Dog Training in Denver: Weekly Roundup – Episode 4

Posted on March 23rd, 2018 by FetchMasters in Uncategorized

Dog Trainers in Denver Work Harder than You Know. United Airlines Buggers it Up Again With Transporting Dogs. The Need for Relaxation — For Dogs and People.

Dog Trainers in Denver work Harder Thank You Know

You may not be able to tell by this article’s picture … of Tom relaxing on the front porch, drinking a cup of coffee while his dogs laze around watching passers-by. Frankly, we all should enjoy more mornings like that. (Oh, in if you want your dogs to be that calm outdoors, contact FetchMasters. We’ll get them there for you.) But I digress.

That picture certainly does NOT illustrate all of our mornings. In fact, it illustrates very few of our mornings.

All of our team members spent from about 11 AM to dark searching for a lost dog who slipped his lead and ran for the hills. When we could not find him before nightfall, all of our trainers and friends at Club Pet mounted a massive online search, contacted every shelter we could find, and put up posters everywhere. The search continued the next day from dawn until about 3 PM. Tom could not sleep and worked 36 hours straight to help locate the dog.

And locate it, we did. In the process, we hiked dozens of miles through tough terrain. Prayers were answered and our efforts and relentless search was blessed. The dog is now home safe with its family.

All in all, it was the most grueling and difficult couple of days in the history of FetchMasters, and everyone involved worked extremely hard. Special thanks to all who helped the search effort.

United Airlines Buggers it Up Again With Transporting Dogs

United Airlines cannot seem to get out of their own way. For over a year now, one news story after another outlines an apparent pattern of poor customer service and poor employee attitudes. We like to think of United Airlines as “Not FetchMasters.”

But we make mistakes too, and when we do, we own it and try to get back to providing the best customer service possible. It’s unclear to me if United Airlines is taking making much headway in their efforts to reform.

But, I do have what might be an unusual thought about the recent stories of dogs getting shipped to the wrong places.

In one incident, a dog bound for Kansas City ended up in Japan. And in a separate incident, a dog bound for Idahao ended up in four other states before making it home. United has subsequently cancelled its pet transport program while it investigates these incidents.

These incidents come on the heels of a dog being stuffed into an overhead comartment and dying.

While I’m pretty much no longer a fan of United Airlines, I think it is important to find ways to show grace to others and forgive as much as possible.

While nothing can be done at this point for the dog that died (although I’m sure United gets to fork out some money for that one), the other dogs made it home alive and healthy. So, I’m letting those go. People make mistakes — and I make my share. It’s part of being human. And yes, some mistakes actually are excusable.

So, let’s exuse where we can.

The Need for Relaxation — For Dogs and People

Dogs need to learn to relax … to turn their brains off for a bit. Many dogs, by nature, will keep pursuing what they want to a stubborn and relentless degree. But they do not HAVE to. Some clients think they cannot exercise their dogs enough when, in fact, their dog just hasn’t been taught that it doesn’t get to pursue everything it wants at all times.

Back to the picture for this article: these dogs have been taught that they actually CAN INDEED lay there and not follow their every impulse to chase people walking their dogs down the street, bunnies on the other side of the road, and little kids riding their bicycles. And once they learn to turn it off, they become quite comfortable with the concept.

With our two new locations pushing towards full throttle, the workload of supporting those locations can, at times, be all encompassing. So, I am hereby vowing to do a little relaxing myself.

I know how to work hard. But I also know how to turn it off — which is exactly what I’m doing this weekend. And I’m encouraging all of our Denver dog trainers to do the same thing!

Have a great weekend!