An attempt to fathom the ocean : This is how I have applied facilitation skills to train my 10 months old puppy, Sophie.
My dear Sophie |
In past few years, I have learned few techniques of facilitation
which i applied on people and humans i.e. termed as stakeholders. These days, I
am putting my facilitation skills to train my 10 months old puppy, named
'Sophie' (Labrador retriever). She is one of intelligent breeds.
After giving her only 10 days of training, she now responds when
I ask questions with limited words and I prefer to use one language so that she
doesn't get confused. She now involves and participates in all activities with
me. She understands few commands which she was completely aloof prior to
training i.e. Sit, get up, behave, down, yes, no, go, come, fetch etc.
I have her personal training charter where I make notes whenever
she wants me to understand her unfleshed behavior. I then involve myself to
research, to know what her unsaid queries are; only by understanding her
posters which is nothing but sometimes her dysfunctional actions.
I underline my thoughts before I start giving her training since
she still has a puppy head. After looking around at several well mannered 6
months old puppies, I have started engaging myself more with her. She used to jump
on people a lot and now she is my well behaved little pup who sometimes gets
delirious with joy. Now, we are one happy team. I never knew it was so simple
even to apply on my pet.
After spending 100s of dollars on dog trainers, I brought myself
on board to understand the problem first. She was not learning something
advanced when out with trainers once a week. Then, I deviated her to understand
the purpose of training by assigning her a daily time schedule. After
personally giving her few regular days training she now comes to me on her own
when she is ready to go out for a walk.
Isn't it amazing. My 10 months old puppy now shows me one happy
face after I engaged myself with her little more to sort out the problem. Two
things I could do, either I always keep her indoors and inside the crate or I
give her freedom to choose to walk anywhere at home by her own choice. I gave
her the choice to walk and talk freely. And, being free she considers herself
empowered to make her own choice and decisions. Now she has my full focus as
both guardian and a guide. She understands the role very clearly and reacts in
the same way.
Yes, this was facilitation which I applied on my pet and it
worked.
Summary of what I did-
- Understand
the problem well.
- Deliver
the purpose of doing facilitation.
- Use
vague language
- Comprehend
the power of questioning right
- Be
always on time and maintain the time schedule
- Work
as a team
- Inform
clearly
- Be
clear of your role
- Make
charters and notes
- Manage
dysfunctional behavior
- Give
focus
- Let
others feel empowered
You can also find this article on my professional account LinkedIn
Hey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! Methodical ways work on everyone willing to learn. And, Sophie is way ahead of her friends in the neigbourhood, I am sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ranveer.
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