Obedience Instructors

[squeak]

I am struggling a bit at the moment trying to "find my feet" with dog training and trying to work out if I want to instruct.

I have limited experience with dogs - grew up with them, but never really trained them growing up. Adopted "my" first dog two years ago and trained her at the obedience club ever since. She will never be a star, but has come a long, long way. I have also recently done the NDTF course and learnt a lot about dog training, but realise that I am by no means an expert and still have much to learn.

My current problem is that I *think* I want to instruct, but am not sure if I would make a good instructor. Also, at our club, there is great variation amongst the instructors - from purely positive to very traditional. I personally like this, as I believe you can learn from everyone, however I can understand that it can be very confusing for students when they get told one thing one week, and something entirely different by someone else the next week.

I am currently doing the "instructors' course" with the club - I am starting to realise that the club's "preferred teaching" method for certain things, may not be my preferred teaching method, for certain things. Part of me says that I shouldn't let this worry me but part of me thinks that if I am going to teach, I should follow the club's guidelines.

Then, I feel that I am limited in my knowledge - in reality, I don't have much more experience or qualifications than the people who I would be teaching. What right does that give me to tell them what to do? I am not sure that I am confident enough to control a class for 1 hour, or to spot any potential problems (ie., aggressive dogs) before they cause a real issue.

So, I guess I have a couple of questions for people...

- what made you want to teach?

- at what point did you feel comfortable teaching?

- what do you think makes for a good instructor?

Sorry to ramble on for so long, it is something that I am really struggling with at the moment.

[dogdude]

I am no longer an instructor, but when I was, I was asked to step up and fill in one day.

I had quite a fear of public speaking, but got over it after a few lessons. The confidence in my own ability as an instructor came after seeing most of my students get fast results.

There are many pro's and cons to being and instructor. Giving up you Weekends for nix isnt everyones cup of tea, and not getting the time to train your trialling dog was the biggest put off for me. I did get alot of sastisfaction from my students though, even after they left my class.

There is a lot of competition between instructors at various clubs unfortunately, and the more popular you are with the students, the more unpopular you will become with the other instructors. Way too much politics goes on behind the scenes at many clubs.

ETA The thing that makes an good instructor is the ability to make the handler feel comfortable and get them to focus more on themselves than their dogs.

Edited June 22, 2008 by dogdude

[squeak]

... not getting the time to train your trialling dog was the biggest put off for me.

This is probably something else that is kicking around in my mind. I would like to try to trial one of my dog's next year, but by doing the instructors' course, it will mean that I am not getting to train with the trialling group. Same goes as for if/when I start instructing. I guess part of me feels like I should give trialling a go, and THEN think about instructing.

[Jigsaw]

You've raised some good points Squeak. Your situation is similar to my own but I am still doing the NDTF! I recently went to the local obedience club to volunteer to be an assistant trainer and was met by suspicion and almost hostilely questioned as to where I was being trained, methods etc by some club members whom I first asked. I haven't yet ventured back but will in a couple of weeks for another look. The head trainer wasn't there that first time and I'd want to talk to him about the training methods used there and get an idea of the club's philosophy on training.

Many clubs run on volunteers so sometimes unless there is a directive coming from the club's committee about training methods they may be limited by the volunteers that they have to help run their classes and limited to the methods that these volunteer instructors know and use. But I think they all have something to offer and we should all be willing and open to learn from all comers. I don't think I've quite answered your question though!

[squeak]

I am no longer an instructor...

May I ask why you no longer instruct?

[Kavik]

I have instructed before, but don't at the moment. The trialling class at one club I instructed at was earlier, so you could train your trialling dog and then instruct (you had to get to the trialling class before you could instruct). At that time they didn't have an instructor's course with that club (not sure if they do now, I go to a different club now, moved house), but I had done the NDTF course, and had instructed with a club as well as part of the course (was compulsary for the course at the time).

When I first started instructing as part of NDTF I was nervous and self conscious, but after a while I became more confident.

[Rom]

Hi Squeak,

I used to instruct at a club. Though I wouldn't do it again, I did gain some positive things out of the experience.

The reasons why I wouldn't do it again:

I personally feel that I'm better suited to one on one.

If there was somebody in the class that was really struggling with their dog I felt that I wanted to spend time just with them. Having had difficulties in the early stages with my own dog, I was sensitive to the frustration that I could see in those people who were struggling. I found myself either trying to adapt the whole class to suit the one with problems (which made the boring for some at times), or totally ignoring the rest of the class in order to give direct assistance to the one with problems.

The politics definately played a role.....the old hands didn't like you trying something different even if it did work for the dog/handler combination....lots of resistance to change which I found frustrating.

I totally recognise that the class environment is just too distracting for some dogs to learn.

The class environment can also be a difficult environment for shy people because their major concern is about embarassing themselves.

I can't adjust myself to be the best for 10 people at the same time.....but I can adjust myself to be the best for one :rolleyes:

The positive things I gained:

By asking myself why a particular method was working for some dogs in the class and not others, I gained a deeper understanding of how different temperaments can affect the learning process....how different relationships between dogs and handlers can affect the learning process. I can now watch a new beginners class walk in and predict with reasonable accuracy which dog/handler teams will not see out their second month at the club.....although some surprise me....through sheer persisitance.

I got to test theories out when I saw problems.

I learned that people don't always get the point of what you're asking them to do and that sometimes you have to be creative in delivering the same information in different ways until you see the light bulb flash

I learned that even when people seem to understand, they sometimes have problem pulling the information together with what they are doing in practice and they need constant encouragement and guidance until their practical handling of the dog becomes habit.

I do recognise however, that some can pull off instructing a class much better than I can....I think my abilities just serve better one on one. But overall, I'm glad that I did instruct because of the things I learned by doing it.

[Joan of Arc]

Hi Squeak

I'm not an obedience instructor but I am a teacher and can I say that there are certainly times when I wonder why. However I must say that I think the reasons I enjoy teaching are the same reasons I would probably enjoy instructing if I ever wanted to (not that I do).

1. I enjoy helping other people

2. I enjoy passing on any knowledge I may have gained through others

3. I get a real buzz out of watching my students when they finally 'get it' - you know 'when the light comes on'

4. That is the greatest buzz I got from taking our dogs to obedience training - that buzz when they 'got it' and did it correctly for the first time.

If I could share that buzz feeling with someone else or help them to feel it I would feel a rich person.

[MonElite]

1. I enjoy helping other people

2. I enjoy passing on any knowledge I may have gained through others

3. I get a real buzz out of watching my students when they finally 'get it' - you know 'when the light comes on'

4. That is the greatest buzz I got from taking our dogs to obedience training - that buzz when they 'got it' and did it correctly for the first time.

for me

5. - when people come after class and say THANK YOU very much, I really love your classes, or I thank you for solving my problems, or even when they stay back to ask me more than I explained in the class, and just generally appriciate what I do.

[dogdude]

May I ask why you no longer instruct?

There are many reasons.......Working weekends one of them.

I found it frustrating concerning club structures etc. Each instructor has their own beliefs on training, and when you see all of your hard work being undone by the next instructor, it's disappointing to see students lose interest and leave the club etc.

There is no thanks from the club itself, only the students.

I would like to go back to it after I get rid of the trialling bug again.....but with two young dogs, it won't be anytime soon. It would also be in the role of a trialling instructor, as I get more out of teaching people with a passion for trialling.

In the mean time I will gain more experience in the higher ranks of trialling, and hopefully pass that on in the future.

[WalandLibby]

I really like this from Jean Donaldson's website - http://www.sfspca.org/academy/PDTascareer.pdf

Edited June 24, 2008 by WalandLibby