Education

I have been putting more effort into continuing to expand my training related knowledge.  It's an area that I really enjoy reading and hearing more about.  The problem I come up against, as with everything else, is not enough time.  Making time in my schedule to go to a regularly occurring class is definitely outside of the realm of feasible at the moment.  So I gave an online class a try through the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy.  I've done online classes before and I definitely loved them, but my current schedule and time commitments have changed a lot, so I opted to start with a gentler class.  And then my project load and schedule at work kind of blew up.  No mental space for a continually progressing class.  I lasted a couple weeks before it became abundantly clear that I just didn't have the mental space or energy for it.  Okay, so even online classes right now aren't working for me.  It was a little disappointing, but I have found some things that DO work with my often fluctuating schedule.

I don't know how other people are, but I have a really hard time with every day tasks that don't feel productive.  Tasks like driving.  Depending on how traffic is, it can really put a dent in my productivity level.  And when I feel like I already don't have enough time in the day to fit in everything I'd like to, that gets a little frustrating.  So I started listening to podcasts.  I know, I'm late to the party, but podcasts are GREAT!  I feel like I'm using this "down" time to actually learn something and stay up on the latest in whatever realm I so choose at that moment.  No more feeling stagnant and like I'm not continuing to grow.  Plus it has the added benefit of engaging the more logical part of my brain while I'm driving to tamp down that road ragey part a little. ;) I thought that maybe as a recurring part of this blog I'd share one of the podcasts that I currently listen to.  For this month, not surprisingly, one of the podcasts I listen to is the Fenzi Dog Sports podcast.  It's a weekly podcast that interviews one of the trainers teaching a class or webinar through FDSA.  It's a good way to hear a little more about a topic that you may be interested in, but aren't quite sure if the class is for you.  One thing I will say, while I was not successful at taking the class the bronze level makes the "commitment" less scary.  It's inexpensive enough that I didn't mind doing that little experiment and gives me plenty of access to the discussion forums and being able to see the gold level students' videos.  It was a good experience.

Continuing in the FDSA theme, I also decided to test the waters with a webinar this month.  There are weekly webinars that cover a wide variety of topics.  And at $20, it's hard to beat.  I now know that a class, whether online or in a physical location, won't currently work for me, I was hoping that a webinar would.  There are some really great webinars coming up from a few different groups and it just sounds so ideal.  It's a one time experience that you can either join in for the live presentation, or view the recorded session at your convenience.  PERFECT!!  And it worked out great!!  This week I watched Michele Pouliot's Platform Training-Beyond the Basics.  The webinar occurred on Thursday and I watched it on Saturday.  Tanner was working on work for a class that he's taking (not dog related) and I was watching my webinar.  It was a perfectly kick back and nerdy night at home. :)

That's what's currently working for me and keeping me happy.  I feel like I'm continuing to learn more AND I feel like I'm maximizing the less useful chunks of time in my day.  Win-win! 

I did want to add that not all of the podcasts that I listen to are specifically training related.  The more I think to search, the more interesting shows I come across.  I thought it would be fun to also include a non-dog or training specific podcast in these posts.  This month I picked The Dirtbag Diaries.  This show has been around since 2007, so I'm REALLY late the game with this one, but I'm a fan of the outdoor adventure stories and the storytelling skills of the various authors.  The most recent episode, Hootin' & Hollerin', really hit home with me.  It was the recovery story of a climber who had an accident while climbing that shattered his pelvis and broke his back.  His recounting of his time in the hospital and the recovery process hit home so hard with me.  So many of the thoughts that he verbalized were thoughts that had gone through my head.  And I totally agree with him that sometimes to get through tough spots like that, you need a healthy dose of denial to push through and get to where you CAN do things.  Listening to that story, I definitely wanted to include that in this post.  If you enjoy the outdoors and hearing about other people's adventures, you'll enjoy this podcast.

And with that, I'm off to start preparing myself for an involved week at work.  Cheers everyone!