I get people all the time that tell me I must really enjoy my life.  They think hanging out with dogs all day long is just heaven compared to their corporate gig they do from their cube under fluorescent lights.

When I first started training full time I felt pretty odd telling people what I did for a living.  I was still in the mindset of my corporate days, and just felt strange saying "I’m a dog trainer."  Slowly but surely I started realizing that every time I told anyone what I did they would invariably say "how cool" or something like that and launch into questions.  This phenomena really peaked last night at my first Christmas party of the season.  

I was attending a corporate function (it’s name shall remain anonymous), the kind I went to over and over in my business days. But last night every time I met someone at the party and told them what I did we managed to get into an interesting conversation.  This hardly ever happened in the old days when I told folks I was in sales!  You tell someone you are a dog trainer though, and all of their nervousness and pretense drops away, they just start talking, asking questions, and generally open up.  It’s why I got into training to begin with.  Everyone loves to talk about their dog and what it’s up to.

Most people know about the study that shows how dogs reduce people’s blood pressure when present, but I’m starting to believe that just talking about dogs with people does the same thing.  I can’t prove it, but I certainly saw a major change in people last night at the party when they asked me "what do you do" and the words dog trainer came out of my mouth.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works
www.fideliodogblog.com
512.231.8095