Instructors: The Pain of Growth

Being a Scent Work instructor is an honor and a privilege. You devote countless hours learning and honing your craft, perfecting it with your own dogs and then transferring that knowledge to your clients. Those clients then go on to play the wonderful sniffing game, having successes and a blast doing so.

However, to be an effective teacher requires one also be a student, someone open to learning new information, approaches and perspectives. The issue? There may come a point in time when this seemingly runs in conflict with your current approaches, program or curriculum!

In this episode, we discuss how painful it can be for Scent Work instructors to grow and adjust their training approaches, lessons and curriculum. The possible professional ramifications. The emotional toll. How it may cause you to second guess your worth as an instructor and trainer! While growth can indeed be painful, even eliciting powerful emotional responses, growing as a Scent Work instructor is a GOOD thing and DOES NOT mean one was bad, unknowledgeable or worthless before said growth.

One such newer resource that can help you further grow as an instructor is the book authored by Sue Sternberg and Dana Zinn: The Dog-Driven Search: Handling Our Nose Work Dogs to Promote Independence, Joy, and Enthusiasm

This is the first installment for our new Scent Work instructor-focused podcast series. We look forward to sharing interviews with fellow colleagues about their training journeys, their experience as an instructor and much more.

Speaker:

Dianna L. Santos

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Scent Work University is an online dog training platform focused on all things Scent Work. Our online courses, seminars, webinars and eBooks are not only for those who are interested in competition, but also for those dog owners who are simply looking for something fun and engaging to do with their dogs. Check out Scent Work University today!

Interested in other dog sports, helping a new dog or puppy learn the ropes to be more successful at home and when out and about? Check out Pet Dog U, where we offer online dog training courses, webinars, mini-webinars, seminars as well as a regularly updated blog and podcast for all of your dog training needs!

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