As a dog trainer, I am often confronted with the great expectation that my dog must be "perfect".
"...After all...", people often say, "...this is your job...", "...you know the training methods..." and "...you do that all day...".
But here it comes:
My dog is not perfect. Even though I am a dog trainer. And that's just fine!
Being a dog trainer
"You're living your dream", "You've turned your hobby into a profession"...these are things that I hear again and again and that I also thought were true at the beginning of my dog trainer career.
The reality is different: As a dog trainer, especially as a self-employed one, you spend a large part of your day planning individual sessions, group lessons, new courses, writing emails, blog posts (such as this one 😇), fixing your website, preparing social media content, educating yourself, doing accounting and many other relevant topics that come your way as a company owner. Holding private lessons, group classes and lectures (online and offline) actually take up a surprisingly small part of my time...
What does "perfect" actually mean???
Let's think about this for a moment... Is a perfect dog one that never barks, always obeys 100%, never has nonsense in his head and always knows exactly what his human wants from him? For some, yes. For me it sounds more like a robot and not particularly charming. What is important for one person, might be completely irrelevant for another. Some want an obedient dog that always walks "heel" and gives them eye contact for every little thing, for others it is enough, if the dog can be controled in important situations and otherwise they want mostly that their dog can be a dog - as far as it is possible within the framework of our society.
Dogs are individuals with their own characters, moods, needs and preferences. They react to stress, changes, our mood... and every dog owner knows this all too well: Our dogs have good and bad days, sometimes are grumpy from the moment they wake up and neither the dog - and certainly not the owner - knows why they are in a bad mood.
Of course, the different characters also lead to certain characteristics being more or less prominent in a dog – some dogs are just more anxious, more reactive, louder... than others. Being the dog of a dog trainer doesn't change that.
Essentially, this means that even if you know many approaches to training dogs, it might not work for your dog, because individuality and other factors play a huge role - and this applies also if you are a dog trainer.
Trainers also have a life besides the dog
As already indicated at the beginning of this post: A dog trainer also has an everyday life that does not only consist of dog training. Stress, exhaustion, lack of time, too many obligations and other factors can, of course, also lead to a dog trainer not always having everything going according to their (training) plan.
Maybe there are changes in the dog's home, visitors disturbing the routine, the owner (dog trainer) is worried about things and then those worries are being transferred to the dog... all of this influences a dog's behavior.
A dog is never "fully trained"
Just like humans, dogs learn throughout their whole lives. There are always moments when even a dog trainer reaches their limits. An example from my life: I was walking my dog at the end of the year and suddenly a firecracker went off somewhere in the neighbourhood. My dog panicked. Since then, he has not only been afraid of firecrackers, but of everything that sounds even remotely like it: cars with loud engines, motorcycles, popping air balloons... are just three examples.
In cases like this, dog trainers will start looking for ways to help their dog and work on the newly arisen challenge. So trainers face new challenges every once in a while – just like all of you.
By the way, it is also not uncommon for dog trainers to become dog trainers, because they once had a particularly "difficult" dog and were looking for ways and solutions. If this dog no longer is with them, then many trainers tend to get another “difficult” case 😉
Dog trainers also need external feedback
Dog trainers are educated in their field, but often they are too close to their own situation to objectively assess and control it – like any other dog owner. After all, when it comes to our own dog/s, we are "just" dog owners who love our four-legged friend/s and because of this, sometimes do not perceive things the same way as third parties.
That's why I always advocate that dog trainers should also get feedback from colleagues. Not only does the neutrality of the external side help to improve things, I also find other approaches and strategies in training inspiring and exciting – and the exchange helps everyone involved to continue to do their job well.
What is the bottom line?
Imagine if a doctor always had to be healthy and of course no doctor in this world would smoke, chefs would never eat fast food, psychologists would never have problems with themselves or in relationships or teachers would have the smartest children.
Sounds unrealistic? That's exactly the point!
People in these professions also make mistakes and encounter – sometimes unsolvable – challenges. Why should it be any different with dog trainers?
For me, it's ultimately about maintaining a harmonious relationship with a living, unique and lovable being ❤️
Our dogs teach us something new every day – sometimes because they are NOT perfect!
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