First of all, I was in Denver last week to see Dr. Sophia Yin speak. Dr. Sophia Yin is a veterinarian and behaviorist. It's a rare thing to find a veterinarian that straddles over into behavior and training. So there was definitely a lot to learn from her. She's one of the great trainers out there and I highly recommend her. It was an entertaining four days and my brain got crammed full of information. It always is after a seminar like this. There is a lot to learn from these big time trainers.
I was surprised to find that a lot of this was review. There are the basics of positive reinforcement training that all the big time trainers seem to have. Of course everyone has their own spin on it which is interesting to see. Even if the information is review, the way that particular trainer presents it is new. I have started to find that I can pick and choose what I want to take from each seminar. The first bit seminar I ever went to was Dr. Ian Dunbar. I came back from that feeling like I had to change everything I was doing and would ever do. Then I realized the point is that you take the information you need and use it in the way you need. So a lot of the information that Dr. Sophia Yin presented was a review and I wasn't exactly sure I bought into her take on it. She definitely has a different style. But I did find gems I could pick out and that I want to use in the future.
What I'm going to use:
- How to safely handle a dog at the vet. Whitman may be my fluffly lovebug but he's not the vet's fluffy lovebug. So if I can handle him safely and desensitize him to that our vet trips will be 100 times better. And of course, those techniques can be used at work for handling injured or sick dogs safely. I'm going to do my own mini seminar for the handlers at work.
- How to approach fearful dogs. Of course because I own a fearful dog. But I also give a bite prevention talk at a lot of events. I want to incorporate a lot of what she had. The biggest thing I loved was her pictures of an inappropriate greeting from the dog's point of view. She also had some great analogies about fearful dogs meeting people being people meeting spiders. Good stuff.
- Psychopharmacology. It hurt my brain but I know I'm going to need to know at least some of that for my certification.
- Walking on lead. I already have a good way to teach this and I wasn't completely in love with how she does it. But I am going to steal starting with backing up and sitting on a hands-less leash.
- Kitty Kindergarten. I'm super excited about this. I want to make a kitty training class from scratch. If that goes well then I can do a cat training class. That's going to be SO much fun and I really hope it takes off.
I left that seminar with a HUGE training to-do list to add to my everyday to-do list.
- Reinstate my Premiere trainer account for discounts
- Go through my IAABC notes and put those together
- Also go through the brochures I got from the IAABC and find the puppy groups I wanted to join.
- Doggone Safe
- Get my certification going with my hours, recommendations and flashcards.
- Apply to write the APDT blog
- Write a new bio
- Go through my client packets and add them on my professional Facebook.
- Update my professional Facebook, BranchOut and LinkedIn
- Set up South training
- Kitty Kindergarten
- course schedules
- Get the posters from Sophia Yin and frame them
- Look into a possible Mannersminder
- Get Whitman's blood work done so that I can find a motivation for him.
- work on targeting with Whitman
So I learned a lot from Dr. Sophia Yin and got inspired but one of the best things about going to a seminar is that we have a blast! The apprentices and trainers really get to know each other and cut loose when we go on seminars. We all have steam to blow off and we do that. Thanks to some liquor, a pool and Quelf.
It was an amazing experience. I'm so lucky to be a part of an organization that gives me these opportunities.
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| Whitman visited the seminar! |
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