You know, there are moments in life when a light turns on so suddenly, it’s like someone flipped a switch in your brain and for me, that moment happened at home in my kitchen with my dog Chunk. I used to think dog training was about dominance, about control, about getting your dog to obey. I watched the videos. I read the books. I repeated commands hoping he'd understand but nothing changed d look at me as if to say “you’re not making any sense”. And then one day it just clickedI was trying to get him to stop mouthing me. Again. And he wasn’t doing it. Again. I was getting frustrated. Again.

And then I caught myself. I looked at him and for the first time, I really saw him. Not as a badly behaved dog. Not as a problem to fix. But as a dog not knowing what's right or wrong and acting out of enjoyment. That’s when I realized: dog training isn’t about commanding, it’s about communicating! Suddenly, I started asking different questions. Not “Why won’t he listen?” but “Does he know what I’m asking?” Not “How do I stop this behaviour?” but “What is he trying to tell me?” I changed my approach. I got patient. I started rewarding the little wins. I stopped shouting and started shaping. I watched as much as I trained. And then, one morning when I implemented all my changes, the mouthing stopped. Understanding, learning and changing myself is what connected me to my dog. That was my Eureka moment. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t dramatic. But it was real. It was the moment I stopped training at my dog and started training with him.