Sunday night not lesson planning
End of the Weekend Remorse Time! I've spent at least a third of my time this weekend doing things to stave off the dogs' boredom, which means some fun activities for me too, but drastically lowered productivity. On top of that, all the hiking and exploring make me more tired, so I lose time resting. On Saturday, I actually *reclined* on the couch and watched three backlogged sitcom episodes in a row (two Parks & Recs and one Big Bang Theory). I don't remember when I last did that. I felt good about it at the time, but now my taxes still aren't done and my kitchen still desperately needs organization. Self-loathing! Woe!
I feel like a heel complaing though. We took a nice, easy hike with the local dogwalking Meetup group and met some nice people and dogs. Also we explored the Presidential Park wetlands, the dogs smelled many exciting smells, didn't ingest any chicken bone shards, and I saw some nice birds.
And good news, Sochi may have an adopter! I'll post more when things are finalized.
The main reason I'm posting is to work out a dog training dilemma that's been eating me emotionally for a few days. I think I've figured out that it's an issue with one particular club trainer, whom I like but who maybe has some older ideas about dog training. I feel like I'm being pressured into a method that I'm not comfortable with, and in what I think was supposed to be a pep talk, she actually insulted me and the training I've done with Memphis so far. This is not a mean lady, but I'm new to this formal obedience training, and I didn't realize there might come a point where I wouldn't agree with the advice of a trainer.
So in the moments when I was thinking "What am I doing here? Do I even want to continue with this?" I ended up making a list of why I'm taking these formal training classes with Memphis. That way I can check in with it periodically and make sure I'm still on track.
Enrichment -- to give Memphis something stimulating to do regularly. There's class every week, which is exciting for him and also good practice staying (somewhat) calm in an overstimulating environment full of bottlenecks, lots of dogs, humans and treats. Then there's practice at home, which is also fun (because treats) and it's not just a game we repeat, it's a learning process in which we both develop with time and work.
Bonding -- to be successful at all, we have to practice communicating with each other both in body language and explicit signals. We have to try to be in tune. (Realistically, I have to try to keep his attention.)
Socialization -- the human kind. Being a member of the club, training with others and volunteering often, I've been able to contact with some of the same people on a regular basis, and this is how friendships can develop.
Fun -- especially for Memphis, and this is a deal breaker. I may have fun often but get frustrated occasionally, but I like the overall process and I find the work personally meaningful. It's intellectually stimulating because I've always been interested in animal behavior and animal+human interaction, and this provides rich opportunities for observation, intimately with my own dog and broadly with many, many others. But for Memphis, it just needs to be fun. If he stops having fun, I need to fix the situation or we need to move on to something else.
So, true to my nature, I am going to try to find a way to compromise in the current training situation. I also want to find a way to get the perspective of some other club members without pointing a finger at this trainer. I need to keep Memphis in mind all the time and if he doesn't enjoy it, worst case scenario I'll switch to Rally classes (which I wanted to do eventually anyway) and make sure and have a conversation with the trainer before we start, to try to minimize any surprises about training philosophy.
This entry was also posted at http://rustydog.dreamwidth.org/1180763.html. You may comment at either place.
I feel like a heel complaing though. We took a nice, easy hike with the local dogwalking Meetup group and met some nice people and dogs. Also we explored the Presidential Park wetlands, the dogs smelled many exciting smells, didn't ingest any chicken bone shards, and I saw some nice birds.
And good news, Sochi may have an adopter! I'll post more when things are finalized.
The main reason I'm posting is to work out a dog training dilemma that's been eating me emotionally for a few days. I think I've figured out that it's an issue with one particular club trainer, whom I like but who maybe has some older ideas about dog training. I feel like I'm being pressured into a method that I'm not comfortable with, and in what I think was supposed to be a pep talk, she actually insulted me and the training I've done with Memphis so far. This is not a mean lady, but I'm new to this formal obedience training, and I didn't realize there might come a point where I wouldn't agree with the advice of a trainer.
So in the moments when I was thinking "What am I doing here? Do I even want to continue with this?" I ended up making a list of why I'm taking these formal training classes with Memphis. That way I can check in with it periodically and make sure I'm still on track.
Enrichment -- to give Memphis something stimulating to do regularly. There's class every week, which is exciting for him and also good practice staying (somewhat) calm in an overstimulating environment full of bottlenecks, lots of dogs, humans and treats. Then there's practice at home, which is also fun (because treats) and it's not just a game we repeat, it's a learning process in which we both develop with time and work.
Bonding -- to be successful at all, we have to practice communicating with each other both in body language and explicit signals. We have to try to be in tune. (Realistically, I have to try to keep his attention.)
Socialization -- the human kind. Being a member of the club, training with others and volunteering often, I've been able to contact with some of the same people on a regular basis, and this is how friendships can develop.
Fun -- especially for Memphis, and this is a deal breaker. I may have fun often but get frustrated occasionally, but I like the overall process and I find the work personally meaningful. It's intellectually stimulating because I've always been interested in animal behavior and animal+human interaction, and this provides rich opportunities for observation, intimately with my own dog and broadly with many, many others. But for Memphis, it just needs to be fun. If he stops having fun, I need to fix the situation or we need to move on to something else.
So, true to my nature, I am going to try to find a way to compromise in the current training situation. I also want to find a way to get the perspective of some other club members without pointing a finger at this trainer. I need to keep Memphis in mind all the time and if he doesn't enjoy it, worst case scenario I'll switch to Rally classes (which I wanted to do eventually anyway) and make sure and have a conversation with the trainer before we start, to try to minimize any surprises about training philosophy.
This entry was also posted at http://rustydog.dreamwidth.org/1180763.html. You may comment at either place.