Being a Lifelong Learner

The end of seminar season always brings about a time of reflection for me because I am usually pretty exhausted. I've seen a rash of new students, new dogs, new and old training challenges, and in general spent a lot of time training lots of dogs and coaching people on the fly. This year I'm also spending a lot of time training puppies.

I'm also watching. I'm watching people train dogs. I'm watching people teach dogs and teach people to train dogs. I'm watching how they do it. I'm watching how people have discussions about training dogs. I'm listening to the language that people are using.

I'm watching as to whether people who are claiming to be inclusive are actually BEING inclusive by who is being invited to be speakers or trainers. I'm watching to see if those instructing are really open to new ideas from students or if they dismiss what students are asking.

Because I can learn a lot from others if I listen. And I listen really carefully and then I think about it. I've even found myself seeking out trainers who I may not agree with their training philosophy as a whole, just to listen to them to see where they are at.

Do I adopt their training methods.

No. Do I listen? Yes. As objectively as I can.

And then I sit with the science and usually a cup of coffee (or a beer and some gummy worms) and think about when and why it might work.

And the usual answer is, it depends.

On the dog. On the situation. On the timing. On the desired result. On the history of the training of the the dog.

And my training toolbox expands. Because having a very large toolbox makes me a much better trainer. Not all of my dogs, or my students dogs, are one size fits all. And it is not fair to them as learners to limit the tools that I have in my toolbox.

In the end, I believe providing our learners with clear reinforcement for correct responses and clear consequences for incorrect responses provides clarity. It is our responsibility to set up the learning environment and have a clear plan in our own mind.

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Be a Lifelong Learner with K9Sensus next year! Check our our learning opportunities on the website.