Progress is not a Finish Line

Whether it's teaching a formal retrieve or to tolerating the existence of strange dogs, setting specific goals helps me think through what the desired end behaviour is and the steps I need to get there.  But to be useful, and not just a giant boulder hanging over our heads waiting to crush us, we need to set goals that are practical for both the dog and the handler.  Sometimes it's difficult to reconcile our dreams for our dogs with what is possible.  I am going to need a new car soon. No matter how much I'd like to replace my 1998 Honda Civic with a 2019 Volvo XC40, my bank account says it's just not going to happen.  Not this year. 

Some day, you'll be mine.  But not in 2019.

When setting my car-related goal last year, I feel I made one major mistake: I was focusing too much on a specific achievement - being able to ride in the car for 30 minutes - instead of the process needed to get there.  While finish line-type goals are definitely useful, for a dog like Ida, the "finish line" (her tolerance of riding in the car) is kind of intangible, pretty difficult to measure, and fluctuates constantly.  It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking of "progress" like a finish line. 

While you can't really go backwards from a Q, title or ribbon - they are yours forever - "progress" changes from day to day, car ride to car ride.  Just because Ida could tolerate 20 minutes in the car today doesn't mean she will be able to handle it tomorrow.  There may (hopefully!) come a time when she can handle 20 minutes in the car without batting an eye day after day, but I know that for us, focusing on a specific target like that will put me off track the next time she can't handle 20 minutes in the car.

Seemed relevant, questionable attributions aside.

So, instead of setting a finish line for Ida's goals this year, I am setting them based on taking specific, measurable actions.  I want to outline the things that I will be doing, rather than the places I want to be going.  That way I will feel like less like failure if things don't go as expected.  With that in mind, here is my biggest goal for Ida for 2019:

We are going to take one car ride per week of any duration to do a fun thing - Nosework or rally class, squirrel watching - and at least one car ride per month that goes on the highway.  We will aim to increase highway rides by a few minutes at a time, or until she starts to either pant or refuse food, at which point we'll stop as soon as it is safe to do so.

And so far, week into the new year, we are on track - 2 car-rides down, only 50 more to go.