Public Wrecks

When I go to a clinic or seminar given by an animal trainer guru I watch the event differently than most people. I watch for the wrecks and how the trainer pulls out of them without giving away the fact he or she just had something go haywire.

I’ve also noticed that most of the men tend to never, ever admit they just had a wreck, while most of the women will tell the audience that something went wrong and this is how they are fixing it.

I’m a connoisseur of wrecks because I’ve had so many of them myself. I mentioned in an earlier post about the wreck where I got a rope around a foal’s neck and then didn’t know what to do next. That is how most wrecks happen. You do something and then don’t know what to do next.

Since that first incident with the foal I’ve put ropes, halters, collars, and harnesses on hundreds of animals (including my daughter) and gone beyond the first step to a subject trained to lead perfectly.

I mention my daughter because, after halter and collar breaking hundreds of horses and dogs, I had an all mighty wreck teaching my daughter to wear a harness.

I know some of you are going to object to the idea of a child wearing a harness, but my view point is this: I put a lead on a horse or dog to keep it safe because it is valuable. Much as I love animals my children are far more valuable to me than any of those animals. Therefore I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

My daughter was an active curious toddler that got into everything. One day at a mall, after several other incidents, she got away from me and stuck her head through some railings. I thought we were going to have to call the fire department to get her out. But fortunately we finally got her head turned just the right way to get it out of the “stocks” she’d put herself into.

I spotted a store for children and went in to ask if they had harnesses. I’d worn one as a child and decided maybe my grandmother had been on to something. The store had such harnesses and I bought one. Once we were outside the store I went to a bench, sat down and put the harness on my daughter.

Every thing was fine for a few moments. Then she spotted something she wanted to see up close and took off. When she hit the end of the lead she stopped looked around incuriously at the lead and then threw a bucking fit worthy of any foal or puppy I’d ever trained.

The fit was so impressive that when I went in the store with her two years later to buy a replacement harness the sales lady commented when I put the new harness on her, “That’s nice. One time we had a woman buy a harness and put it on her kid out front. The kid had a temper tantrum that lasted fifteen minutes.”

I blushed, but confessed, “That was us. I’d recommend to anyone who is going to put a harness on a child that they do it at home the first time.”

Why I didn’t realize I’d have to teach her to wear the harness and lead just as I would a foal or puppy is typical of the blind spots we have concerning other humans. They need for new things to be taught step-by-step the same way an animal does and we cause all sorts of problems for them and ourselves by not learning how to do this.

Lazy Trainer’s Tip

Don’t assume anything when introducing something new to human or animal. Learn all the steps of the process from the first one (getting the rope on) to the final step; a companion leading quietly on a loose lead.

Additional tip

The harness and lead saved my daughter from any number of bruises and skinned knees because when she tripped, instead of falling, she was supported by the harness and let down easily instead of hitting the ground.