I recently got roped into what our shelter calls a promotion. I fell into what the company needs, not what fits my motivation. But thats okay. I will do it as good as I can, and try to perfect the position for the next person.
After complaining to my immediate supervisor, I cried about it to his. She told me to give it six months – thats way too long! Then I whined to our behavior specialist (not really, she asked me why I didn’t like it, I feel we have a bit of a better relationship); she memtioned my boss feels I’m a leader (which I agree with) & that I should embrace it. I told her that I do, it’s just that I really don’t care to be a leader of people anymore, I’ve done it enough. It stresses me out, timewise. Dogs feed off energy and since the shelter environment is already stressful to them, and because they are now my motivation in life I can’t let it fester. In past jobs I would scream at someone and work it off then go party with whoever I screamed at to show my apology (and usually not use words, actions are proof!). Now, I can’t do that, it’s a silly way to act anyway, & if I was to show the stress it would add to the dog’s stress (& I sure don’t want that).
We recently started a new forum for communicating policy changes and training ideas because of an email I sent to a manager about having better communication. The person I work with most has done good embracing this forum & opening up some dialogue. He also let some frustration show in one of his replies. I jumped in with a decent explanation of when starting something new there will be speed bumps. I actually had a couple of these conversations this week with people. I embrace leading people in my way, I just don’t want it “officially”. I have also had a couple of guys come to mewith questions & given explanations of handling methods, some being people I felt didn’t quite have the level care in them, perhaps I ws wrong about them! In the past, I wouldn’t have “wasted my time” doing this. It’s all for the better care of the animals.
Leading & teaching the dogs is what I want, but to better do that, I still need to lead people – in my way.
This all translates to training dogs in that they depend on US, not me.
Sometimes it seems like the dog is not learning. They learn in small slow steps (behaviorally, commands are the easy part anyone can do!). If you think you’re making no progress with a dog’s behavior, step back, breathe, look at the big picture of how that dog acted before you started your work. You’ll notice the difference.
Stay calm, be patient, persistent, & consistent. Trust me you’re getting there, at the dog’s pace.
They are individuals just like us, motivations are different regardless of breed.
