Walking by Faith, One Treat at a Time

Learning to Help Porsche Feel Safe

Training a puppy/dog is so similar to walking the Christian walk. I met Matt "The Texas Dog Father" Bryant after we adopted a cocker spaniel who I thought would be my next fur baby. His name was Moose and he actually was trained completely by Matt. After things didn't go as we had hoped with Moose, Matt said make sure you text me when you get a new fur baby so I can meet her.  Fast forward to this past April and Matt got to meet Porsche!

As he and I talked; and I told him how much I really wanted to train Porsche to bring her to nursing homes to cheer up the residents but she is scared of her own shadow! He said well its not much different from when God asks us to step out in faith! We can choose to do it, or choose to be scared and stay comfortable. It was then the lightbulb came on...and I said wait a minute there's something here!

So this is the very first short that sums up what we did at my niece's house with Porsche. 

Learning to Help Porsche Feel Safe

We’ve been practicing giving Porsche reassurance—but not in a consoling way. Matt explained that when a dog is anxious, we don’t want to say, “It’s ok, it’s alright,” because what she’s feeling in that moment isn’t okay, and she isn’t alright.

“That’s what we would say to a child,” Matt said, “because they understand it’s going to be OK. But when a dog’s mind is unstable, if we praise fear, we’re telling her she’s feeling the right thing.”

So instead, he told us, we want to gently redirect that emotion. We’re helping her say, “That’s the wrong feeling—look! Let’s feel this instead!”

Matt reminded us

“Never miss a chance to praise a good social choice, no matter how small it seems! Really dial it up and say, ‘That was awesome!!’”

Then he brought my niece, her little girls, and me—with Porsche—into the living room. We placed a few treats on the floor, just out of Porsche’s comfort zone. She could see them, but she had to step forward in faith, so to speak, to reach them.

Porsche looked at the treats, then back at each of us. Matt smiled and said, 

“That’s her way of taking in information. We’re going to praise that by saying, ‘Yes, that’s right,’ in a calm, low voice. And when she zeros in on the treat, we’ll use a marker—something that says ‘Yes, that’s right!’—and that’s when we get excited and praise her! We need her to feel like it’s her choice.”

After a few moments, he added, “If she doesn’t take the treat after a while, we’ll remove it. That teaches her that good things don’t stay forever—but when they’re there, and we’re being praised, it’s OK to take them.”

We tried it again—and this time, Porsche went for it right away.

Matt said,

“So today, we taught her there’s another potential safe place (person) in the house. We’ve also told her she’s going to be protected. She’s been shown that when she’s afraid, we’re going to guide her through it and be there every step of the way. We intentionally facilitated moments to make that happen. And we also modeled for Porsche—as the girls were running around—that we’re in control of the situation. She doesn’t have to assert her control. She can relax.”

As I watched Porsche finally relax, it hit me—this is what God does with us. When we’re anxious, He doesn’t just pat us on the head and say, “It’s okay.” He gently guides us to look up—to shift our focus from fear to faith. He invites us to trust that He’s in control and that we can take that next step because He’s right there, steady and loving, leading the way.

Just like Porsche learning to step out of her comfort zone for something good, God teaches us to walk by faith… to walk looking at Him for guidance every step of the way.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

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If you'd like to find out more about The Texas Dog Father, Matt Bryant: 

The Texas Dog Father