The other day I made a fool of myself in public.
Yup, it was a stellar moment. Let me tell you a little bit about it. I was at one of my least favorite places, the Social Security Office. It never fails, no matter how much documentation I bring in, it’s never enough. Not once have I been able to walk in and have the process go well the first time. To be fair, I never bring a standard case to the Social Security Office. I have adopted several older children with complex histories. The list of documents that the courts and adoption agencies give you to know what to bring to the Social Security Office is useless. And finding a list online of what I need in my unique situation is difficult at best. Changing my children’s names and social security numbers isn’t as cut and dry as getting a replacement card. This time though, I was ready. I had documentation in abundance, above and beyond anything they could possibly ask for- or so I thought. I dutifully waited my turn and confidently handed my paperwork over to the staff member. Then the questions started. Another staff was called in to assist. Court documents were turned away as unusable. Something was wrong with the name I was providing. I needed to provide a letter from the school stating our child’s pre-adoptive name and new name. What? Since when is that necessary to get a Social Security card? How are the court documents not enough? My patience was gone. So was my usual cool and calm demeanor. I began yelling at the staff members standing behind the window. I knew that losing my temper wasn’t going to change anything, but it didn’t matter at that moment. We’ve fought long and hard for this adoption. It has taken so much longer than it should have. There’s a lot of painful history caught up in the battle. I was so relieved to finally be able to finish the last piece of this adoption and start life with our son finally sharing our name. That all crumbled in front of me and I was angry. I loudly complained the entire way out the door. Now, of course nobody could know the whole story of what really went on. All they knew was that some woman was leaving the building and making a scene the entire way out the door. Here’s the thing, outwardly I was angry. I was angry, true, but I was also disappointed, frustrated, fearful, and sad. Anger was just the easiest and safest emotion to show at that moment. Oftentimes, aggressive dogs behave similarly. Most of the time, dogs that show aggressive tendencies are actually fearful. It’s just safer to show aggression than fear. When we train an aggressive dog, we work to teach the dog alternate behaviors to aggression. Once a dog doesn’t have aggression to fall back on when they’re nervous we can start to see the root of the problem. Quite likely, it will be fear. That’s when we work on confidence building and relaxation training. Nothing is a quick fix. Training to overcome fear and aggression takes time and effort. But it is achievable. If you have a dog that has shown signs of fear or aggression, contact us. We would love to help you and your dog experience the world in a new, confident way. Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click here to schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training!
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My son Joe is home from college this weekend.
I’m a happy mom. There’s something else. Not only is Joe home, but his best friend also came home this weekend. So, not only do I get to spend time with my boy, I get to see and spend time with a kid that has been a part of our lives forever. I couldn’t ask for more. We moved to the area right before Joe turned 5 years old. The same week we moved into our new home, we met a whole group of our new neighbors. One of our neighbors had a son the same age as Joseph. I encouraged Joe to go make friends with our new neighbor. It wasn’t long before Joe, uncharacteristically, informed me that he absolutely did not like the neighbor kid and they certainly were not friends. Instead, Joe befriended the kid’s older brother. Things continued that same way for a couple of years. Joe stayed friends with the older brother but had little interaction with the kid that was the same age. But slowly, things started changing. As the boys grew up, they went to the same schools, rode the same buses, played on the same sports teams, and began to share the same interests. Eventually, Joe and the neighbor kid not only became friends - they became best friends. They have been for years. I almost forget that there was a time that they weren’t friends. I guess school can do that. It brings people together. Friendships form and things change. I have the pleasure of teaching some of the classes here at Clever Canine. Each of my classes is special. I get to love and play with puppies and share the joy of new puppy ownership with many new puppy parents. I watch puppies play together and listen to owners share their ups and downs. It’s a job that many would love to have, and I am very thankful to have it. I get to teach older dog parents how to train their dogs to be good citizens. I show families how to teach their dog to have manners both at home and in the community. And again, I hear the echoes of the people who tell me I have the best job, and I’m thankful. Then, there’s my older group of dogs and their owners. These are the dogs and families that have been training with us for a while. Many have been through private lessons with me or have been through my other classes. One of the great things about this group is how welcoming they are to newcomers. I love to watch new people join the group and be accepted in. It’s great to watch the friendships grow. It’s hard to describe how much I love each one of the dogs that I have spent so long working with. They and their families are special to me. Many people comment on how much they like the perk of lifetime group classes that comes with our private lesson program or boot camp. The secret we keep is that we benefit too. We become attached. We love the dogs and enjoy spending time with our clients. It’s our little incentive to get our clients to come back and visit. We Can Help You Have a Great Dog! Do you have a dog that doesn't listen? Does your dog pull you down the street when going for a walk? Are you embarrassed to have guests over because your dog jumps on them and wont leave them alone? We can help. Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click hereto schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training! If you follow our Facebook or Instagram pages, you may have already seen posts about Archie. If you haven’t, let me tell you about this little guy. He’s mine. I’m absolutely in love. He’s a spunky little bundle of fluff. Being the crazy dog lovers that we are, my husband and I decided to add another dog to our pack.
We have adopted dogs into our family in a lot of different ways. Half of our dogs are rescues, and the other half are from breeders. This time we decided to go with a purebred, Mini Australian Shepherd (American Shepherd) because we knew what traits we were looking for, and Archie is it! I’d be lying if I told you this past week was easy. We are back in the throes of young puppy days. That means whining and crying in the middle of the night, potty accidents on the floor, sharp puppy teeth nipping at our hands, and inconvenient trips outside to teach the little guy where to go potty. Archie is a smart little guy. He’s picking up on training quickly. It has been a week, and he has learned to be quiet in his crate- sometimes. He knows to relieve himself outside, though he doesn’t always make it. He knows how to sit and down on command. As trainers, we know that teaching Archie all that stuff is important, but the most important thing we can do for Archie is to make sure he is properly socialized. The thing is, puppies have a very short window of opportunity when it comes to socialization. Puppies are open to accepting new things when they are between 3 and 16 weeks old. After that window, training a dog to accept new things becomes much more difficult. For the next few weeks, our most important job will be to make sure Archie has positive interactions with as many different people, places, and friendly animals as possible. It’s our job to make sure Archie can be confident in new situations so we will be setting a strong foundation through proper socialization. Dogs that don’t get the chance to get out and learn about the world when they are very young often develop fearful behaviors. They don’t have to have ever had a negative interaction with something to develop a fear of it. Just lack of exposure is enough for dogs to be afraid. The problem is that fearful dogs can develop aggression. In fact, fear-based aggression is the most common type of aggression that we see. It’s sad for everyone when a dog is fearful. If you have a young puppy, now is the time to prepare your dog for the future. Make sure your puppy gets to meet tons of friendly, new people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Make sure to take them places where they experience an array of new sights, sounds, and smells. Introduce them to unusual things. Build their confidence and their world. It’s exciting to see the world through the eyes of a young, playful puppy. Enjoy it. If you have a dog that has already shown signs of fear or aggression, contact us. We would love to help you and your dog experience the world in a new, confident way. Let us show you how. The first step is to schedule your free, no obligation evaluation. Click here to schedule your evaluation online now. You pick a day and time that works best for you. A trainer will meet with you and your dog (and anyone else that you would like involved in training) and go over some history, find out your training goals, and discuss training options. We can usually provide you with some free tips to help you start seeing immediate results. You can find out more about all our training options and get any questions you have answered. There is no pressure or obligation to buy anything. Here is the link to schedule your free evaluation: https://www.cleverk9mi.com/schedule-evaluation-session.html Happy Training! |