My job is not just about dogs

I could just work with dogs, train them, modify their behaviors, increase their confidence, reduce their fears and anxieties.

I could return them "ready to use" to their masters. I could not follow their progress. I could consider my work done because I did it.

Except that...

I've made the choice to accompany, to support, families with those dogs. I've made the choice to share with other humans what I know and can do. I've made the choice to hear them and listen to them.

I've made the choice to accept that sometimes I don’t understand them, that sometimes they don’t understand me. I've made the choice to adapt to each human in addition to each dog, to each situation. I've made the choice that I am not always the one who can provide answers, solutions, appropriate skills. I've made the choice that some turn their backs on me, go elsewhere.

I've made the choice to laugh and be moved with the humans I accompany. I've made the choice to have an ear that listens to them, to have a mouth that supports them. I've made the choice that some sessions are focused on their need to discharge their own emotions. I've made the choice that some sessions they are disappointed and others they are delighted. I've made the choice not to give up on them when they show doubts.

I've made the choice to treat humans as I promote treating dogs. I've made the choice to highlight their successes as well.

Sometimes, some of them put my words into perspective by reminding me that they succeeded because I guided them. So be it ! Except that GPS does not do everything in driving, in the journey. I sometimes deal with humans who have their own doubts, have a touching story, endure a lot, are tired of various aspects in their life that also influence their abilities.

I've made the choice to remind these humans how great they can be, how proud I can be of them, how much their investment is their strength. I've made the choice to help them (re-)build their confidence in themselves as much as in their dog.

So I will continue to tell them, when I consider it necessary and corresponding to an objective observation, how much they are the ones at the origin of the majority of their dog's progress! I will continue to compliment them so that their minds end up accepting the good they do with and for their dog.