Category Archives: The Dog Star

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

1. Learn to catch food on the fly.
If you don’t, it can fall on the floor and another dog may grab it. Be flexible, agile, and fast. If it doesn’t taste good (or it’s not really food) you can always spit it out.

2. Being petted is insufficient.
Demand that you interact playing ball or get in the car and go for a ride (which you would do yourself, if you could). And don’t expect to be petted just for showing up, nor become addicted to the affection.

3. Play nicely with other dogs.
You can learn from them. They know where neat stuff is hidden. There is more than enough to share. And don’t be a bully, because there is ALWAYS a bigger dog than you around somewhere.

4. Never be finicky.
No one has every called a cat “man’s best friend.” Go with the flow. You may not like riding in the back seat or the hatchback, but it’s far better than not going along at all. The chicken for dinner may not be as good as the lamb, but you didn’t have to out hunting and kill something in order to eat.

5. Protect what’s truly valuable.
No one respects Chicken Little, squawking like a nutcase all the time about the sky falling. But when you defend the family—especially the vulnerable ones—your stock goes way up.

6. Learn to bury well.
You shouldn’t eat everything you can today just because it’s there. This is not about the grasshopper and the ant (you’re a carnivore, not an inset), but it is about indigestion. You may need something tomorrow, so bury it well today and remember how to get back to it.

7. Use your judgment.
Some strangers are clearly dog lovers, and some are clearly not. You can usually tell by their demeanor, and they’ll exhibit confidence or fear. Don’t let anyone who doesn’t deserve to get too close to you.

8. Run through the open gate.
Life is about opportunities and they are often transient. Run out of the yard and look around. Be prudent, come back home, but enjoy the freedom.

9. Maintain your discipline and optimism.
Sometimes, not often, but sometimes the squirrel will fall from the branch. And you can catch even the swiftest squirrels if you stop running in pursuit and instead run between the squirrel and the tree, forcing it to come to you.

10. Maintain your dignity.
The occasional game and trick are fine if they are so important to those you trust, but you’re not an employee or indentured servant. You provide value in return for your upkeep. There is never a need to demean yourself. You are superb at being a dog.

© Alan Weiss 2010. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

We couldn’t delay any longer, we were out of excuses, we were both home, the SUV was available.

The dogs had to get baths.

This is never good. As soon as we arrive at the store, Koufax digs in all four, huge paws and refuses to leave the truck, attempting to stuff himself under the dashboard. Buddy runs around like the circus guys on motorcycles racing inside those steel cages.

After we somehow wrangle them into PetSmart, we have to show their rabies certificates, and their records are found on the computer. Meanwhile, they are both desperately searching for an escape route, trying to appear as rescue dogs behind the glass, to be claimed by passersby. One of the groomers immediately recognizes that Koufax’s coat is several inches too thick (he looks like the Yeti’s dog), and tells us we must have the megasonic groom, where apparently a Dyson volcanic vacuum is applied, flown in from Bavaria.

Three of us get Koufax through the swinging gate into the grooming area, and four of us are required for the Beagle. Buddy’s claws resemble those of the extinct giant ground sloth.

Four hours later we return and retrieve them. Koufax has a habit of trying to get into the first vehicle he can, so we’ve learned to park our truck with the door open on the curb in front of the place. The groomers and Maria are exhausted, but the dogs do look rakish. (You can see them here with their PetSmart bandanas, which will not last until dinner time.)

We’ve both decided that all of this is our fault, because we enable them and tolerate this horrible behavior. Something has to change, and we’re putting our collective foot down. We should act like responsible adults. No more fooling around.

We’ve found someone with a van who will come to the house to bathe them.

© Alan Weiss 2010. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

Koufax and Buddy Beagle recognize the route to the vet. They are happy to sniff around outside once we arrive, but they have to be dragged into the outer office, forced onto the scale, and then manhandled into the examination room. They then hide under the chairs, which is impossible for Buddy and downright ridiculous for an 85-pound German Shepherd.

They react to the very few unpleasant times at the vet (a shot, an uncomfortable thermometer) and disregard the fact that 90 percent of the time they are merely examined, petted, and wind up with a treat. (Koufax disdains the treats, so Buddy eats both.)

We all tend to enter metaphorical rooms the same way. We remember the worst and overlook the best (or even usual). We think about the time the prospect was surly and ended the meeting early, rather than most of the fine conversations that ensued. We think about the tough audience, which had just experienced layoffs, rather than most which were eager to learn and have fun. We think about the loan officer who denied us credit rather than the branch managers who sought ways we could become better customers of the bank.

The conventional wisdom is that we’re afraid of new roads, but I’ve found that too many are afraid of some roads well traveled. They recognize the path, think of the worst, and act accordingly: hesitant, fearful, suspicious—not exactly at their best.

Recognize the potential in every familiar route. If you feel the best outcome only occurs in the minority of visits, perhaps it’s because your attitude is such that you’re expecting the worst, so the best is an exception.

If you can’t travel the route confidently, perhaps you don’t belong on the road. Unlike Koufax and Buddy Beagle, you’re the one driving.

© Alan Weiss 2010. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

When Koufax chases Buddy in the house, as though he’s after a squirrel or rabbit, he sometimes has a glint in his eye wherein neither I nor Buddy can tell if he’s playing or serious. Buddy then performs an interesting maneuver.

He jumps on a couch or hassock and confronts Koufax eye-to-eye. He can’t outrun him, and can’t really fight him from the ground. But, even with smaller teeth, claws, and a shorter reach, he can be pretty formidable at eye level. He and Koufax feint and dodge and weave with great bearing of dentition, but no one gets hurt, and soon the Shepherd gets bored and finds a football or tennis ball to play with. Buddy catches his breath and tries to find some food to steal, and we’re back to normal.

Buddy has leveled the playing field.

Here are some techniques to level the playing field when you tend to be intimidated by people or environments:

• Meet on neutral turf. Suggest a meal, which you pay for, or an event.
• If you’re in someone’s office and they say, “Make yourself comfortable,” sit on the casual furniture, not across the desk from your host.
• Study the company and/or the person to get advance intelligence, easier than ever these days. (At a major gala and fundraiser, a man I had just met seated next to me asked about “Million Dollar Consulting” and my last trip to Australia. I was aghast. He told me later he had asked his host about the seating arrangements, and then Googled me.)
• Be aware of the moment. Have you read the newspapers today? Have you watched the news? Have you read up on the events which tend to affect the other party?
• Check things out in advance. Ask a third party what the attire is, if gifts are expected, if gratuities are allowed, when most people plan to arrive, and other things that are making you uncomfortable or uncertain. Always get to meetings at least 30 minutes early and have something to read. Wait and contemplate, don’t rush.
• Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. It’s very hard to hold a drink in one hand and eat shrimp cocktail with the other, for instance, or to graciously eat a sparerib at a reception. Don’t walk on thin ice with a flamethrower pointed at your feet.
• Be prepared for the usual inquiries or objections or skepticism. If someone asks how you can be of help as “just a solo practitioner,” don’t tap dance about networks or resources coming out of thin air. Just say, for example, “All of my larger clients seem to prefer that, why wouldn’t you?”
• Never accept deliberate malice or passive/aggressive behavior. If someone says (as one person did to me who was making $2 million annually), “You’re from New York? That’s the sewer of the universe,” reply, as I did, “Tell me, what makes you people in Boston so insecure?” (That’s what he needed and we worked together just fine.) If someone in HR says, “We’ve had bigger name consultants than you,” just reply, “Yes, and I’ve had bigger name clients.”
• Always be prepared to smile and laugh. Don’t be afraid of using humor. Released endorphins are wonderful things. (Are there “free-range endorphins”?)

If a Beagle can face down a German Shepherd, you really shouldn’t be having too much trouble leveling the playing field. But remember, you’re a different species.

So don’t jump on the hassock.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

My wife and I were leaving to workout this rainy, gloomy morning, and she opened the kitchen door to let the dogs back in from their early constitutional. However, there were no dogs. My wife soon found that the large gate up the hill—used by the tree and lawn guys to get heavy equipment in—was open.

We went into our “find the dogs” drill which we hadn’t used in years (wehn the Great Dog Trotsky ran away weekly) and she grabbed the truck keys while I headed for the front door. Lunging out the door, I nearly tripped on Koufax and Buddy, tails wagging, doggy smiles, very wet, but obviously quite pleased with themselves. (Koufax doesn’t usually run off the property unless he’s chasing something, but then returns, and Buddy knows that if Koufax comes back and he doesn’t, he’s in deep, deep trouble. Nonetheless, we panic if we can’t find them.)

Apparently, some strong winds had blown the gate latch up, and Koufax’s weight was sufficient to do the rest, though these are six-foot long devices. Neither dog likes getting wet, so they probably were looking for a faster way back inside. They know all the entry points. They went to the place we always return to when we’re out for a ride.

I find that many consultants often find an open gate. They run through and go frolicking through the woods. It could be an offer of “collaboration” from someone; it may be some very dubious advice someone with even more dubious credentials presented at a meeting; it might be some technology, or social platform, or “exposure” opportunity from (of course) doing some work for free.

Just because someone opened a new egress, or you leaned against a door and it opened, doesn’t mean life is better out there. You have to create you own paths through intelligent marketing which reflects your value to the most appropriate possible buyers. That’s a deliberate and informed journey, not a romp through the woods.

Understand your value, your buyers, and your market. Then create a path for them to come to your door whenever possible. Don’t just go racing through the countryside looking for opportunity.

Even dogs have the good sense to come in out of the rain.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

Koufax waits for Buddy Beagle to come through a gate—any gate—and then pounces on him. Buddy, realizing this, fakes his entrances until he thinks Koufax is bored or not looking. Koufax, in turn, pretends to be looking elsewhere—well, you get the idea.

So it was that Buddy ran into the pool area through the gate from the backyard and Koufax whipped around to chase him. Buddy motored around the periphery of the pool, low center of gravity, great on the turns, and clearance underthe diving board. By the time he was halfway around, Koufax had stopped, watched the beagle’s progress, and simply reversed his course to cream him as Buddy came full tilt, tongue hanging out, around the final turn to his starting point. Buddy was intense, focusing on his escape strategy (run like a crazy person) while Koufax took time to size up the overall lay of the land. When you run in a circle, you always return to the same starting point.

It’s always better to work smart, not hard. That must be how German shepherds could take care of so many sheep by themselves. Those sheep are undoubtedly not as smart as Buddy.

Are you intent on your daily routine? Do you use the same “formulas” to deal with clients, prospects, and peers? Do you wind up wasting time and energy because you’re not taking more of an overview and looking at the topography? Tenacious is admirable, tendentious is not. Just because you’re running full tilt doesn’t mean you’re making progress.

In fact, you might be running right into the jaws of a much larger dog.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

This morning, as I was eating my cereal before heading out to my sadistic trainer, I noticed that Buddy Beagle was not all over me trying to get the remnants of my breakfast. He normally scarfs down his own morning meal, then tries to hit on me before Koufax, who chews all his food exactly 32 times, is finished.

I mozied over to the other side of the island where the dogs dine, and found that Buddy, behind my wife’s back, had nosed off the lid of Koufax’s 20 pounds of dog food, and was silently munching away. Koufax didn’t care, since food is a minor event for him, but my wife chased Buddy through three rooms.

Buddy Beagle attempts this move EVERY DAY. He has never been successful in almost five years, but he was this morning. Whether my wife hadn’t adequately secured the top, or Buddy found a new angle, or Koufax helped him out, I don’t know. All I know is, he finally made it.

You have to keep showing up. People in my Mentor Program will bemoan the fact that things haven’t improved even though they are following all the right recommendations. But it’s not just a matter of doing the right things in the right way—it’s also a matter of doing them continually and consistently.

Golfers prior to a shot, basketball players before a free throw, and tennis players just before their serve, will all go through the exact same motions and actions. If the shot or serve isn’t good, they’ll still go through the same regimen the next time. Eventually, more shots are good than bad. We’re after success, not perfection.

Don’t let up. If you do the right things with discipline, determination, and dedication, you will eventually succeed.

Even if you only have four toes.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

The pool is open for the season! Koufax enjoys resting amidst the Hostas, while Buddy Beagle prefers a good Yucca.

(The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness. – Astrological Definition)

My friend, Guido Quelle, was here recently from Germany for my Shameless Promotion Workshop. He began speaking to my German Shepherd, Koufax, in German. Koufax, notoriously aloof and gnomic in his relationships, immediately warmed to Guido, and permitted extensive petting and scratching.

Now, I know that Koufax can’t understand German, and that there are not ethnic or racial origins involved here, right?

Right?

Perhaps it was just Guido’s way with dogs (he has two of his own), or his tone of voice, or perhaps is was Koufax’s discernment of a kindred past. But he certainly took to Guido exceptionally well.

Some prospects take to us exceptionally well, and some clearly do not. In many cases, it’s the prospect’s problem: preoccupied, overwhelmed, poor attention span, arrogant—whatever. But in some cases it’s our fault, therefore controllable and worth trying to avoid doing (and certainly prevent constantly repeating).

What are others’ first impressions of you? You probably don’t know what they are. Are you dressed professionally and stylishly, or are you rumpled and out of date? Do you smile or do you look nervous and grim? Do you have a firm handshake or a limp lump of pasta that falls short of al dente? Are you carrying a smart briefcase or are you a pack horse with computers and ragged baggage? Do you know where to sit after you’re asked and how to open a conversation, or are you bouncing around like a metal orb in a pinball machine?

You only get a one chance to create a first impression. Since most of us are engaged in such rituals frequently, wouldn’t it be a clever idea to get good at it? And that includes your email, blog entries, tweets, and other non-personal impressions. I’ve always thought that people with 17 initials after their names on their business cards, none of which I can figure out, are trying to overcompensate, and that those who ask you to send them a package and don’t have a physical address in their signature file, are just not trying.

In any case, a great first impression can overcome even the prospect’s bad habits, costs nothing, and is easy to replicate once learned and practiced. Koufax is back to his old self, but I found an empty bottle of Löwenbräu in the yard the other day, and I’m beginning to suspect something isn’t quite right….

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.