It has certainly been a long time since I have blogged, but that's just because I have seen the dogs in so long or interacted with them, which made me really sad. I was working 2 jobs for the past month, but two weeks ago, I decided that that was too much for me to handle and I didn't have enough time for myself (#selfcare) or the things I wanted to do with my summer (aka hang out with friends and my kids - the dogs), so I quit one of them. Now I just work at Chipotle, which is more my style anyways.
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This past week, it has been my last week of undergraduate classes and this also means that it was my last class involving the dogs as well. It hasn't really hit me yet, I mean I kind of realized it today. It just hasn't sunk in yet that I am leaving River Falls and the family I have built up here at the end of the summer. Next September, I won't be walking into Ag Sci and seeing all of my friends around; instead, I'll be walking around Madison trying to find my classes and making new friends. I am so sad that I have to leave all the friends that I have made at River Falls. I am so happy and proud of the progress that I have made by being in this program. I was someone who always studied and never took time for myself or to do fun things. Last year in the program, I was still trying to be perfect in the program and get high grades in school. This past year, I learned the importance of a balance between school, work, me time, and friend time. I'm still not perfect at it, but I have made so much progress this past year and especially this semester. I know that training isn't always going to be perfect and it's okay not to know everything and say "I don't know," but still try to figure it out but being okay if I don't. This program has made me a stronger person in so many ways and has helped me to expand my circle of friends, I don't know where I would be without it. I have met great people that I wouldn't have otherwise and have had great opportunities present themselves because of it. This internship has changed my life for the better and I wouldn't change it for the world.
In case you're curious, for every good photo that I post on here, there's about 5 others that look like these two.
Hint: always carry a squeaker with you to get the dog's attention and don't be afraid to act like a fool behind the camera.
Today, Jenny and I worked on "go get help" with Darby. Here's a video from my perspective and Jenny's perspective together you can see all the things that should happen in a "go get help." It's truly amazing to see how far she's come this semester and I am proud of how far she's come with Jenny and I!
I often time get into this mentality that I "don't have enough time to train." I often times think of that if I do a focused training session its going to take HOURS and HOURS of my time. However, this is not the case. We are told in our classes (Behavior and Training) that training sessions are supposed to be brief, fun, and successful. Emphasis on the BRIEF. That means 10 minutes and always ending on a good note with the dog to make sure they have a good training experience and you don't end discouraged! Yesterday, I decided to just work with Darby on a slew of things. Our main focus was on "Basket" and she did really good with it!! It got me energized once again to just work on little things here and there for 5-10 minutes. Never give up on your dog because if you give up, the dog will give up!
As a side note (and the picture for this post), Darby and I participated in the Dear World shoot at UWRF this week. I chose to write "Do Not Distract" on my arms because people know they can't pet the dogs, but often times they don't understand that speaking to the dogs is exactly the same. I hate when people ask me the dogs name because often times they then say the dog's name and start talking to them about how they can't pet them, but they're just so dang cute. They have a lifesaving job to do, so please don't distract them, even if you know them/the handler.
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