The One Where I'm Growing Up

I guess it's no secret that it's pretty easy to hurt my feelings. So when something that should hurt my feelings doesn't, I think that's news-worthy. Today, my dog training boss called me to tell me that one of my students complained about me. I guess I'm probably considering the source because this guy's an idiot and has been a problem since day one, but I wasn't upset by what he had to say. He was calling to complain about the way I'm having him control his dog, a 15-month-old German Shepard Dog who's barking at all the other dogs and really scaring the papillons in class. In that situation, you have the handler walk neutrally away until the dog stops barking and then reward the appropriate behavior. This particular handler wants to do police work with his dog and has decided that this behavior is appropriate. Since I've watched my boss and several of her friends work their protection dogs, I know that it isn't. But there's not much I can do with someone who doesn't seem interested in solving the problem. This week, I was going to talk to him about focus, but that's a whole different story.

Anyway, I've been handling the situation exactly as I've seen my boss handle it on several different occasions and I feel confident that I did the best I could. My boss, knowing me as the rest of you do, prefaced the talk by saying, "Don't take this to heart. He's an idiot and I really put him in his place for second-guessing you," but I wasn't upset and I knew she would defend me. Once you've proven yourself to her, she will always defend you. She has more confidence in my abilities than I do, which makes me feel really good and, I guess, a little more confident.

Since everything hurts my feelings, though, I guess it shows a little self-growth that I am able to consider the source and not let this bother me. It's something I work on a lot but still struggle with every time I face criticism or what I perceive to be criticism.