The One With the Training Success
Not my own training success, unfortunately, but success for one of my clients. I have a poodle in my class owned by an older couple, who I think I have talked about before. They have grown children who just drop into their house with their kids and the standard things we recommend for dogs who jump weren't working. So I was trying to come up with something creative and suggested they keep treats outside their door so their unannounced guests could come in with a treat and lure him into a sit. Today, they came to class and the male said, "You'll never believe this. You told my wife to keep treats outside the door and she started doing that and would you believe he sits now as soon as we walk in the door." Yea!!!!! I was so happy. It's such a great way to get confidence when you spend your entire day getting beaten down by your boss. That made me feel great. So I had to call my dog training boss and tell her how happy I was, too. Then she'll know she hired the right person. :)
I had such a bad day at work. I feel like the people I work with are so negative that it's really draining me. But a group of people has sort of shown up to befriend me. Where I work, we have a Public and Government Affairs Department. Within that, there's a government affairs manager who has been there seven years, an education manager who has been there 10 and Joanna who has been there two. Because the Co-GM doesn't like the GA manager, he gave Joanna much power to spite her. She took another job recently and today was her last day. I just found out that when Mark left, she gave her comforting words, and she did the same for me today. I have sort of become friends with the guy who works for her. He's the guy who grew up in southeast LA seeing drive-by shootings every day and finds me fascinating because I grew up on a farm. He's in his 40s but very easy to talk to because he's upfront and you know you can trust him. I don't know if he mentioned something to the GA manager, but she came to me today and told me not to get beaten down and not to let people push me past my threshhold. She also said not to leave just because I was angry but to leave when the right opportunity came along. It was like she could read my mind. She also told me that I could trust her co-worker as well as the education manager if I needed a friend. Then, the education manager, who is very shy, approached me after Joanna left and told me that if I needed someone to talk to, my secret is safe with him. It was a nice gesture, though I now feel guilty about talking about Joanna behind her back. If she finds out, I can kiss my job good-bye. But it was nice to get support after feeling depressed and negative all day because of how mean my co-workers are. I took an extra 15 minutes for lunch just to hang out with my pups.
And I am having training successes of my own.
Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 31
June 16, 2005
Since I had such a long muzzle session with Muggsy last night, I wanted to do something simple tonight. Plus, I had dog class, and that's a pretty long day for me. But I wanted to work him every day this week since my boss is coming to see him Saturday. I wanted Muggsy to have a short session with the muzzle to make sure he wasn't too scared after last night to put on the muzzle again. He was great. Not only did he walk into the training room, when we were done with our three minute session, he stood at the door, wagging his tail, as if to say, "Are we really done? I can do more." That made me really happy. But you're always supposed to end a training session with them wanting more so I left him hanging. I got the muzzle quickly on and took it quickly off. But I think I might jog him with that on a little more since he seemed to like that so much. Maybe I've finally hit on the key to muzzle enjoyment.
My boss said if she saw me jogging down the street with Muggsy in his muzzle, she'd definitely run away, which reminded me of a funny story from last night. There were a couple of boys with a basketball walking down the street, which is a bad combo for Muggsy and when they saw us coming, they bolted to the other side of the street. My boss couldn't stop laughing. But to appreciate this, you have to know what the muzzle looks like. It's a Silence of the Lambs muzzle, all leather, completely covers the face except for a nose hole at the top and two small mouth holes at the bottom. On a big dog, it's very intimidating. It makes him look like he's killed small children before and needs the mother of all muzzles to protect society. I can just see my dad beaming with pride at the fear it would instill...
I had such a bad day at work. I feel like the people I work with are so negative that it's really draining me. But a group of people has sort of shown up to befriend me. Where I work, we have a Public and Government Affairs Department. Within that, there's a government affairs manager who has been there seven years, an education manager who has been there 10 and Joanna who has been there two. Because the Co-GM doesn't like the GA manager, he gave Joanna much power to spite her. She took another job recently and today was her last day. I just found out that when Mark left, she gave her comforting words, and she did the same for me today. I have sort of become friends with the guy who works for her. He's the guy who grew up in southeast LA seeing drive-by shootings every day and finds me fascinating because I grew up on a farm. He's in his 40s but very easy to talk to because he's upfront and you know you can trust him. I don't know if he mentioned something to the GA manager, but she came to me today and told me not to get beaten down and not to let people push me past my threshhold. She also said not to leave just because I was angry but to leave when the right opportunity came along. It was like she could read my mind. She also told me that I could trust her co-worker as well as the education manager if I needed a friend. Then, the education manager, who is very shy, approached me after Joanna left and told me that if I needed someone to talk to, my secret is safe with him. It was a nice gesture, though I now feel guilty about talking about Joanna behind her back. If she finds out, I can kiss my job good-bye. But it was nice to get support after feeling depressed and negative all day because of how mean my co-workers are. I took an extra 15 minutes for lunch just to hang out with my pups.
And I am having training successes of my own.
Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 31
June 16, 2005
Since I had such a long muzzle session with Muggsy last night, I wanted to do something simple tonight. Plus, I had dog class, and that's a pretty long day for me. But I wanted to work him every day this week since my boss is coming to see him Saturday. I wanted Muggsy to have a short session with the muzzle to make sure he wasn't too scared after last night to put on the muzzle again. He was great. Not only did he walk into the training room, when we were done with our three minute session, he stood at the door, wagging his tail, as if to say, "Are we really done? I can do more." That made me really happy. But you're always supposed to end a training session with them wanting more so I left him hanging. I got the muzzle quickly on and took it quickly off. But I think I might jog him with that on a little more since he seemed to like that so much. Maybe I've finally hit on the key to muzzle enjoyment.
My boss said if she saw me jogging down the street with Muggsy in his muzzle, she'd definitely run away, which reminded me of a funny story from last night. There were a couple of boys with a basketball walking down the street, which is a bad combo for Muggsy and when they saw us coming, they bolted to the other side of the street. My boss couldn't stop laughing. But to appreciate this, you have to know what the muzzle looks like. It's a Silence of the Lambs muzzle, all leather, completely covers the face except for a nose hole at the top and two small mouth holes at the bottom. On a big dog, it's very intimidating. It makes him look like he's killed small children before and needs the mother of all muzzles to protect society. I can just see my dad beaming with pride at the fear it would instill...
posted by Rachel at
9:10 PM
2 Comments:
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Diana, at 2:41 PM
What a great day you had! It makes me feel so happy when I read about days like that. I know your job-day sucked, and I'm sorry. But to have contact with people who obviously know what you're going through, and to feel the love from them can refill the well that the evil one has tried so hard to dry up. And what a wonderful job you're doing with the dogs. Too bad Joanna doesn't like liver treats, and you could give her a treat every time she gives you respect instead of cutting you down. There now, that's a good girl, Joanna. Now go away!
By
Diana, at 2:43 PM
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