Welcome to From a Dog's Eye View! I am so excited to begin this new adventure of podcasting with all of you! I have been thinking about doing this for over two years, and finally it has come to fruition. I will strive to bring you the most accurate and clear information about dogs in a way that will be relatable to you. I was drawn to this type of platform as a way to get solid facts about dogs to an audience that I feel is craving information that makes sense to them.
Over the years, clients have told me that they read or saw ways to handle certain issues on the internet. I agreed with some of the info, and others I did not at all. My guests and I will have frank discussions about some of the easy and fun issues we deal with, but also some of the very difficult issues we come across, which will help you sort through some of the confusion.
But first, I would like to give you some background information about myself and how I ended up becoming a dog trainer. It all started back in 2005 with my family dog, Hank, who was a Corgi. So, it has been a while! It took eight years of not really knowing how to effectively communicate with Hank, before he bit my daughter. He had sent up plenty of warning signs like air biting, lifting his lip when growling, his body becoming stiff, the whites of his eyes showing, his pupils getting enlarged to the point where they looked black, and charging at us. We didn’t know how bad these signs were and how uncomfortable Hank was in certain situations. After all, it took him eight years before he actually lunged and bit my daughter. A decision had to be made. Finding a home for Hank or getting some professional help.
Finding a home for Hank was not an option for me.
Instead, I found an excellent dog trainer. When he came to the house and helped me, that's when I decided I wanted to do what he did and become a dog trainer. He gave me so many tips. One of which included walking Hank in a structured way, twice a day: first thing in the morning, and then another one later in the afternoon, for at least a half hour each walk. He suggested my morning walk take place as soon as we woke up, even before I had my cup of coffee! I made that sacrifice.
I was so determined to make it work.
You can click on this link “My story” on my website, where I go into more detail about my experience with Hank. After he bit my daughter, that's when I decided to do whatever it took to rehab him. After all, I had already invested 8 years of trying to do what I thought was best for Hank. I wanted to do as much research as possible. I was even taking notes while watching episodes of “The Dog Whisperer” with Cesar Millan. I remember asking a friend if she did that too and she gave me a funny look. That’s when I knew I was more interested in dog behavior than the average person.
The myth that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks is just that. A myth! The dog trainer also noticed that I needed to change some other things, including a new way to feed Hank. We had to address his food aggression issue. That is a story in and of itself that I will share in a later episode. The dog trainer believed that everything had to be done from a position of leadership. I hadn’t realized that up to that point, Hank was making all the decisions in the house, not me.
In 2012, I started looking for a job as a dog trainer so that someone could train me. After 6 months of searching and then pursuing Petco, they finally agreed to hire me! Petco had a great program online, which was based on using positive reinforcement techniques. It was written by a well known dog behaviorist, named Patricia McConnell. The training program also included 6 weeks of observing a Petco mentor and another 6 weeks of me teaching a class while my mentor observed me.
My last year at Petco, I was designated the mentor for all of the Cleveland surrounding stores and worked with many wanna be dog trainers. I soon discovered that this job that came so natural to me, was not for everyone! Only a small percentage of the apprentices actually remained dog trainers for so many different reasons. The two top reasons had to do with customer service type situations. The first reason that swayed wanna be trainers away was feeling comfortable with being a “people person” and knowing how to handle the pet parents, even in sticky situations, in order to provide them with the best customer service possible. If you are the person who prefers dealing with dogs rather than people (I would hear that frequently), dog training is not for you! The other main reason was not every puppy or dog was so cute and compliant that it was all fun and games! I took it upon myself to find an outside source to send the most difficult dogs I encountered. Petco did not want us dealing with any aggression. I will go more in to detail about this with one of my upcoming guest, Chuck Stella, from Elite K911. However, I had excellent managers that were so supportive and helped me grow the dog training department by offering obedience classes and puppy playtimes. I really did look forward to each day I worked there. I am forever indebted to the management there because of the experience it gave me.
I stayed at Petco for four years and was exposed to so many different dogs. Rescue dogs, purebred dogs, even dogs with disabilities. I really enjoyed working with their pet parents and helping them. I soon realized that dog training wasn’t just about training the dogs. It was more about empowering their pet parents to communicate with their dogs. It was most effective when the pet parent was consistently clear, to the point where it left no doubt in the dog’s mind what they were being asked to do. I loved to hear from the humans “Oh! It’s really me you are training!’ Then, the gratification I felt and still feel after all these years, when you actually get the dog to sit, stay, or come to you. It still amazes me that an animal can be taught to do these specific skills,
(Pictured above: Nico, the Belgian Tervuren, Josie, the Golden Retriever, and Teddy, the Golden Doodle, in a class at Petco)
After about four years, one of my clients approached me and told me he wanted to make a brochure for me. It took me a little while to figure out what this generous offer really meant. I always had the intention of going out on my own, but I still wasn’t quite ready. However, I took him up on the offer and left Petco later that year to start my own company, Cleveland Canine Concierge. He even designed my logo, which I am so proud to share with my clients. I will be eternally grateful to this person I refer to as Dan the Man!
On 1/6/17, Cleveland Canine Concierge was formed. Now, I was able to help people with their dogs in their homes. I was no longer just limited to the classroom environment at Petco. All throughout this process, I had a mentor, and it was somebody I actually mentored while I was at Petco. His name is Gary Flynn. Gary will be a frequent guest on my podcast, talking about all things about dogs. Whenever I had a question, or something was over my head, I would call Gary, and he would help me out. He came on several appointments with me. One of those appointments was a client who was having issues with his Invisible Fence. I had no knowledge of how the system worked and Gary showed me and the client how to train the dog on the electronic collar used for this system. From that day forward, I have been able to help many clients with their Invisible Fence as well as do-it-yourself home boundary systems.
(Gary Flynn and his German Shorthaired Pointer, Bella)
After nine years of being on my own, I realized all the different issues that come up when talking to people about dogs. I started thinking about a different way to reach people other than the people who have reached out to me for help. I tossed around the idea of a podcast, but didn’t think it would be possible. Yet, here we are! I thought podcasting would be a great way to get the message out, and it's fun! I will be bringing in guests in my community to talk about things like veterinary care, nutrition, grooming, therapy dogs, how to get your dog to swim, and where to take them swimming.
If you like this post, please click on the heart emoji underneath the video. I hope you will tune in to my future episodes. We have a lot of exciting things to talk about!
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