154: Two-Month Report from the Puppy (and People!) Training Trenches

Hi, this is Charles Michael Davis. Toyotathon is on so stop by your local Toyota dealer for incredible year end deals on the cars, trucks and SUVs known for their legendary reliability like the stylish and efficient Camry, the Ready for anything RAV4 or check out a rough and rugged Tacoma or Tundra, all with great financing and lease options available to qualified customers. Visit buyatoyota.com to find out more. Toyota let's go places.

What's next? This is a question we're all having to ask and answer more frequently. I'm Jenny Blake, your host of the Pivot Podcast and author of the Only Move that Matters is your next one.

For show notes from this episode, visit pivotmethod.com podcast if Change is the only constant, then let's get better at it. Here we go.

Hello friends and Pivot Podcast listeners. Jenny here with another solo episode. I'm excited to dig in to the first two months of Puppy and of course People Training Trenches. But before that I want to give a very special shout out to an unofficial they don't even know this is coming non sponsor sponsor of this episode and you'll see why in a minute. This starts with a shout out to Roxanne, who's been a longtime listener of the Pivot podcast and she's an incredible stylist that I work with through Allison Kluger, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. This is the second year in a row that Alison has led a two week course called Strategic Pivoting for the business school where Alex Rodriguez is the her co instructor. And then I come in in the second week to also do a guest lecture and host the Pivot pitch panel. It's a ton of fun and Allison brings Roxanne in to do the students styling and by the way, I'll put Roxanne's contact information in the show notes to this episode. Pivotmethod.com 154 suffice it to say that I showed up this year and Roxanne had the sweetest gift for me and she said thank you so much. I listened to the podcast and I love it and it was this gorgeous what looked like a glass but it's actually a candle holder, it was this bright yellow. She said the name of this one was called Sunshine and that's what I made her think of the word sunshine which is so incredibly sweet. And the more I learned about this company, Glassy Baby, the more it fit with my values of heart based business and what we talk about here on the podcast and in my private momentum community for heart based business owners. So I want to give a shout out first. Of course. Thank you Roxanne for listening and for being you. I love working with you. And to Allison and Alex as well. I had so much fun in year two. I'll link to one of the videos we did in the show notes to this episode if any of you are curious to see it. But also a shout out to Glassy Baby. So a little bit about the company. They were founded in Seattle, Washington in 2001 by three time cancer survivor Lee Rhodes. During chemotherapy, Lee met many patients who could not afford their basic needs during treatment. When she found a Glassy Baby, it was with the core mission of helping alleviate these struggles. They've donated over $10 million to nonprofit organization that provide hope and healing. They say our journey has only just begun. Seeing how far this giving community has come, just imagine where this precious vessel will take us tomorrow. And Roxanne does some work with them too. And I have to say their values are also incredible. So their values Giving. The reason Glassy Baby exists is to give family. We are a community of kindness. Everyone is welcome. Just bring a story downright uplifting our votives with a motive lift spirits and spread hope. Sustainability. Our hand bone glass products are made from the earth and we are committed to protecting it. Finally, we love dogs. They don't judge and neither do we. So you can see how not only because of the timing of when I saw Roxanne and she gave me that beautiful gift, but also their values. I didn't even know when I put it at the front of this episode that their last value on the list would be we love dogs. So glassybaby.com, check out the goods. They're incredible. Again, they know nothing about this plug. Neither does Roxanne. It's a total surprise. So I said before, I don't take sponsors for the show, but when it's a company that's so aligned with heart based business values, I'm delighted and elated to share. And again, I'll put Roxanne's info in the show notes too. Speaking of dogs and company values, Leanne, who's a longtime Momentum member and hosts her own first time facilitator podcast, she and I have joked that we should start a community for entrepreneurs who love dogs. So who knows if this episode gets good feedback? There's a lot of you out there. We can make this happen. Two reasons I was hesitant to do this episode two month Report from the puppy and people training trenches. That's a lot of alliteration. There are two things holding me back for the first month, and you know that one of my values is radical transparency and truth while it's fresh. Those are some of the values we honor in momentum and of course, crazy smart systems and delightful, delightful specificity. Those are the four core values that I try to hit in the momentum community and even here on the podcast. So how could I not share yet about this big change in my life and all the ups and downs that come with it? Well, two things that were holding me back. So I'm going to give you the caveat up front so that you know what the intention is behind this episode and that it's just personal to me.

One, we just brought home a puppy. He's now four months old. We brought him home when he was two months old. He's a German shepherd. He is the cutest thing. His name is Ryder. We love him so much. Like our hearts are exploding that are we being me and my husband Michael. That said, I didn't want to talk about the difficulties or the challenges or the existential crises that I started to have because I don't want to diminish anyone who has kids. Like, I met a woman who has twins and a younger, so three kids, and was also training a puppy. So many of you listening already have beautiful families. Maybe you're even an empty nester. You've sent your kids off to college. So I feel kind of odd talking about the life changes, knowing that I'm just scratching the surface. The other thing is, and my friend Adam shared with me an article called Raising Puppies Is Harder than Newborns. This is not a competition, of course.

And that has nothing to do with the physical healing that a woman has to go through once she's had a child, especially if there are any complications. But there is a lot that's super intense up front with having and training a puppy that is really different to being a longtime pet owner. So I'm happy to talk about some of that. The other big caveat is that I'm not a dog trainer. This isn't my profession. I'm not a dog training expert. I've done a ton of research. I've read at least 10 books, if not more. I've listened to multiple podcasts. I'm going to share all of these in the show notes, of course. But I'm learning and this is something that I've been really passionate about and really excited to learn about dog Training and behavior and trust based training. Love based training. But I'm not an expert and this isn't my career. So I'm going to point you to those people for sure. And again, if you want show notes from this episode, go to pivotmethod.com 154One of the things that you can do is put in your name and email at the top and when it's ready, I'll give you my Amazon wish list as well. I just haven't created it yet, but if you let me know that you're interested in it, I'm going to round up Ryder's favorite toys and treats. A lot of it just came from me doing a lot of research on what people recommend and what gets the most reviews and then our personal experience of what he likes and what has the most. Because sometimes something looks good, like a water bottle that you can squeeze and give water to your dog and it arrives and it's super heavy. So we have to buy a different one. So put in your name and email. Part of what's going to happen is then I can know who's interested in dog stuff and maybe Leanne and my community vision. We could at least do a zoom call or something. So it's partly to get the Amazon list and also it will let me know who actually cares to hear more about dog training stuff. And if I ever have really specific things I can share because I'll say a third hesitation. Puppy training is so specific to be releasing a podcast episode on something this specific. I just have no clue how many of you out there it's relevant for. That said, I listened to Tim Ferriss podcast and several years ago he did an episode with Susan Garrett. So about a year ago, when I really was starting to get dog fever and do the research, I thought, I thought, you know, I know Tim Varis has a dog and I bet he did an episode and I love the way his mind works. He always shares such good tips and interviews the best people. And this episode was so good. It's called master dog and human training. It's episode 200 of the Tim Ferriss show. It turned me on to Susan Garrett. It turned me on to concepts like positive reinforcement training. And she specifically has a concept called it's your choice where instead of teaching the dog by physically correcting him, you know, pushing on his butt to make him sit, she barely uses commands at all. So she tries to show them it's your choice. And it involves the dog's cognitive capabilities, which is fun for the Dog. It's so fun to see their little gears turning and see how they learn and to see them troubleshooting. And part of what I didn't realize when I had our first family dog, Patches, we had her until she was 16 years old. And I brought her home when I was in seventh grade. And I did what I could, but that was pre Google, really, pre robust Internet the way it is today, pre podcast. I was in seventh grade. I was 12 years old. So I learned what I could, but I didn't realize how much dogs need mental exercise every day, as much as they need to be walked and have physical exercise. And now that we're two months into having Ryder at home.

What I try to do in any given day is actually give sort of equal parts attention and affection. Specific training time where he's learning new concepts or words for things. Physical exercise, mental exercise, you could say was included in that and of course, downtime. And then there's a book I read that is so beautiful that I know you'll love too. And it was recommended to me serendipitously in Miami poolside. I was there for a speaking engagement and a woman saw that I was reading a book called Training the Best Dog Ever, which is good. And she said, you know, she just randomly tapped me and said, I think you should also check out a book called Love Is all youl Need. And the. The author, Jennifer Arnold, does what she calls trust based training and specifically a kind of meta command called like Me. So you teach the dog not to even follow commands because that's still a form of control. And a lot of what I've been reading is that the, you need to be the alpha male and you need to be dominant is actually out. And you can empower your dog so much more to think for him or herself. And also they want to please you. That's one of the sweetest things about dogs. So with Ryder time, like me is if I'm reading in the morning, I want him to settle and do like me or like me and Michael. And I'll get into some more of the lessons learned. I'll also say a really formative and helpful book is before and after getting your puppy. And then Susan Garrett wrote a book called Shaping Success. So those are just a few. I'm going to put more in the show notes, but that's a long way of saying that I'm going to go ahead and do this episode. I hope that some of you find it helpful now or maybe in the future or maybe, you know, somebody that's thinking of getting a dog specifically a puppy or they just brought one home and maybe this will be in the nick of time. Before I get into the training lessons there is the human piece of this and transition. So I want to talk about because I actually had quite a roller coaster shifting from the two person household where Michael and I we do both work from home and we're both self employed so we get to work our day however we'd like and that's a real privilege. But it was also a huge adjustment to introduce the dog and suddenly have this whole other being to think about and all the routines that come with it. Eating, walking, playing TR and running around the house cleaning up after him. While we're house training him. Tack on the fact that we live in a walk up in Harlem and we don't have an elevator and we don't have a backyard. We do have a terrace but we have to. In the beginning we were letting him out full middle thick of winter. We'd put on all our winter gear and try to run him out of the house as soon as we could tell that he had to go to the bathroom. So that. That was really intense. I did block off one month of 000 out of office time do not schedule from December 8th when we brought him home into mid January. And I did travel for the holidays and I also did the Stanford course that I mentioned at the start. But I would say realistically if I could have blocked off two months I would have been even less stressed. Especially in month two trying to juggle work and the new year again with dog life and puppy training. And might laugh at me but you want to know how I started? 2020. I woke up at 4 or 5am and the dog was sick. So I was cleaning up diarrhea. Dog diarrhea. That's how my new year started. And pet pee in the house. So I didn't at the time I just kind of like shook my head. I was like what does this mean for my new year and my new decade? I don't know. But it's worth it for sure. So the adjustment had a lot of mental shifts that I needed to make too. To give you some context. I lived alone for almost all of my 20s. I am and now I can just admit it a highly sensitive super introvert. That is me. I think in the past I was kind of confused and maybe my people pleaser wanted it to be something different. But I'm sensitive, I'm introverted. I need a ton of time alone. A lot of quiet, loud noise can bother me. Networking too many hours in a row can bug me a lot. And that's just how I am. And sometimes I can get down on myself, like, oh, you're being entitled. Nobody needs this much rest or recovery or quiet or get over it. Everyone else is doing it. But if I'm being really honest about what helps me survive and thrive and be my best self, it is a lot of alone time, a lot of quiet, a lot of space. And I also love creating and building things like my business, my two books, the blogs, the podcast. So during my 20s, part of the reason I was alone, I mean, I was pining to be in a relationship a lot of that time, and it just wasn't happening. So before I met Michael, I had actually just given up. I just figured, you know what? Married life isn't for me. Clearly it's not in the cards. I had never even so much as lived with a partner and hadn't really had a super serious, you know, you are my partner relationship in 10 years. I met Michael when I was 31, and actually we met maybe with 31, just turned 32. We moved in together in 2017 into my little 400 square foot studio apartment in SoHo. And we got married in 2018 when I was 34. At the time of this recording, I'm 36 turning 37. So consider that at 36, approaching 37 in October. Most of my friends from high school and college have long been married, living with their spouse, and have one, if not two, kids at this point. So I just got used to a certain way of being and a certain way of working, and I just didn't know if I was cut out for family life. I felt like I don't know if I can handle it. I might get too stressed. I might not be my best self if I'm juggling too many things and then combine that with living in a tiny New York City apartment. And of course that apartment did not allow dogs anyway. A job that requires a lot of travel, and.

I just didn't know when it could happen. But once Michael and I were together, he used to have a German shepherd, Carly, his beloved Carly. And he just. I just. Both of us started getting major dog fever and it became so strong a year ago where I would just follow only German shepherds and dogs and puppies on Instagram and social media. I would talk to any dogs I saw on the sidewalk. I started reading all the books I could about dog training and the philosophy, and it connects so much to the work I do professionally, which is facilitating training, teaching, behavior change, motivation, you know, bonding, love. There's just so much that was really compelling to me. And I swear there have been many moments where I think, okay, if all else fails, maybe I'll start some side project that involves dogs and dog training. Who knows? But started having major dog fever. And once we moved to Harlem and had more space and could actually have a dog, we had a couple false starts. But we knew that, as someone said to me, dogs are angels in fur coats. And I also knew that even with all the false starts, that.

Whoever our dog was meant to be would arrive in perfect timing. So.

I kind of knew what to expect. But as they'll tell you, with most things, you can't really know what to expect until you're in it. Once Ryder arrived, it was 24 7, all hands on deck. And of course, there are the major perks of having a puppy, which is all day. Joy, laughter, learning. Watching him experience everything for the first time. Seeing flies was like revolutionary. Seeing squirrels, seeing leaves blowing in the wind, seeing water or trying to eat water coming out of a hose. You know, there's just endless cute moments. Watching him barely be able to hop in and out of his crate or, you know, even now he's four months old and he's getting so big. You know how cute he is when he tries to walk up or down stairs. It's just. It is amazing.

And there's disrupted sleep. There's distraction. There's the added responsibility. There's coordinating between two people. There's tons of decision making between two people. Even what kind of food you want to give. What's your treating philosophy? What's your training philosophy, Getting aligned on commands, trading off of who's going to walk him, when is it going to be both of us or one or the other who just woke up on the wrong side of bed and needs a day off or when I go travel, you know, that puts a lot on Michael. When I come back, I might be tired from traveling. So what is that like? There was a lot that we had to navigate, and thank goodness that my friend Adam sent me this article. Puppies are harder to raise than babies because, well, I'll say, of course, you probably have even more pressure when it's your child. The article just made some. Some points that made me feel better. I'm not saying that they are or they're not harder, but the article made some really good points. But first of all, puppies have very sharp teeth, and you have to Bite. Train them so they bite you a lot. I have scratches all over my hands and arms. They pee and poo everywhere. Yes, we had a crate, two crates, and we even have a playpen. But nonetheless, there are inevitable times where friends come over, they want to meet the dog. Boom. He pees in the house. And not only that, but you're trying to anticipate when he's going to go to the bathroom. So if he so much as it looks like he's going to pee, we would go down our full winter gear, go downstairs, take him outside, and he may or may not actually go. With puppies, you might not sleep through the night. So when they're very young, their bladders just simply can't hold it for eight hours. So it's also trying to get some sleep while listening. If they cry in the crate, do they need to get out? But you don't want to teach them that if they cry, they'll automatically get out. So sleep can be really disrupted in the beginning. And again, it's adding a huge chunk of time and routines. Michael and I are both very grateful for these routines. And I know that getting outside at least twice a day, getting fresh air, these are good things. These are very energizing for all of us. And like I said, I really enjoy the training process, but it's still a big time commitment to work in. And for a good two months, I felt like I was lucky if I could get one or even two hours of work in a day. And there were many days where that window would suddenly open up and have a lot of parents tell me, you just take the time where you can grab it, you'll become so much more strategic. But that window would open up and I was exhausted. I just didn't have the energy that as soon as I would get a one hour where the puppy was napping and I could ostensibly do some work, the last thing I wanted to do was answer emails or try to wrap my head around recording a solo episode of the podcast like this one. In fact, as we speak, I'm recording this from a hotel room while on the road for a speaking gig. So I'm kind of. I am grabbing that time where I can find it, but. But it takes a little more strategy. So there were moments where I was so happy and grateful, and this family unit we're creating is incredibly beautiful. And there were times where I felt like, I just don't know if I can do this. And I'm putting so much of my energy into the household, which was a Huge shift for me, identity wise because for so long I knew my purpose in life was serving one to many. My mission that I've shared for many, many years, since my early 20, early 20s, was being as helpful as possible to as many people as possible. So it's this bizarre transition for me because pivoting toward marriage, living with a partner now, having a dog, is creating this family unit that I never really visualized for myself again. I always just assumed I'm probably not cut out for it and it hasn't happened yet. Why don't I wrap my mind around life as an Oprah type? You know, Oprah doesn't have kids. She's Paul, sorry, Stedman is her partner and she's got Gail and she has this like big incredible career. And I just would look to someone like her or Elizabeth Gilbert and say, okay, that's, you know, I accept and surrender to whatever life throws my way. Once the puppy arrived, that was the first big pivot, if you will, to.

I'm putting a lot of energy into a smaller pod. It's not just going to be one to many anymore and I am probably going to have not probably I will have less time. I will even want to dedicate less time to the one to many while I build our small unit. And that, that was not easy for me actually I sat with it and I realized okay, this is what I'm doing and I do feel it's the right thing. But it's a big shift and there's a great article by Paul Graham called Having Kids that I'm going to put in the show notes. You can also go to his website. But it's just so beautifully said. He's a venture capitalist and he has a lot of really smart think pieces. Another great one he wrote was on Manager Time versus Maker Time. His article, the one about puppies being pretty challenging at the beginning. Those were both so comforting to me and reassuring that what I was experiencing and the questions I was asking asking weren't, weren't ridiculous, they weren't out of the, out of the ordinary. It wasn't a problem or a question even that unique to me. And they provided a lot of reassurance. And another thing I often teach is nonlinear breakthroughs. So time and space, these are constructs that humans invented basically. So although I might give less physical time to my work, happily so I could have major breakthroughs or ahas that come a result of being a more well rounded person in a sense. Michael teaches me so much and Michael solves so many interesting things with the dog when I'm not there. So even that notion of letting go and what's going on there without me and having FOMO to be with them when I'm on the road, but knowing that the work I do on the road is really important and part of my career, it's just. It's just a really interesting path of learning and growth and development. And the nonlinear breakthrough would say that, well, even if there's less time, maybe I'm happier, more fulfilled, can be of service in other ways, or they combine in a really unique way. Even since my earliest coaching days back in 2008, I would say one plus one equals 100. And I definitely feel that way with Michael. You can listen to an episode we did pivotmethod.com127 if you want to get a sense for what he's like and our dynamic. But he adds so much to my life. It's definitely a one plus one equals a hundred, if not a thousand situation. And now with Ryder in the picture, I mean, we are just gone. We are head over heels in love with this dog. Just before I left on this trip, he was really getting into the swing of being a member of the household. And for the first time, he laid under my feet while I worked at my desk. And it was just this most beautiful moment. Of course, he stole one of my toys. I have two stuffed unicorns in my office, which is slash the guest room. And he pulled down one of the unicorns and just sat with it at my feet, chewing on the unicorn. And it was really, really cute. Watching him experience snow for the first time, my heart melted. I was away at that. But I saw the video, watched it over and over. So now that we're two months in and he's four months old and he's learning every day, I can say and have some perspective to at least get this far into a podcast episode now, of course, talk to me in a year, two years, 10 years. So many of you, like I said, have families, pets, people that you love and care for. And this is going to be nothing new. But if anyone's just starting on the journey, I always think that the truth, while it's fresh, can be so comforting. And just as that Tim Ferriss podcast was for me, can provide those few timely resources that make a huge difference.

With that, let's shift into a few of the pointers and best practices. I'm not going to share too many because more I just want to point you with where to go. Susan Garrett Who I mentioned, she actually has a community for people interested in training their dogs. It's called Recallers. She is so good. I mean, listen to that episode with Tim. I think you're going to love it as much as I did. And then if you want to check out her community, which I, of course am a part of, you can go to recallers. Com. Again, Susan teaches. It's your choice. So really getting the dog to use his cognitive abilities when training, not just telling him what to do by yanking on the collar, yanking on the leash. In fact, what Susan Garrett teaches is you become so interesting and compelling to your dog that he or she starts to ignore distractions, ignore food on the floor, because he knows you're the one that has it. We actually do. Thanks to her coaching and training, Ryder will now not as he is he house trained, but he will run into his crate just and sit very sweetly waiting for a treat. He knows there's a treat coming. So what Susan would say is, you're building value for the things that you want the dog to do. So we built value for his crate so that he runs in there. We're not forcing him in, we're not pushing him in. We're not making him making it seem like it's a punishment. Another example that she gives and teaches is when the dog's in the crate and you go to open the door, you don't want them sprinting out. Same with your front door. It's not safe even if you're opening the door to a car, for example. So I'll give you a little sneak peek of how she teaches. The dog is in the crate and as you go to open the door, if they so much as stick their neck forward, the door closes. So at first they might lunge toward the door, the door closes. Then they start learning a little bit, little bit. Then they just nudge their nose forward. The door closes. It is only when the dog is sitting and or laying and absolutely still as the crate door opens. And then you can say okay. And he runs out because you have given him the signal that it's okay. Another example, the dog. Basically, a dog's way of asking or saying the word please is to say sit and make eye contact. So throughout the day you can teach little moments like that that when he sits and makes eye contact, he gets a treat. Or in the beginning, I'm going to link to this guy. I can't remember his YouTube channel off the top of my head. I think his name is Zach something. But I learned this from him that day one or day two, it's just click treat, click treat. And we were using a clicker in the beginning. Now not so much. We say, yes, you want to give some kind of either a click or the word yes when the dog does what you want so that they know. Because then by the time you hand them the treat, it's often they forgot what they did. So in the beginning, it was as simple as the dog makes eye contact. Yes, treat or click treat, Click treat every time he makes eye contact. So you're training this relationship. Jennifer Arnold, who I mentioned earlier, says in week one, you are just building trust. You can bite off a piece. Ryder loves carrots. So you can bite off a piece of a carrot and show that you're eating half and you're generously giving your dog half. You can sit with them on the floor. So if a dog is jumping up because he wants affection, instead of punishing the dog, Jennifer would say, he wants attention. That's normal. It's normal for dogs to want affection and love and attention. So if he's jumping, it means he's hungry for it. Like maybe he's not getting enough. So rather than letting the dog jump, you can just go where he is and she gives what she calls two hand touch. So you're not going to punish him for jumping and you're not even going to say, no, bad dog. But you're gonna just say, oh, you must need some love. You go put two hands on him and you can pet him then in his dog bed. So where it's appropriate, rather than teaching him that, okay, yes, he'll get all the attention if he jumps on you the second you walk in the door. The woman I met at the pool who was teaching me how she applies these concepts, she was saying, let's say your dog jumps on the couch and you don't want him up there. Well, you can redirect him back down, and then you could sit with him on the floor if you wanted. This all goes directly against what a lot of dominance teachers teach, which is like, you're the alpha. You have to show your position. The argument that really got me against dominance training is you don't need to show extra dominance. You are already the sole provider of your dog's food, his water, his toys, which, by the way, you don't leave all the toys sitting out. You take them back and you only give them one at a time so he can play, and then you take them away. His treatment streets his walks. I mean, as is, you are that dog's everything. It's everything. He's completely dependent on you. So there's really the the newer research and reading has convinced me for sure that you don't need to have these extra shows of dominance or aggressive training techniques. Ultimately, dogs are so cute. They want to learn. They love learning for the most part. I mean, I cannot speak for every dog dog goodness no. But you can have a lot of fun doing these training techniques that don't involve control that instead revolve around trust and love. So you can see why I love that so much. In terms of podcasts, there's a couple and I'll put them in the Show Notes. The Dog show with Julie Forbes Dog Talk. There's two different ones and the Dogs Way. And of course, if you found this episode helpful and you're a dog owner or you're going to be, or you just want to kind of follow this journey, check out the show notes, put in your name and email so I can give you any specific things I discover along the way@pivotmethod.com 154 and some of you may also be interested in Momentum, which is my private community for solopreneurs who run heart based businesses. Doors are reopening soon. And although the specific focus isn't puppy training, I do share a ton of behind the scenes about how I run my life and business in a way that always orients toward how can I earn twice as much in half the time with ease and joy while serving the highest good? So part of the way that I think about adding rider into our lives is okay. Now I have this beautiful new addition to our day and our routines and our responsibilities. How can I free up even more of my time in my business? How can I deliver my products and services with even greater intersection between revenue, ease and joy? One of the earliest Pivot podcasts, I believe it's episode 11 pivotmethod.com 11 but forgive me if I'm wrong is on exactly that how to optimize for Revenue and joy. So in Momentum I'm always asking these questions and as my life evolves and my family grows, I'm always thinking about how can I make myself redundant in my business? What does it look like to take a year off and have the business grow? How can each of my team members document their roles so that if they get whisked off to Fiji for a month that we all know how to step in and nothing gets broken up? In terms of our processes, we have a lot of fun geeking out about crazy smart systems truth while it's fresh, radical transparency. And that's really where I share behind the scenes of exactly how I built my business. We're now rounding the corner into year nine. Nine years. So I guess that'll be year nine going into year ten. And there's a lot I've learned the long hard way. So if you are looking for that support in 2020, I would love for you to join us. You can learn more@pivotmethod.com Momentum and doors are opening soon, so definitely join the interest list and keep an eye out. I love doing free webinars and Q and A calls leading up to it and you're more than welcome to join for the those I hope you found this helpful. And as a lifelong dog lover, if you're on the fence about getting a dog and feel free to submit questions if you want me to answer in a future episode, pivotmethod.com ask. But I'm biased. I would just say it is so worth it. It is so worth it. And I know not everyone can do it at every point in their life or every apartment lease or size that you have, or maybe your travel schedule. But but if you're on the fence, I will say we are now that we're two months in, if you can just give yourself as much space as possible the first two months to transition your life and your work and do that, juggle and figure things out with your partner or your family, then it does get easier. And I'm saying that right now, live from the trenches. And of course, as Tim said in his episode, and I'll say again in mine, it is as much as a person training experience as dog training, the the root of all of this is that if the dog does something you don't like, it's not his fault. He doesn't know it's the person's fault. It's the, it's the trainer. It's, it's, it's on. It's on us. I've been such a longtime fan and follower of Byron, Katie and the work, and it's turning stressful thoughts around so that you can have peace. And part of that process means saying it's on me. It's nobody else's fault, how I feel my frustration and certainly is not the dog's fault. So the big secret to dogs why are they angels in fur coats? Is that they inspire change and presence and unconditional love and joy and learning. And they teach us, you know, all the frustrations that might come or the not being present. You know, I really try not to be on my phone or even on a phone call when I'm walking the dog. That's as much teaching and shaping me and Michael as the other way around. So to Michael, thank you, I love you. Thank you for being my partner in this journey and to Ryder, who's the beautiful, most beautiful addition to our lives. And I can't wait to see what else we learn from you in 2020 and beyond. Thank you everybody for listening and I can't wait to hear your feedback on this episode.

Thanks so much for the listening to this episode of the Pivot podcast. Make sure you don't miss an episode or my insider tips and templates by signing up for Pivot List, a curated twice monthly newsletter where I share the inside scoop on what I'm reading, watching, listening to, and the latest tools I'm geeking out on. Sign up@pivotmethod.com pivotlist get show notes from this episode@pivotmethod.com podcast and connect with me on Twitter at Jenny Blake.

Remember, build first, then your courage will follow. Hasn't it always.