Ever Try to Train a Puppy?

I have. In fact, recently, we added a puppy to our family. Even though we already have our amazing Walter (who is 12!!), we thought it would be a good time to give him a buddy.

It should be easy…so we thought. Funny what 12 years can do to your brain and your memory. While Archie is a lovely Golden Doodle, he is full of energy and spunk and training him is definitely a challenge. It seemed much easier to train Walter twelve years ago when we didn't have two children, we worked very close to home and generally worked different shifts. This meant our new puppy was rarely left at home for more than a few hours at a time.

I think a puppy has presented many challenges to myself and my husband. I am sure you're thinking as you read this, what does this have to do with physiotherapy and rehab and pelvic health and all the things Nicola normally talks about? But the reality is our lives change.

I regularly have people coming into the clinic and saying, BEFORE I had my baby, I had no problem going to the gym for an hour or 10 years ago I could run 10k without a thought. I USED to squat 180 lbs and deadlift 200 lbs. I regularly hiked for hours without pain. But our lives change. Our circumstances change. Our priorities change. Our perceptions change.

While we may perceive that we had no problems running 10k ten years ago, the reality is ten years ago it was actually hard work. But we had the time and the drive to do it. We might not have had kids. We might have had a different work schedule. We might have lived in a different place.

So when you're giving yourself a hard time about the things you currently cannot do in comparison to your previous you, remember to give yourself grace for the person you are now and all the amazing things you can do right now. All the things you have achieved since you were that person. It's okay to change. It's okay to be somebody different. And it's okay to mourn the loss of the person you used to be! It's okay to want to achieve more, but you also have to give it some time and commitment and perseverance.

Kind of like training a puppy.

Nicola Robertson

Registered Physiotherapist