Career Day - My Life as a Dog Trainer

It started when a very nice young 6th grader did a phone interview with me on dog training as a career. Next was today's in-person classroom presentation - it was a blast!

I just love sharing my passion for training dogs and especially enjoy working with kids on this topic. 

I brought my friend Jill along as well as my pups, Ru and Burton, so the kids could see two different kinds of dogs working.

After a formal presentation from my hostess, I did a hands-on & interactive introduction to clicker training and then brought the dogs in, along with a few props. Besides the basic obedience items, Ru is great at scooting backwards while in a down and then crawling forward while her back legs are spread out behind her. It's always good for a good laugh since she's pretty cute.

Next, I brought in a suitcase and showed them Ru's trick of getting in the suitcase with the lid down and then popping just her nose out. Of course they thought that was adorable and this trick earned a lot of "Ohhhh's!" from the crowd. Afterward, we brought Burton in to show us a few basic obedience items. Burton LOVES kids so this was such a treat for him.

When all was said and done, the kids could visit with and pet the dogs while we had a Q&A session which lasted for over an hour! This was an amazing group of bright kids and I was equally impressed with the teacher and his commitment to his students. I had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!