21/10/2025
“I am not good enough.”
Five words that no doubt everyone has said to themselves at some point in their lives. Maybe others have taught us to feel this way, or maybe we have learned to feel this way ourselves, either way, those five words have the ability to drag us down, stop us from following our dreams and stand in the way of us achieving our goals.
But what is good enough? We already know that perfection doesn’t exist, well, maybe in our dogs it does, but the concept of ‘good enough’ surely depends on each individual’s criteria on what ‘good enough’ means. Are we comparing ourselves to others who we perceive to be better than us? Because in the age of social media it is so easy for someone to portray a perfect life, to present themselves as someone who has it all together and is living their, and maybe our, dream.
The internet is flooded with people parading their dogs around glued to their heel, or sat in the middle of a busy town centre appearing to not react to anything that’s going on. Sure, to some that may look impressive, and more and more people post content like that and suddenly our standards of dog training and behaviour change.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I look at videos like this and think, why? Why would I ever need my dog to do that? Why would I ever put them in that position in the first place? For my own ego? To show off my skills as a trainer?
I much prefer the little wins, those moments where suddenly something clicks, and you feel that overwhelming sense of achievement and pride in both you and your dog. Maybe your dog finally learned to sit, maybe they managed to go for a walk without barking at another dog, maybe they were able to settle for an hour at home. Little moments that are huge achievements for so many dogs and their guardians that go unnoticed because there are bigger, flashier people out there.
I am guilty of not feeling good enough, not just as a trainer but as a dog guardian. I feel as though I can’t give them the world and therefore I am a ‘bad owner’, I feel as though they’re not at the level they should be. Feeling like that though gets you stuck in a cycle of deciding you’re going to do more, but then inevitably life gets in the way and then you beat yourself up even more for not sticking to it.
We need to remember that each of us and our dogs are on our own journeys, dogs are all individuals just like us, and we all have different goals we want to achieve. We don’t get enough time on this earth with our dogs, don’t let your negative thoughts take away any more of that precious time.
Ask yourself these questions; Do you love your dog? Do you do everything you possibly can to make your dog happy and keep them healthy? Do you treat them with love and kindness?
If you answered yes to those questions, you are good enough. And always remember, you are your dog’s world, and they think you’re awesome.
