pippindot

[pippindot]

Let's talk about being a dog trainer. I hear this a lot from folks considering the career and, sadly, from some folks in the career - I don't like people but I love dogs.

And my friends, I'm sorry but I have bad news for you. To be a truly good and effective dog trainer you have to care about your human clients. No amount of amazing training holds if you do not teach the human half how to reinforce and utilize it.

I'm not saying every person has to be your favorite. But if you do not find a way to connect with and impart your skills to the human half - it's all for naught. Your group class, private lesson, or board and train dogs are all going to go home to live with their people. Hell even your Service Dog raise and trains are going to work for someone else. All of these people need to understand how to motivate the dog to do what you've taught them to do.

And if you spend the whole time despising those people you are not going to be able to help them learn and grow as guardians/handlers.

I've worked with difficult human clients - people who are unpleasant or straight up insulting towards me. I've worked with people who start with the mindset of the dog should do as told because they're a dog. Sometimes I have to dig deep for kindness and compassion. But giving grace has netted me some of my most loyal, consistent, and most importantly, successful clients.

Dog training is a misnomer. This is a business of people teaching with a speciality in dogs.

[pippindot]

Saw a stag beetle fight off a magpie today it looked like this

[pippindot]

Petting the planarian worm

[pippindot]

Petting the planarian worm

[pippindot]

Edi pooped in the waterline at the beach and then started running around while i was trying to pick it up so she and pip are like clotheslining each other to stay away from the advancing ocean AND KEEP IN MIND she walks and poops so it was like 4 piles and they started getting washed around by waves so we are all freaking out trying to run away (them from the water and me from the poop) while i get the bag out and it was just a scene

Pack walk on the beach. Guess who did tornados and lost free range privileges by being an ears off kinda gal today 😇

[pippindot]

Pack walk on the beach. Guess who did tornados and lost free range privileges by being an ears off kinda gal today 😇

[pippindot]

People will get one labrador and it's the chillest creature alive so they'll get a second labrador and this one comes with 14 pre-installed squirrels.

[pippindot]

[pippindot]

Mouse mode

[pippindot]

Our final result from the score tabulation: 274/300

46th place!

My goal was to be in the Top 50 in our class, and we did it! There were 117 entrants and 97 who showed up, so she was also in the top 50%. We were the only sighthound in Excellent (and I only saw two others present at the event at all).

We put up scores I am proud of. It was definitely some really tough judging and a hard environment for us, but Pip did great.

[pippindot]

Hilla doing her best balloon impression

[pippindot]

"nothing is real atoms never touch each other youve never touched anything in your life" ok. well when i pet my dog he is soft and when he licks my hand it is wet and that is far more real to me than whatevers going on at an atomic level

[pippindot]

Cheesin in Old Town

[pippindot]

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

[pippindot]

Meeting up with an old friend ❤️

him behind me ism't he

[pippindot]

Even more adventures in Old Town Albuquerque

More adventures in Old Town Albuquerque

[pippindot]

you’d think after a while some people would be like “wow i sure do diagnose a lot of my dogs behaviors as ‘Trying To Overthrow My Super Cool And Powerful Alpha Dog Leadership Awwwoooo 🐺🐺’, maybe there’s actually more to it than that.” but they never do. they just keep genuinely believing that having an Australian Shepherd is like being in Game of Thrones