OneMind Dogs - From the Dog's Perspective
OneMind Dogs - From the Dog's Perspective
Jane Bowman reveals she used the same training methods with her kids as she learned to use in dog training! | Episode 5
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Jane Bowman has been teaching dogs for over 20 years. She has always lived in Indiana in the USA and has two dogs. Jane enjoys spending time with her dogs, whether it’s training, hiking, or just watching them play.
In this episode, you’ll hear Jane’s story, from being afraid of dogs to LOVING them, and hear more about what inspires her about dogs. Being a former school teacher, she also reveals how she used to use the same training methods with the kids as she had learned to use them successfully in dog training!
Here are some videos links for Jane’s dogs' agility runs:
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You're listening to the One My Dogs from the Docs Perspective podcast. Hi, it's your host, Nora Kiscari, and we are here to talk about personal dog journeys and how we can be the best possible dog owners from the dogs' perspectives, of course. I'm super passionate about understanding the dogs' perspectives and with that helping others to have a happy and balanced life with their dogs. It is always very inspirational to hear from others their journey with their dogs and learning more about the dog's perspective. Today I have a privilege to talk with someone who loves dogs and loves spending time with them. Today's guest is a former elementary school teacher who reveals that she needs to use the same training method with the kids as she learned successfully used with in dog training. Today we will talk with Jane Bowman from the United States and about her journey with her dogs, and we'll hear more about what inspires her in dogs. Jane, welcome to the podcast. Tell us a little bit more about yourself.
SPEAKER_00Well, I, as you mentioned, I am a retired elementary school teacher. I taught little kids for many years. I have been training dogs for 20 some years, and I actually kind of stumbled into agility. I just got a little dog. The father had done agility, so I thought I would play around with it. And it didn't take me long to be hooked. I love it. And um, that's about it. I've just I retired from teaching, and um, in my retirement, I built a little building out in my back area of my yard, and I have classes and people come over and we play agility a lot.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that sounds so much fun. Um what can you tell us a little bit of your very first experience with dogs? Do you remember when that happened? And did you know from the beginning that one day you'll have your own dog?
SPEAKER_00Well, actually, no, I didn't know from the beginning. Uh, we had had a cat growing up. I was actually quite scared of dogs when I was little. We had a couple of mean dogs in the neighborhood that people let loose, and and so it just scared me of dogs. And I was about, oh, probably about five. And I was outside playing with my sisters and a couple of their friends, and one of them brought his little dog over. It was um probably a Sheltie mix, knowing what I know now. Um, but it was a very nice little dog, but I was still scared of it. Um and it came over and it jumped on me and um just stayed on me, and I like froze. I was scared to death. And my sister said, Well, just petting. He just wants you to pet him. And so I like really bravely petted the dog, and then he licked me in the face. From then on, I love dogs. I mean, I I couldn't get enough of dogs, so so it took me a while to um want a dog, but I yeah, I uh wanted a dog really badly after that, but it took several years to get one.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that sounds that's actually really good learning journey, like story from from from cats to dogs. Sorry.
SPEAKER_00Um Yeah, I still like cats, but dogs are my my thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, okay. Uh what about then, like if you think about dogs? Um, I don't know that much about cats, so let's focus on dogs today. So what inspires and motivates you with with dogs?
SPEAKER_00Um, well, I just like well, I like the bond that dogs give you. I mean, they they love you no matter what, basically. And I love um training them. And I think that's part from being a teacher. I like to see learning, but dogs are just so easy to train and just so much fun to train. And to be honest, it's it's more than that. I love just taking them for walks on hikes and and letting them run and know that they're going to come back when I call them. That's a big thing for me.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, that's that's um something that we hope that everybody, everybody could experience. So, so that's that's really inspiring. In this podcast, we want to share real life stories about how learning more about the dogs perspective actually had impacted the life with dogs. Jane, you have joined One Mind Dogs community soon 10 years ago, um, if that's right. Um, tell us how did you get started with One Mind Dogs initially?
SPEAKER_00I think it's been a long time, but I think I just heard people talking about it at a dog trial. There was somebody out there, we were just watching somebody run their dog at an agility trial, and somebody mentioned that they do One Mind Dog, and I'm like, what is that? I I didn't even know what it was at first. I mean, way back 10 years ago. And I went home and I looked it up online and I started investigating it, and it had tons of stuff on there. I mean, I was eager to learn, but I had nowhere to go to learn things back then. And finding this handy online where I could just search and find what I wanted to train, and even more than I even knew I wanted to train. I mean, there's just so much stuff on there. I I joined immediately. It was the best thing I ever did.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so great to hear. What about if you think about the biggest aha or light bulb um moments in in dog training or in in dog training in general or in in learning more about the dog's perspective? What do you think is the biggest, um, biggest moment there?
SPEAKER_00Well, um, I think my biggest was when I first started agility, I had a tiny little Havanese, and I love that dog, and it he did well. We did pretty well. I was not doing one mind dog then, but I knew we were missing a lot. And then I got another dog that was a rescue dog, and she's a bigger dog, she jumps 20 inches, and she is super high drive and very, very fast. And I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to do with her, and once going through one mind dog, then working on the dog's line, I think that was my biggest moment. When I first started agility, we would run up to a jump and send the dog over a jump, you'd run to the next jump and send the dog over the jump, and you didn't worry about their line. And with a little tiny dog that I mean, it was okay back then. I was younger also, but 10 years later, I am not so young, and my dog is very fast. And working the dog's line, I can do distance, I can do it. It has been the best thing for me. We actually do very well, and I am not a very fast handler, I'm 67 years old, and just working the dog's line has helped me so much with this dog.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so well described. Um, if you think about like people who are not that familiar with dog agility yet, how is there something that you could describe the dog's line or in general dog's perspective and what has been their like the biggest um kind of mind shift for what you used to think and what you started to learn um after after learning more about the dog's perspective? Is there something else or some other way you could describe it for people who are not that familiar with this sport?
SPEAKER_00Well, I can tell you an example of what I did wrong before I learned the dog's perspective. When I was training my little Havanese, I was training him on the A-frame, and I would tell him yes, or I would use a clicker to click when he went down the A-frame. Now, back then I didn't have a real A-frame, we had just made one, and it was uh smaller than a regular A-frame, so I was having him run over the A-frame and I would reward him. And from my perspective, I was rewarding him on the yellow for coming down on the yellow. And when we get to the trial and he'd go to a big A-frame, he would come down and jump right before the yellow. And I didn't realize for the longest time until I actually watched the video and I started thinking about it from the dog's perspective, he learned it that coming down the A-frame to take three hops down and then jump off. When he went to the big A-frame, he would still jump three hops and jump off, but he was not in yellow there. Um, if you think about what the dog is thinking and and from their perspective on not just that, but on jumps, on where they're gonna jump and what they're looking at, it's entirely different than what your perspective is in most cases. It makes a great deal of difference in in the ease in your handling. Um, if you think about it from what the dog is looking at, what the dog is even thinking, it's a real eye-opener.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Well, that's that must have been a good light bulb moment at that time. It's it's so funny that we sometimes think uh like it's the the funny part comes when we realize these things that, oh, it's also obvious, but in the beginning we feel that there is nothing there. But then when we realize it, the dog's perspective is actually totally different. So that's the moment. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. What about like if you think about then um your journey with with your dogs and training them? Um then usually there are lots of successes, but then typically we also have some challenges or hurdles with with in that journey. Um, have you had any any of those uh challenges that you could mention or that you have learned most of uh with your dogs?
SPEAKER_00Well, I kind of touched on that um earlier when I got my um rescue dog, who was so fast and I am not fast, I was lost. I just I would um I was still at my perspective and I would be sending her around telling her what I thought I was telling her to do, and she would take like three or four jumps and before I could blink an eye. And I'm like, I didn't tell her. I mean, so when I started looking at it from her perspective, my arm going way out, I mean, it it's center out there, and where I was pointing, my chest laser was pointing at the direction she was going rather than where she needed to go. And once I started thinking about her perspective, I actually could run this dog. I mean, I really thought for a while that she was just too much dog for me, and other people actually even told me that. And or they told me, you need to slow that dog down, you need to slow that dog down. I'm not slowing the dog down, I just need to learn how to run her. And by using like my chest laser, the dog's perspective, she is really big on uh my um eyes, where I'm looking, it works for her, and um that is probably one of the most things that has helped me with her is the dog's line and and her commitment, um, my contact with her. We have come a long way, and I can't believe that I can actually run this dog that is fantastic, and we're actually doing it.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Well, that sounds so good. I think all the listeners must also go and see some videos of you training and competing, so you must send me some links after this recording session, so so we can see I can do that. Yeah, that's that would be great because it sounds so um exciting and inspiring. That what you just described, it's absolutely one of the top highlights um in your like dog career and journey. But if you think of some other highlights of your life and life with your dogs, could you mention or do you want to mention something else?
SPEAKER_00Well, um, I I like to do pretty much anything with my dogs. You know, we have gone to some events, but I can't say that that's my main highlight. My the biggest thing that I enjoy is just being with them, training them, walking them in the woods is fantastic. Just enjoying them, tugging with them. That is probably my biggest highlight with my dog.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that sounds so I would love to be your dog, you know? That's a good like.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think they have a good time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, if you think about people who are thinking of having uh their first dog or their new dog, and they want to start over and from the beginning um with the with the like like from zero, um, what kind of tips uh would you tell these people that um like regarding training their dogs and their how to bring up a puppy very well? And so what are your kind of top tips for new dog owners?
SPEAKER_00I would get them out and around other dogs and people as much as possible, way more than you think you should probably really protect their confidence while you're doing that. Um, I think if a dog is very confident, you can teach them most anything. But I would get them out and get them around. Also, One Mind Dog has wonderful puppy uh foundations, and um I would be working on those. I mean, some of those games are fantastic that only takes maybe five minutes at a time to do with the puppies. I did a lot of them with my um, I have a two-year-old border collie, and I went through the puppy foundation with her. I would highly recommend doing that. Uh, it just makes the dog more bonded to you and you have a stronger connection, besides, of course, teaching them agility important things.
SPEAKER_01Well, that sounds really good. What do you think, like um people who have not done agility before, like if you would kind of trying to get those people to get started, um, for example, with One Mind Dogs Agility Foundations, what are kind of your um statements like why people should try um agility, even even the foundations only? What's your opinion on that?
SPEAKER_00Well, even if, okay, if if you did the puppy foundations, even if you did not at some point want to do agility, but I think you would, um it's just it's kind of um addictive, I guess you could say, once you get going, because it's so much fun with the to work with the dog. But the foundations will make a much better dog and a much better bond with your dog, and then it will prepare you to be ready to do more agility. I mean, you could actually go all the way through doing one my dog, but you need to have your dog out and about other dogs so that when you do go to a trial, they're not scared or worried about the other dogs. So I would search for somebody that trains the way you want to be trained, and that is that works with one mind dog, or at least is willing to let you do one mind dog in their class. Okay. And even if they don't do one mind dog, once they see how well your dog's doing, they probably will start doing one mind dog. But I would start at foundations and you could keep going, and and there's everything in there to train your dog all the way up from simple handling moves to much more complicated handling moves to how to start a trial. Um, there's just everything that you don't even know you need to know in there. Um, but I would also get them out and about. I think that's equally important because if your dog knows everything and is scared in an trial environment, then they're not gonna perform well. So um I think both of those are important.
SPEAKER_01Well, after this, I bet that many of our listeners will will definitely have a try uh with with dog agility. And it is it is for sure, it is very addictive. So that's true.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, it's just so like when you start getting those little successes with the with the dog, it's just the the feeling is just so positive for you and the dog. So that's the addiction I I think. Yeah, I I agree with that. Yeah, you just need to need to get more. But hey, okay, we all want to hear more about what you mentioned to me earlier, that you have used the same methods with kids as with dogs. Hey, please tell us more about that.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's mostly positive reinforcement. I would tend to get um ornery little kids if previous teachers had a little bit of trouble with them on their behavior. I would often get those kids the next year. Because I worked a little differently, I didn't do a lot of punishment or anything. What I did would be reward the children for what they were doing correctly. And I could go into big detail, but basically it is I gave them a token of you can't give them candy or anything like you would give a dog treat, but I would give them a little token and they could collect their tokens. I when I started this, I did not realize how much they like these tokens, uh, but they loved getting them, just getting them. And if I um saw them being good, you can go get a token. If I um I had one little boy that didn't want to come to reading, he was gonna um sit under his desk and pouch and like, you don't have to come. I you know, I'm not gonna make you. And um, so the other kids were over there, we were laughing and having a good time, and they were getting um their little tokens because if they worked hard, they would get a token. If they answered a question, they would get a token. And pretty soon this little boy was scooting over, scooting over, scooting over closer and closer and closer. And the next thing I knew he was sitting in the chair, and I just acted like that was normal. And he answered a question. I gave him a token, and I never had a problem with him again.
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, that's a great story as well. And we could talk about this topic for hours, I think, uh, because I also agree with you. Um, I also have two boys, and I feel that there are lots of like little details and methods that um actually actually work really well with children as well. And it all starts with learning what's their motivation and how to motivate them and then how to report them. So it's it's the base, the base is the same as with dogs. So yeah, we should maybe talk about this a bit more later at another episode, maybe. And and even um because I would I would think that many many would you know benefit of that discussion as well. But thank you for sharing that. That's a really insightful uh story and also um inspiring for new dog owners that they actually can feel that hey, people are actually taught the same way. So why shouldn't shouldn't us train the dogs the same way as well? Um so that's that's a great question. Um yeah, well, then I have a big question for you. Um, is there if there's only like one thing you could change in the world to make dogs' lives better? Only one thing. What would that be?
SPEAKER_00I would like to have the world more dog friendly and more educated on dogs. I guess that's kind of two, but they kind of go hand in hand. Around where I live, dogs are not accepted in very many places or around town, or you have to pay an extra bunch of money if you want to take a dog to a hotel. And I would like people to be aware that dogs can be well-trained, dogs are an asset to take around, and I don't know, it would just be nicer for the dogs, for the people, if you could if dogs were accepted in more places. There's a lot of hotels that don't allow dogs around here, a lot of places, and it just is kind of sad. Parks, a lot of parks don't allow dogs, and to me that's just really sad.
SPEAKER_01Right. Well, that's a big thing, yeah, but it's a really important point. Um hey, is there anything I didn't ask and you would like to share with us today?
SPEAKER_00Well, um I was trying to think of something, and really I think we've covered pretty much everything I can think of. I would just um um go out and enjoy your dog. Just have fun with your dog.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. I agree that 100%. Hey James, thank you so much for being here today. Um, thanks everyone for listening. One Mind Dogs from the Dogs Perspective podcast. Make sure you follow One Mind Dogs in social media and also tag us and share your moments with your dogs. See you in the next episode.
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