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Terry's Training Philosophy

Someone told me I should write about my philosophy of dog training. After picking myself up off the floor from laughing I thought, okay do I have a philosophy? I must, right? Kim, my wife, trained our first dog Rembrandt (now he had a philosophy all his own) and she gave him to me (okay, so I stole him) and I didn’t have to train him. Then she got her next dog, Roxanne, and trained her.
Next came Curry, my soul mate, a dog whom Kim said came out of the womb doing agility. So I guess I didn’t have to train her much either. Then Kim, still my wife, got her next dog, Tango, and boy did she have to train him. He didn’t get his name "Tango Bango" for nothing.

And now I have my second Border Collie, Reveille, my wake up call. And I have to train her. No problem, she’s a Border Collie. WRONG! She is a barker, a digger, a chewer, and a me-me-me dog. She is obsessive, stubborn and focused on movement, especially on the ceiling. Yep, she is my little wake up call.

I had to teach her to play tug. I had to teach her that I am the greatest thing in her life. I had to teach her contacts, weaves and a stay at the start line. I actually had to train a dog! And I am a better trainer and dog owner because of it.

And now I have The Ripper, he is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and I am sure he is going to teach me a lot about training. Already I am learning how much fun it is to have a puppy again. We can sometimes forget the little things and take them for granted. I may venture into some new training territories with him, like running contacts and field test trials. That is right, I am going to try and train this puppy to work in the field.

I’m a good instructor. Really I am. People say I am, and no I don’t pay them to say I am. I have a good eye for movement. I actually enjoy teaching. No really, I love teaching and being taught. I teach almost every day and I learn every day. By the way, I couldn’t wouldn’t have done all that I have done or even be the instructor I am without the help of my wife, Curry, I mean Kim.