Are You Too Much for Your Dog Trainer?
After discovering your area of expertise, where’s the strangest place you’ve been engaged in a free-advice-giving conversation? For me, it was in the stirrups during a GYN exam. Yes, that really happened about a year ago. And to add insult to injury, it was a discussion about invisible fences. Why couldn’t it have at least been about puppies? Nothing like doubling down on being uncomfortable during a GYN exam.
I’m usually answering dog or cat behavior and training questions at backyard BBQs, dinners, and cocktail parties. Recently, I was asked about dog behavior before filling out a voting ballot and during a dental exam. I love sharing knowledge, but there’s a time and a place.
Some folks are considerate and start the conversation with the caveat, “I understand that you may not want to talk about this right now.” Some folks, like my fabulous hair stylist, will barter haircuts and colors in return for dog training services and advice.
And then there are those who will “coincidentally” show up at a friend’s house when they know you’ll be there, following you all around, waiting for you outside of the bathroom, and wanting you to transfer all of your behavior knowledge into their brain. These folks are energy vampires who will suck the life right out of you. It’s too much! I suppose these folks would do the same to a doctor, lawyer, CPA, or architect. However, just like those folks, I too am a professional, just as deserving of boundaries.
Top 5 Tips for How Not to be an Energy Vampire to a Dog Trainer:
Ask for their social media handle. Dog trainers share a lot of free tips and advice on social media. Plus, increasing followers boosts their reach!
If you are meeting a dog trainer at a non-dog-training event, ask permission to ask one or two training questions. If the answer is “not now”, change the subject.
Rather than asking a bunch of questions, offer to pay, or even barter, for services.
Send concise, and preferably brief, emails and messages. It takes us a lot of time to digest messages and respond appropriately.
Stay within the agreed-upon scope of services. If you have training and behavior-related questions outside of the scope of services, schedule an additional training session.
We love your enthusiasm and interest in dog training and behavior. We just don’t always have a 1UP left to be your training and behavior search engine on the spot. If you’re at an event and see a dog trainer cornered by a Colin Robinson-type, AKA an energy vampire, throw them a lifeline to help them level up!
In this week’s Dog Trainer Car Talk episode, I describe all the hats dog trainers have had to start wearing since 2020.