God's Teachers

One thing that I've learned from training dogs and working with animals in general is that animals are amazing teachers.  I used to joke that Harley, my first dog I trained, taught me how to speak.  I was incredibly shy as a teenager and I was thrown into a beginner basic obedience class with a 6 month old puppy.  I had planned to take an advanced obedience class and stop there unless I could get into an off-leash class.  After Harley and I had finished the basic class, we asked to be put into the advanced class but there wasn't any room.  We were suggested to take a Rally Obedience class instead.  I started to really love training and we kept taking classes after classes.  I began to feel more confident and my self esteem finally reached a normal point.  I often wonder what would have happened if there was space in that advanced obedience class.  Would we have went on to other classes anyway?  Or would we have stopped because we had completed our goal?  

Either way, Harley had helped me gain so much that I was missing.  As the years went by, I started competing in different events.  He helped give me the confidence to go up in front of people in competing and other endeavors.  As a 10th grader in high school, I had to take a class on public speaking.  I was still shy but did every single speech on something to do with dogs.  By the end of class, I was considered one of the better public speakers even though I was also thought of as the crazy dog girl.  During my high school years, he also was my partner in a regional contest with FFA  (an organization to help teach high school kids about agriculture and animals as well as providing constructive activities and contests for them to be involved in) where myself and two other people presented a lecture on animal first aid.  Each time I was in front of people with him, I was just experiencing something with my best friend.

Eventually, I wanted another dog.  Liam came into my life in December of 2007.  Again, he has provided me with knowledge that I could never learn from any human.  He helped me in finding a love for animal behavior.  His issues were extreme but we worked through them.  As we did, I became more and more familiar with a training theory that has shaped my ideas and beliefs on interacting with animals as a whole.  I had to listen to him and was not able to use any punishment/corrective based training with him.  He did not trust people at first and I could have easily lost that trust if I had used corrections.  I remember when my friend was showing me a shaping exercise.  He wouldn't even look her in the eye.  Now, he has worked very hard and gives me the most beautiful eye contact.  I will always treasure the moments when he looks me straight in the eyes with a look full of affection and trust.

Both Liam and Harley have taught me valuable lessons.  I could go on and on about what I've learned.  Everything from training methods to experiencing energy to self-confidence to respect would be included in that list.  I lost Harley not too long ago.  Even through his passing, I have learned so much.  I continue to learn from his life.  I've made a lot of mistakes but my dogs have helped me learn from them.

I have even learned from animals who are not my own.  Stray cats and some chickens in Italy helped me stay sane when I wasn't able to live among animals as I wanted.  Birillo, an Italian mutt, helped share a bond with me that I will never forget.  He helped me through a time in which I had become deeply depressed from missing my own dogs.  My friend's dogs have comforted me when I've needed it most.  They also have provided me with great teachings.  One of my best friends will always be a little lab mix.  She will forever be in my heart.  She helped me learn how to handle a dog in agility and provided me with a strong and powerful relationship like no other.  Just like with my own dogs, when I worked with her, the world would disappeared.  My best agility run is still a CPE jumpers run that her and I ran together.  I will always consider animals a wonderful blessing in my life, especially such special animals that I have had the pleasure to know.

They have also given me support in a way that I could never have expected.  My cats have provided me with companionship during a very lonely time in my life.  They show me love and affection while also giving me some good laughs daily.  Liam has accompanied me on some hard journeys.  He even came with me and sat next to me as I awaited my fiance' to get off his flight.  He calmed me in that moment while the plane was delayed.  Harley had always been sensitive towards emotions and feelings.  He was very good at understanding.  I hadn't realized this until the end of his life.  Near the end, he had to have surgery.  I sat in my parent's living room with him while I was talking to my fiance' on the phone.  I was on the couch as he laid on his dog bed on the floor.  I started crying as I told my fiance' about the surgery.  Harley stood up, came over to the couch, jumped up next to me even though he was full of stitches and gave me his paw as he licked my face.  I gave him a big hug and cried even more.  He stayed with me until I stopped crying.  Then he went back to his bed and laid down to rest. 

I truly believe that God gave us animals to learn from.  All we need to do is listen.  I believe that they are God's teachers.  They provide us with love and support when we are in need.  Some credit the animals themselves saying that they teach us and even talk to us beyond the grave.  But I cannot help but give credit to God.  He has blessed me with these animals and has given me the opportunity to learn from them.  Any inspiration I get from them comes from God.  I believe that He uses them to help us and to teach us.  I do thank the animals that have helped me.  But the true credit goes to the Lord who has made it possible for me to experience what animals have to offer.

My friend and I often speak of a sign we saw that read "You get the dog you deserve".  Both of us disagree with this saying.  There are a few reasons I disagree with this.  One is from an instructor standpoint.  It can make a student feel very negative.  But my main reason is that I don't know how I could ever deserve such a wonderful gift.  I did nothing special to deserve such an amazing relationship with the animals who have blessed my life.  Yes, some moments were very difficult.  It was hard to deal with a very reactive border collie when I had no clue what I was doing.  But that border collie never gave up.  He pushed forward and helped me do the same.  It was hard as a shy girl to take Harley to training classes.  But he pushed me to do so.  It has also been hard to accept some of my mistakes.  I didn't always listen to the dogs the way I should have.  But the same dogs who I didn't listen to, helped me learn from those mistakes.  

I don't feel like I've deserved any of the gifts that God has given me.  I wish I could go on TV as if I had won a Grammy and thank each and every one of the animals who I have been blessed with knowing.   But I certainly should credit God first for such wonderful relationships and teachings.  He has used animals as well as my beloved family to help me grow in a way that I could have never imagined.  Without Him, I wouldn't have had such a wonderful opportunity.

Serving God through Helping Animals

Ever since I was little, I've wanted a career in which I could serve God.  I thought to do this, I would have to get a job with a church or in the medical field to save lives.  But I've always been drawn to working with animals.  It is something that I am extremely passionate about.  But I thought for the longest time that this would not be serving God.  I wouldn't be working in a church.  I wouldn't be teaching the faith to others, would I?

Recently, while attending church, a Bible verse was read mentioned humans being in charge of animals.  I thought, if we are in charge of animals, isn't taking care of animals serving the Lord?  I began pondering this in the last weeks.  After talking with a good friend on the topic, she mentioned stewardship.  As per Webster's dictionary, stewardship is the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.  God put the animals that He has made in our care.  So, I realized that being a steward of animals is actually serving the Lord.

As I slowly come to the end of one career, I look forward to another with animals.  I am planning to go after a degree in animal behavior as well as animal care and management.  I am excited that I can serve God and do something that I am passionate about at the same time.  He has given me a love for animals and I am very blessed that I am able to use that passion to serve Him.  Like many other Christians, I have grown up being taught that I should live for God.  My day to day actions should be for Him and not myself or worldly things.  I should love and serve God always and not only when it is convenient for me to do so.  I am blessed that I can serve the Lord 360 through a career with animals as well as in daily life.  It is truly a blessing.

Right now, while I type, there is a hurricane coming up the coast and causing flooding in my area.  Yesterday, I prepared for the storm by taking care of my cats first.  I bought extra food for them, extra litter, water, prepared a safe place for them, and prepared for the possibility of evacuating with them.  I felt good about all of this because I realized that I am taking care of God's creatures.  He put me in charge as their steward and I am happy to take on the responsibilities that come with it.  I'm enjoying the new chapter that God has set out for me.  I'm excited to experience the new mindset that He has shown me.  And I'm maybe even more excited that with God, I can help give my beloved animals a good, enjoyable life.

Trainer Mentality

This is something that is so often discussed and debated:  Which mentality (training theory) is the best one to use when training and living with dogs or animals in general?  There are different theories out there.  Some range from the handler or owner being the alpha pack leader to not having animals at all.  I'm finding that my mentality is a little odd to most people and it is sometimes hard to find people who think the same.  I feel as if the animal should be listened to and given a fair say.  I feel like a good leader is one who cares about the ones under his or her care.  This includes listening to their needs.  Now, what I am about to say may be very unpopular.  But as a woman of faith, I feel like God is loving and understanding to us as humans.  Shouldn't we treat all beings with the same respect?  God listens to us when we call for his help.  He understands our needs.  So, why not do the same for animals?  There is no need for me to yell at my dog.  There is no need for me to correct my dog for not doing what he or she is "suppose" to do.  I need to stop and find out why they aren't doing what I ask.  There is no reason for me to be quick to correct but slow to listen.  Granted, sometimes the dog just doesn't perform the cue because they just don't.  But there are other times when the dog doesn't perform the cue because of something in the environment, stress, etc.  I'm going to do my best to find out why the dog isn't performing the cue instead of correcting.

In Church about a week ago, the Bible verse read mentioned humans were in charge of animals.  I feel as if God would want us to show kindness, love and understanding towards them just as he does us.  This is a big part of my mentality on training and interacting with animals.  If God is understanding towards our needs, if he listens to what we have to say, why shouldn't I do the same for animals?  This means that I don't use punishment or corrections in any way.  I actually find them unnecessary.  It's not my job to scare an animal or punish it.  It's useless stress on me and the animal.  I find it to be a very rewarding experience to train in this manner.

Along the same lines, there is something about being a cat owner that everyone deals with: the cats jumping up on the table and kitchen counters.  Every cat owner I know hates this.  There are many ways that people come up with to prevent it:  spraying the cats with water, yelling, etc.  But yet the cats are home all day and can easily get on the counters/table when the owners are not around (unless locked in a room or out of the kitchen).  I find this to be extra stress for me and the cats.  So, they are allowed.  I've taught them a cue for "off" and it works quite well.  I wipe down the counters on a regular basis, especially before I cook.  It's only ended in one "bad" act on my cat's part.  One time, Harvey jumped up on the kitchen table and stuck his head right into my sister's cereal bowl in one graceful motion.  Luckily, she was done with it.  (It was actually quite amusing)  It's not something well accepted but it works for me.  I can live happily with my critters and I enjoy their "help" when I am doing work at the kitchen table.

Introduction and Training Sessions

Everything about this blog, including the blog itself, is an experiment.  It's my first blog and may be my only one depending on how this goes!  I will be posting about my training experiences with two silician cats.  I have trained dogs for a number of years but never any other animal.

Just as a background about the cats, I was in Italy for 1 1/2 years.  Two young kittens were found by a friend.  They were stuck on a flightline with jets, helicopters, and noisy equipment.  And of course, I ended up with them.  A great friend used to tell me that even though I said I only wanted dogs, if a cat needed a home, it would end up with me.  Well, she was right.  The small balls of fur grew up into lean, slender young cats.  They have lived in multiple houses and had an airplane ride to America with my italian sweetheart.  They are approximately one year old now and are still as lively as ever.  Because I live in an apartment now, I can not have dogs, only the two cats.  As Liam, my border collie, is enjoying time with his "pappy" (my father), I am stuck without a dog of my own to train.  It's something I dread and dealt with for too long.  So, I decided to train the kittens... it will be an adventure for sure.

The first two training sessions I had with them were just to load the clicker.  The first night, Dewey seemed to think the floor was magically giving him treats.  My thought was "Oh, goodness!  What am I doing?"  But I enjoyed watching his amusement.  Harvey was next.  He seemed to realize that the clicker had some significant role in what we were doing.  But he didn't quite get it.  He is a very busy and excitable cat so his focus isn't the greatest.

The next training session I had with them was again, loading the clicker.  This time, Dewey caught me by surprise.  He got the idea that the click meant a treat.  Everytime he looked away or sniffed something and I clicked, he would turn back to me expecting a treat.  I was very impressed.  He had understood in just two short sessions which were less than five minutes each.

Today, I decided to train them again.  First up was Dewey as always.  He very quietly waited as I broke treats up in my hand.  Then we played loading the clicker for about 10 clicks.  After that, I decided to play around a little with him.  I worked on getting him into heel position about 4-5 times.  My goal for this exercise was to get them familiar in being on my left side.  Then, I decided to have Dewey target a toy.  I'm not sure how I decided this or why I even picked the toy up off the ground.  It is a small chicken that is no bigger than a half dollar.  I showed the chicken to Dewey and he leaned over to sniff it.  Click/Treat.  Again, I showed the toy to Dewey, he leaned towards it.  Click/treat.  It was interesting to see him work through the process.  His brain was obviously trying to figure out what made that weird click noise happen.  He started to look at the toy.  Then he would lean towards it slightly but stop to think.  Then he would touch it with his nose.  He did this beautifully a few times.

I then decided to use my hand instead of the toy.   Again, he would stop and think before he touched my hand with his nose.  We did about 5 repetitions of that and stopped.  He did an awesome job.  I was very surprised at how quickly he picked up on things.  I was also very surprised that he was actually thinking through the process.

Harvey was next.  I brought him out and he immediately tried stealing my bag of treats.  He was excited and definitely not focused.  We did the same thing I did with Dewey.  First, loading the clicker.  It went well although I can't tell if he understands that the click means a treat yet.  Then we practiced getting him into heel position about 4 times.  Yeah, he didn't get it.  Instead of getting into heel, he would come up on my left and start rubbing on my leg or hand while I was trying to give him a treat.  It was funny though.

Finally, we did the targeting exercise.  He wasn't very focused but did lean towards the toy and softly touch it with his nose.  Each of them would either barely touch it or just put their nose very close to it.  I accepted either.  The fact that they were targeting it at all impressed me.  Then, I moved to my hand.  He would sniff at it a few times.  We stopped after three.  He doesn't concentrate on me while training so my sessions with him are shorter than with Dewey.

It is a very interesting experience.  I am really enjoyed working with them.  The one thing that I've noticed that I didn't expect at all is the speed at which Dewey learns and understands.  I think Harvey would be very fast too if he was more focused.  I would like to work on some focus exercises with him once he gets the idea of training with me, probably in a few days.  It will be so cool to see how he reacts to focus exercises that I use for dogs!