My entire life I have been driven by this great quote by Zig Ziglar;

“You can get everything you want in life, if you can just help enough other people get what they want.”

My goal in life, for as long as I can remember, has been to help people. Back when I was young I had little else to offer other than my time so I became a Girl Guide (Scout) leader, a Sunday school teacher and a volunteer with Big Sisters. Today I feel I have been blessed to have my life’s path put me in a position where I now do have something else I can share and that is my dog training knowledge & experience.

My passion remains the same as it did when I was a teenager; to help as many people as I can. My vision is to make a difference in the lives of dogs and dog owners world wide. To let people see how dogs can flourish in a reinforcement based training program. To help create an understanding of the science of dog training in people so that they in turn become an inspiration to those around them.

That is why every time I offer an on-line course, I always include loads of information, free of charge, for all to benefit from on the topic. I recognize that our courses can not accommodate all who may want to take part, so I make a point of sharing many of the details of the training outside of these courses. Sharing critical information of techniques that have brought me success through; video series’, e-books, blog posts or newsletters is how I make sure all have access to great training information regardless if you are one of our on-line students or not.

The goal of helping others is also the reason I invite my most senior instructors to be a part of our on-line learning programs. It is not so I don’t have to read each question posted, on the contrary, I enjoy sitting down every evening and reading all of the comments and participating in the discussions. I do personally read every single comment! My goal by having my top instructors share their input is to contribute to our community. These instructors enrich the student’s dog training experience in a way that I can not.

Since I have come up with most of the component games that I are share when I teach, I am not coming from the same point of view as my students. By way of contrast, my instructors do come from that same perspective as they were all my students at one time (and still are).  Input from an instructor that has had to learn to master the skill themselves is much different than learning from the person who created the games. These people have a level of compassion for the process I can not have as they have experienced the struggles of learning it first hand. I love how, even I learn something new about the process by watching these people share. There is a synergy about our team and it is something that doesn’t go unnoticed by our students!

The other advantage my staff brings is the diversity of dog breeds they have trained. We have experienced Say Yes staff that have taught this material to a multitude of varying breeds; from the toy group, to the working group, to the sporting group and of course the herding group. I recognize that all animals learn the same but having a staff that understands some of the particular fears and drives of breeds I have never trained is a huge advantage to my program. In addition one of our Say Yes staff is bilingual and when needed, will bring clarity to a student’s question by writing her answer in French!

From this perspective our program is different.

Just like when I travel to lecture to dog training groups. In the past I have spoken to groups as small as 10 or 12 people. But there have been other times when I have lectured to groups of 2- 300. The message is the same, but the experience is different. At the larger events I am more likely to cover more content as a larger number of people stimulate more questions for our discussion. On the other hand with a smaller group I may get more time spent on one particular issue. Neither situation is “better” they are only “different.”  Different learning occurs depending upon the make up of each group.

With on-line learning different means each program available serves different needs to the growing population of dog owners that are recognizing the advantages of learning from a successful competitor (all while staying at home). With our on-line programs my goals is not only to teach a certain skill (such as recalls, shaping or this time around agility contacts) but I am also focused on creating an understanding of dog training. If I just teach you a skill, you are still dependent upon me for learning other skills in the future.  If I build up your knowledge of dog training through the teaching model we have in place, every future skill you learn from us becomes easier and easier. Which brings me to my ultimate goal of enhancing the understanding of dog training in every person that joins our courses!

The advantages of on-line learning are tremendous. It may mean allocating your time and resources in a different direction, but you are investing in your future success, the future success of your dog and of every dog you will ever own! Click this link now to find out more about our latest on-line course; teaching dog training through the model of agility contacts. [Update: My running and stopped contact training is now in Agility Nation].

Today I am grateful for the unique perspective each one of my experienced instructors bring to my on-line classes.