That Crucial First Step

Dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It's a wonder then that it took me so long to take that step from owner to dog trainer. Don’t get me wrong I have trained all the dogs in my life – to one degree or another – but I never really understood what it was I was doing, nor did I consider the consequences. I just trained my dogs like everyone else who attended the dog training classes – I did what I was told and expected my dog to do likewise.

As I got more experienced as a dog handler and worked with more and more rescue dogs, I became much more aware of the impact of my actions on the behavior of my dogs. I believed myself to be a positive dog handler and I thought my dogs were getting a good deal from me. I think I would have happily continued in my ignorance if it weren’t for a sequence of events that set a completely different set of wheels in motion.

The change came for me when I watched my newly adopted 7 month old, severely traumatized rescue puppy be subjected to traditional P+ (positive punishment) dog training techniques because he was, to quote the trainer, “just being difficult”.

I live in Switzerland and it is required by law for dog owners to become certified as having attended at least four dog training sessions and for the dog to meet their minimum behavior requirements. My miniature poodle, Blue, and I had already attended more than the required number of sessions, but he was not yet achieving the behavior standards set by the trainer (nor do I think he ever would have under those training conditions).Convinced it was not all the dog’s fault, or mine (I come from an education background and I know learning is more the teacher’s responsibility than the student's), I decided to get qualified and take the training of my dog into my own hands.

You know sometimes the universe just chucks things our way when we least expect it yet most of the time we let these potential opportunities slide and we miss out on something great. This time however, I must have been more receptive than usual because it was amazing how quickly all the pieces fell into place. 

Blue's foster mum had suggested during one of our early meetings that he might respond well to clicker training. Clicker training? This was not something I had come across before and I was intrigued enough to research it further. I downloaded Karen Pryor's 15 Rules, I even bought an eBook and tried to work through the sequences described therein, but I just wasn't getting it right.The book did a lot of telling me what I needed to do but not a lot of the how or the why. 

I needed more and who better to contact than Karen Pryor herself - well, her Academy at least. I wrote them an email, begging to be allowed to participate in their on-line dog training program even though I did not live in the US, and was rewarded with notification that they actually had an International program and a new one was just about to kick off, would I be interested? Would I what?

That was back in May of this year. In November I graduated as a KPA-CTP (Karen Pryor Academy - Certified Training Partner) and today a DHL parcel arrived with all the official documentation - the proof of all I've achieved.

Clicker training to me is more than a means to bring a dog under control, it's a philosophy for life that has helped me focus on what it is I want, on the things that are going right in my world, and to ignore all the rest. Since taking that crucial first step, my life has expanded in so many ways - my friends and family too (we adopted another rescue puppy in July,  more about him later) - and through this blog I hope to chronicle my continuing journey. You are welcome to come along with me.