The Human End of the Leash: How Trauma Impacts Relational Health

Although the great majority of these personal challenges stem from trauma that occurred in our childhood years, "the 't' word" (trauma) can occur at any point in our lives-- in many ways ... and does.

"Trauma isn't what happens to you. It's what happens inside of you as a result of what happens to you." - Dr. Gabor Mate

You may be wondering what this has to do with dogs.

Trauma forms the filters that all incoming information passes through; driving our interpretations, activating unhealed wounds (aka "triggers"), clouding perceptions, influencing our behaviors, habits, and charging responses and reactions.

Most of these things impact all of our relationships to some degree.

The great majority I've seen playing out in the behavioral work I do with clients and their dogs-- as well as the dynamics with those also living in the home (which also impacts canine behavior).

Sadly,our dogs oftentimes (and truly) bear the brunt of this in many ways.

Canine behavioral issues can, do, and will trigger us.

They'll highlight many of the things below, as well as how we handle, respond, and deal with various types of challenges.

I've long told clients, "behavior is information".

So is how we approach and deal with challenges.

Humans don't do "uncomfortable."

They numb and anesthetize, suppress, project, and avoid it at all costs.

The problem with this is... "the uncomfortable" is also information; and is where our growth and healing lies.

We cover this in greater detail in our upcoming book, "The Human End of the Leash: Dog Training's Missing Link" (pre-order here: https://packfit.thinkific.com/.../the-human-end-of-the-leash ).

Awareness is the first step to everything good <3