Thanks and People Training

You know that feeling you get when someone gives you kudos for something you worked really hard at, especially for another person? Great feeling, right? I love thanking people for the stuff that they do, whether it’s for me or not. If people go out of their way to make something happen, they deserve a little pat on the back at the very least. It’s nice to be recognized for your efforts. It validates all the work you put into your project or whatever it may be.

Now, being Canadian, many people think we are all super polite. As much as I would like to agree with that, it’s not so. Sadly, we have our fair share of assholes or people that just don’t get it in this country. No matter what you do, there’s no pleasing some of them.

My co-worker and I have been working hard with one dog at the daycare that goes crazy at home time when he sees either of his owners when they come to pick him up. He is a giant dog, and fat to boot so getting him under control to a workout and a half once he sees his owners stroll through the door. Once he’s let into the office he has a tendancy to jump on everyone and everything, grabbing your arms and being generally not well behaved. He’s a great dog in the daycare, there’s just something about his owners that sends him into a “OMG MOM DAD MOM DAD!” state of mind.

Most dogs are excited to see that their owners have returned but no dog is as unmanageable as this one. Now, my co-worker and I have been working really hard on making the dog calmer and training him to be a good home time dog. We practice the home time routine every day he’s in before his owner(s) arrive and he’s a miracle dog. He’s calm, patient and no jumping! As soon as his owners arrive for pick up, it’s almost always a disaster. His parents don’t take instruction very well and I constantly have to remind them of the steps they have to take. Lately though, I’ve managed to get him under pretty good control in the office but when I hand off the leash all hell tends to break loose because my instructions aren’t being followed.

At first I thought that the owner was really grateful of all the extra time and effort we’ve been putting into his dog to make him a better home time canine. Then my old co-worker returns from living up in the interior comes back to work with us. She’s the one who got me the job before she moved away. It’s great having her back, I’ve learned a ton from her.

When Fido’s owner saw that she returned the first thing he said, “Oh good, she’s back. She can whip him into shape now!”

Wtf? What have I been doing for the past year? Each time he comes in now he asks about her and tells me that she is going to get his dog under control in no time.

ARGGG!

I voiced my frustration with her and she’s just as boggled and admits that she’s done no work with this dog since she’s returned because she’s seen my co-worker and I working hard at getting his home time routine to work. It’s all up to his owners at this point. They need to be confident and strong but they crumble each time they pick him up and get bowled over by their own dog. Jeeze!

It would be nice to be thanked for all the hard work we’ve been doing rather than being shoved aside and considered second class dog trainers next to our other co-worker (no bad word to her!).

That said, leads me on to another point. From my experience (as limited as it is) training dogs is the easy part. It’s training the people that’s hard. I can only do so much as a dog handler, to teach a client what they need to know in order to get the proper behavior out of their dog. If they don’t follow through or aren’t consistent, the dog will fail to meet their expectations no matter what.

Example 1: I had a client with a dog that was bonkers at the end of her leash. She was using an extend-o leash which is bad news to begin with. I explained what leash and collar she should use for best results and ran her through proper on leash techniques. All seemed well until I saw her next on the extend-o leash going nuts on the end of it while I was out walking. She seemed concerned that the instructions I had given her hadn’t worked. Of course they didn’t work, you didn’t follow through with them! Besides, it’s not an instant process. You have to practice and be consistent.

Same thing happened with another client except one owner refused to think HE was doing anything wrong. That was aggravating. You want your dog to be better, you have to assume responsibility. I can’t fix your dog if you don’t help. It’s you job to learn and do, I’m just a teacher. 

So, if any of you out there are working with your dog and a trainer, PLEASE for the love of dog, listen and most importantly BE CONSISTENT. 

Oh dear, I went off on a rant. Oh well, that's the way she goes.