🚗 Your Dog Is Kind of Like a Car

When you buy a brand-new car, it comes with an instruction manual. It tells you how often to get the oil changed, what kind of gas to use, and what all those little dashboard lights mean. It explains what happens if you ignore them (spoiler: it’s never good).

Now, your dog might not come with an instruction manual — but they absolutely should. Because just like your car, your dog needs regular maintenance, routine check-ins, and a bit of care to keep everything running smoothly.

When you complete a training program with me, you’re essentially getting that manual. I tell you exactly what to do to maintain your dog’s training — how often to practice, how to refresh, and what to look for if things start to go a little “off.” You’re driving off the lot with a freshly tuned-up, high-performance model. 🐾 But your dog has free will. Your car? Not in this universe.

🔧 The “I Skipped My Oil Change” Phase

Here’s where a lot of folks go wrong. They take their perfectly tuned-up dog home, and for a while, everything runs great. The obedience is sharp, the behavior is solid, and the owner thinks, “We’re good! We don’t need to practice today.”

Then “today” turns into “this week,” then “this month,” and before long, it’s been 40,000 metaphorical miles since that last oil change. Now your “engine” — your dog’s training — is making a funny noise every time you give them instructions. And because of your dog's ability to make their own decisions, without your intervention, you end up back at the shop (your trainer 👋), and suddenly we’re doing an overhaul that never would’ve been necessary if you’d just stuck with regular maintenance.

And hey — I get it. Life happens. Sometimes you go through a green light and someone else blows through a red, and suddenly your car (and your confidence) needs a little more TLC. Things happen beyond our control, and I have all the compassion in the world for that.

But outside of those “life happens” moments? You’ve got to change the oil. You’ve got to rotate the tires. You’ve got to practice with your dog. And you've got to make sure you address issues as the warning lights come on and not wait until you can no longer take them out for a cruise through the neighborhood.

🏎️ Ferrari Dogs vs. Toyota Dogs

Some dogs are like Ferraris — sleek, powerful, sensitive, and built for performance. They’re incredible when you know how to handle them, but they require skill, consistency, and attention. You can’t drive a Ferrari like a commuter car, skip the maintenance, and expect it to handle like a dream.

Ferrari dogs could be your high-drive working breeds — your German Shorthaired Pointers, Belgian Malinois, Border Collies, Shepherds. They’re brilliant and capable of amazing things, but they also come with a user manual you can’t ignore. Some dog breeds HAVE to have consistent training if you want harmony in your household.

Then there are Toyotas — dependable, forgiving, easy-going. They don’t mind a missed oil change or two and keep running even when you’re not perfect about the upkeep. These are your laid-back companions, the dogs who are happy just being part of the family.

But here’s the thing: even a Toyota needs maintenance. Skip enough oil changes, ignore enough warning lights, and eventually any car — or dog — is going to break down.

And while a Toyota might sputter and stall, a neglected Ferrari? One wrong move and you could wind up upside-down on the freeway. 💥

⚠️ Every Breed Has Its Exceptions

Now, before you start mentally labeling your dog as a Toyota or a Ferrari, remember there are exceptions to every rule. The most aggressive dogs I’ve ever worked with — the ones who’ve actually bitten me the most — have been Golden Retrievers. Just a weird statistic that only applies to me, but out of over a thousand dogs, 12 Golden Retrievers have come through my programs for serious behavior modification due to lack of understanding of biological needs, or failure to ever maintain that puppy training.

When a dog shows you signs of stress, reactivity, or discomfort, that’s their version of the dashboard light. It’s a cry for help. You can ignore it and hope it goes away, or you can address it before something worse happens. And we all know that one person that has their check engine light on and claims that it's fine because it's been like that for years without issue — the dog that growls every time you have friends or family come over, but he's never bitten anyone so it's fine... until finally one day, they blow a head gasket on the highway and the driver is so surprised by it that they end up swerving and hitting another car, causing serious damage to life and property. — the dog that was growling finally decided to lunge and sink his teeth into your best friend's kid, causing serious damage to human life...

🧰 The “Buying a Car Twice” Club

If you’ve entered one of my advanced behavior programs, you’ve practically bought a new car. And I make that joke with love, because I’ve worked hard to make sure every dollar you spend with Sunshine K9 Training is worth it.

But if you don’t follow the maintenance plan, and your dog comes back a year or two later acting like they’ve never heard the words sit or down before, that means something went wrong on the owner end. The dog isn’t broken — the upkeep was just skipped, neglected, ignored...

When I see that, I don’t think, “This dog failed.” I think, “We stopped changing the oil.”

❤️ The Point of All This

My goal has never been to have you come back again and again for the same fix. My business model is built around helping you once — clearly, thoroughly, and sustainably — so you never have to see me again for the same issue.

I want you to be successful. I want your dog to be successful. And I want both of you to keep running smoothly for years to come.

Because at the end of the day, training isn’t a one-time repair — it’s a lifestyle. You wouldn’t ignore your check-engine light and hope for the best. Don’t do it with your dog, either.

Change that oil. Refresh that “down-stay.” Take a few laps around the neighborhood in “heel.” When you say "no" to a behavior, follow through with a consequence. Maintain the rules. Keep things tuned up, and your dog will keep running like a dream.

Tucker: our high-performance, high maintenance model. 😄