I love to learn, it's fascinating to be able to improve myself or my dogs. However I am not great at failing or laughing at myself when I do. I truly belive to learn well you have to be able and willing to fail, not only in front of your peers but in front of those at the top, and whom you most respect.
The grid/ jumping workshops I run are a genuine joy for me. Watching owners and dogs 'get it' is absolutely fantastic. The simplistic nature of jump training makes it easy to 'get' and results are quick and visually evident. For myself as a trainer and the owner too, this makes it a very rewarding lesson for all. Failure with grids is expected and necesary as you should push and test the dogs ability and understanding as you work through jump training, this means it is easy to intruduce failure and explain how to deal with it.
As I'm sure that most people know I have been learning to ride, it is complex and fabulous and I am lucky to have a wonderful trainer who pushes me when I need it, explains things when need be, makes me laugh when I am absolutely abysmal and has a true, true understanding of how to ride. In learning something so complex and new to me, it has definataly given me much more sympathy for people learning handling and dog training for the first time. Not all people know how to create new behaviours from their dog or can organise their bodies for the physical cues needed for a wing wrap or rear cross no matter how many times you talk it through, sometimes it just takes time and repetition and a lot of patience.
If you haven't been out of your learning comfort zone for a while I highly recommend you push yourself and find something new, the exhileration when you take the tiniest, babystep forwards is just fabulous!
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