Back to school

I love teaching.

That is a really odd statement, coming from someone who grew up as a teacher’s daughter and swore she would NEVER become a teacher.

You still could not pay me enough to spend eight hours a day teaching other people’s children nine months of the year but I love teaching people and dogs one night a week. I taught my first obedience class 15 years ago and I was scared to death. What if people thought I was an idiot? Well, if so I was an idiot with their money in my pocket so figure that one out.

My favorite classes to teach are Open and Utility and an occasional attention and heeling class. Tonight I’m starting a new session of Utility. Most of the dogs are pretty much beginners at this level (not ring-ready or showing yet) and for many of the handlers, this will be their first UD.

I’m really looking forward to it. Working with other people’s dogs gives me a new perspective on my own training. Of course, it’s always easier to solve other people’s problems and sometimes in the process I realize, DUH, I should be doing that with Phoenix, too!

This teaching business isn’t easy. It’s a fine balance between what the students want to learn and what I want the students to learn. It isn’t always the same thing.

Each person in a class has different dreams and goals for their dog. They range from “just want to qualify” to “want scores above 190” to “want to win in the B classes.” With all those different levels of ambition under one roof, I think it must be like teaching in a one room country school house.

I love to see people succeed and even surpass their expectations with their dogs, but too much pressure from an instructor can unfortunately alienate students who love training and showing but have zero interest in extreme levels of achievement. If someone wants to solid working, happy dog who can qualify in Open and Utility but I keep pestering them to clean up their fronts and finishes and correct every tiny heeling fault, they’re going to get discouraged because those things just aren’t important in their world view. Chances are, my time with them could be better spent helping them create a confident, animated dog who loves playing obedience games. You never know where that might lead.

I enjoy watching students in the ring and being a little part of the successes they achieve. I will cajole, encourage, nudge, support, problem-solve and brainstorm so students can grow as trainers and have a better relationship with their dogs but it’s up to them to actually do the training.

That might be the best part - spending an evening helping people enjoy their dogs, then sending them home to do all the work.

Another good part is that someone is always bringing treats to class to celebrate something!