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Have you ever googled the terms resilience and dog? You’ll find countless articles aimed at strengthening and training the socialization and resilience of dogs. What you won’t find are exercises and tips for you, to help cope better with the challenges of being a dog owner and recover more quickly from setbacks. This guide will change that. Here, you’ll get a brief guide on what to expect and how to achieve more calmness in your daily life.

1. Training Resilience as a Dog Owner
   1. Puppy Blues Can Happen to Anyone
   2. Setbacks in Training
   3. Other Dog Owners
   4. Illnesses and Injuries
   5. Letting Go of Your Dog
2. Living with Dogs

Training Resilience as a Dog Owner

No matter how well prepared you are or how enriching your dog is to you, being a dog owner brings plenty of responsibility and stress. This is true even if you’re doing everything right and have a well-behaved, friendly dog. Not everything is within your control.

Typical problems and stresses include:

• Puppy blues
• Setbacks in training
• Other dog owners
• Illnesses
• Euthanasia

Puppy Blues Can Happen to Anyone

Especially as a first-time dog owner, despite optimal preparation and finally fulfilling your wish for a dog, you might fall into a slump. The responsibility, the challenges, and adjusting to another living being are a lot at once. Add to that the disrupted sleep patterns, which are common with puppies. However, you can overcome the puppy blues by following a few simple tips.

Setbacks in Training

As an ambitious dog owner, you want to do everything right from the start. Maybe you’ve read guides, enrolled in dog school, or have several courses and years of experience behind you. When training doesn’t go as expected or you face setbacks, it can be disappointing and frustrating. However, there are ways to handle it better.

1. Understand Your Dog: Dogs, like people, have good and bad days. On bad days, even well-established commands might not work, and learning can be ineffective. Hormones, growth spurts, and distractions can also contribute to your dog’s lack of focus or interest.
2. Give Yourself Time: It’s common to expect too much too quickly from your dog. Go slow and take it step by step. Keep training sessions short and always finish when you achieve success. This way, both you and your dog experience much less stress and frustration.
3. Work Positively and Clearly: If your dog doesn’t understand you or associates training with negative experiences, frustration and setbacks are guaranteed. Positive learning creates more fun and success for both of you.
4. Your Dog Isn’t Working Against You: “He’s doing it on purpose!” – Be honest, how often do you think that when your dog deliberately ignores a command or does something they should know better than? Try to look at it differently. Some days, the trail or the scent of a female in heat is simply more exciting. Still, your dog isn’t doing it to annoy you. They gain nothing from it.
5. Avoid Comparisons: If your neighbor’s dog, Fifi, picks things up faster and needs less training while your dog seems like a teenager in a rebellious phase, it can be more than frustrating. It might make you doubt yourself. Stop comparing. Different breeds and dogs have different response times, learning styles, and strengths and weaknesses. Just as you shouldn’t compare yourself to athletes while jogging or to chess champions while playing checkers, don’t do it with your dog either.
6. Don’t Strive for Perfection: A perfectly trained dog who knows 150 commands is impressive—no question. But do you really need or want that? Before teaching your dog something, ask yourself if it’s really important to you. This usually cuts the list down dramatically and relieves the pressure.
7. Focus on Successes: It’s easy to get upset about setbacks and overlook successes. If you focus on how far you’ve come, you’ll put setbacks into perspective.

Other Dog Owners

Dog owners can make life difficult. Forced interactions because your dog urgently needs to say hello, unsafe and poorly managed dogs, a complete lack of consideration, and plenty of prejudices based on breed and size – if you sometimes wish you didn’t meet anyone on your walks, you’re not alone.

Add to that the well-meaning yet arrogant advice, which can sometimes lead to dangerous or even escalating situations. You’ll be frustrated by other dog owners more than once, and maybe even upset that you didn’t protect your dog enough from others.

The solution requires some patience and practice. Before diving into that: Talk it out. Venting can help, and you’re not the only one dealing with annoying encounters. Sharing with others can help you view things from a different, possibly more relaxed, perspective. Here are some tips:

1. Protect Your Dog: Safety comes first. Pick your dog up or move them behind you when you need to protect them. Learn to block and deter other dogs.
2. Learn to Say No: „He doesn’t bite!“ or „He just wants to play!“—or the ever-popular „He just wants to say hello!“—are phrases you’ll hear often. If neither you nor your dog are in the mood, say no. Don’t let anyone force contact with you or your dog.
3. Be Clear: Being loud and firm to keep other people and dogs at bay isn’t for everyone, but sometimes it’s necessary. If someone thinks you’re overreacting, good—they’ll leave you alone in the future.
4. Be Patient with Yourself: If it’s not in your nature to be assertive and loud, give yourself time and practice. It works best at first with people you know, where you can practice asserting yourself in controlled situations. It may sound silly, but it’s effective. Also, remember, you’ll be more upset if your dog is harassed, scared, or even injured than if you yelled at a stranger or scared off another dog.
5. Lead by Example: Everyone is the annoying dog owner at times, and no one is perfect. Consideration and, if a mistake or accident occurs, saying “I’m sorry” will make you a good example and a role model. Plus, it will leave you with a positive feeling.

Illnesses and Injuries

Unexplained diarrhea, fleas, allergies, or injuries aren’t just stresses for your dog. When you need to care for them intensively, worry about your beloved pet, or feel lost, it takes a toll on you.

Sleep deprivation, financial worries, and even logistical issues with care can push you to the brink of despair.

• Financial Cushion and Preparation: A financial cushion and care options for emergencies are important when owning a dog. Ideally, you’ve already arranged both, along with pet insurance, before getting the dog. If not, keep reading.
• Seek Help: Even if you’ve saved up, and even if you have a good social network and other care options, things can change. Savings aren’t unlimited, and professional dog sitters can cancel. Shelters, rescue organizations, veterinarians, dog sport clubs, breed-specific organizations, breeders, friends, and other dog owners can offer support. Animal lovers are connected, and asking for help costs nothing. If asking is hard, remember, you can always pay it forward.
• Find Someone to Talk to: Talking about your problems won’t solve them, but it creates understanding and sometimes leads to support. A social network strengthens your resilience.
• Take It Step by Step: Feel overwhelmed? Break tasks into small steps that you can check off quickly. It’s not always possible, but having a plan can help. It provides an overview and helps guide your actions.
• Time for Yourself: If your dog is sick or injured, has to suffer, or needs extra attention, it drains your energy. Add to that the worries. Drinking enough, eating properly, and taking a few minutes to breathe doesn’t work miracles, but it keeps you going.

Letting Go of Your Dog

Whether it’s sudden or after a long illness, peaceful passing or euthanasia – the death of your beloved dog will test your resilience.

Recovering from grief and learning to cope with the loss takes time and strength. However, there are tips that can help you handle grief better, without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.

Living with Dogs

Life with dogs is beautiful, sometimes exhausting, occasionally frustrating, sad, funny, enriching, and a challenge. It will make you laugh, curse, and cry. In difficult times, focusing on the positives and remembering you’re not alone with your problems helps.

Remember that life as a dog owner and the learning process is a journey. It will help you and your resilience to reflect on what you’ve already achieved.

Also important for endurance and resilience: Gather good experiences and memories whenever you can. Playing, hiking, silly photoshoots—the shared fun is vital for bonding and helps you when things aren’t so easy.