032 | Ninke Lemmens & Luka en Ellie over buitenlandse adoptie honden, de zoektocht naar hulp, en de rol van pijn

032 | Ninke Lemmens & Luka en Ellie over buitenlandse adoptie honden, de zoektocht naar hulp, en de rol van pijn

Als Ninke Luka adopteert heeft hij al twee jaar lang in een Russisch asiel gezeten. Eenmaal thuis in Belgisch Limburg durft hij niet eens binnen te komen, zo ontzettend moet hij wennen aan zijn nieuwe leven.

Goedbedoelde adviezen als “da’s een een scheper, die moet u wel bezig houden” blijken voor Luka helemaal niet te werken.
Ninke vertelt over de omzwervingen die haar uiteindelijk naar Daniëlla van Paws in Touch leiden en wat haar overtuigde om toch nog weer meer geld in training te steken.

 

Althans, het belangrijkste voor Luka blijkt om helemaal niet te “trainen”, maar om juist in te zetten op rust.
Als later blijkt dat Luka weer achteruit gaat, vertrouwt Ninke het niet. Ze vermoedt dat er pijn in het spel kan zijn. Eerste röntgen foto’s laten “slechts” een milde heupdysplasie aan één heup zien.
Gelukkig gaat Ninke af op haar eigen intuïtie en laat ze verder onderzoek doen. Luka blijkt gruwelijk pijn te hebben van een zware hernia.

Ondertussen is ook Ellie bij het gezin gekomen. Wat heeft Ninke anders gedaan bij Ellie? Heeft ze op andere dingen gelet? Wat maakte dat ze het aandurfde er nog een tweede hond bij te nemen?

En last but not least, wat zou ze andere hondenbaasjes als advies mee willen geven?

Links:

Luka & Ellie op Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adogcalledluka/

Paws in Touch: https://pawsintouch.be/

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031 | Georgie of Trickwoofs on compassion fatigue in the dog training world, the parallels with raising a human child, learning to love frustration, and more

031 | Georgie of Trickwoofs on compassion fatigue in the dog training world, the parallels with raising a human child, learning to love frustration, and more

If you follow any kind of dog related social media, then you will know Georgie, where she posts under the handle @trickwoofs.

You will have seen the lovely whimsical cartoons she draws about life with a reactive dog, which are so extremely on point they always make me laugh.

A particular cartoon comes to mind that has the guardian and their dog navigating the urban jungle that is the city, James Bond style, ducking behind walls and sneaking around corners, all in an attempt to avoid triggers.

 

The topics we discuss are as diverse as Georgie’s interests.

We talk about compassion fatigue in the dog training world, the parallels to raising a human child, learning to love frustration, following your passion and almost feeling like you’re not worthy of it, and so much more.

 

Did you know, Georgie transitioned from a modeling career to dog training?

Many people wanting to make a career switch in life will recognize the little voice that Georgie describes. The one that asks the question: Could I really be worthy of making a living doing the thing I love?

 

I ask Georgie about compassion fatigue in the dog world and the dog rescue world in particular.

She describes it as no longer feeling anything when you know you should be feeling something. It’s like the body shuts down to all emotions.

The question becomes. How does one prevent or overcome it? Georgie’s short answer is by finding community and talking about it! To not believe that there is some kind of limit below which it is no longer okay to ask for help.

She also recommends finding what works for you when it comes to doing a bodily reset. For her it’s yoga and breathwork, but for someone it might be boxing or rock climbing.

 

We talk about allowing emotions in ours dogs and ourselves similar to what we do with our children and not feeling the pressure to of needing to respond to something.

 

And of course, we talk about her art, and her other project which is the development of a treat dispensing muzzle. What keeps her going? What allows her to press pause when needed? What has she learned about failure and also:

How DOES she manage to combine all the things she does (and she does a LOT)?

Links:

The Trickwoofs website: https://www.trickwoofs.com/

Trickwoofs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trickwoofs/

And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trickwoofs

 

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029 | Ali & Indie, on becoming and being a dog trainer and not burning out

029 | Ali & Indie, on becoming and being a dog trainer and not burning out

Ali was from London but now lives in Maryland

We talk about how she got into the business of dog training, which has a little something to do with her German Shepherd cross Indie.

We talk about the widespread misunderstanding that all dogs should love all dogs and I may or may not tell an anecdote of me hugging a stranger to try and show them that they wouldn’t appreciate being crowded either. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.

 

Ali also explains something that I think is amazing:

She tells new clients to first take a break from everything (like training) for a week or so, so they can reconnect with all the reasons why they love their dog in the first place.

 

Another tough nut to crack for most of us is that of questioning authority. Ali had fewer difficulties there as asking “Why?” comes naturally to her. My hope is that by listening to Ali talk, more people will feel free to do the same.

 

Ali’s training philosophy is that she wants to provide people with the skills that allow them to be able to tackle possible future setbacks, since it serves us well to take into account that your anxious dog will probably keep showing some anxiety from time to time, despite all the training effort you put in.

Speaking of training and being a trainer, working 80 hours a week is no exception in the dog world and at first it wasn’t for Ali either.

We talk about all things dog professional:

The emotional burden of being a dog trainer, the taking on the setback and emotions of your clients, not earning enough to make a living, and giving away a part of you every time so that there’s less and less of you to go around.

 

So, how did she manage to find that elusive work-life balance?

Upon moving to the USA she completely restructured her business and she explains what that looks like.

Her advice to aspiring dog trainers: Don’t try to be everything to all people.

And finally, there’s Ali’s summary of her thoughts on expectation, frustration and celebration. It’s so on point, that I would be remiss if I didn’t write it down here:

Manage expectation, minimize frustration, maximize celebration

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026 | Grace & Piper, on being a veterinarian as well as the guardian of a reactive dog

026 | Grace & Piper, on being a veterinarian as well as the guardian of a reactive dog

UK veterinarian Grace and I talk about her Romanian Rescue dog Piper and how being the guardian of a challenging dog has impacted her work as a veterinarian.
What were the advantages she had, being a vet already, in dealing with her dog?

We also talk about all the terms and certifications being thrown around that relate to animal behavior and training. Are there vet behaviorists in the UK? Who can call themselves that?

Did you know you can do a master’s level studies in animal behavior in the UK?

But also, did you know many veterinarians have not been taught about dog body language in vet school?

How does she start the conversation about behavior with dog guardians who may be oblivious to the plight of their dog?

And what about ruling out pain? Turns out that you as the guardian are the person in the best position to notice if chronic pain is an issue.

I also ask Grace what makes a good veterinarian in her view. The number one thing: “Find someone who will really listen to you and not dismiss you.”

 

Links:

Grace and Piper on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piper_thesleepybean/

 

Want to be able to enjoy life with your reactive dog more?

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Bonus Episode 008 | When you worry about being too emotional and passing stress down the leash

Bonus Episode 008 | When you worry about being too emotional and passing stress down the leash

In this episode, I address the concept of passing stress down the leash to your dog and all of its variants.

I ask you to question what’s the chicken and what’s the egg? Which came first? Your stress or the dog’s behavior? Is your stress the result of your dog lunging or the cause?

What does worrying about your stress, sensitivity or emotionality do for you? Does it make you doubt yourself? Judge yourself? Try to change yourself? Are you believing that your work is to become less emotional? More confident?

You’ll learn why maybe all there is to it is to accept yourself for who you are.

Oh, and you’ll hear about how I deal with emotionality myself and crying in particular. It has something to do with the movies Top Gun and Marley and Me. Have a listen to see how those two link into things.

Links:

Marley and Me on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marley_%26_Me_(film)

Top Gun on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gun

 

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