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Asked to teach agility classes

Discussion in 'Agility' started by Hurtseverywhere, Apr 9, 2012.

  1. Hurtseverywhere

    Hurtseverywhere Forums Enthusiast

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    Sep 22, 2010
    London Ont
    Well as the post title says , On friday we were out at the club training, I was working Storm in the box outside trying to bring her up to her 16" hight that she is going to need to run when she's old enough, when I notice the Club owner standing off to the side watching. Well after a few minutes he comes over and asks if Cyndy & I might be interested in running some agility classes for them next fall, said he didn't want to interupt the upcomming trail season but they were looking for some new agility trainers and though I would be a good choice as other club members had commented on how I have helped them with various problems that they have had with thier dogs , and they have seen how I have trained Storm since she was around 3 months old. I was kinda in shock but then once we thought about it we were kinda tickled that they would even consider us LOL.

    We havent really decided yet if we will or not but I think we are gonna seriously consider it, guess we will just wait and see what happens, but I did think it was kinda cool that they even asked us considering we havent even run a dog up to masters level yet.
     
  2. ortegah

    ortegah Forums Enthusiast

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    Congrats! That's an honor to be asked to teach! I guarantee no one would ever ask me to teach. Half the time I forget the course I'm running LOL!
     
  3. SheltieChe

    SheltieChe Forums Sage

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    Jan 6, 2010
    Chicago
    Congratulations! I always say that ability to teach has nothing to do with ability to compete with your own dog to highest levels. Different skills and not necessary go in hand with each other. In another post my local buddy mentioned agility class she took and how she did not like it, I took it too and left in tears... teacher is well know competitor at highest levels and regret to say one of my fellow recallers, SG big fan... yet experience we both had at her class was miserable.
    I wish you luck, it is big challenge to teach other people and am sure you will get to deal with some reactive dogs etc... wow! Not a challenge I could ever do.
    From my observation truly gifted teachers are good because they teach handler and dog they have, not "I teach it this way because I like teaching it this way" attitude.
     
  4. corbinam

    corbinam Moderator

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    Oct 14, 2008
    That's great! Congrats! It says a lot when club members complimented you. Awesome job.

    At my old club my husband and I were instructors. Bentley (our only dog at the time) was only in Advanced for the most part, but we were some of the people that were eager to learn any and all approaches out there. We did a lot of research, outside reading, etc...

    In some of the bigger markets you'll find that club members don't want to take lessons from people whose dogs don't have Agility Championships, which I totally get, but in smaller markets the people who educate themselves and broaden their horizons are really great resources.

    Also, it helps to be friendly and approachable--as not all people are.
     
  5. Dexter'sMom

    Dexter'sMom Forums Enthusiast

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    Dec 29, 2011
    Ottawa Ont Canada
    Congratulations!

    What a great compliment to your willingness to help others. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed for sure !
    :biggrin2:
     
  6. k9kreationz

    k9kreationz Forums Celebrity

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    Oct 24, 2008
    Oh how awesome is that!?!? Regardless if you choose to teach or not, it's definitely an honor to be asked. I doubt I'd wanna teach, only because I haven't really worked with any dogs but my one. So I only know one thing and so far, dork boy likes to learn the hard way, lol.

    If you do teach, just keep an open mind, and remind yourself, not all dogs learn the same way, so try something else if a dog just isn't getting it. And depending on the level of class, I'd learn about the different handling systems. It definitely would make me want to learn more handling. :)
     

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