Dog training isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s hard, mentally draining work and the weather dictates your life 95% of the time. You have to be consistent, repetitious, keep in contact with past and current clients, try to reply to all emails in a decent amount of time, post content, make sure everybody’s happy, and find some time for yourself amongst all that. I wouldn’t change it for anything. Of course, I’m only human. I get run down, I get tired some days, but I actually love being in the moment of training a dog with a client and teaching both dog and person. I love watching clients become better people alongside their dog and incorporating their dog more into their lives.
I really had to take a moment and think about what kind of trainer I wanted to be. Did I want to turn away people just because our mentalities were different? Or did I want to teach people different training ways and show them the right way on how things are done? In this time of much needed self-reflection, I knew I needed different influencers and not strictly one. I started to follow dog trainers of all types, learn all theories and start to weed out what I didn’t like, and what I found simply didn’t work for me. I slowly started to build something much better than I could’ve imagined. If you told me this is where I’d be when in the future when I first started, I honestly wouldn’t have believed you.
With dog training, there are trainers who don’t better themselves. They think their way is the best and that’s that. In their minds, there’s no such thing as a better method, some tools should never be used, and if you don’t like it find a different trainer. Of course, if you have a consult and nothing clicked, then yes, by all means, refer a trainer you think would be better suited for the job! There’s nothing wrong with that! However, there is something wrong with making a client look elsewhere because you aren’t willing to bend or have a one-track mind. Some trainers will become stagnant or keep their hype, but the point is if you think you’re the best dog trainer then you’re wrong. If you’re trying to prove you’re better or can’t see outside the box, I honestly don’t see how you can be a trainer. It’s actually funny because when I first started I was very “one size fits all” mentality. But the more you work with dogs and people, you realize that’s not the case. One technique that worked for one dog doesn’t necessarily work for the next, and I think that’s the hardest concept for a lot of people to understand. (Including myself at one point) Same goes for therapy dogs and service dogs. Not ALL dogs are up to the task, temperament and drive play a big part in these decisions!
I love self-improvement. I love business improvement. I am NOT the same trainer I was six months ago, and I will not be the same trainer 6 months from now. That’s the best part. Constantly learning and evolving. If you can look back at a dog you’ve trained or a session you’ve had and go “Okay, I see where I screwed up but I see where I can be better next time” That’s all you can do. Learn from your mistakes. Don’t become a brick in the wall, be better, be different!
