Erna and Luke Actualizing the Plan
A couple of years ago, after our beloved family Labrador passed away, my family and I adopted a mixed breed dog from the county pound. At first, he was only supposed to bring me companionship and some protection, but I soon realized his calm temperament was perfect for therapy work. About six months ago, I started mulling over the idea of training Cool Hand Luke (Luke) as a therapy dog. After reading up on the dog training process, I began to tell friends and family about my desire to train Luke as a therapy dog. Since he has a calm demeanor, plus people of all ages seem attracted to him, I thought he was up for the task. Luke and I received a number of affirmations about our ability to pull off this team effort of handler/dog partnership. With the encouragement of some folks, I signed Luke up for the first part of dog obedience training. Teaching an old dog new tricks requires the formation of well thought out and inquiry-tested plan.
On the first day of dog training, the trainer asked about Luke’s “home training” and obedience level. I was rather embarrassed to admit that Luke could follow two commands, sit and come. Luke, who is a mature nine years, was immediately placed with the puppies for training! He had to learn the basics of obedience commands before he could be a therapy dog. Teaching an old dog new tricks requires actualizing the plan, even revising the plan.
As the dog handler, I had to be trained and retrained, as well. I was used to the old way of doing things. My expectations of Luke were low. He was cute and he only had to do two things for me, sit and come. Up until this date, his most important task was to lie at my feet while I worked with my students in my online classes. He was exceptionally good at this task! The lazy days of old, soon became days filled with intentional activity and purpose. Teaching an old dog new tricks requires intentional, consistent, and purpose-driven activity.
My daily schedule and my family’s schedule had to be adjusted. Luke’s only task could no longer be to lie at my feet. As the handler and dog, we were required to go to public events and sites in order to help Luke adjust to crowds, loud noises, and sudden movements. It was necessary for Luke and I to make other choices with our free time in order to fit his training into our current lifestyle and schedule. Teaching an old dog new tricks requires an adjustment in one’s time schedule.
Fortunately, Luke caught on to his new commands rather quickly, at least when those commands were given to him in the house! In the dog training world, dogs must follow the handler’s command in all environments. Unfortunately, Luke did not like to follow commands outside. The outside world was simply too distracting for him to pay me any mind! Next, Luke entered the Proofing part of his training. Proofing is when the dog training is reinforced under various conditions including distractions and unanticipated events. Luke had to follow my command even when people, other dogs, and screaming children passed by. Teaching an old dog new trick requires actualizing the plan under stressful conditions.
A few weeks ago, Luke “graduated” and passed the AKC Canine Good Citizenship course with flying colors! It was well worth our efforts and life adjustments! Luke and I will soon enter the next phase of training for his dog therapy certification. Teaching an old dog new tricks requires achieving the goal.
You may not have an old dog to teach new tricks. However, everyone has dreams and goals they wish to achieve. Here is our “teach an old dog new tricks” action plan. Try the plan in your own life! Move forward to reach your personal goals.
Teaching an old dog new tricks requires:
- the formation of well thought out and inquiry-tested plan
- actualizing the plan, and revising if needed
- intentional, consistent, and purpose-driven activity
- an adjustment in one’s time schedule
- actualizing the plan under stressful conditions
- achieving the goal
