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When Life (and Dog Training) Feels Heavy: How Fun Helps You Feel Like Yourself Again
The Mindful Dog Parent: Dog Training Advice & Calm Support for Overwhelmed Owners
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When life, and dog training, start to feel heavy, even the things that usually make you happy can start to feel like effort.
You love your dog, but the constant pressure to do more, stay consistent, and “get it right” slowly drains your spark.
In this episode of The Mindful Dog Parent, Siân Lawley-Rudd explores why that loss of motivation isn’t about willpower or laziness, it’s a sign your nervous system has been stuck in go-mode for too long.
You’ll learn how bringing fun and play back into your days resets your body’s stress response, lifts your mood through dopamine and oxytocin, and helps both you and your dog feel calm, connected, and alive again.
Through personal reflection and Nervous-System Aware Dog Parenting™, you’ll discover:
- Why losing motivation doesn’t mean you’ve stopped caring, it’s a biological response to chronic stress.
- The neuroscience of fun: how laughter activates the ventral vagal state, boosts dopamine, and tells your body it’s safe again.
- How playful energy helps your dog co-regulate with you, creating calm and confidence during training.
Simple ways to weave micro-moments of joy into daily life so calm becomes natural again.
This isn’t just about training your dog, it’s about retraining your nervous system to find safety, creativity, and connection through play.
Because calm isn’t always about stillness, sometimes it’s about aliveness.
Key Takeaways
- Burnout isn’t a lack of discipline - it’s a nervous-system signal.
- Play re-activates the social engagement system, restoring motivation.
- Dogs mirror our emotions; your joy builds their calm.
- Small, consistent moments of fun are more powerful than long, pressured sessions.
If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend who’s been feeling the same kind of burnout, and remind them: calm can be something you rebuild.
Related episodes to listen to next:
- When You’ve Lost Motivation to Train Your Dog (and What That Really Means)
- When Dog Training Feels Like Too Much: 3 Ways to Bring Back Calm and Confidence
- Exhausted, Guilty, and Stuck? 3 Changes Every Dog Parent Needs to Finally Feel Calm and Confident
- The One-Minute Reset: A Simple Way to Regulate Your Dog (and Yourself)
- Episode 5 - The Pressure to Be a Good Dog Parent Is Burning You Out - Here’s What to Do
💜 Explore The Confident Dog Parent Blueprint → https://lavendergardenanimalservices.co.uk/confident-dog-parent-blueprint-course
🌿 Follow Siân on Instagram → @lavendergardenanimalservices
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