Every moment in life is potentially a memorable one. We never know how an experience will affect our perceptions, attitudes, ideas, behaviors, and habits. Life is constantly reshaping us. People, pets, places, and things become meaningful to us; and those meanings change over time. We learn how to do new things and develop behaviors and routines in our lives according to the changing circumstances around us, and we acquire occasional baggage along the way. We learn naturally, because nature has designed each of us animals to notice, experiment, discover, and remember in order to survive.

Dogs are no exception. They are having their own experiences, trying to figure it all out as they go, just like you. They are trying to make sense of the world around them, and trying to navigate through it as well as they can in order to be successful. You are an important part of that world—quite possibly the most important of all.

Relationships play profound roles in our lives as social creatures, and the “pet” arrangement puts an even greater emphasis on the relationship between you and your dog. In many ways, your lives can’t help but revolve around each other as you continue to experience and learn. You are inescapably meaningful to each other, and inextricably involved in each other’s daily habits and routines. Neither one is ever quite independent of the other. This makes for a pretty intense relationship at times. It also creates a precious chance to experience life intimately with another being.

Life will have many lessons for you both. Sometimes those lessons are not easy. Not all partners and conditions are ultimately compatible, and some aspects of the L.E.G.S.® are just beyond our control. While there are inevitable hard knocks in the pursuit of a happy relationship, we can commit to setting the stage for positive change when the going gets tough. There are plenty of things we can change. You can make the love between you and your dog new again as you put the pieces together with a fresh perspective. You can set the stage for new learning for both of you by changing conditions to create new habits that will transform the relationship.

CHAPTER THREE

Environment

When you walk into the office dressed in a three-piece suit, ready for an arraignment at the courthouse, you are the epitome of the career-driven professional. The interns are a little scared of you, as you strut down the hall in your heels, knowing you’ve got that high-profile case totally in the bag. Later that night, however, when you’re at home watching old reruns of The Golden Girls in your shark pajamas and eating a bowl of ice cream for dinner, you appear to be someone else entirely.