Why We Do What We Do
Adapted from a letter by a Trainers Academy, LLC
Daycare
DayCare Staff member, to the rest of the staff:
So Lisa does a private consultation and informs the daycare
staff
that she has recommended the dog for daycare.... the dog is
described
as very fearful, as he spent nearly the first year of his life
socially isolated.
Day One
This poor, beautiful, little fluffy guy comes in afraid of his
own
shadow, head down, tail down...mom puts him in the crate because
we
can't touch him... YET!! Lisa's direction is to take things very
slowly and let him come to us, so as not to create more fear in
him... the idea is to teach him to trust us, by not doing scary
things. So we move his crate into the front office and open the
door. A few minutes later, he comes out and starts taking food
from
me - 30 minutes later, he's on my lap, taking treats from my
hand -
and then a little later, was introduced to Napa, a daycare
regular.
Day Two
He's bonding with the rest of the staff and low and behold he
takes a
shine to Emma (who belongs to Angie, one of our instructors).
Now
he's getting bolder and strutting around the daycare floor
checking
out the smells....no more cowering in my lap.
Day Three
He's perfectly comfortable hanging in the office, and with the
rest
of the staff - he meets his third dog pal in daycare. He's
jumping up
for attention and is starting to show a lot more interest in
other
dogs. Now all we're waiting for is to see him actually start to
play...
Three days, my friends. I'm proud of Trainer's Academy. Any
daycare
can and will screen fearful dogs and refuse to take them BUT WE
DON'T! I'm thankful for Lisa's knowledge of what's possible, how
to
go about it, and her trust in all of us that we can help dogs
with a
sordid past, get the second chance they deserve.
When your gentle guidance pays off... when a dog looks up at you
with complete faith and trust in just three days (after
experiencing
who knows what previously!)....then you know just what
Trainers
Academy is all about.
And this dog is not the only case like this that has passed
through
the vestibule....
I love my job
Editors note: Since this was written, this little dog has begun
to
play with other dogs! What a beautiful thing to see!!!
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