When we adopted Catty I would have said we were experienced dog people. I quickly came to realize that wasn't true - we love dogs, enjoyed their company but we didn't really know what we were doing. Catty helped to change all of that - she got us excited about helping dogs and expanding our narrow knowledge base about working with dogs. We started fostering and with that "in the trenches work" we quickly had to figure things out since we saw a variety of personalities and issues.
One thing that keeps me engaged with fostering is not only the dogs - it's what the dogs are helping me to learn and the supportive New Rattitude NW team. Our team strives for force free training while the dogs are in our care and in the forever homes. We seek out each other for help when we are stumped with what our foster dog is showing us.
While we have had a number of dogs that have behavioral stuff going on (we seem to draw the dogs that have separation anxiety), there have been many dogs in our care that don't have issues. They just have never lived in a home, had a warm bed and don't know what it's like to be in a positive relationship with a human. So our job is to work together - dog and human to build skills and grow. This is a two way street and not only is it fun to be a part of but, you can watch a dog change quickly before your eyes. Force free training (positive training) is just that - no force, just working with the dog as a team, letting them have choices and having fun together. It's pretty amazing and beyond rewarding to watch - this training doesn't dominate or break a dog down. What force free training does do is create a relationship built on trust which increases the awareness to grow and move forward - for both human and dog. Along with being lots of fun!
While we have had a number of dogs that have behavioral stuff going on (we seem to draw the dogs that have separation anxiety), there have been many dogs in our care that don't have issues. They just have never lived in a home, had a warm bed and don't know what it's like to be in a positive relationship with a human. So our job is to work together - dog and human to build skills and grow. This is a two way street and not only is it fun to be a part of but, you can watch a dog change quickly before your eyes. Force free training (positive training) is just that - no force, just working with the dog as a team, letting them have choices and having fun together. It's pretty amazing and beyond rewarding to watch - this training doesn't dominate or break a dog down. What force free training does do is create a relationship built on trust which increases the awareness to grow and move forward - for both human and dog. Along with being lots of fun!
For those of you who know Mr. D aka Dandy - he blossomed so much and so quickly to due working with force free trainers at University Canine Learning Center and of course his very special TTouch practitioner Lori Stevens who is also force free in her work with dogs.
The last week in February - I was lucky enough to attend a 2 day workshop by an amazing force free trainer/certified applied animal behaviorist Kathy Sdao Not only did I learn a ton but, I also got to hang out and talk "dog" with my NR co-state coordinator. It was a mind blowing weekend that energized and excited us both. I'm not a very good writer so I've been holding off on blogging about the workshop because I knew she was going to blog about the workshop and I decided to copy her posts once she completed!
So here you go (you'll see Catty mentioned in a few of these posts) - they are great posts and hopefully you too will be excited to read about what we heard. I guarantee this will increasing your knowledge and continue to build your relationship with your pup!
 |
| Great book by Kathy Sdao - I'm in the midst of reading it now! |
No comments:
Post a Comment