Hello everyone,
It's been a while since my last blog post but I've been so busy and so much has happened.
2021 has been a year of personal and professional growth for me, and I'll be going into the new year with a whole new mindset and business structure.
In May I took the first official steps towards becoming a dog trainer, attending the 2 Day Career as a Dog Trainer course through the IMDT. Then in August, me and Bex of Freedom Canine Adventures took the plunge and travelled to London with our two collies to attend the 4 Day Practical Instructor's Course. It was four days of no sleep (never stay in a hotel room with two collies with behavioural problems), intense fast-paced learning, and new experiences. The 4 Dayer fired us up enough to hire a hall and start running our own classes in September and this was a huge hit! We have run 6 classes since then but have decided to take a little break for December, starting again at the end of January with some brand new classes for the New Year.
The final part of my IMDT journey was on Wednesday afternoon when I sat my Membership Assessment over Zoom. I've been studying for weeks to get ready for it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I've done enough to be accepted as a member but I still have a few weeks left to wait before I receive my results. Being part of the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers would mean that I was accredited through the leading education provider for dog trainers and behaviourists. In the mean time I have enrolled in my Level 4 IMDTB Foundations and Functions of Behaviour course, meaning that I will be able to offer behavioural support for dogs and their carers in the future and I'm very excited about that. Having a dog with multiple behaviour problems myself I understand how emotionally exhausting it can be, but I also know how massively rewarding it is too.
I booked myself a few days off after my assessment to catch up on paperwork, admin and because I have two more courses to do before 2021 is over. Tomorrow I'll be attending a course to advance my training techniques when teaching clients exercises they can do with their dogs, and on Sunday I'll be attending a deep dive into Separation Anxiety with the IMDTB. It's safe to say I have no money left now but I'm happy and I've come a long way from the start of 2021 both personally and professionally.
I'm looking forward to spending some much-needed time with my friends and family over the Christmas break so I will be unavailable from 23rd Dec until 3rd Jan. We all need a bit of a break after this year!
Thank you for reading,
Molly. X