Whenever I introduce enrichment, I use the analogy of young children going to kindergarten. In that environment, they’re given opportunities to build confidence, be creative, practice their motor skills, socialize with other kids of the same age, and the like.
Dogs need opportunities to enrich their lives too, and dog guardians can provide these opportunities to meet their unique needs. That’s my goal for my clients, and my aim when I stepped into August Cafe yesterday to host Doggy Talks.
With lots of prayers and well-wishes from friends and family, we hosted 13 attendees, some with their dogs, some without. I shared the definition of enrichment, why it’s important for both the dog and the human, and the downside to putting enrichment in the back burner, all of which were from Allie Bender and Emily Strong’s book, Enrichment for the Real World.
Troubleshooting in action
Even though I left the house prepared, I knew there were going to be technical issues that’d get in the way. As we were setting up, the projector wouldn’t flash my presentation right away, so we spent more than thirty minutes getting it to work.
When it finally worked, the projector needed to be at an angle where a huge chunk of the slides were hidden. I had to read the content out loud for everyone. It was quite the task, but I’m just thankful I was able to share the information with the audience.
A clear NO from my dog
What I didn’t expect was Windy stepping out of the cafe, determined to walk away. Customers managed to stop her, but I knew there was something that was scaring her because her “NO” was loud and clear.
When I brought her back, I looked around to see what could be causing her to bolt. It turned out that one of the commercial stand fans the cafe was using was stuck, and it kept making this clicking noise in its effort to move. Knowing Windy and her clear dislike for sudden, clicking or snapping noises, I asked the staff if we could turn it off so I could get her to calm down.
Thankfully she allowed me to bring her into the function room and away from the fans. She quickly recovered, started taking food again, and stayed with me throughout the entire presentation.
Windy continues to be the best partner to learn from. I’m glad she told me exactly what she felt, and we were able to get the scary things out of the way before the presentation.
Dog guardians and their struggles
At the end of the talk, we had our Q&A session. That’s when I saw how there were many dog parents who cared deeply about their dogs, and who’re going through different struggles with behavior.
One shared how her young dog is afraid of thunder, and boy do we get that for 6-7 months. Another shared how her dog would ignore all other dogs on the walk except for her friend’s larger dog. Another had a 5-month old puppy that would pee on mom and dad whenever she greets them.
I wish I could spend all day and all night sharing ideas with them. Although I couldn’t cover everything in detail, I invited them to get in touch if they’re interested in working with me to help with their dogs’ behavior.
Crossing fingers I’ll get to hear from them or meet them in the future! 🤞
Future speaking opportunities
Through August Cafe’s generosity, I’ve gained so much experience and knowledge from this small event. I hope Windy and I would be able to participate in more events as a speaker + demo dog, knowing that lots of people can benefit from the work we do.
Diwa Dogs 
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