Enlightened By Dogs: Living with Cooperation, Not Obedience

Why can't my dog walk on leash? How can I keep my dog off of the furniture? Why doesn't my dog listen to me? Does any of this sound familiar? A lot of dog lovers go through these moments! you're not alone, and you might be a little surprised at Kathy's solutions to these common issues! Behaviour is communication, and these rebellious actions are no different! Your dog is trying very hard to tell y...

The safe, calm and happy storm continues on this week's episode of Enlightened By Dogs! Kathy is loving the topic, and has decided to go deeper into the way we think about it and how badly we resist when we're first exposed to new things! Why do we automatically dismiss things that could be so helpful to us? Why do we find reasons to keep doing the same thing instead of making a change? She explor...

Safe, calm and happy. Last week's talk with Sue Mimm brought up the idea that the more time we spend safe, calm and happy, the safer, calmer and happier we'll be! It sounds simple and logical enough, so why are we in a constant battle with ourselves and our dogs to be happy? Kathy takes us deeper into the topic this week, and sheds light on a few key elements we might be missing, as well as what s...

Have you ever wondered about the science behind what we do as brilliant partners? We strive to live in harmony with our dogs, and do our best to create an environment that's safe, calm and happy for them! Today Kathy welcomes Sue Mimm to Enlightened By Dogs to discuss the intriguing Polyvagal Theory. Introduced by Dr. Stephen Porges in 1994, the Polyvagal Theory surrounds the school of thought tha...

When Kathy heard about Maya, she felt compelled to see what this little Border Collie was all about. Maya needed a home to call her own with someone who could communicate on her level. She found that home, and that person with Kathy. She also found a bunch of other dog friends, and some interesting reactions to them! Maya's story is one filled with excitement, a willingness to learn and an eagerne...

What does your dog want more than anything else in the world? Even though we're completely different species, there are some core things we have in common with our dogs. While we want the same things out of life for the most part, the trick lies in being able to communicate those things to one another. Often, we see our dogs effort to communicate as misbehaving or acting out, when really, they are...

Trials and competitions with our dogs can be really exhilarating and exciting events! But, a great many of us make big mistakes while preparing for the big day! With so much pressure mounting as the trial approaches, we as dog lovers tend to take an ambitious approach to the whole process, but what if that's putting a strain on the relationship you've formed with your dog? How good can competing b...

Are we forcing our dogs into our crazy, overwhelmed, stressed out lifestyle instead of letting them do what they do best? Dogs are in our lives for a very important reason: They're our friends. They're here to enjoy our company and share precious moments with us. They're great at having fun, relaxing, and adventuring, and they love to include us in it! But what if our rat race lifestyle is keeping...

Ever wondered who is responsible for your partnership? What does a brilliant partnership look like? That's exactly what Kathy discusses in this episode of Enlightened by Dogs.  Habits can be hard to break and our host recommends we break them fast as to not allow unwanted behavior or habits to continue. We have to stop putting our dogs in the position to behave "badly" and stop our reactions to it...

Did you know the smaller baby steps you take the quicker you are to attain your goals? In this episode Kathy discusses the comfort zone that exists for us and our dogs.  We can learn how to be good role models, loving leaders who are able to set appropriate boundaries. When we do this our dogs are much happier and blossom.   When we take huge steps toward our goal, which is outside of our comfort...

Have you noticed that you and your dog(s) need a bit of a stress reset? What does relaxed and happy look like in our everyday life? In this episode, Kathy shares how to identify where you and your dog are happy, what increases your stress, and the importance of living in the safe, calm, happy zone. Making sure our needs are met, as well as our dog's needs, allows more fruitful communication. How l...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast hosted by the passionate and informative Kathy Kawalec. Each week Kathy will bring great stories, tips, and strategies to help you build a better relationship with your dog. Dogs are socially intelligent parts of our family group and so we must treat them as such. In this episode, Kathy tackles the importance of building partnership relationships with our...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast hosted by Kathy Kawalec. This host is very passionate and has a heart of gold. During this weekly podcast about dogs and dog enthusiasts, you will hear great tips and strategies on how to carry out a brilliant partnership with your dog. In this episode, Kathy plays a clip from the Partnership Workshop she taught. Kathy discusses social intelligence (somet...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast hosted by Kathy Kawalec. During this episode, Kathy presents a segment of an interview with one of the member's of Brilliant Partners Academy, Kelly. Kelly's dog, Merle was an extremely reactive dog and in this interview, Kelly and Kathy describe how the partnership approach was administered and worked in soothing his behavior.  In this episode, you will...

Leadership, in the positive dog training world, is the most misunderstood concept of all ... to the detriment of our dogs Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast hosted by Kathy Kawalec. This weekly podcast about dogs focuses on our partnerships and relationships with our dogs as emotional, intelligent beings who are part of our family group. Along the way, Kathy will give you strategies that w...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast hosted by the illuminating Kathy Kawalec. Enlightened by Dogs focuses on the human-dog connection and our becoming partners with our dogs. You will be given strategies that will inspire you. In this episode Kathy speaks with a good friend Deb Bauer regarding trust and trustworthiness. Deb is an amazing woman who runs the program Both Ends of the Leash giv...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs Podcast hosted by Kathy Kawalec. This is a podcasts about dogs that focuses on the human-dog connection and working together through partnership. In this episode Kathy discusses listening--receiving information from our dogs. Listen for strategies that will inspire. If you've had the thought that your dog is stubborn, won't listen, doesn't care about what you're...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast hosted by Kathy Kawalec. This dog podcast is all about the human-dog connection and partnership we share with our dogs. In this episode, Kathy has a very special guest, Sue who is a dog behaviorist. When Sue adopted Charlie, a rescue dog, and saw his behavior issues, she realized she needed to have more information about dogs. Training and behavior meet h...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast with Kathy Kawalec. In this episode, Kathy shares some difficult lessons she dealt with in the area of distractions with her own dogs. (Building upon last weeks lesson, which you can listen to here .) She gives a small back story regarding difficult trialing and fielding with young dogs who are not typically consistent. Kathy shares a personal experience...

Welcome to the Enlightened by Dogs podcast. In this episode, Kathy discusses the issue of our dogs being distracted, unfocused, and failing to listen. It is frustrating and difficult when we encounter this behavioral concern, but it is a common problem and you are not alone. Kathy compares the difficulty level of humans to keep focused. Typically we expect our dogs to pick up the slack for us. Whe...

In this episode, Kathy discusses the issue of our dogs running the fence line, barking frantically. Kathy shares a clip of one of her coaching sessions, from her Brilliant Partners Academy program, with Claire who struggled with her dog lunging, running and barking along the fence line at the neighbor's dog. She talks about the disconnection between us and our dogs at that point and what we can do...

In this episode, Kathy explains how being trapped in the house because of extreme winter or summer can strengthen the bond between you and your dog. It is also the perfect teaching opportunity to work with your dogs' impulse control. What does this mean? It means taking a mindful and calm attentive responsiveness to our relationships with our dogs. Being locked up with your dog is actually a great...

There is no one on this planet who knows how important a dog is in your life like dog enthusiast Kathy Kawalec of the Enlightened by Dogs Podcast. Just like you, Kathy sees a kindred spirit, a sentient being, a heart and a soul when she looks into the eyes of a dog. Our host makes no bones about her opinion that partnership with our dogs is much better than simply training them. Partnership is bas...

Kathy starts out this episode with a personal thanks to listener CarolC64 who left a rating and heartfelt comment on the last episode. Our host reminds us that any person who rates or comments can be featured on future episodes as a shout out! In this episode of Enlightened by Dogs podcast Kathy gets passionate and serious about the biggest myths in dog training: Training makes our lives better Ex...

Sweet and soulful Kathy Kawalec, Dog Lover Extraordinaire, wants you to have the best relationship possible with your dog and she is here to help! Kathy appreciates her followers by answering their questions, providing goodies, and giving personal on-air thanks! She wants all trainers, dog owners, anyone who spends an abundant amount of time in a relationship with a dog to build a deep, meaningful...