There have been several discussions floating around, and it's been a recent topic of conversation in some circles, about trainers. I have been thinking a lot about it and have decided to yack more about it here.
As most of you know, I started out in Southern California under a couple of trainers, man and wife, who trained all breeds, held many different types of trials -- from AKC all the way to an annual double-lift International shed ISDS trial. They had many students with all different dogs, many different levels, many different goals and many different results. They themselves trialed quite a bit, from AKC to AHBA to USBCHA. They had quite a bit of success with AKC and AHBA, and did ok in USBCHA. For me, they were Gods. I was a novice and I wanted to be as good as them someday. And even back then, I remember someone telling me (who is now a very successful open handler) that I would do ok under these trainers, but there would come a time when I would reach a plateau and need to move on. That day never came because I moved out of the area before that became an issue, but I think it was spot-on advice. More about that a little later.
Moving up to Idaho ... what an eyeopener. The talent of the handlers, and the quality of the dogs, blew my doors off. It's a whole different world. When I first got here, I had a lot going on, and I would occasionally call one of the big hats for a lesson, and I either got in or I didn't depending on what they were up to. In the meantime, I had a whole list of excuses as to why I wasn't trialing, why i wasn't training, why I was only working dogs in my pasture, etc. I would talk about how hard it is to get a lesson with the big hats, and how expensive the clinics were, etc. I made all kinds of excuses.
So what happened? Echo happened.
I went to a trial at the fair ... it was right about the time Helsley got Blue, and I know he had only worked him a couple of times, if at all, and I was hooked. I watched as a couple of the pups from Blue were growing up and was liking what I saw and decided I wanted a pup from that him. One day, a friend of mine who was taking a lesson with Don, called me up and told me that Blue has pups on the ground. I called Don and told him to pick a female for me and hang on to her, that I would be right over to get her. And I did. That was August of 2007. I had my surgery on my arm in December. In the down time, I had decided that I was not going to start Echo on my own. I was going to forget all I knew, dedicate myself to going to clinics and taking lessons and taking all of this seriously -- and most importantly -- stop making excuses. And that's when this all started falling into place.
It started with the February Shannahan clinic. Got some great advice, went home, worked on it, went back to the May Shannahan clinic. Got some more great homework, went home and worked on it, and then that turned into weekly lessons, and that's what it is today. Dedication. Persistence. The big hats have been around far too long to know a flake when they see one. And a few years ago ... I was a flake. A fly-by-night. And they saw me coming from a mile away. And I had all the material for great excuses -- my mother's dying (and she was), my husband's a drunk (and he was -- and probably still is, although now he's my "ex" husband), etc. I used to say, "I just want to work my dogs." Today, that's not true. I want to compete. I want to challenge myself. I want to challenge my dogs. I want to succeed. Occasionally I find myself coming up with every excuse in the book not to do something, but I think now it's more out of fear of the unknown, my own insecurities, but my trainer sees through that and pushes me to do it, and once I do it once, the fear is gone and I am that much closer. And I'm grateful that she has the hootzpah to be honest with me and tell me like it is. I'll get over it, and be a much better handler for it.
Yes, not everyone is in this to trial. They would just like to go work their dogs, and any trainer could probably help them with that. And what's wonderful.
But for those that really, truly want to trial in ISDS style trials, going to a trainer that is successful in that venue is your best route. If you wanted to learn how to BBQ, would you go to a baker to teach you? Sure, the good trainers are busy people (gee, I wonder why). And one thing that someone on a board recently mentioned was ... do you want to know if the trainer you're going to is a good one? Take a look at his/her trial record. Do they trial ISDS? Are they successful at it consistently? And what about that person's students? Where are they? Are they trialing also? Are they progressing at an acceptable rate? And I don't mean just one or two. I mean enough to prove consistency. Or are they consistently staying at the novice class and never moving up or losing interest and dropping out? Does the trainer even have any students who are trialing? The trainer can be the nicest people in the world, but if they don't have the knowledge and experience themselves, they certainly won't be able to offer that to someone else.
All very good things to look at.
Getting back to my earlier discussion about my old trainers. I was looking at the running order for a big open trial in Southern California, and saw some names of people I used to train along side. Some are trialing pro-novice, some are trialing open, and there are many names I didn't see. So I took a look at some results of a recent AKC trial down in that area, and lo and behold, there were more familiar names, but not the same names as the ones on the running order for the open trial. It would be interesting to make contact and see where everyone is training now, and who with.
Happy tails,
JD
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