It’s been almost ten years. Ten years since we started Dog Trainers’ Connection.
Some of you know me. Some of you don’t. My name is Joel Filderman and I have been a part of Dog Trainers’ Connection since the beginning.
I was the quiet person who was in the back of the room or the person who took your name when you walked into one of our workshops. I was the person who gave you coffee at one of our refreshment tables and I was the person who designed most of our original flyers.
Bonnie and I started Dog Trainers’ Connection as a means of getting trainers together because we (mainly Bonnie) realized there was a need for that. But over the last 9 years plus Dog Trainers’ Connection has become so much more.
We recently changed our slogan from Sit up and Learn to Uniting Trainers of All Beliefs. The reason was we realized that that had become our mission. We got trainers who couldn’t agree with each other on the “Correct” way to train a dog, brought them together in the same room and got them to talk and listen to each other in (for the most part) a calm and rational manner. We saw that for Dog Trainers’ Connection to truly work we would have to welcome everyone and let them have a voice. Not that we hadn’t done that before but by changing our slogan we were making that statement to the world.
There has been a divide for too long between different factions of the dog training world. Dog Trainers’ Connection is doing its best to close that gap and provide a means for all sides to communicate with each other.
Some of you may be saying “so what does this person know about dog training and why should I read what he has to say?” It’s true. I am not a dog trainer but I have been around them long enough to know that they, like everyone else can only get better by constantly learning and that the best way of doing that is by listening and talking with others.
You’ll be hearing my voice more often as Dog Trainers’ Connection goes forward because I have a lot to say. I will be writing this column for our upcoming blog and I will be a voice on our social media because I have been, as I always called myself, the silent partner of Dog Trainers’ Connection for a long time – and I’m finally speaking up.
Bonnie always ends her comments by saying “DTC you Later!”
I’m going to start a new Dog Trainers’ Connection sign off so you’ll know it’s me…
I’ll DTC YOU SOON.
Well written, I always like you & Bonnie,
great team.
Thanks Rose.
Bonnie and I appreciate all the support you’ve given us through the years.
Joel
Thanks Bonnie and Joel (too bad your name wasn’t Clyde!) for all your work getting us together! I wish I could attend more, but fitting a trip to NYC into my schedule is a challenge (but a nice bit of time off, as I love going there). I totally agree with the “get the two sides talking” thing! At the base of it all there is something that we can each learn from each other to understand what works best, for whom, in which conditions — always keeping the dog’s emtional health in mind.
That would be kind of cool if my name was Clyde but Clyde Filderman just doesn’t sound right! Sorry about NYC and your schedule but hope to see you online at our next webinar.
Thanks again,
Joel