by Brad Waggoner

It’s sometimes said that the shoe maker’s children have no shoes. Well sometimes you could say the same about dog trainers. I was reading a blog by Laura Dorfman of Kona’s Touch and was reminded of this. When I was attending the Karen Pryor Academy I got to do a whole lot of work with my dog Cody, but since graduation it seems like I can’t find the time (or don’t make the time). One of the things that was required of us during the academy was to keep a training log. By doing this it kept me honest about the amount of time I spent training (and it doesn’t have to be a whole lot to make a difference). I’ve always been an advocate of training logs even though I’m not so good at keeping one myself. I tell all of our clients that by doing this they can track their success. Sometimes when you think you’re getting nowhere you can look back and get reinforcement by seeing the progress you’ve made. The log doesn’t have to be terribly detailed, unless you want it to be, but more of what you worked on and when, and what worked and what didn’t and ideas of how to set yourself and your dog up for success. So with all this in my head I’ve decided to dust off my training log and train along with our upcoming 6 week Good Manners class. I know I’ll work on some of the foundation behaviors and maybe throw a few new behaviors in as well. I’ll let the folks in class know what my plans are and challenge them to log their progress as well.  So, happy training, and take notes.   Brad