1) What did you learn about yourself during this RC?
I learned that I am a much softer person than I thought I was. My soft doesn't mean I'm not capable, it just means that my natural inclination is to let my dog do most of the work and call it good. I was letting her not finish the tasks because she did most of it, and that's better than none of it and I would call it a win. When I learned what I was doing, I started to see all other places in my life where I was letting things slide; with my kids, with those whom I worked, people at church and family.
Another thing I learned was that I advance so much faster when I'm having fun. When I was stressed but the workload or embarrassed to make a fool of myself in front of others I really held myself back. I challenged myself to start volunteering to go first, try my best even if I was way off on my mechanics or understanding. Once I did that I really started to enjoy the process and had more success.
I also learned that IF and WHEN the hard work needs to get done, I will do it. You can reference my story with Kimber and I wrestling in the mud, but it was that moment I learned that I was not going to give up on the training, my dog, or myself.
2) What did you observe or learn watching other people work dogs during this RC?
Initially I saw people that wanted to have trained dogs without knowing they needed to train themselves. When I saw others make mistakes, sometimes it was because they hadn't learned to mechanics, but other times it was because they were unwilling or maybe unable to be who they needed to be for their dog. It was inspiring to watch the other trainers learn the mechanics, but it was it was even more inspiring to see the other students overcome the things holding them back, step up to their dog and work with their dog the WAY their dog needed.
3) What was the MOST unexpected result of THIS RC?
My 13 year old daughter Alice started the RC with her dog Mabel in the group following my group. The most unexpected result came when I started to coach her through the class after I had completed my class. There was one time in particular when my daughter's dog had a hang up they couldn't get past. I had a conversation with Roxanne and she expressed her confidence in me to see what needed to be done and coach Alice and through it. (Confidence I didn't have in myself) But we did it! I realized I could do this! Not only did I get through the RC with my difficult (understatement) dog, but I understood it enough to coach a completely different trainer, with a completely different personality than me, and her completely different dog with a completely different temperament than my dog.
I just want to say thank you to Roxanne. My dog and I are not close to perfect. There are things we need to revisit and things I still let slide (I told you I'm soft and that doesn't just go away overnight) but her confidence and patience in me, my wife, and my daughter has been such a blessing to our family. I'm so glad we did this!
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