I think everyone has a story about why they do what they do. I have come to learn that while the main idea stays the same, the story's many parts move and change over time. A story often starts out one way (maybe not how we originally wanted it to start) and ends a little differently than what we imagined; and yet for those who persevere, exactly where it needs to be! Although my story is in the early stages, I feel it is headed in a good direction. There have already been a few twists and turns. However, my story has not always been like that, yet it will continue to change as I grow and learn. But every story starts somewhere; so here is where my story starts.
If You Can’t Have One, Become One
Many might be surprised to discover that as a child I didn’t have a dog. My first pet was a stick bug, and after that I had fish, and shrimp. As a young adult I even had a tank with a couple of fiddler crabs! But I never had a dog, cat, horse or bunny. My parents had great reasons for this (bad allergies and an understanding that the animals would not enjoy our lifestyle), but as a child I was determined to have access to dogs, cats, horses, lizards, and any other animal I could think of at the time. My parents made the first move by encouraging me to spend time with my friends who were mostly fellow animal enthusiasts. I spent time with my aunt’s horses and my friend’s dogs and lizards (don’t worry I spent time with the people, too). But the most common thing I did as a child with no pets, was pretend to be one! At a young age, I loved to pretend to be a dog! I even worked on perfecting my bark, whines, and other dog like vocalizations (with the help of the neighbor’s golden retriever) and practiced running, jumping, and mastering mimicking dog body language. I observed every dog I could find and mimicked what I saw. The crowning moment was set up by my parents’ purchase of two Old English Sheepdog costumes from Costco! One of these costumes (the other was for sibling use; I have four siblings) became my new favorite outfit! A relative came over one day, and I seized the opportunity to test out my new persona. The costume was here, I had perfected my dog imitation, and my moment had arrived! With the costume on, I tucked my hands into the sleeves and crawled up to our guest who was seated at the kitchen table. I wagged my tail, panted, and sat politely beside the person who then reached down to pet me on the head (as you do when a dog comes to say hello). At that moment, I flipped the hood of the costume up and nearly gave our guest a heart attack! He thought I was a real dog and was completely surprised to see what this dog-like image actually contained! My nine-year-old self was quite pleased, and I eventually played the part again on a different occasion when my sister was answering a knock on the front door. My appearance solicited a “What a cute dog; I didn’t know you had a dog!” from one of our neighbors! I repeatedly played this part until I grew out of the costume. It served me well, and little did I know how much of an impact it would have on my future career.
Little Did I Know
At the time, and as a young girl who loved animals, I had no idea what this experience would do for me. As someone who still does not own a dog, but has helped raise many litters of puppies, house sat for dog owners, even fostered my brother’s dog for a short while, and trained many more, it has only been in the last few years that I have begun to realize how truly important it was that I did not have a dog as a child. I knew it was a good thing I didn’t grow up with a dog, as I had come to the conclusion around the time I attended college that the dog breed I wanted truly would not have liked our homebody lifestyle. But as I came to the end of my time at college and spent more time training dogs and other animals, I realized that if it were not for my lack of dogs growing up, I would be lacking in my understanding of them and other animals. How so? As a result of not having dogs, I put in a lot of effort to learn everything there was to know about their behavior. I read book after book on dog breeds and studied how each performed its breed specific job. But as previously described, the most common thing I did was get down on their level, literally, and study the way they moved and expressed themselves all while mimicking what they did. As funny as it might sound, I know what it looks like to be on all fours, look up, and see a rag hanging down from the dishwasher and think, “That looks interesting; I think I should pull on it.” I know what it feels like to find a comfortable position, usually in the middle of the walkway, and then be tripped on. I know what it’s like to know that someone has a yummy smelling something on a plate on the table so I put my “front paws” on the table to take a look only to have someone who knows that those paws were just on the floor tell me to get off. Once again, this might sound odd, but I know (at least as much as a person can) what it feels like to be a dog, or a cat, or even a horse (I used to give my little brother rides on my back as if I were a horse, and I can tell you from personal experience that, from the horse’s perspective, horses always have a good reason for bucking someone off!). Because I did not have what I thought I needed, I had the determination to make the best of what I did have. That is where my story starts.
From A Dog to A Dog Trainer
Now, I must point out that I understand that I will never know exactly what it is like to be a dog, a cat or horse. I am a person, and one who is still learning about animals and always will be. But I spent the beginning years of my life observing dogs and other animals. I started on all fours as a child, then moved on to taking care of the neighbors’ dogs, then getting a job as a dog trainer and puppy raiser for a labradoodle breeder for almost five years. But I did not just learn about dogs. During my childhood playtime pretending to be a dog, I also observed people. How do people respond to dogs (or at least a child in a dog costume)? I learned for one that people have almost an automatic tendency to pet a dog that is sitting next to them. I also learned that people always have a reason for what they ask of their dog (dirty paws don’t belong on the table!). I was not only able to learn how to sympathize with the animal, but also the person. It was this understanding of both animals and people that played a huge role in the development of my company Happy Animalz Training Service (H.A.T.S.) and ultimately of my story. Animals and people don’t always communicate very well, and this is often grounded in a lack of understanding. I don’t know everything there is to know about dogs or people. But I do know that dogs understandably want to know what smells so good on the table and naturally figure that out by putting their paws on the table. I also know that people don’t want this to happen because those paws just came from the floor and who knows where else! We all have a story. We all have reasons. But how do we communicate that story and those reasons to each other? That is “part one” of my story and what H.A.T.S. is about. H.A.T.S. is about teaching dogs to communicate with their human family members and humans to communicate with their dogs and doing this by training behaviors that build relationships based on trust and understanding.
Remember to check out Part 2!
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