It is more than just Honolulu Dog Training.
Honolulu Dog Training
Pablo
Our little puppy became a welcomed word traveler.
I have known Mela for over 30 years now. Living in Seattle I first watched afar when she made her passion to her profession with Sunshine Dogs Hawaii. Overall it just seemed to come to her so easy and naturally. Certainly her heart was fully in it.
In 2021 we moved to Hawaii for one year and we were considering to adopt our first dog Pablo. To sum up I only overcame my hesitation, because I knew Mela would be there. Certainly she would help us becoming good dog parents. Honolulu Dog Training Ovei
Our wish was to build a good relationship with Pablo without force and obedience.
We wanted to have a partnership with him. Therefore we were fully on board with the cooperation approach of her training. In the past I had seen the success she had with her own dogs and other dogs.
For example a few things Pablo and us have learned: Honolulu Dog Training
How to go on a walk together that was pleasant for both him and us? Including no pulling, no jumping at other dogs or people.
How to be patient and respectful with each other? For example when we get our coffee in the morning, Pablo sits by his own and waits for us to be done with our order.
How to set and respect boundaries and give each other room as needed without limitation?
Usually, half of our sessions were about any questions that came up around Pablo and us.
Usually, we were able to clear those questions up, by discussing our mindset and thoughts around leadership. Hawaii Dog Training
One of my main struggles was being consistent with Pablo and making sure we kept boundaries. It’s tough to always follow through! He was such a cute puppy, I just wanted him to always have play time and fun. I had to learn that Pablo can be held and needed to be held responsible for his actions to understand how we could best live with each other. Nevertheless he would still love me even if I don’t allow everything.Honolulu Dog Training
Another struggle was around control vs leadership. It takes bit more work to be a good leader without control and not a dictator: you have to be consistent, you want to stay calm and friendly, you need to accept and respect that your dog has a mind of its own.
We sometimes worried that he would not respect us, that he “need to know who is boss” or something like that. However, Mela always lead us back to the idea of good partnership and holding Pablo responsible Honolulu Dog Training
For example if he acted out while sitting on the couch, well, then he can’t sit on the couch. For a while he would take over the whole couch and we would squeeze into a corner. It sounds simple but boy, Pablo was stubborn and cute! Therefore we often were tempted to just let things slide. Without the recurring sessions with Mela, we would not have stayed on track…
Mela is very clear in her guidance. She is always tying her advice back to her leadership and cooperation principles.
In the beginning we had a whole catalogue of questions for Mela for each session.
But after around 2 months or so of training my husband and I usually could answer our own questions, by applying those principles that Mela had shared. It also helped a lot that she uses an app in which she sends instructions for all her exercises along with some thought work around the relationship you want to build with your dog. I loved the one where we had to write down how often we address Pablo during the day for no reason – how would you like it, when someone constantly calls for your attention for actually no real reason…? It was eye opening.
The one thing that I totally underestimated is how tempted we were to lie about if we did our exercises with Pablo or not. Especially in the beginning we struggled with that. It’s a bit embarrassing and felt like we are letting her down. However, we made a pact that we would tell her the truth and she appreciated that a lot. She found the right balance of holding us accountable and keeping us motivated to stay committed. Honolulu Dog Training
It’s been roughly over a year now that we started with Mela and we still meet with her every other month or so – to ensure we stay on our happy course together (Pablo, us and Mela).
We are at a place where we can take Pablo anywhere we want to and enjoy time together without any drama. We feel so grateful for all her advice and work with us!
Jessica & Vince with Pablo
It is more than just Honolulu Dog Training.
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