Alishia Adams

Sometimes the biggest wins in dog training aren’t the ones anyone else would notice. ❤️

Something people don’t know about Essie is that we struggle with drive dipping.

She wants SO badly to be right that when she’s unsure, she shuts down. Her confidence disappears, she creeps, and all that beautiful drive just vanishes.

For a year, I’ve been learning how to navigate this, especially in our directionals.

Today at club, an exercise we’d successfully worked on ALL week immediately caused her to drive dip.

I put her away because I was getting frustrated, and I refuse to train that way.

After another club member trained, I simplified the exercise and tried again.

BAM. Another drive dip.

I took a breath, remembered my coach’s advice (and the countless reminders to STOP overthinking 😂), grabbed a leash, and made a decision.

I wasn’t going to be her cheerleader. I was going to be her clarity.

I KNEW she understood this exercise. She needed me to confidently help her work through the uncertainty.

And by the end of that rep, we were successful.

Why share this?

Because I want to be an honest trainer.

Just because Essie is a Malinois, a sport dog, and I train professionally doesn’t mean this journey is easy.

This dog is taking every ounce of knowledge I have and asking me to become better.

She’s challenged me, frustrated me, and forced me to rethink things I thought I understood.

But today something I’ve spent YEARS learning finally clicked.

Not every difficult moment requires you to cheer your dog on. Sometimes they need you to be their clarity.

And for once, I made that decision at exactly the right moment.

To some, one successful rep means nothing.

To me? It was a year of mistakes, learning, and listening to my coaches finally coming together.

I didn’t just see progress in my dog today. I saw progress in myself as her trainer.

Essie may never be the easiest dog I build, but she might teach me the most.

I’m trying to build her into an incredible sport dog, but somewhere along the way, she’s building me into a better trainer.

And I’m so damn proud of both of us.

That’s my win today. ❤️🐾
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📸 @kat.shoot