When we start training dogs we all become handlers. We follow the instructions we are given. We do our homework, succeed, stumble and fall. These are the moments we either stay handlers or learn our way into being trainers.
It’s the time on our own with our dogs, when we have time to reflect and process, that changes us. We start experimenting and seeing micro behaviours that we can respond to, meaning our feedback is better. We have ideas that pop into our heads that we try. We think we saw something and look for it again.
It’s all learned in our distraction free time to think and see. Distraction free is the key here. When life gets busy and distractions abound, our self-learning halts.
These distraction free moments are when we develop feel. You can’t create it from nothing, but if you have it, these moments where we are on our own, undistracted with a curious open mind is where you will develop it.
I’ve needed my coaches and teachers. They gave and continue to give me the building blocks for my learning. But it’s not until you are away from your teachers that you yourself can grow to be more than just a handler.
If dogs are your passion, provide the space to do this. You need solo training time with no rush immediately after. You need thinking time during and after to process what you saw.
What I’m witnessing in the age of social media- where we always pull out our phones every free moment, is a real halt in trainer growth. People are staying perpetual handlers. Some very distracted people that were growing actually go backwards and lose the ability to see what they saw.
If you want more, start learning how to journal in a productive way. Create time for you to develop and grow. Thinking can be done when you are in the shower, or cooking, but only if you remove other distractions. Put down your phones. Think about your training and when stumped by an issue, start asking yourself, “What if I tried this?”
We need our coaches and trainers, but ultimately we are all students of the dog.
Monique Anstee
Victoria, BC
Author of As a Dog Thinketh