As 2023 comes to an end I want to encourage you to reflect on this year and COUNT YOUR WINS! 💪 and I'm not necessarily referring to trophies, medals, or recognitions. These are wins that can not be labelled and are often completely overlooked. ​

🧠 Our mindset has a big impact on our ability to be successful and what we choose to do in our life. It can either increase our sense of confidence and push us to achieve our goals or it can really undermine us.

We are hardwired to remember negative thoughts, emotions, and experiences better than positive ones! So, to help you set your intentions (and keep them!) for 2024, I want to propose an easy-to-implement mindset shift implementing a concept called "The Gap and The Gain" that I recently learned through a book. 

Standing endurance is an exercise in the canine gym that I incorporate with all dogs. It has MANY benefits for your dog, and selecting the proper equipment is critical to maximizing the physical benefits of this exercise.
 
What is Standing Endurance?
 
Standing endurance is when your dog stands in a natural stacked position on different pieces of equipment while you move around your dog imposing various weight-shifting challenges. Meaning, your dog stands in position while you move around them in different directions. See, dogs are well-balanced when their heads are forward and looking ahead. The minute your dog starts to track and follow you (through head movements), they have to engage their core and stabilizing muscles while they weight-shift to maintain balance.  The further behind your dog you go, the more challenging it becomes for them to maintain their balance. This weight-shifting behaviour is what activates and strengthens your dog’s core and stabilizing muscles in their front and hind end and spine.