I struggled to understand the Day 4 prompts on observing without having a thought about what I'm observing. To be a good dog trainer we say we need to be observant, but what we actually mean is we need to be good (detail-oriented) observers with accurate interpretation skills. So for me, today, I made this exercise not about trying to not have a thought about what I was observing but instead to not make a value judgement about what I was observing - that whatever was happening was interesting, to be curious about, but not jump to a conclusion about Good Or Bad too quickly. I had an opportunity this afternoon to put it into action. I was busy doing an assignment and Koko walked over and whined loudly while looking directly at me. I was able to respond without any emotional arousal, and offered her some helpful advice about what she could do to make herself feel better (go into the other room where it was a little cooler), and as soon as I'd said that she had a stretch right in front of me, I gave her a stroke, and she took herself off to where I'd suggested. Pic of a Koko stretch just because any post is better with a dog pic attached. 🙂

Trying to deepen your connection with your dog, navigate dog sports or professional work, and manage your own wellbeing by relying on random tips, scattered training notes, and unstructured routines is an absolute roadblock. When you're trying to practice mindful connection and apply science-informed approaches like the PAWS method, letting your training logs, reflection notes, and wellbeing plans get buried across a chaotic maze of open browser tabs, loose notes apps, and phone memos makes consistent progress nearly impossible. Getting serious about building a happier, more connected life with your dogs means ditching the mental clutter and locking down a clean, systematic framework for your journey. Here is what my daily dog and wellbeing setup looks like now: - Notion & Spreadsheet Dog & Wellbeing Trackers: Where all my PAWS reflection journals, training milestone logs, and daily connection routines live neatly organized so I can track our progress and mental health without the noise. You can also use youtube.com to archive and review video footage of your training sessions and outdoor adventures over time. - The Connection & Care Pipeline: A dedicated space for mapping out weekly enrichment activities, organizing training class notes, and tracking personal wellbeing goals without the usual administrative friction. Check out tools like canva.com for designing custom activity logs, dog adventure photo journals, and visual training schedules. - Floment AI: Whenever I need to structure a mindful reflection exercise or brainstorm a new enrichment routine—like "step-by-step framework for integrating mindfulness and presence into daily canine enrichment and training sessions"—I drop my rough ideas into floment.ai and instantly get 3 targeted variation options and execution frameworks in 2s flat. Welcome to the Community Circle! What is your dog's name, and how are you all practicing presence and connection together this week? Let's share in the comments below!

So yesterday, following the Day 3 prompts, I set out in the morning rounds with Koko with the intention that no matter how long she was going to take on her old dog agenda of stopping and sniffing things for ages, I would just go with her flow and notice what she noticed, taking it as an opportunity to do gentle breathing while she was engaged with her own things. Ironically, for the first time in ages, she stayed on the move almost the entire time, going along at an easy moderate walking speed, pausing very little, but did check out the fox poo in the paddock. Because the morning rounds had been so 'efficient' I went out with the same intention again for the afternoon rounds, and this time it was pretty much only the sheep poo that she paused to enjoy (eating it this time). So, I ended up having a bit of a chuckle, and decided to entitle this one as an Ironic Sh*t Show. 😂

Betty and I often have disagreements about how and when we should play. Yesterday after day 2 and setting my intention to be more present, slow down and be curious, I approached our play from a different perspective. Betty wants to shred her fluffy toy, I want tug, usually the shredding irritates me greatly and neither of us really enjoy the game. Yesterday, I gave her my whole attention and took the extra time to see play from her eyes, we tugged, she won, I let her shred it and I ran away, she actually followed me and stayed more connected and invested in the game than she usually does. Later that night I went out to inspect the yard with her for possums, cats and mice and noticed how the wind was making some very interested sounds. I noticed that she really thinks of this as her job and she takes it very seriously. After we shared the moment she came back inside more content than usual. It felt nice to do it together rather than me wait at the back door for her to finish running around like a nutcase 🤪

After the Community Call this morning I got straight into Day 1 and 2 of the 28 day challenge. And then headed out to do the rounds of the property with Koko, and finish a weeding task. I was keeping in mind, as per the Day 2 prompts, of what my senses were taking in, and was pleased when I noticed this wee flower as I passed it by. And then, because I stopped to admire it, I then noticed the mushrooms just nearby. So that felt like a nice little noticing chain reaction. 🙂🪻🍄‍🟫 Koko was enjoying the sun, making her own ground-level investigations and having a run around, and now she is contentedly snoozling, having had some TLC from me.