1. How do you search for and then choose a trainer?
Word of mouth is the big one. People who know my dogs have recommended certain people (or not recommended, in some cases!), or if someone I know with a similar training standpoint to me says they liked working with a certain trainer, I’d try them. I would ideally like to watch a trainer do their stuff on a training day or session before I took my own dogs to them, but it’s not always possible (audit slots don’t really come up).

Having said that, I can usually watch a potential trainer compete with their dogs. That can tell me a lot about a person; how they handle, and particularly how they treat their dogs before/during/after the run (or, even better, how they treat their students). On a slightly related note, I’m not concerned about a trainer being a World Champ handler. I prefer to look for consistency; one Ag.Ch and seven G3 dogs suggests someone got lucky and can’t reapply the training to different dogs. Someone who has four dogs spread over G5-7 is more appealing, it says to me that they are consistent but adaptable to the different individual dogs. Having worked with different breeds and heights is also a plus.

I prefer trainers who explain why. I find it difficult to change the way I’m doing something or to apply a new technique if the trainer can’t justify why I should. Having me change something because that is how the trainer handles their dog isn’t good enough, I need to know why it will work for me and my dog.

Finally, if I feel intimidated or uncomfortable, I won’t go back to that trainer. I have a low threshold for being shouted at. If I’m on a training day or private lesson and I’m made to feel me or my dog isn’t good enough, that’s not on. It seems like such a simple thing to say but I have actually been on training days where that has happened.

Having read all that I’m obviously a bit picky and probably a horribly awkward student!

2. The dog world is small and… uh… talkative. After choosing a trainer how do you handle those people in your life who don’t believe in that trainer/trainers methods and criticize them to you?
Nod and ignore. If it’s a close friend then I’d probably ask why they don’t like that trainer/training methods, in case they know something I don’t.

3. Do you believe that a person’s personal life should influence your choice of a trainer? (i.e do you believe a person’s choice to be a party animal outside of work would affect your choice?)
As long as their personal life isn’t negatively influencing their training methods and teaching ability, I can’t see it being a problem. I wouldn’t choose to train with someone who had stressed or unhappy dogs as a result of their lifestyle, so assuming that they meet all my criteria for a good trainer, I don’t really care.

4. When you have a break through moment with your dog, do you feel that moment makes your connection stronger with that dog and makes the next step in training easier?
Heh, yes and no. I love the lightbulb moment and we celebrate as a team, but it doesn’t always make the next step easier!

5. Do you stick with just one trainer, or do you go to multiple sources for help?
Multiple. I like having different inputs, different ways of seeing things, but only because I feel confident enough in my own training that I can discard what I don’t like and to apply new things to what we already have.

Late, as always.

1. What is one lesson you’ve learned this week?
Knowing that I’ve done parts of the training doesn’t mean I can assume I’ve done all of the training. Or, don’t be lazy.

2. Who or what might you have been in another life? What might you be in a next life?
Part of me would very much like to believe in past lives and future lives but I can’t. We only get one life. I feel slightly wistful and somewhat pitying that I can’t even pretend anymore, my childhood self would be devastated.

3. What unusual things do you like the smell of but don’t usually admit?
Coffee, Bacon. Those are unusual for me since I don’t like coffee or bacon but I could inhale the smell all day. Petrichor, which is both true and geeky and must be included in all smell questions.

4. What are your thoughts on continuing on vs. retiring when a trial run is going badly? How do you decide? Where do you draw the line?
I very very rarely withdraw from a run. There is always something to be gained, even if it’s just a greater understanding of a boundary or stress level. With Dylan I think I’ve pulled out maybe once or twice when he had clearly reached the tipping point between his stress-enjoyment level for whatever reason.

I’ve pulled from runs before with Kim when I didn’t think she was jumping properly, or when I thought that the course would push her into an uncomfortable frame of mind. But that’s retiring before it gets bad.

Of course, I’ve retired from courses before when both dogs have been happy, enthusiastic and I’ve made a really bad handling mistake. I don’t have the kind of dogs where I can continue to work them for my benefit, so when I’ve done something stupid that I can’t recover from, we take the shortest route over the equipment to exit the ring. If I get lost on course, for example. That’s not a teamwork resolution, that’s me being an idiot. Rather than standing still and panicking about where the numbers are or where I went wrong whilst my dog waits for me to get my brain in gear, I’d rather just leave.

5. This is a call for questions or subjects you’d like to talk about – I’d appreciate suggestions (and please come link up so that I’ll be sure to see your post), so here’s your chance!

Um … so difficult! I like non-specific training questions, or questions that make me think about how I do things in a different way.