Joy

Training can help with the relationship you have with your dog, depending on the method used, but it’s not a guarantee that you will create a great relationship with your dog with just training.

Relationship is more than the 20 to 40 minutes a day we spend trying to teach our dogs to do un-natural behaviors or instinctive behaviors in unnatural ways. You cannot build a relationship using only your training time. Training is an important part of it but it's far from being the whole thing.

A relationship is about discovering who your dog “is” and who you are in relation to your dog. There are a million different ways to interact with your dog that have nothing to do with "training". It's the little things that truly build a relationship.  It's day to day living and interacting within the framework of your life, that builds a relationship.  It's no different then what you've built with your husband, wife, best friend or sister. 

Joy is found in every day life.  If the only joy you allow your dog is part of the training package, you will end up with a dog who doesn't know how to live in your world without stress.  Bring joy into both your lives and build a relationship that transcends training.