How I became a dog trainer - Franziska Kind
When my fiancé and I decided to get a dog, we had a rather romantic idea of it. We thought, when getting a puppy, we will have influence on the development from day one, we will go to a good puppy school and we will do everything right. I’m still laughing at us …
But look how cute he was! In this picture, he was only 5 weeks old & we met him for the first time!
With 9 weeks, we picked him up one week before Christmas 2021 and already on Christmas Eve, he showed us that our romantic idea was only a result of our youthful recklessness… Let’s say it this way: Christmas was different than the years before! 🎄
Bowie was a puppy of high maintenance. Finding sleep or coping with frustration were not among his strengths, also he started to bark at other dogs while being on the leash already with only 3 months. Our dog trainer at this time said “That would bother me. I would change that”. What she did not say was how she would do that. & obviously, because of missing guidance for us, our situation got worse and worse over time..
Slowly, we became frustrated, as we tried everything we could, changed the dog school, bought thousands of different treats and then started to doubt ourselves. We wanted to do everything right, but nothing worked out.Was it on us? Everyone else is able to handle their dog, but we weren't… Luckily, we were the two of us and if someone had a bad day, the other one took over. But what we never did was to give up! We always kept our head high and tried everything we could to work on our topics, together with Bowie - the cutest dog on earth!
After 1.5 years and by chance, we came across a dog school in North Rhine-Westphalia. This is 400 km away from our home, but we were desperate and so we booked a one-week boot camp on site. We liked the training methods and the trainer so much - we were even able to see the first improvements after just one week! For us it was clear: we will definitely come back. In 2023, the dog school founded a training center and so began my 1.5-year journey to becoming a dog trainer. 👩🏻🎓 Bowie joined me for the practical weekends (even though I thought he would never be able to stay calm with up to 20 other dogs in the room - but he did!) and we both grew closer as a team. Often, we also had to step out of our comfort zones, but it was so worth it! It was a tough time though, as we met once a month for a practical weekend onsite and also we had to do an internship of 100 hours of practical work within the dog school. I spent most of my free-time with studying or traveling. But I got to know so many great people and friends & I don't want to miss this experience ever!
During the 1.5 years of training with the new methods and all the knowledge I gathered over time, my partner and I were no longer frustrated. Today, we can enjoy our walkies together and spend time on the beach, such as most recently in Sankt Peter-Ording. Our journey with Bowie has strengthened my desire to become a dog trainer and to support dog owners and in developing their relationship with their dog to the better. Without him, I would have probably never thought about it.
Even though our journey was maybe not the easiest: Bowie is the greatest dog we could ever imagine! Besides the training topics we had to work on, he is such a loving and friendly dog. He loves to cuddle and to be petted by everyone. Without him, we would not have developed ourselves and would have not gained so much resilience.
By the way, since last week, it's fully official:I am a licensed dog trainer by my local veterinary office 🥂🎉