Enlightened By Dogs With Kathy Kawalec

Over-arousal is a real problem that shows itself in a lot of different ways. In some cases, it can look like chasing cars, animals, or running along the fence. In other cases it can look like digging hundreds of holes in the yard or jumping on strangers. The extreme cases can be horrific and lead to people or other dogs getting seriously hurt. No matter how it manifests on the outside, the cause of over-arousal looks pretty common on the inside. Over-arousal has been linked to high stress hormones in the brain, and while the solution may not happen overnight, there is definitely a way to get your dog feeling less stressed out, and more safe, calm and happy! Want to know how it’s done? Tune into this episode of Enlightened By Dogs!   The horrific reason why overarousal needs to be addressed in an episode of its own.  We’re responsible for our lives, our dogs lives, and the lives that our dogs can impact. How do we best handle that responsibility? Looking for ways to be safe, calm and happy for everyone. How d

Does life with your difficult dog frustrate you? Are you feeling stressed out or overwhelmed by their behaviour? Does it feel like there’s no end in sight? Never fear! Brilliant Partner and recurring podcast guest Sue Mimm is joining Kathy on the show today to talk about how she went from dreading her days with her difficult dog, to loving every single minute of their time together! Sue sheds light on some of her difficult moments early on in their relationship, and explains how she managed to turn it around. She describes where she put her focus and how things progressed into such an amazing transformation! A year and a half ago, Sue would have never imagined things going the way they are today, but it has happened, and she’s here to help you see the hope in your story!    We get an introduction to Sue, her dogs, and the golden standard of partnership. What got Sue from being overwhelmed and stressed out by her difficult dogs, to having the greatest partnership possible Facing the inner pressure created by

Do you have hard days? Well, there are things you can do to make it through those days and come out the other side ready, able, passionate and excited to live life with your dogs! Have you ever noticed that a dog has the ability to show us how to enjoy life? They’re so good at brushing off the small stuff, living in the moment and having fun! It’s hard to believe that our dogs can have bad days, but they’re just as susceptible to them as we are! Sometimes we can even be the cause our dog’s bad day! Before we can return the favour and light up their lives, we have to make sure we’re brightly lit up too! In this episode of Enlightened By Dogs, Kathy shares her most solid tactics and ideas on how to get through hard days in the most positive ways possible, so that you can be a light for your dog when they need it the most! Click play and find out how to help yourself, and your dog through the hardest of days! In This Episode Dogs can illuminate our path forward when we’re feeling lost or stuck! Why you may want

Hello friend! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, and Kathy is here to tell you all about it! Unexpected issues and life happening all over the place caused her usual sense of calm to bubble over and lead to a bit of a meltdown. Luckily, Kathy is a master of calm and it took her no time at all to find it again, and get back to living her best life! Want to know what she did? Tune into this week’s episode of Enlightened By Dogs to find out exactly what physical and mental steps Kathy took to go from being stressed and overwhelmed to tears, to being calm and happy while walking her dogs! It’s not complicated, and it’s something you can start doing right now to improve your health and relationships. Take a deep breath, click play, and unlock the secrets to calming yourself and your dog!   A heartfelt thank you to the new Brilliant Partners and podcast listeners! Mishaps and mayhem create a perfect storm for Kathy. The one and only thing you may need to know in order to calm your dog. Why does breathing play a ro

Do you really need your dog to sit and perform for their cookies? Do you truly want your dog to lie down in a specific place all of the time? Or is there something else that is more appropriate, and more aligned with a partnership lifestyle? Ok, so today is a little bit of a rant episode about what we truly want from our dogs! Are we actually giving up what we want most, for what we want right now?  While it is a possibility that you may want these things, we tend to spend a lot of energy trying to train behaviors out of our dogs, or train new habits in, while we fail to ask why we’re doing it in the first place. In this episode of Enlightened By Dogs, Kathy really breaks down for us how to stop training and start partnering with our dogs. She gives tons of examples and stories to back up the silly things we do, and why they may not actually be the best use of your time and effort!   Are you doing this thing over and over again without even thinking about it? Is our view of the human/dog relationship comple

Are you ready to become a Brilliant Partner to your dog? To expand into the best human you could possibly be? In this episode, Kathy leads you through a series of very specific exercises to help you blossom into the best possible version of yourself for the benefit of you, everyone around you, and of course: your dogs! The breed of your dog doesn’t matter. How old your dog is doesn’t matter. How reactive your dog is doesn’t matter! If you stick with this and follow the protocol Kathy teaches, you will have an amazing relationship with your furry friend! If you allow it to, and if you take inspired action, this episode will change your life!   In This Episode Why would you want to be a Brilliant Partner in the first place? It all starts with you, and your ability to take inspired action! Who are your dog role models? Why do you admire them? Why it’s important to reaffirm your values, and the values of your dog!   “Your success is inevitable if you stick with it” “When we are more and more brilliant, our dogs

Judgement is a slippery slope when it comes to holding ourselves and our dogs back! We misjudge ourselves, we misjudge our dogs and we lock ourselves in Judgement Jail all the time. Never Fear! Kathy is here with 3 different keys to unlock those doors and let you out! On top of that, she’s handing the keys over to you so that you can use your “get out of judgement jail free” card whenever you find yourself locked up! Another week brings another Brilliant Partners secret on this episode of Enlightened By Dogs Podcast!   Measuring the gap between your current place and where you want to be isn’t the best approach!  Stop comparing yourself to others. How blossoming into the next version of yourself benefits not only you and your dog, but the world at large. Are you forcing a timeline on yourself and your dog where there doesn’t have to be one?  Can you reframe your pain into something better?   “I’ve been sentenced to failure” “How far have you come?” “You already know where you measure the gap” “Your first ch

If you consider yourself to be a savvy, dog-centric individual, then this episode will definitely resonate with you! It can be extremely disheartening and frustrating when we’re constantly finding ourselves in situations that are making us and our dogs upset! So what do we do about it? What is this big life changing secret that will make our lives and the lives of our dogs so amazing? In this episode of Enlightened By Dogs, Kathy shares her first of many skills that will help change the relationship you have with your dog, and with life itself! This one has everything to do with how you think. How you think about you, how you think about your dog, and how you think about the situations you keep finding yourself in!   How your thinking can hold you and your partnership with your dog back from being as enjoyable as it could be. Clearing out your mental clutter is a big part of perfecting the skill! The chain reaction of thoughts and emotional response. When is it appropriate to change your emotional state and

There are a lot of factors at play when it comes to being resilient. Things like genetics, your environment, your level of activity and how often you get outside can greatly impact your response to ugly situations. Now if this is true for you, imagine how true it is for your dog! The exact same thing applies to them as well! Our socially intelligent furry friends require the same care we do if we expect them to be strong and resilient in the face of adversity! In this episode of Enlightened By Dogs, Kathy invites us to sit in on a masterclass she hosted about creating resiliency and balance in the lives of our dogs! She pulls back the curtain and shares a segment of an in depth teaching designed to help us build our dogs up and help them succeed in ways that only a Brilliant Partner possibly can!   Why do we neglect talking about resiliency? Dogs can feel support in a few different ways, how does your dog feel supported? Giving your dog choices in life will create a more balanced life! The beautiful benefits

Dogs are masters of meditation. It sounds crazy, but it’s 100% true! Our dogs live in a constant state of presence, and rarely (if ever) allow mind drama to cloud their judgement. If we can learn anything from our furry friends, it’s to slow down and take in the moment. In this episode of Enlightened By Dogs, Kathy takes us along for a walk with her dogs and shows us exactly how they help her connect with the present moment and reach a meditative state! Are you truly connecting with your dogs as deeply as you could be in the moment? Click play and find out exactly what that looks like!   A few reasons why you may want to start meditating on a regular basis. The benefits of not being caught up in mind drama. Debunking meditation myths. Kathy takes us for a walk with her and her dogs! How your dog can help you reach a meditative state. Kathy’s meditation challenge.   “By observing your own mind and your own thoughts, our perspective shifts” “We don’t have to be a slave to our own mind” “Meditation is simply a

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 you something, and you may not be getting it! Join Kathy as she pulls back the curtain and welcomes you to listen in on a coaching call where she answers some Brilliant Partner’s questions about rebellion on this week’s episode of Enlightened By Dogs! In This Episode Why is your dog rebelling in the first place? Does your dog dislike the leash, or do you dislike the leash? Reframing the problem can bring new solutions to the problem. Are you choosing to be confused?   “My dog is not giving me a hard time. My dog is having a hard time” “This is what you’ve been practicing for” “The leash is what you make it to mean”

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 explores those questions and more as she unfolds the roles of the primitive mind, as well as the executive brain, and how they coexist to help us through the big decisions. Tune in to find out why it’s important to both you and your dog to figure out how to make them feel safer, more calm, and happier.   You are the observer and thinker of your thoughts What are your safe, calm and happy activities? Which are not? What happens when your primitive brain takes over. Which brain are you going to employ to change your life? The lengths that Brilliant Partners go to make their dogs feel safe, calm and happy.   “The more impat

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 safe, calm and happy actually means to our dogs. What makes them feel safe? What calms them? What makes them happy? There are so many exciting things happening when it comes to spreading the message of brilliant partnership with our dogs, and this week’s episode of Enlightened By Dogs is no exception!   How the partnership ripples are spreading throughout the world Circling back to the safe, calm and happy talk with Sue Mimm The key quadrants of the trust accelerator What does calm actually mean from one dog to another?   “Brilliant partners think a lot about building and protecting trust and confidence ... ours an

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 that we have different pathways through the brain which determines our response stress, anxiety and fearful situations. Since dogs and humans are both highly socially intelligent, it makes a lot of sense that our dogs would experience the same kinds of things we do! They get anxious, nervous and fearful too, and their responses aren’t as obvious to us sometimes. In this episode, Sue clues us in to some of the things we miss as dog lovers, and how the brain actually creates these responses in the first place! Tune in to find out if your dog is actually a pain, or if they’re just scared!   Digging for new ways to help do

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 eagerness to work. But it wasn’t without challenges. Tune in to this episode of Enlightened By Dogs to hear all about her rescue rehab story!   How hard can it be to train a border collie? The longest leashing in history and emergency dental surgery. Building a foundation with a wild and compulsive herding dog. How past punishment impacted Maya’s personality. How Kathy nurtured a brilliant partnership with Maya.   “Shaking my head at the failure of her 3 previous owners to train her, I pondered: How hard can it be to train a 6 month old Border Collie?” “Maya's rehab focused on my number one rule: Don’t ask your dog to do

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 just trying desperately to be heard. Are you recognizing your dog’s signs? Are you respecting their communication? Dogs have 3 major social needs that need to be fulfilled, similar to humans. In this episode of Enlightened By Dogs, Kathy gives us insight into what to look for when trying to listen to your dog, and how to strengthen the bond between you both by being present, connected and open to feedback from your best friend!   In This Episode Did you know that dogs and humans share a similar social intelligence? How dogs help us belong, and how we help them do the same. Meeting your dogs needs goes deeper than

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 be if all of the fun gets sucked out of it? It’s very possible to have a blast while prepping for competition day, and still get brilliant results! If you do herding, agility, obedience or rally, nose work, tracking, disc, conformation, freestyle ... any dog sport trials or competitions ... this episode is for you!   Why do mistakes and failures happen so close to trial day? It’s possible to avoid regrets! There’s a better way to attain competition success! Setting and revising and modifying your goals The biggest mistake people make when training for a trial or competition   “Most of us will rely on some intense tr

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 our dogs away from the activities they enjoy? Are we really doing them a favor by being so frantic and busy?   Can meditation really change your brain? How does a human’s attitude and lifestyle impact their dog? How we can ensure our dog isn’t carrying a bucket of stress and cortisol The things that dogs do best   “Are we pulling our dogs into our crazy, stresses out, overwhelmed life?” “Humans had a remarkable effect on their dogs” “We use our dogs themselves as the yardstick for what is no or low arousing to them” “Are we literally preventing that synergistic, symbiotic lifestyle from happening” “Jump off that r

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. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. Listen for: How do we go about escalating an ask? Using the 95% rule Responsibility as Kathy and her dogs have come to understand it! Accusations Irresponsibility Saying aloud, “Who is responsible for this?” Emotions trigger a pivot to a new thought process The process will unfold and you will find the answer With practice, the process goes faster and the situation changes in mere seconds Empowering yourself and your dogs   “I’m not perfect and my dogs aren’t perfect…and that’s ok!” “No matter what, I can get to this: what got us here a

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 zone, often we backslide and diminish confidence for both ourselves and our dogs Setting ourselves up for failure Diminishes trust between us and our dogs Taking teeny-tiny baby steps expands our relationship and our understanding Kathy shares a story about Hailey and her anxious/over aroused dog Worried about environment, scanning, barking, leash-pulling The amazing breakthrough that brightened their partnership relationship   “We keep measuring where we are by where we want to be.” “You’re here because you want to do right by your dog.” “It’s almost like it seems too simple to work.” “We insist on plans e