On Bad (human) Behavior

Recently, a dear friend of mine, and one of my favorite dog trainers, was not just treated poorly by a client's significant other, she was bullied.  He used words and positioned his body in such a way that she felt threatened and belittled.  This happened in a training environment, as well as over the phone and via text.  I saw the text messages and they are chilling.  The messages and subterfuge were, by design, aimed at making her feel unsafe.  This is a woman who is very good at what she does and treats her clients and their pets with respect and kindness. Similar situations have happened before to myself and to other females I know who work with animals and their humans. This is simply not okay.

While removing toxic clients from your classes, databases, businesses, etc. can (and should) be done, it doesn't necessarily stop them from being a nuisance at best, and downright scary at worst. While we want to be able to help all of the clients who reach out to us, it has become readily apparent over the years that some don't want help so much as they want to argue, make inflammatory statements, etc. Not really sure what they get out of this, but I do know that they cause a great deal of discomfort for their family members present during these altercations, and they frighten away other class participants who don't want themselves or their pets exposed to such unnecessary bad behavior.

It goes without saying that dog trainers, veterinarians, animal behaviorists, etc. all want to help animals.  To do so, we have to help their people.  When people treat any of us with disrespect, not only can we not help them, their pets suffer.

No one should feel unsafe or belittled in their work environment.  When someone is self-employed, the ability to report such transgressions becomes more difficult.  I often worry that clients with spouses who behave this way toward me or toward their pets, are also being subjected to the same abuse themselves.  This is literally the stuff that keeps me awake at night.

Be good to one another.  Be good to the people who are trying to help you and your pets.  And if you need help with your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.