Training with Tyril
This is Tyril, my coach always there to give me pointers on what I can improve. "This dog is on fire!....Now we just have to clean up some things with your handling." Always room to improve. 
Training has been long, hard work. There were days when I wanted to give up and was at a complete loss. I read books, searched the internet, called for help, got advice, went on instinct but it wasn't until I started working with Tyril that things came together. As per today we have had 7 official sessions with Tyril and about 4 practice sessions. That's not a lot for a rescued Mali. He has seen her potential and I guess mine from day one when I would eavesdrop on his sessions.
Tyril has pushed me even when I resisted. He has helped explain behavior and break down training sessions in digestible bits. He always explains or I always ask the concept of what we are doing. There are times when I've had to trust him despite my reservations and it's always turned out for the best. In anything that you do, if you stay in your comfort zone you don't move. Those first few training sessions were difficult. And for Mika too. She had to learn that she wasn't in charge . That wasn't a pretty lesson. Thank god I found a trainer who knows Mals and has no fear.
“She is Malinois! Man! A Malinois. This is not your ordinary dog. She is MAL-i-nois, man! Whew! These dogs. Whew, you don’t know! She can do anything! An-y-thing Now, it’s just you who has to step up to the plate.” Did he just challenge me? Watch out!
To this day, she has a healthy respect for Tyril that I aspire towards. If I remained fearful of myself, fearful of Mika or fearful of the training, we wouldn't be where we are. I have to say that Mika is an exceptionally bright dog with a high drive to please. She is easy to train. She picks it up easy. Ninety nine percent of the time if she isn't getting it it's because I'm not clear. And Tyril doesn't hesitate to tell me. "Jenny, you have to trust that your dog will do it!" And then he tells me how my body language expressed my fear and distrust. Her issues as a rescue dog are minor and Tryil assures me are trainable. I call him at least once a week. He's my sponsor, my therapist, my RX.
He tells me stories of other dogs abilities and asking me if I've had enough of the the training. I respond, "I'm not even going to answer that. With stories of other dogs you are just baiting me to keep raising the bar."
One of my wishes was to not be one of those people in the park who yell and scream their dog's name or NO over and over again with very little response from the dog. I live in a very busy, stimulating city with many situations and people that require me to have complete control over my dog. I can't or won't live a life structured around her behavioral quirks. I want her to be able to take her anywhere. Just today Mika was playing very rough with her buddy, Billy the blue Dane and she immediatly came when I called her. I was shocked. This would NOT have happened 3 weeks ago. And she goes down immediatly on command without a struggle.
There is still a lot more to do. A lot. Training has only just begun.
Her future:
To be able to go anywhere in any situatution
Agility champ
Search and Rescue work
Watch out Hollywood
P.S She is now jumping through my encircled arms! And what did Tyril say when I called to tell him? " Just make sure you are doing it right." It'll have to wait til our next session when he will, no doubt , "clean things up."
Training has been long, hard work. There were days when I wanted to give up and was at a complete loss. I read books, searched the internet, called for help, got advice, went on instinct but it wasn't until I started working with Tyril that things came together. As per today we have had 7 official sessions with Tyril and about 4 practice sessions. That's not a lot for a rescued Mali. He has seen her potential and I guess mine from day one when I would eavesdrop on his sessions.
Tyril has pushed me even when I resisted. He has helped explain behavior and break down training sessions in digestible bits. He always explains or I always ask the concept of what we are doing. There are times when I've had to trust him despite my reservations and it's always turned out for the best. In anything that you do, if you stay in your comfort zone you don't move. Those first few training sessions were difficult. And for Mika too. She had to learn that she wasn't in charge . That wasn't a pretty lesson. Thank god I found a trainer who knows Mals and has no fear.
“She is Malinois! Man! A Malinois. This is not your ordinary dog. She is MAL-i-nois, man! Whew! These dogs. Whew, you don’t know! She can do anything! An-y-thing Now, it’s just you who has to step up to the plate.” Did he just challenge me? Watch out!
To this day, she has a healthy respect for Tyril that I aspire towards. If I remained fearful of myself, fearful of Mika or fearful of the training, we wouldn't be where we are. I have to say that Mika is an exceptionally bright dog with a high drive to please. She is easy to train. She picks it up easy. Ninety nine percent of the time if she isn't getting it it's because I'm not clear. And Tyril doesn't hesitate to tell me. "Jenny, you have to trust that your dog will do it!" And then he tells me how my body language expressed my fear and distrust. Her issues as a rescue dog are minor and Tryil assures me are trainable. I call him at least once a week. He's my sponsor, my therapist, my RX.
He tells me stories of other dogs abilities and asking me if I've had enough of the the training. I respond, "I'm not even going to answer that. With stories of other dogs you are just baiting me to keep raising the bar."
One of my wishes was to not be one of those people in the park who yell and scream their dog's name or NO over and over again with very little response from the dog. I live in a very busy, stimulating city with many situations and people that require me to have complete control over my dog. I can't or won't live a life structured around her behavioral quirks. I want her to be able to take her anywhere. Just today Mika was playing very rough with her buddy, Billy the blue Dane and she immediatly came when I called her. I was shocked. This would NOT have happened 3 weeks ago. And she goes down immediatly on command without a struggle.
There is still a lot more to do. A lot. Training has only just begun.
Her future:
To be able to go anywhere in any situatution
Agility champ
Search and Rescue work
Watch out Hollywood
P.S She is now jumping through my encircled arms! And what did Tyril say when I called to tell him? " Just make sure you are doing it right." It'll have to wait til our next session when he will, no doubt , "clean things up."
posted by Jen at 7:38 PM
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