February 25-27, 2010, 8 other professional dog trainers and myself participated in a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) seminar in Orlando, Florida. Wikipedia.org describes NLP as, "In contrast to mainstream psychotherapy, NLP does not concentrate on diagnosis, treatment and assessment of mental and behavioral disorders. Instead, it focuses on helping clients to overcome their own self-perceived, or subjective, problems. It seeks to do this while respecting their own capabilities and wisdom to choose additional goals for the intervention as they learn more about their problems, and to modify and specify those goals." The seminar was conducted by Larry Sonntag of Salty Dog Farms, a Hunt and Obedience professional dog trainer and a life/business coach who is certified in NLP. The seminar was hosted by Robin MacFarlane of That's My Dog.
It was truly a life changing event for myself and for many of the others. Larry presented amazing information in an intense but fun format which included break out sessions to practice the new skills. Immediately, we were able to see how the new skills would enhance our business relationships as well as personal relationships. It was truly an unique experience as Larry brought his experiences of life coaching and dog training to our trainer seminar.
Having come from a career of law enforcement and social work, I've used various counseling theories and techniques my whole career. However, I hadn't before been exposed to NLP. It is a very effective way to problem solve and gain confidence in new situations. And, I can see how valuable this can be for my dog training clients. By learning new dog handling skills, clients build their ability and confidence to better manage and train their dogs. However, some times clients are still left with self limiting beliefs as they focus on past experiences. By adding NLP to my tool box of dog training techniques, I can help clients design new life changing relationships for themselves, their dogs and others. To get started, contact Michael Burkey a professional dog trainer in Michigan.
