Are You Easily Frustrated?
Are You Easily Frustrated?
I’m a teacher at heart, and that’s probably why I like dog training so much. I also just love dogs.
There are so many parallels between teaching humans and teaching dogs.
Whether human or canine, when learning new things, we all have a different point at which we get frustrated. This is what I’m calling the ‘frustration threshold. [I have no idea if this is a topic amongst educators as I operate in my own little sphere. If it is, I hope to be adding something new with this dog training analogy.]
Were you an easily frustrated kid? I was.
I remember being in middle school and someone teaching me how to weave friendship bracelets. I didn’t get it at first and got so frustrated with myself, I started crying.
Shepherds can be easily frustrated; it’s a breed thing. If your dog has reached its frustration threshold, you as the handler may experience nipping, whining, refusal to take part in the activity, etc.
Satya was like this a lot from ages 0-4 and we could only accomplish things with consistent food rewards. Graduating from food to toy rewards meant we couldn’t do as many reps with the same level of enthusiasm before game over.
Then in the Spring of 2026 I bought her a giant bite pillow from Belarus – just for funsies. I imagined it might have some novelty and then wear out.
I was so wrong.
They say dogs explore the world via their nose and their mouth. I’d forgotten how to this day, as soon as something new enters my house – like vitamins, a piece of yoga gear, or an essential oil – it must go into her mouth first and be carried around – ‘Let me introduce you to my house’ -Satya Starseed.
All of this goes to say I’ve found the perfect toy to tinker with Satya’s frustration threshold in hopes of expanding it! She loves to bite this pillow so much that she we can train all different kinds of obedience using the bite as the reward.
I’ve found the Ultimate High Value Toy and It’s Not Food—It’s playing with this toy. Hallelujah!!!
This experience made me realize that if you’re a low frustration threshold person, like me and Satya, you must CELEBRATE EACH OF THE TINIEST OF VICTORIES.
If you’re a teacher, or a parent of a child who learns like this, you must do the same.
In the dog training analogy, this is the extremely consistent reward schedule. Not even intermittent rewards, a reward for each action done correctly.
In human terms, I give myself congratulations, for real. Verbal affirmations as well as prayer AM and sometimes also PM where I recount all the things I did well – thanks to the Most High God.
In this way, each tiny brick laid is a win, and assembled, they form a path forward. One day you can barely recall how far you’ve come.
Thank you God for bringing me Satya Starseed so I could learn from her daily! She is my earthly teacher.
Namaste,
Catherine and Satya
The Stalk
The Bite
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Catherine Tingey
Entrepreneur, yogini, designer, award-winning filmmaker, personal trainer and former marathon runner. She left a career in finance to start her own business and along the way, became a yoga teacher. She has been practicing yoga for 33 years and teaching privately for 13 years.
About the Author
Catherine Tingey+ Entrepreneur, yogini, designer, award-winning filmmaker, personal trainer and former marathon runner. She left a career in finance to start her own business and along the way, became a yoga teacher. She has been practicing yoga for 33 years and teaching privately for 13 years.
