With a spoonful of salt

Hello Again!

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted, as most of you know its been more than a little crazy around here, not that things have died down any but I had some thoughts on my mind that I thought I would share with y’all after meeting with a new trainer today. I’m hoping sometime later this week to have a blog post up about kennel (or crate) training with any luck! So stay tuned for that!

So today we took Beka to meet a new trainer to work on her fear issues, I knew going into this we wouldn’t see totally eye to eye but I went anyway thinking I’d take it with a grain of salt and try to get something good out of it in hopes that it would help Beka. Thats not exactly how it went… Which leads me to this blog post right now

I am not a professional, I dont play one on tv, shoot Daine is my first dog, everything I post here is what I’ve learned from the 4 Ive had in the past year and training them, not every method works for every dog, and no two dogs learn the same just like humans. I am open to learning, and I believe I will always be open to learning, new training methods, even if I dont use them or agree with them. I think thats what makes a good teacher, in part anyway, that and the ability to explain things with patience and understanding…

So please, feel free to comment with how you feel on what I post, even if we might disagree I’m sure we’ll both learn something along the way!! And remember to read everything with that in mind…

Now on to the spoonful of salt

I could have went into Beka’s training session determined not to learn anything knowing this woman (who shall remain nameless) and I would disagree, but if I was going to do that I could have saved myself the money and gas and just sat home. I went hoping she’d know something that I didn’t (which of course she did) to help Beka, so for almost 2 hours I put aside my pride, and I listened to this womans opinions as she told me everything I’d done as a trainer was wrong and gave me a new list of things to do and how to do them.

Did I learn something?

Yes, in fact I learned a lot… (believe it or not)

I learned that I really do want to be a trainer, more than Ive ever wanted to be anything before in my entire life, because I think people and pets deserve to be listened too. I know I’m not perfect, I didn’t need her to tell me I was perfect or treat me like my dog was a god, but a little civility and kindess would have gone a far ways more than her rude attitude and crude language.

I learned that I can be polite and listen to someone rag on me for two hours without talking back, something I dont think I could have done a few years ago. So that means that I am hopefully maturing in that area…

And I learned a few helpful tips regarding Beka’s reactivity to strangers and unknown objects! That is good!

My point is, YOU know your dog better than anyone, yes you are paying a trainer to help you, to teach you how to teach your dog, but trust your gut, if you feel like the trainer is doing more harm than good find another one! Or talk to the one you have about how you feel, they might have good reasons you aren’t aware of yet! Never be afraid to speak up on behalf of your dog, you are the only voice they have! So take everything with a grain of salt, and remember no body knows everything and if they pretend they do then you’ve probably got someone who knows nothing at all.

~M