Post by Ann on May 12, 2004 13:17:40 GMT -5
When I was a kid my dad used to train Labrador retrievers for field trials.
Being the daddy’s girl that I was I used to go with him on weekends. I’d hang off of his every word as he would take each new pup and bring them from being that squirmy, silly youngster into a full grown adult….one that was committed to its work…..one that went at it with real heart and spirit.
I guess I inherited his love of animals and his appreciation for keeping that “spirit” intact. I still have pictures of Scuba and Toby taken as they leaped into the water after a dummy thrown out. The shots were snapped mid leap……….the focus and drive so obvious in their eyes…..in every muscle……and more than that………it’s a black and white 1 dimensional reminder of the sheer joy they felt in that moment.
Simply stated………they excelled at the task put before them because they wanted to do it…..they were passionate about it because they loved what they were doing.
As I got older I took a lot of the knowledge that I’d gained in those years and applied it to training horses for rodeo speed events I was competing in.
During those years I noticed a few “constants”….both in dogs and in horses.
No 2 were ever alike. You could take two pups from the same litter and bring them up in the same house at the same time and they could have personalities as different as night and day. One could be quite timid and the other as bold as brass.
The training techniques used on one animal would not necessarily give the same results on one as it did on the other…..sometimes a little “searching” would be necessary to find that lesson that got the message through.
If I wanted my horses to excel in speed events where the difference between winning and losing could quite possibly come down to a 100th of a second?………….I had to make sure that THEY wanted to win every BIT as much I did…………I had to make sure that as a teacher I was INSTILLING that same desire and to win.
I usually found that the best way to that?
Was to take great joy in it myself
I kinda think that’s a big reasons why the Q has been so successful.
Where else can you go and be applauded just for making it through another day?
Don’t ever underestimate the power of positive reinforcement.
It’s probably given a lot more “spirit” into someone’s actually WANTING to beat this addiction then you’d ever think possible.
But I guarantee you it’s a big reason why so many successful quitters come back here even years after they’ve been quit…………they KNOW we “get” it.
You guys out there that think you’re not as eloquent as some?….or that you don’t help as much as you like…...and yet you never forget to give that “pat on the back?”<br>
Don’t ever kid yourself…..you have a lot more impact than you think you do.
And I want to say thank you………because its people like you that have given ME the spirit in MY quit.
Found on Quitnet
Being the daddy’s girl that I was I used to go with him on weekends. I’d hang off of his every word as he would take each new pup and bring them from being that squirmy, silly youngster into a full grown adult….one that was committed to its work…..one that went at it with real heart and spirit.
I guess I inherited his love of animals and his appreciation for keeping that “spirit” intact. I still have pictures of Scuba and Toby taken as they leaped into the water after a dummy thrown out. The shots were snapped mid leap……….the focus and drive so obvious in their eyes…..in every muscle……and more than that………it’s a black and white 1 dimensional reminder of the sheer joy they felt in that moment.
Simply stated………they excelled at the task put before them because they wanted to do it…..they were passionate about it because they loved what they were doing.
As I got older I took a lot of the knowledge that I’d gained in those years and applied it to training horses for rodeo speed events I was competing in.
During those years I noticed a few “constants”….both in dogs and in horses.
No 2 were ever alike. You could take two pups from the same litter and bring them up in the same house at the same time and they could have personalities as different as night and day. One could be quite timid and the other as bold as brass.
The training techniques used on one animal would not necessarily give the same results on one as it did on the other…..sometimes a little “searching” would be necessary to find that lesson that got the message through.
If I wanted my horses to excel in speed events where the difference between winning and losing could quite possibly come down to a 100th of a second?………….I had to make sure that THEY wanted to win every BIT as much I did…………I had to make sure that as a teacher I was INSTILLING that same desire and to win.
I usually found that the best way to that?
Was to take great joy in it myself
I kinda think that’s a big reasons why the Q has been so successful.
Where else can you go and be applauded just for making it through another day?
Don’t ever underestimate the power of positive reinforcement.
It’s probably given a lot more “spirit” into someone’s actually WANTING to beat this addiction then you’d ever think possible.
But I guarantee you it’s a big reason why so many successful quitters come back here even years after they’ve been quit…………they KNOW we “get” it.
You guys out there that think you’re not as eloquent as some?….or that you don’t help as much as you like…...and yet you never forget to give that “pat on the back?”<br>
Don’t ever kid yourself…..you have a lot more impact than you think you do.
And I want to say thank you………because its people like you that have given ME the spirit in MY quit.
Found on Quitnet