Sit. Stay. High Five!

Amber:

This week I am relaxing and smelling the roses after finishing two sets of very fun and successful group dog obedience classes.  Dog training is very rewarding for me.  It allows me to share my knowledge and expertise helping dogs live happily with their owners. I love seeing the incredible changes in the dogs and owners in just a few classes.

I had taken a 12 year break from group obedience – only teaching private classes – in order to have time to raise my kids and expand my dog daycare and boarding business. I am now ready to get back to teaching group classes again.  It is a much needed service in our area.

After teaching my first two groups this time around, I have discovered just how excited I am to teach these classes again.  It hardly seems like work and I have a lot of fun doing it.  It is amazing to witness the impact of good training and that keeps me motivated.

After working with thousands of dogs, I understand the need for people to have a solid connection with their pets.  They need to be able to trust one another.  The more great connections out there the more dogs in loving homes.

The most rewarding part is helping people and dogs improve their lives together.  To know that I make a difference in the lives of others is such a wonderful feeling.  To see owners becoming empowered and their dogs learning to be content and well adjusted dogs is very exciting for me.  I am taking this week off to soak it all up because after that I am moving forward with more classes which means more confident and well mannered dogs and more happy dog owners in my community.

Adrienne:

Congratulations!!!! Great pics!

I HAVE to tell you… I just came from my G’s… he has a bathroom reno happening right now, so Molly was completely crazy-pants when I go there. She is a high energy little dog, and with all the commotion today, she was ready to essplode by the time I got there to walk her. So was Grandpa.

She loves loves loves going for a walk, and normally when I get there she bounces all over the place, barking. Her bark is shrill, and it really irritates G. Today, of course it was tenfold! Grandpa reflexively barked back at her to “stop it!”, but she totally ignored him. It was sort of hilarious. She’s barking and jumping all over the place (she does the Jack Russel straight in the air like a pogo stick ha!) and he’s yelling. The more she barked the more he yelled; the more he yelled the more she barked. It was like a reef knot!

I calmly walked over to the couch, sat down, and firmly said: “Molly, come. Sit.” I made eye contact, nodded, and pointed as she flung herself in my direction. She came and sat right at my feet, with her back to me. I put my hand on her back and said: “Thank you. Good girl.” Then I rubbed her, calling her a good girl, and had a quick chat with G. He even calmed down too!

She sat there for several minutes – yes still vibrating with excitement for the walk! – and several times she looked up at me and sang a little, about to bark. I motioned with my eyes or my energy or maybe it was just the nodding, but she would settle down again.

It was only a few minutes, but honestly, it gave GRANDPA such relief to have her settle down. It was a fabulous feeling for me to see that I could get her to behave, yes, but mostly the good feeling was seeing how much more in control G felt.

Pretty cool moment! Thank you for all your cross-co training advice! My Grandpa choosing to stay in his home is a big job for all involved. Molly is a huge joy for him, but she is certainly a handful – esp for me. I’m a cat person! That was a big win today. Of course Molly and I, but most important for Grandpa. I mean, it’s huge!

Sabine:

I so love to hear about your dog classes and see the pics! I think there is so much contentment and happiness in the dogs on the pictures. And it is wonderful that you are so fired up about teaching so it doesn’t even feel like working. That’s the kind of work I want for myself, too.

And now of you are to sniff the roses, more than well deserved!

Si