The Law of Attraction according to Louise Hay “is that our thinking creates and brings to us whatever we think about.” Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret adds that we must not just think about it but feel it – and act on it for it to come to fruition.

Obviously this theory is nothing new. A centuries old proverb talks about a man going to a village and asking an elder “what kind of people live in this village?” The elder answers him by asking, “what kind of people lived in your last village?” “Oh they were nasty people, known for stealing and cheating.” The elder nodded, “well that’s what you’ll find in this village as well.” We find what we are focused on.

So how often have you focused on your dog doing something right?

As a dog trainer and a student of canine behavior I am often called in when the dog has done something wrong. My initial assessment allows me to view this behavior and uncover any additional behavior issues that may need to be addressed. Typically before leaving that initial appointment I have a long laundry list of things that need to be fixed or addressed.

But just like with people, it’s difficult to fix all of a dogs bad habits at the same time. When was the last time you successfully gave up a bad habit? How about three at the same time?

In order to have any success, I recommend dog owners pick the three most important issues and let everything else go. Additionally, I recommend the SMARTraining strategy which was created by dog trainer Nicole Wilde and which brings into play the Law of Attraction.

SMARTraining
S – See a behavior you like
M – Mark the behavior
and
R – Reward the behavior

The premise around this training is that X times a day you see a behavior you like, mark it and reward it. By doing this, you quickly improve the chances of that behavior repeating. And the more you do it, the quicker you see results. Nicole recommends 50x a day. I have found that that is too much for most of the dog owners I work with so I recommend 15x a day.

I recommend folks take a glass container (you can see the treats as a reminder but the dogs cannot smell them as easily) and place it on a table or counter top that you can easily see throughout your time at home. Each morning place the number of treats in the container that you want to do (15 or more). Then throughout the day, every time you see your pup doing something good, let them know by Marking it (“good boy, Jake”) and by Rewarding it (toss one of the treats).

Not only does this strategy give you an opportunity to quickly reinforce a behavior you want repeated (and subsequently the chances of it being repeated) but it also allows you to focus on your dog doing something right 15x a day.

Noticing your treats gone at the end of each day is a great reminder that you found 15 opportunities to notice your dog doing something right but you’ll find that you’ll quickly need more treats because the more we look for our dogs doing something right…..the more we’ll see it.