the dog from jumping on guests. This does not make one better than the other, so focus on your own business goals and match them to your client’s goals and forget about how everyone else is doing it. The main part is that you and your client are happy, and in turn you will see growth and continued success. It is a drain of your own energy to be concerned about how others are doing things. If you want to learn what is going on in the industry, attend conferences, seminars and participate in online learning. Focus on your own growth and match your programs to your own core values and goals.

“Another dog training business just opened, now I need to worry more about competition”

For an industry that is fighting for more regulations and increased awareness of proper training and handling techniques with the public, we should celebrate the growth of more businesses. The pet industry is booming, and this means nothing but good things for all of us. I hear this concern a lot and many question why my business focuses on building more competition as we operate a successful Dog Trainer Apprenticeship Program which has resulted in an influx of dog trainers in the city. Yes, we are creating our competition, but this is one of the things I am most proud of. There is room for all of us. Clients will choose what is a best fit for them, and this may just come down to something as simple as what time a class is offered. If you are struggling, take the time to look at your own marketing efforts. How are you promoting your business? What are you doing to network and get your name out in the industry? What relationships have you built? Review the success of your services and perhaps it is time to remove or add services. When things slow down, this is not the time to focus on competition and place blame elsewhere. You must listen to this feedback and make changes. You drive the direction of your business, not your competition.

Moving forward

Operating a business is full of challenges and rewards. As an owner, your behaviour and attitude reflects within your team, your messaging and your interactions with clients. Remove all the distractions and keep negativity away. The advice to remain positive is not just a cliché. It is a key component of your success. It takes time and it is hard, but the shift will have a huge impact on your business. Start small by identifying a negative, critical or judgemental thought when it enters your mind. Think about why you feel that way and how you could address it in a more positive light. Try to celebrate and be genuinely happy when others are successful. Block everything that brings negativity to you; this may be a social media group, a colleague or even a team member. I made a choice two years ago to begin removing all negativity from my business and although it has been a challenging path, it has been full of tremendous rewards I would not have achieved otherwise. Negativity holds you back and you’ve got way more to give. What a gift for us all when we begin to have a more positive impact. Take care of yourself and start this today.

While writing this, I have been thinking about ways I can change and promote this more as well. To start, I am going to bring back our shout outs we used to do every Saturday. It was an excellent way to promote other businesses and send out some great energy. I understand this is all much easier said than done, so I suggest you vow to start a small change today. For example, it may be to stop complaining. Or perhaps it may be to remove yourself from certain groups or people. Or it may just be to stop commenting on things that make you angry online. On a more proactive level, get out and network with others in your industry. Socialize with them and enjoy some great times together. Whatever it may be, start it today and begin seeing immediate positive results personally and for your business.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

Drop It: Lessons from Dogs on Stress Management

I love this and enjoy seeing this saying making continual rounds through social media. It is amusing, but I think it also offers some practical advice (although I don’t recommend actually peeing on things 😀 ). The lesson I take from this and our dogs is once something is resolved, or it creates negativity or unnecessary stress in your life, drop it!  This means removing it from your life and/or to stop worrying about it. This is much easier said than done, so I am going to discuss some ways to help with this.

I started learning about this concept when I first read The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama (it is listed on my GoodReads link and is one I highly recommend). I was going through some challenges while working at an animal shelter and was struggling with the poor choices they were making for the animals. It was an extremely hard time and was taking a toll on my overall well-being, so I began searching for some guidance. I was becoming more negative and emotionally drained and could not pull myself from this. It was impacting my life and I needed something to change me when I found this book. It was a life saver for me.

The whole book is wonderful and has many guiding principles, but let’s first discuss the section on self-created suffering and why this is so important and why we need to learn to ‘drop it’. “All too often we perpetuate our pain, keep it alive, by replaying our hurts over and over again in our minds, magnifying our injustices in the process.” “To a large extent, whether you suffer depends on how you respond to a given situation. …Although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations, you can modify the extent to which you suffer by how you choose to respond to the situation.” These are powerful concepts and had a tremendous impact on me. What was I doing that was creating my suffering and what could I do to help myself? I think too often we are trying to change external forces and ignore what we may be doing to create our own problems/suffering.

By not practicing drop it, we are holding onto negative thoughts which creates unnecessary stress and self suffering. However, this is something many of us have done for a majority of our lives so it is a hard habit to break. I started by just taking note of every time I felt negative or upset about something. Was it the result of something that was happening to me or was I creating this feeling on my own? For example, when seeing my neighbour who frustrated me I began to vent about her. This was creating a negative feeling for me and had absolutely no impact on her. It was a moment of self suffering on an issue that had passed and was no longer relevant. I needed to drop it. I had heard from someone about visualizing the act of dropping something. She would picture putting whatever it was in a suitcase, setting it down and removing it from her thoughts. I suggest having some way to acknowledge and visualize the act of dropping something as well, as it proves to also be a reminder for me to keep it out of my mind.

So how does this all apply to business? You do not have time to dwell on the past and you cannot afford to let negativity take over your life. You must learn to drop it. This is also a powerful way to lead by example and demonstrate positive mental thinking to your team. It also helps with conflict. If I need to address a concern and it is taken care of, we don’t talk about it again (unless we are referring to the lesson gained from it). By dropping it, I show my team that we are moving on and I recognize their effort to change.  We don’t dwell on the negative past, but rather focus on the positive present.

There are so many lessons to learn from our dogs, and living in the moment is one of them. They are not sitting and stressing about the past, worrying about the future or focusing on negativity. If it doesn’t matter to them, or if it doesn’t affect them positively, they move on. Let’s learn to drop it so we can focus on the good and move forward with the right attitude and perspective to help our businesses and team succeed!

Do you have ways you help yourself to drop it? Are their certain emotions you attribute with self suffering? Share in the comments below!