I was calling today a bust. To start with it was cold outside. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am pretty darned sick of winter and everything it has to offer! Then, we couldn't find a quiet place to work on our settling exercise. Normally I use the exam room in the clinic, but today was wellness day so I knew that was not to be. The cottage was a little too hectic so we wound up in a pen called the tent. It is outdoors but it has a top so that you can use it in inclement weather.
In an ideal circumstance, when you are in the initial stages of training a dog, the environment should be as distraction free as possible. Well.... this is pretty hard to do at the shelter and this makes my job of trying to teach Luke how to settle pretty difficult. Not impossible, but certainly challenging. I am my own worst critic and set expectations very high for myself. Today I was not feeling very good about my own skill set or capabilities and went home feeling dejected and pretty sorry for myself. While sitting in my car I watched this video.
This is why I train dogs, this is why I love dogs. Because despite everything they have going against them, they can still be so joyful in the smallest moment.
I ask, who is teaching whom?
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