It’s been a hard decision with lots of back and forth, but I’m taking the plunge! It’s always a little scary when you decide to do something new with no idea whether it will work or not- even if that something new is a dream of yours. I love pets and I love families- I love teaching both ends of the leash, so I’m setting out to do exactly that. I loved working at the shelter, but I need time to be a good mom as well as to start this new training opportunity up, so I had to say a hard good-bye. The folks at the shelter are wonderful people who have been very good to me. However this way, I can have more time to devote to volunteering (and training the dogs to increase their chances of adoption) and fostering in the future.
In some ways, one could draw parallels between this new path of mine and the new path of life for an animal getting adopted. Of course, I chose this, but still there are some similarities. The change comes with a certain amount of excitement combined with trepidation. A lot of folks don’t expect the amount of stress their newly adopted pet experiences as they travel to a new home and find themselves in a new family, possibly with other animals. They don’t know what’s happening, and they may or may not know the rules of the house. They don’t know if they will be best friends with the resident pets or children, or if they will have to learn to tolerate each other. Similarly, I don’t know whether my business will take off or fall flat. All I can do is do the best I can and see what happens- and that’s exactly what I plan to do.
I believe in continuing education, and to that end, I’m always reading more about learning theory, motivation, and the science behind dog training. I do not have the same views as every other trainer, but I try to respect them and their views, and I hope that respect shows through. I think personality and how you go about trying to get an idea across to people is a big part of the business, besides the science and knowledge. After all, you can read the right books for maybe $30 and learn a lot of what I’m going to tell you. Or you can pay me and I’ll teach you and show you how to execute a certain plan of attack or why one method might work better than another. I can also direct you to other good resource books so you don’t have to waste money on books that might be less than gems- I’ll do that for you. 🙂 I may not always have the answers, but I have a bunch of resources and I will try to find the answers to your questions if I don’t already know them. Learning is a big part of the teaching- I never want to think I know all there is to training pets!
I look forward to working with you and your pets- not just dogs, but the cats too! I love seeing the look on people’s faces as they suddenly understand new information, and I look forward to seeing that look a lot! Look for me around town- I’ll be getting the word out, and if you know anyone I should meet, let me (and them) know!
See you around!