Moments Where You Goofed as a Dog Trainer

I messed up. I need some sympathy in the form of other people telling some screw up stories, so I can feel better about myself
What is a time when you messed up as a dog trainer?


Leo pulls, barks and lunges when he sees other dogs. It's not a fear reaction, it's a "I WANT TO SAY HI RIGHT NOW AND I AM SO FRUSTRATED THAT I AM RESTRAINED BY THIS LEASH" reaction.
I am working on it with LAT, but also ordered a Gentle Leader to help with the lunging.

Well, that came in today, and I was so excited that I decided to put it on him right away. Honestly, it never even occurred to me that he might not like it or that I should maybe take it slow in conditioning him too it. He was curious at first, so I grabbed his head and put it on.

Well...he FREAKED OUT! Rolling and pawing at his face like crazy. I tried to distract him, but in no time he had gotten the nose portion completely off. Now, he won't let me get anywhere near him with it. I pulled out my clicker to go about it the right way, but right now he is not having it.

Sigh....I made this so hard on myself. I could have taken slow steps, and instead we took 5 giant steps backwards and I have to do some major damage control.

I know we will get there eventually, but I am so frustrated at myself for messing it up so quickly and easily.



But...I am sure I can't be alone in the screw up department, so tell some stories to help me feel better (Happy Endings of course the most preferred!) opcorn:

I was so so so terrible a while back. I was trying to brush a few knots out of Nia's coat and she was being so annoying and trying to run away because I guess it hurt a little and then she got impatient and wanted to play ball and tried to snap at my dog brush. I ended up going like NO! STOP IT!!!! and smacked her on the bum not very hard but since I've never done it before, it startled her and then she shut down and went to hide. Gah. You're definitely not alone.

Oh god. So many lol Merlin is my very first puppy ever (we've only ever had adults)

but a big one that I think is REALLY common.. I took an already friendly outgoing puppy...and had STRANGERS give him treats to go say hello. Problem? I now have a dog that thinks that strangers are amazing and also thinks that strangers with food are an invitation for a greeting/will get him some.

It's a work in progress still.

Hahaha ****. I will share my worst moment but I don't know if I will post the video. I had been working with a serious resource guarder that was previously being worked with but in not so great ways. My boss was stoked about our progress and asked for videos, so I started recording sessions on my go pro. We had a super reliable trade going and a good relationship, so I got a little careless when recording. I wasn't paying attention and staring at the camera and can't even say what I did wrong because of how distracted I was, but I actually caught him snapping at me on film. I sent it to my boss and we both laughed about it, but I reminded myself that my undivided attention was important.

I just remember, even seasoned trainers goof!

The other day I was shaping "paws up" with my puppy for the first time. She has just generalized the concept of shaping, because we do a lot of fun work and always have. Anyway, I should have anticipated that she would catch on quickly. I didn't. I ended up marking a full jump onto the surface, which was not what I intended. Before the 3 minute session was over, I did it again. lol
Luckily after my mistakes, I was able get back on track. It was a total noob move. I hate it when I hold my dog back from success.

I do have the video, I'd love to share it. I just have to edit it first because I was talking to my camera guy the whole time and ended up using foul language when I messed up