A three card spread to look into a problem.

Position 1 What am I doing right?

Position 2 What am I doing wrong?

Position 3 Something I can do to solve the problem.

I was working with the full deck and I got three Major Arcana.

I have a lovely two and a half year old dog. Her name is Misty. She is sweet, she is playful, but training her is a challenge.

She is my second dog. I know what I am doing. I have read 3 books on training, I watch videos. We took her to obedience classes, she did not pass. We have done one on one classes with a dog trainer.

We won some battles, we lost many.

She is a friendly, good dog, but she mostly does what she wants and we cannot walk her without a leash.

She will chase cars, if none are available she will chase bikes, a runner will do, even a stroller.

When walking her we need to always be aware and see the cars before she does. We need to enforce the rules given to us by the trainer. We must give her treats when she lets the cars go by, to reinforce her good behaviour.

Frustrated as I am by the amount of work required and the small results , I turned to the cards for insight.

Originally I had 2 positions, but I struggled so much interpreting the Devil in position 1 that I came up with position 3.

I believe I was stuck on the Devil, because I failed to realize that it stood for something that I was doing fine, but that was not enough by itself to solve the issue. Strength reversed in position 2 is also a Major Arcanum .

What am I doing right in my attempts to train Misty?
The Devil suggests that I am at least aware of my luck of hope .
I do recognize that I am stuck. I accomplished something, but it is not enough.
Also very good is the fact that I keep her on a leash (bondage). I have a short one and I have a very long one, which I use to teach her recall and give her some freedom.
Keeping her on a leash is necessary for her own safety.

What am I doing wrong? Strength reversed.
Plenty I suppose. I am too soft. I am not the strong pack leader she needs, not consistently at least. In the Winter my daughter does most of the walks and she does not enforce the rules consistently. When the weather is decent I take her for very long walks and I see improvements.

I also think that I do not totally understand Misty. I was totally in tune with the dog I had before her. He would have followed me anywhere. Misty needs a treat. Which reinforce the Devil aspect. She is very materialistic (food motivated) and I have accepted that.

What can I do to train her better? Magician reversed.
I am not sure. I see several possibilities.

1) I need to keep my focus, which I admit I have not. I work diligently at it for a while and than burn out.

2)Do I need to change where I put my attention? I am fast to see what Misty does wrong, but it takes me a while to notice her improvements.

3) I believe I have the tools at my disposal to train her, but do I? Should I look again for a dog trainer to help me?

Feel free to share your interpretation of the cards.