scott

I got up at 5:30AM, drove two hours, rented a U-haul and spent the rest of the day helping her move. If you were to ask me what my top five least favorite things to do are, moving would be right next to getting a root canal and meeting with my accountant.

It’s the kind of project that you would procrastinate doing if you could. Procrastination is a HUGE problem for a lot of people - me included. I have to fight it all the time.

But I have found the cure for procrastination and I’m going to share it with you.

Here it is:

When you are focused on a task that needs to be completed, focus on the reward NOT the process.

Simple yes. Profound, absolutely.

See, a lot of dogs don’t get trained because we focus on the process and NOT the reward. There are times when we’re tired, stressed, or pressed for time and it’s just easier to put off the training. Some people just don’t enjoy the process of training, but, if you can focus on the reward and not the process, you can get your dog to behave and become the obedient dog that you always dreamed of.

Right now I’m training one of my dogs to retrieve an adult beverage from the fridge when I give the command. I’m hoping to have her trained by the Superbowl. Sometimes I can think of better things to do than training. When I start thinking that way, I focus on the reward. I think about how awesome it will be to have my dog run over to the fridge, open the door and bring my back a cold beverage.

I can picture the looks on my friends’ faces when they see her do the command. I can picture all of them asking me if they can ask her to get them a beer. When you start thinking that way the process goes away and the training becomes fun.

Do you want your dog to walk on leash without pulling, to come back when you call, to stay when you ask? If you’re ready to focus on the reward and not the process and start training your dog to listen to all of your commands, start to focus on the reward.

Go ahead and try it out.