The easiest cardio program you’ll ever start is also the one your dog will love the most: walking. No gym membership. No equipment. Just a leash, a pair of shoes, and the discipline to show up. Walking is a great place to start any fitness program. Its upsides are huge compared to the down side. When just starting out the risk for injury is essentially zip. Even if you train for strength training but don’t do any cardio or just want to shed a couple, this is a great place to start.

When people think about starting a fitness journey, they usually overcomplicate it. They think they need a gym membership, a perfect workout plan, or all the right equipment before they can even begin. Same thing happens with dog training — people think they need advanced drills, fancy tools, or hours of free time.

But the truth is, the easiest and most powerful place to start is simple: walk your dog.

Over the past few years, I’ve dedicated my life to two things — training dogs and training people. At first, I thought of them as two separate worlds and honestly, I wanted them to be. One side of me was coaching clients in the gym, pushing them to build strength, discipline, and confidence. The other side of me was training dogs, teaching patience, order, and focus.

I decided to get certified as a decoy. For anyone who doesn’t know, a decoy is the guy or girl inside the bite suit — the one who takes the hits, the bites, from dogs during protection training and working dog sports.

I’ve taken bites on sleeves from my own dogs, Ace and Ava, but it’s different. One, because they’re my dogs — they won’t truly go all out on me. Two, I wasn’t in a suit, and they weren’t fully trained in protection anyway.

Here’s the quick recap of the last 3 months with Arya and why I’m finally making the switch. When I got Arya she was 3 months old and she was a itty bitty thing. Small, petite, weighed hardly anything. And when I get a puppy I typically use a flat collar. Nothing special, any simple traditional flat collar. Reason being, she’s a puppy. I want her to explore and run around, not totally unrestricted but enough. So to me the only reason for the collar is to connect to the leash. That’s it. Connect me to the leash, leash to collar, collar to pup. I did not use the collar for any training purposes, only for a ‘Leave It’ if I needed to protect her from doing something stupid. I didn’t use for healing or nothing.

In my previous post, I talked about detachment — how stepping back, letting go, and staying present can change the way we train and the way we live. This week, I realized that lesson shows up in another place too: the “OUT” command. At first glance, it’s just teaching a dog to drop something. But really, it’s about building trust, learning release, and proving to ourselves that letting go doesn’t mean losing.

There are days where I feel like everything's slipping—where the weight in my chest lingers, and focus feels impossible. I've been through one of those stretches lately. But every time I step outside with Arya, everything slows down. She doesn’t ask me to be perfect. She doesn’t care about the noise in my head. She just looks at me like I’m still the one she trusts to lead her. And in that moment, I remember: training a dog isn’t just about shaping their behavior—it’s about reshaping ourselves. Letting go. Showing up. Being present. Even when we’re hurting. Especially then.

Over the years, I’ve made my share of mistakes as a dog owner—especially when it comes to boarding. A lack of preparation can turn a simple trip into a disaster for both you and your dog.

I’ve had Ace break out of his crate and redecorate the floor (use your imagination). It could’ve been a mix of anxiety, confusion, or simply because it was his first night away from us. I had Ava, who used to be a rock star in thunderstorms—we’d train in the rain, go for walks, she never cared. But the one time we boarded her during fireworks season, she came home terrified of any loud noise. To this day, she’d hide in the deepest corner of the house, shivering with anxiety.

Let me set the stage: this post isn’t meant to flex. That said, I do take tremendous pride in the fact that I got exactly what I wanted (after logging hours of research) and that I’m in a position to do it. But more than that, this ties back to my two missions:

1. To help as many people and dogs as possible create strong, lasting bonds.

2. To inspire anyone who's afraid to take the leap— personally or professionally. If I can jump, so can you. Everything will be okay. You will be okay.

So, with that lens in mind, let’s talk about the vehicle.

During my period of pontification, I continued to learn, study and expand my education. It was also a period of reflection of things I did right, things I did wrong and things that didn’t quite work with Ace and Ava. When I first brought Arya home, something in me felt different. This wasn’t just another puppy. It was a clean slate. A new beginning. And this was a chance to apply everything I’ve learned—about dogs, yes, but mostly about myself.

I’ve loved and trained dogs before, but I’ve also made mistakes. I’ve been impatient. I’ve been inconsistent. I’ve held myself to impossible standards. This time, I’m choosing to slow down, listen more, and lead with intention.