Heeding the call from the Sonoma SPCA for volunteers, I am currently taking classes on being a volunteer dog walker. Now, one would not guess that there's a lot to learn about walking dogs, especially if one has been walking dogs for more than 50 years. But that would be a faulty assumption! It seems there are hundreds of things to learn about leashing up a canine and strolling it across the property.
In short, it is harder to be a certified SPCA dog walker than it is to be a parent! No one really gets a lot of lessons in parenting, you just sink or swim. Someone might help you with diapering skills or explain how to sterilize baby bottles but other than reading a couple of books about sleep patterns and the right stroller to buy, most parenting is on-the-job training. And usually the kids turn out okay!
But the dog walking curriculum covers everything from different dog collars and harnesses, leashes, dog safety (from dog and human points of view), how to give a dog a treat, how to pet them, how to rate their poop on a seven point scale, when to maintain eye contact, how to manage a huge dog as it pulls you across the muddy lawn, and on and on. All of the information is good but so far I have gone to three classes, had one Zoom meeting and I have yet to actually walk a dog!
But I will persevere! Tomorrow I get to "shadow" a dog walker to see how it is actually done. I am sure I will learn more valuable tips on dog management but I just want to meet the dogs and walk them and make them happy for a few minutes. Turns out that if you are a stellar dog walker and last at the job long enough you can eventually be trusted to take the dog off the SPCA property! Perhaps take a dog to the beach! Or to a park, or go on a hike! Needless to say, I am looking forward to this sort of adventure.
I will keep you posted on how the training progresses and if I actually get to walk a dog.
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