I have been to 3 of Michael's seminars through the years....he is beyond gifted & just fun & nice to be around. Wish I could have gone to his school for 3 months of classes. Jealous like Bob said.

i get the jealousy thing guys . . . but believe me , i'm trying to be the student i know you all would be .

this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and i aim to make the most of it .

Very cool. Add me to the list of those being jealous. What a great thing to have the time to do something like that. Wish I could have done that about 3 dogs ago.

you know greg , i didn't actually have the time to do it . it has made a big disruption , both financially and chronologically , in my life . being a strictly routine based cancerian , it was a big leap to leave my family , friends , job ( leave of absence ) house and property that i love , hobbies and sports activities to travel X thousand kilometers and re-set myself here .

my wife had been bugging me for years to get into the dog training game / business because i really do love working with people and their dogs , but i have too much respect for dogs , people and the profession of dog training to have gone forward without some kind of formal training first .

i honestly can't say i did a lot of research into other schools and trainers . it could be that after having discovered michael ellis through this website and acquiring a bunch of his DVD's , his approach to dogs , people and training both seems to align so easily with my own beliefs ( even in cases where i didn't know what my beliefs were until i heard him so clearly put them into words ).

attending this school has provoked me to research others approach to training dogs , but for the time being i want to get a good handle on what is being taught here , understanding the theory and learning the all important physical mechanics of doing the job .

i gotta thank my wife for kicking my ass down here because in the end it was she who encouraged ( forced !? ) me to take the plunge .

A wonderful thing here, you go home and spread the "good" around, help folks to make the most out of the dog that they have, instead of throwing in the towel and getting a new dog.

Might even save some good ones from the needle.

I have to salute anyone who is able to follow their passion to the extent you have, Ian. Good on you. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences during the training and what happens afterward.

ironically , i just got an e-mail from my one and only ( so far ) paying client . he was just updating me on how much better life is around their house since i started working with him , his wife and their dog . we had gotten in a condensed four session " marker training 101 " and gotten a start on the dogs' doorbell / strangers in the house issues before i left for california .

that felt really good , and has really motivated me ( even more ! ) to learn the skills , the progressions and the strategies to take home and help this family and others strengthen the relationship they have with their canine family members .

Tell us "pearls", little things maybe Michael mentions...perhaps things not on tapes.
EG-
I remember an old veterinarian said that cattle like people to move SLOW and no talking, they live in a still and quiet world. That tip helped me all the years of my practice.

I'm sure you'll hear some dog tips that seem obvious, once you hear them....but are things we may not have thought about.

https://www.facebook.com/125495517463220/photos/a.306392299373540.83375.125495517463220/1096671307012298/?type=1&theater

:-)

thanks for posting that link tanya . . .

as for pearls , the one i can think of right off , which i actually heard first back in '12 , was this :

" there are no bad lion trainers "

the meaning of which is this . . . any bad lion trainer is probably out of the business or dead . you can't make a lot of mistakes training lions . dogs , on the other hand , can withstand of lot of errors on our part , and the dog and trainer will still survive and hopefully live on to recover from the error .

takeaway lesson : don't put too much pressure on yourself ( and your dog ) to get things absolutely perfect every time . you will make mistakes . the important part is to recognize them , learn from them , and move forward .