Why did I name my training business Wagline? Because “I trained my crazy dog and I can train yours” didn’t fit on a business card.
I am joking (a little). My dog has been a challenge. Fear issues, reactivity to other dogs, hyperactivity, ADD and more. When I told someone she was returned to rescue by her first owner, the person replied, “I can see why.”
I was overwhelmed, not by just my dog’s behavior but by the many, many, many training options. They may have been very different but even ones that directly contradicted each other seemed to make sense. Even people that follow the same training philosophy had different advice on the best way to handle my dog’s issues. I tried a lot of things. Some things worked, but caused other problems. Some things would have required a huge time investment. Some things didn’t work at all. And some things that I thought were ridiculous actually turned out to be the best solution.
So what did I do? I studied how dogs learn. I paid attention to what worked best for my dog. I found a number of highly regarded trainers and asked them what they thought, considered their ideas, then asked them more questions. The more I learned about dog behavior, the more I wanted to learn. I educated myself on classical conditioning, the four quadrants of operant conditioning and the pros and cons of each. I used my time wisely, focusing on working on the behaviors that really needed to change and moving other behaviors down the priority list.
So what does this have to do with the name Wagline? I want to help people avoid the confusion and detours that I experienced and find the quickest and most efficient path to training their dog. And I want the training to create a well-behaved, happy and confident dog. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points and dogs wag their tail in many situations to indicate they are happy. Put them together and you have Wagline.