I want to start with a quote today, “People who succeed have a goal, a dream and make their plans and follow them.” The founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics said this and I don’t just believe it works, I know it works.

As with any dream, you’ve got to breathe life into it by talking, writing and sharing about it or it may never come to be.

When I set out to get my dog Geller I knew what I was looking for and because I had that vision in my head of exactly what I wanted my first dog to be like, I was able to fly past all of the dog adoption profiles that weren’t right for me. It’s like having tunnel vision - your brain filters out the riff raff and you just see what is within the realm of what you want.

When it came to adopting my second dog Rory, it was much the same. I had always hoped to own a dalmatian and had gone to visit one at the Guelph Humane Society, his name was Stanley and he had food allergies. He was lovely but we were too late, I believe we were the 18th application put in for him and at that time it was more important to have been one of the first applications, rather than within a batch of them. However, having met him helped me know that it was possible to fulfill that dream and maybe one day I would own a rescue dalmatian. After a few months of continued searching, I came across an 8 month old rescue dalmatian on Petfinder. 

This time around I wanted a training challenge in order to test my dog behaviour skills. I knew what troubles I was and was not interested in taking on. For instance, I’d handle some barking, submissive behaviour and a lack of obedience but I wasn’t interested in taking on a dog with a bite history (as I knew we were looking to have children soon) as well as resource guarding or separation anxiety. Because I had these details sorted out, I could envision what I did want and it made my rescue dog search more focused.

This is why I’ve included a section dedicated to dreaming about your rescue dog in the Pawdoption Guide Membership Experience. Within it there’s a detailed questionnaire that really helps narrow down many factors in dog adoption in order to specify the ideal rescue dog for you. After you take this questionnaire you get the opportunity to summarize and sort the results to further solidify that vision.

 It’s this part that dog adopters often skip when looking to get a rescue dog. They have a general idea but are usually too flexible about what they want. They let the market or current inventory determine their wants rather than having a vision and whole-heartedly going after it until they find it.

So that’s it, that’s the secret to getting the rescue dog of your dreams!

It’s VISION, it’s INTENTION, it’s TUNNEL-VISION, it’s DREAMING

Aaaaand then it’s being STUBBORN, it’s being PATIENT, it’s being DETERMINED to find the dog that fulfils your dog ownership dreams.

At the start of this year I attended a workshop hosted by A Medium Named Bri and Wild Honey Coaching.

It provided a safe environment to cultivate my dreams for the year and was a great reminder to manifest what we want in any area of our lives. I strive to do this every year and encourage you to find a ritual that works for you.

I actually created a vision board on canva.com that contains images and words that encapsulate what I want to achieve this year and I think I’m going to make this another activity for the DREAM section of my membership so that they can have a wonderful reminder of the rescue dog they’re aiming to find. Because of course, there are times where people become more flexible to align themselves with dogs that they see available for adoption and I want dog adopters to push past this temptation and stay true to their dream. 

If you stay consistent and keep dreaming big the pay off is amazing! The commitment to your pet is also stronger because you’re like two pieces of a puzzle, and although there will still be some work required during integration, there will be no question that this dog is worth every ounce of effort you expend!

So don't forget to dream when you start your dog adoption journey.

 If you want to dream with me, grab my FREE Are You Ready to Get a Dog Checklist or join my membership waitlist.