Let’s Talk About “Guidelines”
Humans are not particularly fond of ambiguity. For the most part, we prefer rules and structure compared to abstract concepts. This is why recipes, guidelines, and bullet point training plans are so attractive. Unfortunately, they are rarely the answer, BUT they can help you get over the hurdle until you have a better understanding of your dog, what their needs are, and how the training works.
My Houseplant Journey
I’m going to talk briefly about my journey with houseplants because the experience truly mimics dog training, learning to observe, the power of guidelines, and parallels what my clients experience with learning about separation issues and canine body language.
Houseplants and dogs are both creatures that have specific needs that must be met in order to survive, and it takes time and study to become fluent.
My journey with plants began with planted vivariums and then crossed over to keeping houseplants…and I was doing a pretty cruddy job of keeping them alive and healthy.
After killing several plants I had to admit to myself that it was not as simple as adding water, I needed help. I approached it in a typical, 2023 kind of way:
Read lots of books.
Listened to podcasts.
Watched a bunch of YouTube videos.
Became completely confused by the conflicting advice and kept doing things my way.
Sound familiar?
Eventually, I was frustrated to the point of constantly thinking SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO SO I DON’T KILL ANOTHER PLANT. I was at the point of: I didn’t want to “learn” anything. I was just tired of killing plants and wanted someone to take over and TELL me what to do.
I found a great, online Houseplant Masterclass and struggled with the idea of paying for it. I mean, how was this information going to be any different than free podcasts, YouTube videos and books? I’ll skip to the end of the story and say that it was worth every penny, and it’s worth 1,000X the cost I paid for it. This course is DEEP: taxonomy, botany, the composition of soil, pest management, qualities of light and humidity. It was intense and I was mesmerized. But it was also a TON to take in at a time for someone that was starting at step one.
But here’s the catch…
My brain still isn’t entirely ready to master these skills on my own. Why? Because I’m not fluent yet. I am getting there, and my brain is shifting to a new understanding and way of things, but I’m still in the acquisition phase. Despite my impatience, mastery is going to take time and effort. There’s no way out of it. I’ve got to put in the work if I want plants that thrive, not just survive.
And what is the huge takeaway from the Houseplant Masterclass? The same thing I teach my clients:
Meet your plant’s/dog’s needs.
Learn to read their body language.
OK, so what the heck does this have to do with guidelines? You’ve stuck with me this long and now I get to the point:
The Masterclass has opened my brain and set me on a course towards mastery. I WILL get there someday and my plants are getting happier and healthier.
ALSO
In the meantime, I have an app that helps me on schedule and organized. It:
Creates a care plan.
Gives me a water schedule.
Sets a fertilzation schedule.
Alerts me when I may be placing a plant in an area with too little/too much light.
Helps diagnose problems.
Does any of that replace the two Golden Rules: Meet their needs, observe their body language? Nope, that’s still on me. And when I start to notice an issue with a plant, I go back to the Masterclass and delve a bit deeper into what may be going on. But I have SOMETHING that keeps me accountable, keeps me checking my plants on a regular basis and gets me more familiar with what a particular plant needs (hint: I was WAY off on Ceropegia linearis).
So What’s the Final Verdict?
As you gain fluency with discovering what your dog’s needs are and how to meet them and learning how to read their body language, you may need a set of guidelines to follow.
Even when you begin to feel like you have a better understanding of things, you still may need to fall back on a simple rule like, “do not attempt duration increases over 10%.” This is human nature. I work with people that get really good at reading their dog’s body language, but when they run into an issue, they contact me with, “What DO I DO when the dog does THIS?”
Meeting needs, mastering a skill and achieving high fluency can be hard work. AND, it’s ongoing. A plant in an east facing window that does great in the spring may wither the same location in winter.
Be gentle with yourself and your dog on this journey. True behavior change is never easy, nor is it quick. Keep learning, keep studying your dog’s body language and meeting their needs, and fall back on the guidelines to keep you in the game and organized.
