What’s in it for me? Don’t you find yourself thinking this thought when you are asked to do something? My mind automatically starts searching for something to motivate me into doing something that I may not normally want to do.
I paved about two-thirds of my back yard with twelve-inch by twelve-inch pavers over a six-month period one year. The reason was that my back yard is full of rocks under shallow ground. Not good for the dogs’ paws. That was the motivation. To protect my fur babies. Would I, as a sane woman, have wanted to lay over one thousand pavers on my lunch breaks, after work, and on the weekends, month after month? Until the job was done? Ummm, no. So what motivated me? My dogs. I love them that much. After the pavers were laid, they had something to walk on that was easy on their paws. The previous rocky ground was horrendous and I felt guilty every time I watched them go into the back yard.
When I have to do something, I ask myself what can I put in it for me? When I have to go to the dentist for a teeth cleaning, afterwards, I may promise myself a trip to the park for a walk with my dog, a book or DVD on dog training I’ve been wanting, or maybe a stop at a lottery machine to buy a ticket for the night’s drawing.
That’s us. Human beings pretty much do this to motivate ourselves. But it doesn’t stop there. Think about your dogs. They are similar. They have a “what’s in it for me” mentality. Dogs don’t aim to please us. They like us, don’t get me wrong, but when it comes to pleasing, they are out for number one, just like we are. And so they should be. Everyone is out to survive, and it’s written in our hardware to act and react on our own behalves. Hey, if it were any other way, if we were out to make sure our brothers and sisters were taken care of, this world would be a hell of a lot different. I’m thinking different in a good way. But that’s not how it is, so when your dog decides to blow you off to do his own thing, don’t blame. Train. Contact me, and I can help you with the motivation to get your dog to behave on your behalf. It’s doable.
By Helen Verte
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed, Certified Trick Dog Instructor
Fort Lauderdale Motivational Dog Training Broward County
