The Human Half Of Dog Training - Collaborating With Clients To Get Results

by Risë VanFleet

Dogs? No Problem! People? Yikes!!Most dog trainers have a strong desire to help dogs learn appropriate behaviors and solve the kinds of problems that most dogs experience or create. It is why they get into the business in the first place and it is what they are trained to do. What is challenging for so many trainers is that their success in working with dogs ultimately depends on the cooperation, understanding and follow-through of the people who bring their dogs to them to be trained. Failure to work with people often leads to failure with the dogs. In The Human Half of Dog Training, author Risë VanFleet draws upon her years of experience of working with people as a child and family psychologist to teach dog trainers how take a collaborative approach with clients to help insure the best possible outcomes for their dogs.You will • The vital skill of empathic listening so that the trainer truly understands the needs and goals of the client.• How cognitive distortions and resistance can disrupt the trainer/client relationship.• How to work with a family in cases where spouses or children may complicate the trainer/client relationship.• Ways to handle common objections and to get clients to commit to training programs.

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Christie Bane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a five-star dog training book that I wish I had written! Boy, does the industry need this book. and I can think of at least 10 people right off the top of my head who need to buy this book, read it, and cast a critical eye on themselves and their style of interacting with people.

This book does it all. The author is that rarest of rare creatures, a person who is trained and experienced in human psychology and able to apply her knowledge to facilitate helping people to train their dogs. Dog training is relatively easy, but human training is more challenging unless you make yourself aware of all the human shortcomings you will naturally encounter, both in yourself and from the client. Let me say here that if you are always complaining about how your clients don't do what you say, don't pay attention, and don't follow through, and think the blame should all be on them and none on you because you told them what to do, damnit, then you need this book. Seriously.

Any dog trainer who doesn't have an empathetic understanding of the ways that our shared humanity can influence the course of dog training is going to have limited success as a dog trainer. ALL of my dog training friends should read this book. If you have shortcomings, this book might point them out. If you're already awesome working with people, this book will make you pat yourself on the back and be able to state exactly all the reasons why you're awesome. It may not be a five-star book the way Portnoy's Complaint was, but it's a five-star book if your end goal is making yourself a better trainer.

[Khanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I remember, I'll come back and write more thoughts later because I have lots of them. For now:
* A must read for anyone who works with dogs and people.
* I love the clear and concise explanation about cognitive distortion and the various examples given.
* I love the term empathic listening instead of reflective or active listenining because it places a greater emphasis on listening from a place of empathy.
* It made me stop and reflect on my own behaviors as a professional, thinking habbits, and how I can stand to do better. This is was both wonderful and uncomfortable.

* I didn't appreciate the super obvious jabs at Cesar Millan's telivision shows. This is not because I idolized Cesar--I do not. But I felt it could have been better presented. I just dislike it when professionals jab at each other's work, and it doesn't matter if that work has been highly popularized.

Overall, a great book. It's very clear that the author deeply respects and cares about both people and dogs, and that, in my experience, is rare in the dog world.

[Ema Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. The inclusion of a chapter on how to work with children was particularly valuable.

Honestly the whole book is worth its weight in gold. It gives plenty of methods to work on and loads of examples to demonstrate those methods at every possible turn. Some of them seem quite far out of my wheelhouse for now but as the author says, just work on one or two at a time and it will come. Even if I don't use them all throughout the book I was considering my interactions with people and trying to work out how I could be more effective at the human side of dog training.

Definitely one I'll be rereading over and over again.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was an excellent reminder on how to work and deal with people in a dog training environment. I particularly enjoyed the information on cognitive distortions. Would have been 5 stars apart from a couple of bits I didn't agree with.

[Kizz Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of good reminders and some things to work on.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent information regarding dealing with people. It can make the difference between being able to help a dog or not.