Why does he do it for you and not me?
After they get to know me a little bit, I can get most any dog to do most anything for me in class. Some of them I can’t. (Hi, Wrangler’s Mom!) Some are totally one person dogs, or one family and any stranger is just that to them. They look down their noses at me, and speak in perfectly plain, haughty English, “and who do you think YOU are to ask that of me, young lady??”
My focus is only on mom.
Some of them hate me (Hi, Cacey’s Dad!). Its true. Just like you see people that give you that weird vibe sometimes, and you don’t know why, but you just don’t like them? Yup. Dogs get that same vibe.
That can't be true. I love everyone!
But. Most dogs most of the time, I can work with successfully. Why? Couple reasons. Number one – this is what I DO forty hours a week. I study on my off time. I talk to other trainers. I’m immersed in dog. I love what I do. People tell me ‘but I’ve always had dogs….” and I say, ‘well, I’ve brushed my teeth a couple times a day all my life, but I still take my kids to the dentist.” Hey- the comparison makes sense to ME! I also tell them ‘whatever you do 40 hours a week, you are a lot better at than I am.’
24/7 all cute all adorable all the time
Another reason is I’m new and different. They get used to the same old same old (that’s you). A friend of mine who breeds and shows greyhounds has what she calls the ‘dog pen’ out back. Its actually a lovely heated kennel used for boarding. When one of her dogs gets ‘complacent’, looks at her and yawns in boredom, they go to the dog pen for a few days. They get fed and exercised and mostly ignored. After a couple days of that, they come back in, ready to work and pay attention.
I'd never ignore my people!
Another reason is, I reward the behavior I want. Most often, if the dog is quiet and behaving, no one pays any attention to them. I do. I reward the quiet dog, the dog doing what he’s asked the first time, the one who has stopped a behavior I’m not fond of.
I'm all good all the time, right, Dad?!
Then there is the fact I’m not afraid to act like an idiot. Work is my comfort zone. I’m used to being there, used to performing in front of an audience, don’t worry that someone may see me act like a fool. Kind of like you in your living room. I talk out loud to the dog. I wave my arms, tug on their tails, act MORE Exciting than Anything! They pay attention to me because I’m paying attention to them.
Yes, my mom mortifies me all the time. I wish she'd grow up.
And I pay attention to the techniques. “Do THIS.” I say. “Try That.” I demonstrate. And because -yes, I understand, I really really do! – that because I do this 40 hours a week and I revert to the techniques; you revert back to what you’ve always done, jerking on the leash and chanting “No, no, stop quit it don’t!”
Techniques? Class? We thought it was play time!
And then -I- revert to just laughing when people say, “its not really the dogs you’re teaching, is it?”