So, first up on the excitement scale (and the reason for my lack of time tonight)is the news that tomorrow morning I will be picking up the keys for my new training venue, and work will begin on setting up the Four Paws One Direction Canine Education and Activity Centre!!! There have certainly been some dramas along the way, and the venue and business development plan aren't quite as first envisaged, but I have to say I'm very, very excited! I've agreed to take voluntary redundancy at work, so as of July I will be a full time dog trainer (or, more accurately, people trainer!)! I've got flyers designed and being printed, new clothing being embroidered, will have rubber flooring and chairs on the way shortly, and just need to finalise the new format of all my classes! We'll be focusing primarily on providing more puppy courses to ensure everyone can start that socialisation and habituation process as soon as possible, but will also be doing adult dog 'Lifeskills' classes and some Puppy Pre-Agility workshops, alongside the current agility stuff and a few other bits and pieces. More details to follow later!
And we've been pretty busy with Finn and Willow too! Haven't had any agility shows since the muddy Easter disaster, but we have been up to Kay Laurence's place twice in the last few weeks to train with one of the most knowledgeable people in this country, and you really can't beat a good workshop with Kay (except perhaps an agility one with Lauren Langman!). We were up at the end of last month for an 'Energy' workshop, and mum, Willow, Finn and I had the best day ever! The work we did was fascinating and innovative, and Finn and Willow were perfect little stars all day; I've never ever seen Finn so calm and relaxed whilst out doing anything anywhere, so it was definitely worth the trip up, and we're hoping to get booked in for some more workshops in the future! Kay L filmed a bit of it, so I'm currently keeping an eye on her YouTube channel to see if she makes us stars! And the day was made even better by a quick stop on the way home to meet the most wonderful Working Cocker Spaniel breeder, and the most fab dogs ever! I'm so excited about having one of Jacqui's pups in the future; the adult dogs we met were gorgeous, friendly, unbelievably fit and active, and she really does seem to be doing all she can in terms of health testing whilst also ensuring temperament is still key, and provides so much support to the owners of her pups. Can't wait to become one of the 'family'!
And then we were back up again on Sunday for a Border Collie Rehab workshop, bringing Sarah and Izzy up with us. Again, another fascinating day, and no-one understands collies better than Kay L. All three of ours were excellent again, and now that we have management and training strategies, we've been promoted up from the Rehab workshops, so all in all another excellent day at Wagmore Barn!
I so love doing workshops at Wagmore, and in fact I love doing something new with any trainer or speaker as in general you can always take something new away from it, and we should all be constantly striving to expand our knowledge of training methods and ideas, so the one thing I always find slightly baffling and frustrating is the fact that experts like Kay Laurence aren't in more demand for workshops and seminars in this country. We seem to have a bit of apathy towards these things, or perhaps we just don't like to travel...I'm not really sure what it is that puts the Brits off. But people like Kay L and Greg Derrett are experts in their fields, and seem to be highly respected and in demand in America for various training events, with people travelling miles to a whole array of seminars and expos, and yet over here these inspirational people struggle to generate enough interest to fill events. I remember the workshops that Greg organised over here, with Susan Garrett the guest speaker - she flew all the way over from Canada, and is a hugely influential and groundbreaking agility trainer who fills events all over the world, and yet over here there was barely any interest from the agility community. I'm not quite sure why we're not more enthusiastic about these things; I read with great envy about all the wonderful things going on in America and wish I could be there for events such as the Clicker Expo or the Clean Run Conference, but have to content myself with buying all the DVDs of the lectures (thank heaven for the Clean Run production team and Positive Animal Solutions/Crosskeys for stocking them!) and reading the online reports. Perhaps one day our British training heroes will be fully recognised and appreciated in their own country...if you get the chance I seriously recommend a trip up to Wagmore or signing up for a workshop or seminar anywhere just to try something a bit different!
Anyway, this was supposed to be short, and as always it's turned out to be very long! Really must get on with some planning now! Stay tuned for more details of what I've got cooking...
Shelley & Fantastic Mr Finn x
Oh, I almost forgot the most important bit! Mr Finn celebrated his 3rd birthday last week (though he's mentally still 18 months!). Here he is enjoying a chomp on his pressie...
And I'll just leave you with a touching Blog post from Susan Garrett on the loss of a friend's dog, and a beautiful thought: "Regardless of how it may appear to any of us watching, every dog’s life is always one of great intention. The odyssey is unique to each dog and their person. Those of us on the outside looking in may never be privy to all that is being fulfilled during the time you have together but the impact is likely more than any world championship ever could provide."
No comments:
Post a Comment