(VICT) Re: Zair
- From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 12:41:12 -0700
Well said, Christy!
Ah, and I am guilty, guilty, guilty. Sometimes I feel like I have to =
follow
myself around with a big club to keep myself in line. /smile/ When I =
go
back and digest every day with my curly girl and debrief myself and =
analyze
everything that went right or wrong and how I need to do things better
tomorrow, so many people will tell me reassuringly that I shouldn't beat
myself up over it...
In training, at least, I believe one needs some brutal self-honesty for =
the
sake of the dog and for your own sake the next day, or the next month, =
or 2
years down the line when the mistake you made could come back to bite =
you --
or, worse, your hard-working trainee.
And when I succeed at zenning out my drive for perfection, it all goes =
so
much better and Mitzi can just grow and learn and show me how incredible =
she
is.
As they say: Praise the dog; beat the handler. /smile/
Tami Smith-Kinney
-----Original Message-----
From: vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vi-clicker-trainers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
care4k9@xxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 8:56 AM
To: vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: (VICT) Zair
Sandee,
It is very tough to train your own assistance dog for the reason =
you
stated as you go thorugh the emotional rollar coaster. I've seen too =
many
times people waffle back in forth about their dog, nervous they are not
doing things right, but then they do, and then they don't, and then they =
do.
This is an emotional rollar coaster for the dog too. In the =
early
training stages they need you to be 100% in confidence in them while =
they
learn. This isn't a test if they can be the perfect dog, it is the time =
to
just teach them.=20
A trainer friend of mine and I use to talk about this very thing =
all
the time and we came up with a slogan of "Leave the F------ dog alone!"
Sorry it is crude, but we both realized how much pressure we put on our
learning assistance dogs because they are not learning what we want, =
when we
want and how we want. So not only did we see this in other people, we =
saw it
in oursevles. I credit this for me going through a lot of my own dogs =
not
succeeding because the pressure was too great. I did get people =
cricizing me
for wanting a perfect dog that doesn't exist.=20
Even with that realization, there are times I get depressed =
thining
the dog isn't going to work out. But when I get away from that and relax =
and
focus on moving woard, it falls into place. My trainer friend above and
another trainer started to beleive that 3 years old is a good age to put =
the
working stress on the dog, much later than the standard 2 years. This is =
why
I'm an advocate of not putting too mch stress or work on a dog at a =
young
age. I know we want our dogs to learn fast when they are yong, but =
pacing is
good too.=20
Maybe just write out a plan to dissociate your emotions. Keep to =
the
plan to pace yourself and allow the subject to learn at their own pace. =
It
will come together.=20
As for the pushy attitude with the other dogs, boundaries need =
to be
learned. Lots of great lists like clicker solutions, clickerExpo and if =
you
are a member IAABC or APDT are great lists to learn to teach a dog self
control and how to act around other dogs. Many knowledgable flks on =
there to
learn how to work with pack dynamics.=20
Take a big deep breath and exhale it slowly. You are doing great =
and
wonderful! It will come together.=20
---
Christy Hill=20
A'Mickey
***************
http://home.att.net/~care4k9
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