Rethinking Routine: How to Boost Your Dog’s Health #35

In this episode of "Easier Movement, Happier Dogs," Mary Debono delves into the transformative impact of introducing novelty and variation into your dog's life. By gently shifting routines and creating new experiences, you can stimulate your dog's nervous system in positive ways that lead to improved physical health, reduced stress, and a more resilient, adaptable dog.

Mary explains how Debono Moves uses safe, non-threatening novelty to help dogs overcome both physical and behavioral challenges. This episode highlights the importance of gradual change, paying close attention to your dog's signals to ensure comfort and safety. 

These concepts can benefit you too, helping you break free from your own habits and experience life with renewed vitality.

Through simple, everyday changes, you can create a more joyful, connected life with your dog, where both of you thrive. Whether it's varying the way you walk, interact, or even put on your shoes, these small shifts can have a profound impact. 

Mary also shares insights from her book, "Grow Young with Your Dog," about how non-habitual actions can even alter your perception of time, making life feel richer and more vibrant.

Key Takeaways

1. The Power of Novelty: Introducing safe, novel experiences into your dog's routine can stimulate their nervous system and improve both physical and behavioral health.
2. Gradual Change: It's crucial to introduce changes slowly and pay attention to your dog's stress signals to ensure a positive response.
3. Mutual Benefits: The principles of novelty and variation apply to humans as well, helping you to become more adaptable, creative, and resilient.
4. Time Perception: Engaging in non-habitual activities can slow down your perception of time, making life feel more full and vibrant.
5. Practical Application: Start by varying small aspects of your routine with your dog, such as using your non-dominant hand or changing the order of daily tasks.

Resources:

Grab your FREE video training. Includes Rhythm Circles and Connected Breathing!
https://www.marydebono.com/lovedog 💥

Join our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DogHealthAndVitality

Get Mary’s bestselling, award-winning book, “Grow Young with Your Dog,” for a super low price at: https://tinyurl.com/growyoungwithyourdog. Demonstration videos are included at no extra cost. ⬅️⬅️⬅️

All information is for general educational purposes ONLY and doesn't constitute medical or veterinary advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider if you or your dog are unwell or injured. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Are you or your dog stuck in a rut? Are you doing the same things over and over with your dog? Well, if you want to make big strides, both in training, in well being, in your connection with your dog, it really is helpful to introduce novelty and variation. So in case we're meeting for the first time, my name is Mary Debono, and this is the easier movement, Happier Dogs podcast.

So, yeah, there is a great way to get the cooperation, if you will, of your dog's nervous system by introducing things that are novel, that are non habitual to your dog. But you have to be sure that you're doing them in a way that isn't threatening to the dog's nervous system. Right. Keeping that sense of safety for the dog is so, so important. But we do this, like, in the work that I teach, the hands on work that I teach, and you could learn about it in my book, grow young with your dog, and also listen to this podcast.

We use a lot of novelty with our hands. Like, we touch the dog in different ways, we support the dog and move the dog in these novel ways, and we also do it where we vary it a little bit. We introduce variations. This again gets the not gets it stimulates the dog's nervous system to pay attention and to pay attention in a positive way and to start creating new neural connections.

That's why this work can be so helpful, not only for physical improvement, which it is, but also for behavioral issues, because you're helping the dog feel that change is possible. The other brilliant thing about this, and I'm not taking credit for this, my work is based on the work of Doctor Moshe Feldenkrais. He developed work for humans, and I am trained in his work. And I also added some other things to mine, and we adapted it for animals.

One thing we know is that as you introduce safe, novel things and, you know variations, you're actually helping your dog's nervous system be better equipped to cope with change, to be more resilient, to stress, to not fear change. So this is why really paying attention to doing things that are not going to cause your dog any kind of fear is important as you introduce these novel things. So again, we go into this more in detail, in my hands on work, right.

There's ways you introduce novelty and variation into the work, and that's very, very effective for helping the dog's nervous system feel how, wow, that, that feels different, and it feels good and it feels relieving. Well, now, other things that maybe things in the environment aren't as scary, maybe change. Oh, we. We're changing where we're doing this or where we're going maybe now are not as scary. And of course, this is a gradual process, right?

There might be little improvements and then more and more over time. And this also works for us. So again, in the Feldenkrais method was developed for humans. There is this sense, like as you do the different varied and novel movements, your nervous system stops fearing change. You are more equipped to deal with stress, to deal with change in your life, which is really, really pretty cool. And you know me, I'm all about the win win.

So I want you to be doing better in your life, to have the healthiest, happiest life you can and your dog. So when you do this work, especially this hands on work that I teach, you're both improving at the same time. So it's that win win. And you know why? Because you and your dog deserve to feel great together. So play with this and then think about it.

Maybe you're not trained in the work and the hands on work yet with me, but think about how you can introduce novelty and variation into your everyday life with your dog, which is also very important. Whether or not you do the hands on work like you like, think about the everyday things you do with your dog. Do you always do them in the same place, in the same way?

Follow the same routines, mix it up, mix it up. But again, it's up to you to really read your dog and not to do something that's actually going to be, like, over threshold where your dog feels stressed. So learn to really read your dog's body language and pay attention to any signs of stress and make sure that you introduce changes very, very gradually. Okay. And that's how you'll get a positive reaction where the nervous system will be like, this is great.

Like, change is good. Okay. And, like, even for yourself, you know, we tend to be so habitual with things like, you know, we. We put our clothes on the same way. Like, maybe you put the same arm first into your jacket or your, you know, your shirt. Change that around, put the other arm in. How does that feel now for some people, they tell me, oh, my goodness, that feels so weird.

And that has a lot to do also, by the way, with your habits of side bending. I mean, it could depends on how you put your jackets on. Put, like, put your shoes and socks on in a different order. Your pants. Like, do you always put the same leg in first? Right. You might, like, change things up if you wear a watch or any kind of fitbit or whatever, put it on the other arm.

Like, just start to do different things. Use your non dominant hand more often. Like, can you do things with your dog with your non dominant hand? You know, brush your dog or something like that, you know? And of course, always be safe. If you don't feel safe doing something, don't do it, of course, but start to bring this sense of novelty and variation into your life, and then it will also automatically transfer to do what you do with your dog.

You'll start to be more creative about it, because, again, it's stimulating your brain in a new way. So you might find automatically you start to become more creative. Helps you get out of any kind of ruts. So remember that you want to build in these novel experiences, these novel sensations, right? Get out of your rut and really start to have fun, have that different sense of adventure. Oh, the other thing is, and I wrote about this in my book, too, my book is all about growing young with your dog, right?

So it's called grow young with your dog. So it's for both of you to feel younger, more vital, more vital, and all that good stuff. One of the things that scientists have discovered is that when you do things non habitually, your perception of time changes. You know how as we're maturing, we're feeling like time is going so, so fast, right? Because it's our perception of time. When you do things non habitually, time tends to slow down in a really beautiful way.

So I thought that's a really cool perk of this. So in addition to all the other benefits, you also get that, which is pretty cool. So have fun. Let me know how it goes for you. Let me know what you decided to do differently with your dog or, or even without your dog, but let me know and let me know how it works for you. So thank you so much for listening, subscribing, and reviewing the podcast.

I can't wait to talk to you again soon. Bye for now.