This VSA Dog Trainer Course graduate dreams of a positive new generation.
Tell us about your early experiences with dogs. How did your journey begin?
I grew up in Australia. When I was a baby, my parents had a Labrador who was labeled “difficult,” and he wasn’t allowed inside until he was four, but he was my dedicated companion. I used to read him stories and we’d make mud pies. From then on, I’ve had dogs in my life.
What were your early experiences with dog training like?
I think I’ve done every type of dog training there’s been. When I was about 18, I rescued Sandy, a strong, young, virile male, untrained golden retriever who fought everything. I went to an ex-Air Force dog trainer and it ended in tears. I couldn’t do what he was telling me to do to Sandy. It was that severe “break his spirit, show him you’re in control” stuff. And I knew this was wrong, so I quit.
Another dog I had was labelled as “difficult.” She was tough, but she was the sweetest, kindest, most gentle dog. But a “dog whisperer” in Australia talked about being the “alpha bitch” and made me do horrific things to that dog. I hated it. I cried and cried because I felt so guilty, but that was all we knew. Deep down, I knew this was not where I belonged.
That sounds so painful. How did you find your way to positive reinforcement training?
Many dogs later, I came across Brian Hare’s Dognition, and I got absorbed in that with one of my rescue Goldens. She and I went through Dognition together and had a ball. And I thought, Okay, this is great, and Victoria is on his panel of advisors. So I started looking at Victoria’s work, and thought, Ah, this makes sense. I’ve arrived in the right place.
Later, I attended one of her dog behavior conferences online. I live in Spain now, so it was running at a horrendous hour, like one o’clock in the morning but I was just gobsmacked. I felt, Oh, I’m home finally. From then on, I thought, no more tears. I’m not doing anything horrible to another dog again. (And I hadn’t been using choker chains for ages, even though that’s what people said you should use, and I hated them. In Australia, we had the citronella collars that stop dogs barking, all those sorts of things, and friends were using them.) It was just so refreshing to discover that there were other people who didn’t believe in this stuff, and it was grounded in research science and facts. As we learn and understand more and research more about dogs, the journey will continue, but we don’t have to use punitive measures anymore, and that was an epiphany moment for me.
What made you enroll in the Victoria Stilwell Academy?
From the Dog Behavior Conference, I said, I have to do the VSA Dog Trainer Course. I don’t know where it’s going to take me, but I have to do it because I have to know more. And as a PhD, I was also a part time academic. So I lectured at universities, I supervised other PhDs, etc. I do have this nerdy academic side of me that needs to be satisfied before I adopt anything. Tell me what it’s based on, and tell me how it works theoretically.
So when I took on the Dog Trainer Course, I knew all the learning theories and psychology is the background of all of that. The course was brilliantly designed and satisfied my need for knowledge grounded in academic research. It gave you the practical ideas, but then the application part of it, whoa, I had no idea what I was going to accomplish!
Tell us about learning with Monty. What was that experience like?
When I started that course, we had two golden retrievers. At that point, we adopted a third, an eight-month-old male puppy who had been beaten, underfed, and traumatized. We don’t know much about the family that had him, and the breeder took him back, and she was desperate, and she rang me and said, I’ve got this dog. He needs other Goldens and he needs help.” I don’t know what they did to Monty, but he was in a desperate state when we got him. I couldn’t pat him. He cowered in corners. He’d watch walls and just look at shadows.
Monty and I did the course together. My Faculty Advisor, Lisa Hayes, is the most phenomenal person on this earth. She was wise, full of encouragement, challenging me constantly, and getting me through the ups and downs and dramas of “I can’t do this.”
With Lisa’s guidance, Monty and I learned together. It has been an amazing journey. It’s not easy, it’s not instant gratification, but the journey is the process in itself. Right now in my office, Monty is lying upside down. I think he’s just brought my husband’s t-shirt down, and he’s having a ball on the floor here. So he’s happy now, but he’s also anxious about a lot.
After completing the VSA course, what direction did you take?
Lately, I’m doing the new course that Victoria’s just released about reactive dogs. It’s helping me think about what’s going on with Monty. What is it that’s just set him off? The course has taught me to be the dog. Look through his eyes. Look at it. What’s he smelling? What’s he hearing? What was that touch? What created that reaction? It’s fascinating and so fulfilling and rewarding.
I still have contact with Lisa, my faculty advisor, who’s also living in Spain like I am now. We discussed the idea of setting up a training business here, but to be honest, I came out at the end of the course and said, Okay, with my educational and academic background, what can I do that will contribute to the greater body of knowledge and positive training? There are so many wonderful dog trainers out there already, how can I help them? I don’t plan to work directly with dogs.
You work outside of dog training. Can you tell us about your career?
I worked for Qantas Airways in technology-related areas. I went back to university and ended up with a Master’s, then a PhD, in adult education and technology. I still have a consultancy that specializes in helping large organizations use technology. That work gives me an underpinning for thinking around how we train dogs, because changing adults is really, really hard.
You’re developing a unique approach to spreading the message of positive training. Can you tell us more?
I’ve been developing a program for kids on how to interact with dogs. For example, I’m designing some stories for reading with dogs, which is where kids would learn to sit and read to their dogs. I will give them the strategies and the reasons for what we’re doing with the dog to build the bond. So these children aren’t learning any of the old methods. They’re only learning new, positive methods. And they will go back and influence their parents.
This concept grew out of my educational background and a wonderful experience I had with a six-year-old who just was so fascinated by working together with a rescue dog. This dog was traumatized and anxious, and I just explained some of the key concepts and let the child be hands-on. We did all the settling and calming strategies. The mother told me later, he’s not ever going to stop asking for a dog now; all he’s talked about all day long is what he’s been learning. And boom, this is how we can achieve breakthroughs with kids.
Learn more about preparing for a rewarding career as a dog trainer with VSA’s premier Dog Trainer Course.
