Ship of Judgement and Egos

Both are a part of life. We meet new people, we judge them off of first impressions, and then we feel the need to put that person down. Wait. That second part might’ve just been ingrained in our society. Especially with women, but that’s not why I’m writing this post. There is no excuse for egos. It’s not even needed. Seriously, when is an ego going to save your life? If anything, it would END your life quicker. And please, if you’re going to board the ship of judgement, at least use some common sense when you’re at it. Today was move-in day at the school, which means I also got to meet the roommates. Well, it certainly wasn’t the worst.

There was one guy already moved in. Apparently he had moved in the day before the official move-in day. The guy wanted to go into competitions and title dogs and what not--which means he would sell said dogs. And those dogs ain’t cheap. Anyway, the guy--who by the way is very friendly--asked me my experience with dogs and dog training. My response was, “Well, mostly my three dogs at home. Training wise, I can do basic obedience like sit and lay-down.”

Boy did that man jump on the ship of judgement. He didn’t even wait, he just jumped right in! He didn’t need to wear his sunglasses for me to understand that his face was telling me, “Girl, you’re soooo in over your head. You won’t make it.” Well let me tell you, it’s not like he’s the brightest crayon in the box. This guy LOVES blue heelers and cattle dogs. In fact, he came to school with his 7-year old one and a puppy. He’s also trained with some guy, whose name I guess I was “suppose” to know but didn’t (I don’t think anyone would he was probably just another dog trainer). But here’s the thing, his 7-year old cattle dog isn’t that impressive. The dog hesitates to bite when doing bite work, and his fuss is super slow. Now, a lot of that might just be on the fault of the handler (most of the time, it is), but also, cattle dogs just aren’t suited for protection work. Not like the German shepherds, Belgian malinois, Dobermans, Rottweilers, and Dutch Shepherds (just to name a few). Furthermore, TRS and TRS graduates highly discourage you from coming into school with a puppy.

Now I’ve put down deposits for my puppies, but I don’t actually HAVE a puppy with me. The reason why? Puppy testing. Most people don’t know how to correctly execute a puppy test. I’m not saying that some people don’t; in fact, one guy who graduated Masters came into the Professionals with a puppy he’d picked out--but he’s also had some concrete experience to back him up. And even if you think you’ve got it all down and that the puppy you have is “perfect,” many are surprised when the instructor tells them that their dog isn’t ideal for the work and training they’re about to undergo. Or worse, the student learns halfway through training.

So excuse me, sir, for not having my puppies picked out. Excuse me for not having any experience doing protection work. Excuse me for not having any experience with working dogs and working breeds. And excuse me for looking like a newbie, when really, I’m going off of what graduates have told me (and quite possibly what the school would advise me to do). To be honest, Mr., I feel that I have as good of a shot passing just as you. Want to know why?

Because I’m a blank slate.

You have “all of this” experience to work off of, but guess what? Your techniques might not coincide with what we’re going to be taught at the school. And guess who could be held back by said experience? Certainly not the “uppity suburb girl who went to college and can only do sits and lay downs” girl. I’m not saying I’ll be better, but I might--JUST MIGHT--have a slight advantage over you.

There’s a reason why I’m going to school. To learn. And there’s a reason why I got accepted into the school. Because I have the energy, will, and drive. The school wouldn’t have accepted my application if they didn’t feel that I was capable of passing.

Oh, and by the way, while I understand the need and want to have a “puppy playtime,” don’t be surprised when I don’t let my puppy(s) join. So let me say this in advance, “I’m sorry I don’t want my puppy to see your dogs as being more fun and interesting than me.” Nothing personal, but I don’t need to make things harder than they will be for me. As a person with so much experience, I know you understand.

Best of luck to the both of us!

Career Change: the Tom Rose School (TRS)

"Oh, you never go into the field you studied in college."

That's the sentence I heard a lot going in AND graduating college, besides the question of "Will you teach English?" Oy....

As some of you may know, I will be attending a vocational school that specializes in professional dog training. No seriously. I'm moving in like, one day. It is called the Tom Rose School for Professional Dog Trainers, and it's right near my home--albeit, 20-25 minutes away. That's a better deal than the 4 hours to Greencastle, Indiana! I will be going through their Professionals course--though they also offer a Masters, Advanced Masters, and a Service dog course (but you have to pass Professionals first). There I will learn how to train for dog obedience (both for puppies and adults), agility, and schutzhund/IPO/police work.

And some of you might be thinking, "But you went through 4 years at a liberal arts school and got a degree in writing! You were passionate about writing! I thought you wanted to write books for children and young adults! Why the heck are you going to school for dog training??"

Calm down, sit down, and I'll tell you a story.

Every writer knows that he/she can't make a living off of writing; at least, not at first. Unless I manage to pull a J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins (or even a Stephanie Meyer), I'm not going to be making enough to sustain a decent living. So, as with any other person with some type of degree in media, I need to have a backup plan. A second job to supplement my main one. And let me just say, if I'm going to be working two jobs--the first one being something that I really love to do--then by golly, the second one will have to be something that I equally love to do. And it better be just as fun and rewarding. Many of you know that I have a soft spot for animals. Any animals. And you also know that getting the foot into the door of working with animals outside the common domesticated ones is very hard--most require at least a biology/zoology degree to be consider; of course, that could've just been my experience. So what's the next best thing? The domesticated ones. Specifically, dogs. Now, that doesn't mean I dislike cats. I have two of them. Dogs are just more fun.

After I graduated college, the amount of writing I had done decreased. I was losing steam. All that mojo I had talked about earlier in the year was gone. I couldn't even bring myself to continue those fanfics I had started--and surprisingly enough, I'd get an email notification telling me that one more person has either favorited a story, put a story on their alert list, or reviewed story. My mom even suggested that writing wasn't truly what I wanted to do. I vehemently denied that notion. I can't explain why, but perhaps I wasn't as eager to write knowing that I didn't really have a reliable source to read and critique my writings as I did in class. And I don't know which is worse. Having a lot of people read and critique my works because it was expected of them (and their grades counted on it), or not having enough willing people to read and critique my works. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one. The few writing peers I had formed friendships with at school were feeling the same way, some perhaps a little lost and confused. None of us were naive enough to think that we were going to be these great hipster writers who wrote by candlelight with a glass of wine on our desks and a cigar in our hands. But surely we should've at least felt like a weight was lifted off of our shoulders. In a way, I consider myself a little lucky that I can turn to another source of interest to nurture and grow--while also keeping my love for reading and writing. I hope my friends can do the same.

So no, my readers, I'm not changing careers. I'm merely allowing myself to indulge more of my interests and passions. And also looking for another source of income. I feel like many people after college feel that they have to land a job within the field that they studied--and it has to be long term. Well, in my experience, that isn't the case. I worked two jobs--a dog kennel and a branch of my public library--and even then, the amount of time I had to rack up that money was short. I always came home exhausted, tired from the first job and mustering up the energy for the second. I was up from as early as 5:00 in the morning, to late as 9:00 at night. And since the kennel was open 24/7, that included holidays. So no Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years for me. Some people thought I was crazy working all the time, barely having enough time for my non-existent social life. I couldn't even attend my writing guild's meetings because it either conflicted with my work schedule or sleep schedule (meaning I'd dropped dead after coming home from work). But I wanted to go to this school. Badly. And I wanted to pay for it all by myself. My mom paid my college tuition, and helped me pay off my loans. I don't want to have her help me pay for this. She's done her responsibility, and I need to do mine. But even working all of those hours, I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up short. And I definitely won't have the money for the Masters if I decide to do that program as well. After all, the program requires us to get two puppies, and we're in charge of all their expenses (vet bills, food, etc.).

But I'm excited, and hopeful, for my new career in professional dog training! I plan on keeping up with this blog to tell about all my experiences--and with my two puppies! I will be getting them both from breeders: a black lab and a dutch shepherd. So if you want to hear all about my adventures, or at least the adventures of my dogs, you should follow this blog of mine! You might even learn a thing or two about dogs, dog behavior, and dog training. I'll be uploading pictures and videos (assuming I can figure that out here). And if you have any question, about the school, dogs, etc. feel free to ask! I'll be happy to answer them.

Stay tuned, and good night! (It's 2:10 AM here, seems like not much has changed in regards to my writing habits).