Consistent training with your teaching schedules

[Carol]

Does anyone have difficultly maintaining a consistent training schedule with your doodles because of your teaching loads/schedule?  I find must more freedom obviously during the breaks and the most difficult times during finals/grading periods. How do you maintain consistency and energy! Thanks for your input!

[shelly]

Hi Carol!  I have the same problem!  Although my 'grading/testing schedule is not as rigorous as yours... my problem is the work load I take home... I teach 2nd grade and there is soooo much preplanning that must go into my teaching, after school obligations and activities not to mention my own kids' schedules.. I also was den mother for both of my boys, which happy to say is now over, and I am the PTSA president for my older son's high school, and  I still am the religion teacher for one of my boys for just one more year.  So I guess the answer to your question is Y-E-S!  I DO find it difficult.  I also feel bad when I have to run out early and can't have our morning playtime together... we actually started training for a barking/ visitor behavior we wanted to eliminate right before school started, but couldn't continue once September came... I will be following this post closely!  Thanks for posting!

[Laura Deutsch]

Hi Everyone,

I also feel terrible. I leave at 7:15 and don't get home until 5:30, usually. WE've had a dog walker come in twice a day since late August. Now that Molly is 8 months, we're changing to once a day....it's just too expensive and she's old enough to hold it in. the thought of her being in the crate all those hours is so difficult. then, in the evening, there's only about 4 hours of time together. Some of it is cooking, cleaning up, and then the fatigue sets in. I'm 60, so the fatigue of teaching all day is way worse than it was in my previous job (10 years ago). I had shorter hours then as well. I try to keep telling myself that she's a dog and our other dogs dealt with us both working full time, but I feel SO guilty. This summer after we got her, I spent 24/7 with her. She was a very very challenging young pup but now she's alot easier (although far from easy). We know the training, which is so vital, is suffering. When I read all the postings on the Training and Challenges group, I really feel 

guilty, since so many of them are at home and able to spend so much time with their dogs, and so much time training. But would I not have her? Or any dog? No way! So I have to continually work on myself not to feel guilty. It does help to talk with others who feel same and have similar crazy schedules. 

[Carol]

Laura thanks for responding and yes it helps to talk to others who have a tinge of guilt. I think the better way to look at this, as I'm doing, is you love your dog and your dog loves you and when you can you do what you can! As several others pointed out it could possibly be because we are teachers/educators we want more. Jane recently posted a discussion about doing some "quick exercises" for those of us with "crazy schedules." I'd love to see/hear more about that! Thanks for sharing!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Laura, I know you feel guilty about not spending enough time with Molly and not enough time training her but you need to realize that she will accept and love you no matter what and she will think that her life is perfect ( what would her comparison be?) because you love her and feed her and spend the time you can with her.  We tend to get all hyped up about being perfect and doing everything everyone else is doing (or we think they are doing) and forgetting that while we think they are our children, they are our dogs.  And dogs just love life and us.

[Carol]

Shelly thanks for your reply! I appreciate hearing you share your activities. I sometimes feel guilty that I have so much going on and can't always get to or give to my doodles. They do become like your children so I sometimes feel like a bad mom, but it's encouraging to hear that I'm not alone and reassuring to know we are all trying to do our best. I too hope others respond with how they manage and what tips or tricks they have to offer!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I find this to be true also.  I think it is because we periodically have more free time, we have trouble adjusting when we lose it - we just look forward to when we will have it again and plan for it.  Many of our peers do not have jobs where they get weeks at a time off and never get that special time we do (they do not know what they are missing).  This is the major perk of a job in education as far as I am concerned. I went into teaching solely for the time off to be with my family (my husband was already teaching  when I went back to college and chose a career). I love teaching and working with children so that was a plus for me, but my philosophy has always been that I work to afford to live, I do not live to work.  I have just exchanged children for doodles for my free time activities and now I am actually exchanging my doodles for a grandchild now.  Poor doodles.....

[Carol]

Yes I absolutely agree! The freedom, flexibility, and the time I can spend with my family is something I would never trade! And you hit the nail on the head when you said, "I think it is because we periodically have more free time, we have trouble adjusting when we lose it - we just look forward to when we will have it again and plan for it." This is definitely my problem and because of it I feel like my training work with my doodle digresses. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself because I think overall I have it pretty good!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I think you are too hard on yourself but I think it is something that is ingrained in the teacher mind. Our first dog was such a sweetie, but every fall when we returned to school, she would dig the yard up probably trying to find out where her family went (from 5 to none in one day!) Obviously we felt so sad to leave her, but each year she adjusted pretty quickly.

[shelly]

I agree... don't you think that EVERYTHING we do, we expect perfection of ourselves???  I think that's just the 'nature' of a teacher-person... Perhaps our need to strive to be the best is what drove us to be a teacher in the first place... and don't you always want to make everything better???  I used to be the same way when my kids were babies and I would have to go back to work after a vacation... I would cry every night of the last day of vacation.... now it breaks my heart with Tori... people tell me I'm nuts to worry about my DOG this way, but.... now SHE'S my baby!  (Oh who am I kidding... I still cry when it's time to go back - but THIS time it's either for Tori, or ME! LOL)... I think it's about 32 more days until my next break, but who's counting!

:o)

[Carol]

Shelly that's funny!  ;-) I do think you're right however, it's because we are teachers we want to ensure our students learn, advance, and grow and I guess that goes for our dogs! So when my dogs aren't quite where they need to be I look at myself as the "teacher" and wonder where I went wrong.  I too have spring break marked in BOLD RED and after 2 days back I'm ready for it too ;-)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Don't forget MLK birthday in JANUARY.  And then in February there are the Presidents days. March is not good for vacations but it does have doodle birthdays, and then  April.....

[Carol]

Nancy I think you are correct!  I do tend to be hard on myself but as you and Shelly noted, it's probably why we're teachers! Thanks for the support and permission to relax a little!