21/12/2024
Thank you to all of my wonderful clients for another great year.
I’m especially thankful for all of the cards, gifts and messages. I feel very appreciated.
Also thank you to the general Yamba community. Many understand that I’m out there rehabilitating behavioural dogs and are respectful to keep their dogs leashed and not allow them to get in our space. Even just the friendly good mornings and waves are appreciated.
Except the flogs, yeah you! You know who you are. Keep your dog on a leash if you can’t control it.
It’s been a big year with many highs and a couple of lows. Honestly this year I’m exhausted. It’s tested me and I’ve searched deep to ask myself if this is really the work I want to devote myself to. And the answer is that I definitely do.
Working through behavioural issues with dogs and their families is a difficult job. Many new trainers leave the industry early into their careers because the job becomes mentally taxing and quickly leads to burnout.
People have high expectations of trainers, they want quick fixes and immediate results. And it just doesn’t work that way. There’s so many aspects that come into play, a huge one being the relationship between dog and handler.
It’s not just the dogs that need training. In most cases our dogs behaviour is a reflection of ourselves, genetics definitely come into play, but to truly get to the bottom of the problem people have to let me into their lives, they have to let go of their ego and what they think they know about dog behaviour, trust my knowledge, follow my advice and the process.
People have to be vulnerable enough to sit back and say yeah, I’ve made some mistakes with this dog, I’ve been inconsistent, I’ve let some bad habits develop, maybe I chose the wrong breed for my lifestyle, maybe the timing wasn’t right to even get a dog and the only way we will get on the other side of this is if I take responsibility and make changes to the way I live with my dog.
And the people that have done this have succeeded with their dogs. And I thank you for this and I say I am proud of you for putting in the work and giving your dogs a good life.
Your dogs aren’t stupid. Often they aren’t even naughty. They are just dogs being dogs, acting off of instinct, responding to their environment and the conditions we put them in and doing the things that they were selectively bred for over hundreds and even thousands of years.
Many are stressed, they aren’t coping well and the behavioural issues that people have come to me for are just symptoms of a deeper problem.
Dogs were never meant to be pets cooped up in small spaces, living in suburbia and dragged around the block once a day on a short leash. They were bred for purpose, to alert (bark), to roam, to hunt, to forage, to chase, to dig, to herd, to guard, to track, to retrieve, to bite, even in some breeds to fight and now the very behaviours humans selectively bred into dogs we now punish them for.
It’s easy to forget how much we expect from them and that they are not humans. They are dogs. They are animals.
It’s time for me to start to evolve the business. I’m going to rebrand so that it’s clearer that I’m a trainer and move away from the dog walking to focus more on lessons and educating owners on how to work with their dogs (Ill still do a bit of the walking). I’m sure 2025 will be another huge year.
Thanks again to everyone. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year. I’ll see you all on the other side of the break.
Cheers,
Shayde, Mia and Tomi
