Workshop Detection, the next Level Germany

I had the honor to work with the instructors from the Tierakademie in Germany (www.tierakademie.de). Michaela, Viviane, and Lisa are doing a great job in Germany. They offer a high level of k9 education and help trainers to become TOP trainers, sharing information and having so much fun together. This time we held our workshop in a nice place where seven dog teams could work simultaneously, coached by other participants in the role of human coach or canine coach. We switched roles so everybody could learn. The dog teams were performing different tasks as conditioning towards a laser cue, scent discrimination test, match to sample objects, verbal cue performances, obedience tasks, scent line ups, and much more. Besides zooming in on the most effective and efficient way to train animals, we also did many ‘human work.’  In a challenging keynote and group discussion, we looked into the world of human coaching. Why do you sometimes feel resistance when you coach handlers or trainers? How can we motivate other people? What is our truth? We talked about programming, believes, triggers, paradigms, and previous experiences. After all, we are motivated by two big topics in life: pain or pleasure. If we can handle these motivators, if we find our path in life, it all boils down to communication and a better understanding of each other. This all brings us back to the words of my guru Bob Bailey who is telling us, ‘Animal training is simple but not easy.