I may never get used to my infamy amongst the expats in camp. When I am introduced to someone, they nearly always pause for a second then say "Oh! You're the 'Dog Lady'... or the 'Dog Teacher' or the 'Dog
Whisperer' (which I totally hate) or my favorite, the 'Dog Guru'."
When you're running the only dog training show in town, word does get around.
Because I have a big trip planned for May on dates that fall right in the middle of the next session of Community Education classes, I'm not teaching the Basic Obedience class during April-June. All of the folks at the Community Ed office emailed me to say how much my class would be missed!
The current obedience class finishes up next week. While it is a tremendously fun experience to teach each eight-week course, I am always a bit relieved when I am done because I have my weekends back. And I am resolved to spend a bit more time out of camp than I usually do.
I have been reading and researching new ideas for the obedience class and am slowly incorporating many of them, to the betterment of the class. For example, for the weeks 6 and 7 classes, I hauled an agility tunnel and tunnel bags to class. This is actually almost as much work as hauling all of the gear to the agility class because the obedience class is held in a large, air-conditioned room that is up two flights of stairs!! Piling stuff on the crate dolly is not a solution--no handicap access ramps in Saudi Arabia. I have to carry all that stuff up to the room.
Since the primary pool of new agility participants will come from my obedience class, I figured, why not give them a tiny taste of agility (the tunnel is the obvious choice) and at the same time give myself a chance to evaluate them and their dogs with a critical eye?
All of the dogs loved the new experience, which means their handlers loved it too. I even had two handlers successfully send their dog to the tunnel this afternoon!
I also switched up the curriculum so that I introduce some behaviors earlier so that they get lots of reinforcement over the duration of the class. As a result, the dogs are doing extremely well with loose lead walking, one of the most common problems people have with their dogs.
The best part is when the handlers tell me how much better their dogs are behaving at home or on walks. As always, it makes me proud of the time and effort they are putting in to training their dog. And it makes me feel good that I helped them get there.
When you're running the only dog training show in town, word does get around.
Because I have a big trip planned for May on dates that fall right in the middle of the next session of Community Education classes, I'm not teaching the Basic Obedience class during April-June. All of the folks at the Community Ed office emailed me to say how much my class would be missed!
The current obedience class finishes up next week. While it is a tremendously fun experience to teach each eight-week course, I am always a bit relieved when I am done because I have my weekends back. And I am resolved to spend a bit more time out of camp than I usually do.
I have been reading and researching new ideas for the obedience class and am slowly incorporating many of them, to the betterment of the class. For example, for the weeks 6 and 7 classes, I hauled an agility tunnel and tunnel bags to class. This is actually almost as much work as hauling all of the gear to the agility class because the obedience class is held in a large, air-conditioned room that is up two flights of stairs!! Piling stuff on the crate dolly is not a solution--no handicap access ramps in Saudi Arabia. I have to carry all that stuff up to the room.
Since the primary pool of new agility participants will come from my obedience class, I figured, why not give them a tiny taste of agility (the tunnel is the obvious choice) and at the same time give myself a chance to evaluate them and their dogs with a critical eye?
All of the dogs loved the new experience, which means their handlers loved it too. I even had two handlers successfully send their dog to the tunnel this afternoon!
I also switched up the curriculum so that I introduce some behaviors earlier so that they get lots of reinforcement over the duration of the class. As a result, the dogs are doing extremely well with loose lead walking, one of the most common problems people have with their dogs.
The best part is when the handlers tell me how much better their dogs are behaving at home or on walks. As always, it makes me proud of the time and effort they are putting in to training their dog. And it makes me feel good that I helped them get there.
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