E432: Crystal Wing - "Mindset and Mechanics: Thinking About Training"

Transcription

Melissa Breau: This is Melissa Breau and you're listening to the Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast, brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high quality instruction for competitive dog sports using only the most current and progressive training methods. Today I'll be talking to Crystal Wing about balancing mindset and mechanics in training with the goal of expressive and joyful teamwork. Hi, Crystal, welcome back to the podcast.

Crystal Wing: Hi, Melissa, thanks for having me.

Melissa Breau: Absolutely. You want to start us off, kind of remind everybody a little bit about who you are, what you do? Sure. I'm an art teacher turned dog trainer and lately I've been obsessed with relationship. I get in my little rabbit holes and so that's where I am right now. As a high school art teacher, I taught visual literacy and that was my primary goal.

And so now I feel like I'm taking that and kind of teaching emotional literacy maybe might be a good way of calling it for both ends of the leash. Not just for ourselves, but both. I spent 23 years helping teenagers develop identity and confidence, and that was all through creativity as an art teacher. And now I feel like I'm doing the same thing with dogs. And when you say they're people, I don't say owners or handlers.

I never know what to say. Handlers? Yeah, handlers, trainers, whatever you want to say. So maybe if I was in a different place in my training career, I'd be obsessed with something else. But my competition career is kind of on hold right now because of my dogs that I have, which I love them dearly. I have a 9 year old Dutch shepherd and he's my hiking buddy. I actually got him for protection sports, but that didn't work out.

And we tried all the things, so we like to hike. And my 8 year old Malinois got him for protection sports and he's had two hip replacements, so those things didn't work out so much. And then I got Radish, my 4 year old lab Malmix, and she's my search and rescue girl and she gives me kind of the outlet to get to keep doing some of the fun training stuff.

So we're kind of dabbling in some obedience with her. And my passion is bite sports and search and rescue. And here's the thing though, I do wish sometimes that I could love sports that were a little more accessible. Like, I mean, there's agility trials and there's barn hunt and there's like dock diving, like it's every weekend, all the time. And instead I choose like Mondioring and igp, where I've got to drive eight hours to get to a trial, and there's maybe like two a year that I can get to.

But, yeah, that's. That's kind of my story, so. And I guess too, what I'm also into right now because of my rabbit hole. I've been a coach for a lot of years in high school, and I've competed as an athlete through college and up until. Just until my body was getting to be too broken. And something that's really been hitting me is you can't separate mind, mindset and mechanics.

That's always been really important, especially if you want to have any sort of excellence. So I guess now is a really great time for me to embrace this learning journey and kind of share what I'm learning and kind of how I'm working with mindset stuff. And I think just not having a competition dog is letting me kind of embrace this side of life.

Melissa Breau: So let's dive into that a little more. Can you talk us through your six Cs framework for balancing mindset and mechanics? What are we talking about?

Crystal Wing: So I do have to kind of laugh. When I was talking to Amy Miller, I was telling her about I wanted to do this 6C webinar, and she was like, okay. And she thought I was saying 60, like the number six zero. So she's like, you're going to teach about the 60s.

And I was like, oh. And I'm like, going on and I'm all excited and I'm yapping about it. And then finally she's like, I don't get it. Like, how is that the 60s? And then my bad sense of humor, you know, I'm like, you know the song I'm sexy and I know it. And so I'm like, the 60s are like the sexy part of training, you know, where.

Where I. You probably have to edit all this out. But it's, you know, we talk about the sexy part of training, you know, and really, to me, this is that it's, it's the. The kind of the rhythm behind the effective training. And I took the idea, adapted it from my training buddy and mentor, Nancy. She's a brilliant trainer, and I was in her puppy class and kind of a helping and.

And then she later said that she borrowed it from a psychology therapy kind of thing called ifs. And so I thought it was really cool how this all came to be because then somebody's like, oh, that's ifs. And I'm like, ah, what is that? Like, but I did choose different Cs than what Nancy had originally shared in her class. And so I took. So the ones I chose, I'll just say them.

I took compassion, connection, clarity, confidence, curiosity and creativity. And I put a lot of thought into what order that I put them. And the way that I see it is they help you understand not just what you're doing, but who you are while you're doing it. And that's where I've seen a lot of transformation happen. And I say that because I've been teaching it across the country this last summer.

And it's, it's not steps, it's not a recipe. I think so much we kind of, especially when we're beginning, we kind of think as training is linear, you know, step one in the progression, step two in the progression. But I don't see any training as linear. Um, I see it as kind of states that we're rotating through in every session. So when I think about my six Cs that I've kind of developed, compassion is the foundation.

And that's what lets me see the dog clearly. Then I build connection and I feel like that's where the dog gets to be seen or gets to at least feel seen. And then clarity, that's where we communicate all of our goals. That's the mechanics. And then that builds confidence because the confidence is the response to that clarity. And it's all guided through curiosity because that's what's keeping us learning.

Not just me, but my dog too. I like a curious dog. They're fun. And then creativity keeps us adaptable. So this summer we taught a week long camp in Iowa. And what I loved, every morning we would say, what's your recap from the previous day? And there was no like suggestion that they should talk about anything in particular. It was truly like what was your aha's? And it wasn't about the searching they did or the things their dogs did.

Every single person talked about their C. And that was such like a big moment for me that everybody chose that as the thing that was so powerful for them and how it guided their training. And I still see posts on Facebook of people mentioning their C. And that was months ago. So to me that's when I know that this could be transformational and had an impact more than just what it was having on me.

And I've also had the cool opportunity in Wisconsin. I've been up there four times. It's a year long kind of training group. And they were kind of laughing at me. They're like, great. We got the Cs and the Ds, you know, like, come on. Because we always talk about the Ds, like the distance, duration, difficulty. And so when we're talking about the Cs adding in with that, it's like, it brings all of the mechanical stuff and helps it all kind of have a focus and an intention. Hopefully that makes sense.

Melissa Breau: Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, you're talking a little bit about kind of the building relationships or building the partnership part of things, which is a little bit different, I think, from how we usually think about training. Right. Most people probably think about training most of the time as I've got a problem and I need to fix the problem, or I've got a skill and I got to teach the skill. Right. So how does thinking about them in this way is kind of like building a partnership. How does that change the type of trainer we tend to be or we tend to become?

Crystal Wing: It was honestly one of the biggest transformations in my entire training life and my personal life, too. So I always go back to my years as a high school teacher. I mean, it's still a new transition for me.

It's just been since July. And I look at... There were days that I feel like I showed up as a referee in school. Like, I was breaking up arguments and policing and, like, constantly just putting out fires. And I would come home and I would literally collapse into a nap. It was just everything I could be to even get from my driveway into the house. And it was draining because I was constantly reacting to problems.

The days that I loved, and I couldn't quite figure out the difference, but the days that I loved, I was more of a coach and a collaborator. And those were the days that I felt like I could guide the students. I could ask questions, and when I could ask the right questions, I felt like it helped them discover the solutions. It wasn't just me, like, ah, everybody just sit down for a second.

And so that's where the big shift happened. Because I would leave those days energized. And it was even more work most times because of having to think on your toes all the time. But it was a different kind of work. And it became like a partnership. And I just felt like all of that control was draining me. And when I switched to that partnership with my students, that's when I got the energy.

And it's the exact same thing with dogs. So if I'm showing up trying to control or correct or, you know, be that. That I don't know that person, that referee, I'm, the whole time I'm just bracing my, my whole nervous system. I'm just like on alert, on alert, red flag, you know, what's gonna go wrong next. And I'm troubleshooting before anything even happens. Like I'm looking for worst case scenarios.

And I know my dog can feel that because that tension is happening before I even say a word, before we even start training. But when I show up curious, that was the game changer. And I'm a curious person. So like, why not tap into that? So if I can see it as problem solving instead of problem fixing, that shifts everything. So instead of me thinking constantly like, what do I gotta stop, what do I gotta shut down?

I'm always asking questions, what's my dog showing me? Where's the gap in understanding? What do they need from me right now? And that's where my C's come in. Do they need more clarity? Do they need more confidence? Do we need connection? And that, that policing to partner, I guess you could call it. Oh, that might be kind of a cool little webinar idea. But that, that's what, that's my core now I'm trying to think.

I have so many examples of it. I used, well, I use tracking as my example in the webinar. I tried to choose something that I thought maybe people aren't as familiar with. But it's also a slower paced thing that people could watch and they could understand from the 6C kind of framework. So Checkmate. In tracking, we've had so many struggles and it was a lot of fighting and I would end up the track just feeling so defeated.

And instead I started saying, okay, you're racing down the track. And when I started figuring out, why are you doing that? Where can I backtrack that? It became all the way back to when I was going up to the track. I didn't have the connection starting off like, what a simple little fix, but it was just mind blowing. And then I shared it with Club and we all started working on that approach and that alone was enough that it improved everybody.

And that's the difference. It's not being reactive to fix something. That partnership is being responsive. So instead of me constant like, you're wrong, you're going too fast, you missed a turn. Instead I was like, dude, we're in this together, we got to slow this down and figure it out. So I think that's where it's changed my identity. I'm, oh, that's where my hat came from too. I Always have a hat that I'm.

I don't know, it's just easier to stick a hat on my head. But my favorite one says reinforcer. And the reason for that is because I don't want to be the enforcer. I want to be the guide, and I want to be the one that's the reinforcer. It's my teammate, you know, Like, I want to be bleh. And you know what? I don't just prefer this approach. It's the only way that I can sustainably keep doing what I do and still love it. Like, I'm never going to burn out because of this approach, and that's the game changer for me.

Melissa Breau: Yeah. So you mentioned compassion is kind of the foundation there. When we're talking about that, what does that really look like in training? Like, in real time, Especially if we're starting to feel frustrated or we're starting to feel stuck?

Crystal Wing: You feel frustrated in training?

Melisa Breau: No comment. No comment, Crystal. I've never been frustrated or stuck. I don't know. How do I even answer this?

Crystal Wing: Yeah, I've been there. We're human. We've been there. I think some people might see compassion as being soft or just letting everything slide. And I see compassion as being strategic. I think when I looked up compassion to really fully understand it, because I was kind of getting compassion and kindness confused. And there's a difference, because compassion is where you're able to see the struggle, and it's also where you're going to adjust your plan so you can still reach your goal.

I love visuals. So art teacher. Okay, but the visual that comes to mind. I know, but the visual that comes to my mind, you know, we all have this bar that we're trying to reach, and instead of us thinking about lowering the bar, I think about it as, like, building a bridge or a ramp so that the bar is actually reachable. And that's my visual now that really helps me understand it.

So compassion, honestly, the hardest part for me with compassion is giving it to myself. I'm really good at giving it to my dogs, but when I'm frustrated or stuck, my old patterns, they all come in. And my really old patterns, I would push harder. I would get annoyed. I'd even question if I'm the right handler for the dog. I was always like, you know, this dog deserves somebody better.

I know no one can relate with that. Right. But I guess what I really learned is that behavior itself, it's never finished, and training is always in motion. And especially for myself, if I'm stuck. It does not mean I'm failing. It just means it needs to inform me instead of me thinking that we're done and that I get shame and frustration. So compassion gives me permission. I don't have to give up now.

Sometimes I do. Sometimes I need to walk away, because that's the kindest thing to do for everybody. So, okay. Radish and contact healing. This is a recent one. I was stuck, and I was frustrated. She doesn't like to be super close, and I was working on that, and I was giving it everything I knew, and she wasn't getting it. And I could feel myself start to take it kind of personally, because I'm like, dude, I've given you every different example from every different way I can do it.

And I've followed the webinars, and I followed the coaching, and I followed the progressions, and that's when I needed compassion. So when I need those moments, here's what I do. I pause and I breathe. That one breath is enough that it usually makes me go, okay, Wing, knock it off. Let's approach this differently. And sometimes I can do it in the moment, but a lot of times, I have to take a break and kind of reconvene.

I reach out to my training buddies. I reached out to Denise on this one, and I was like, okay, come on, now. And so what I do is I look at what she already understands. What reinforcement history do I have? What have we used to build things already that can be clear? It's like compassion is creating an entry point where they are at that moment. So instead of pushing through it like I was doing, and both of us being confused and frustrated, I'm going to try to meet them where they are.

And so, to be clear, I created a bridge with my legs. And so I leaned my back against the wall so that she had, like, a small space to go behind me, and she was. That was fun for her. And just her just rubbing past me and touching was enough to start to get the concept of just touching me. And then I could kind of start making that bridge be, you know, bigger and bigger, and I could start to move into the room.

And it was so cool. Like, but who's taught, you know, contact heel that way? It was such a weird thing to do, right? Like, I wouldn't have thought to do that. But I now use that technique to help several other people that had a similar issue approach it in the same way. So I guess that compassion piece is just helping me recognize when my approach isn't working. And saying, hey, change that approach.

I'm not getting rid of the goal, so don't hear that. The goal is still the same, but I'm. Instead of being frustrated, pause, don't push. That's my biggest advice, because that was old me. No, it's still me. Okay? It's still me. I sound like I'm all like a monk over here. I never get frustrated. Oh, hell yeah, I do. But I'm so much better now at pausing. And then when I get stuck, what I am really good at now, I get curious.

It's information. I'm really getting so much better at turning that critic down because I learned there's a YouTube channel called Struthless. And he talked about your inner critic. And he said, name him. Give him a name. Set him on your shoulder and. Or he said, put them in a jar. I think, anyway, someone else said, put him on your shoulder. But whenever they get loud, name them so you can ask them to please be quiet.

And if they can't be quiet, stick them in a jar and close the lid, you know, just long enough, because they're not helping you. And I think I've lost my complete train of thought. I don't know what it was. I was thinking one more thing. There is a caveat. Yukon is my caveat. My Dutch shepherd, Thomas Stoke, a really great trainer I admire in class, he said, it's never too late to give up.

And somebody could take that as really harsh. But it was such a good thing for me to hear because that was compassion. The dog wasn't cut out for what I was wanting him to do, you know, and instead of keep pushing and keep trying, it was like, give yourself some grace. I mean, I really thought that I needed to give up as a trainer altogether. And instead, I just needed to not hold those goals for him anymore.

We needed to shift what we are doing because we need. What is my ultimate goal with my dog? It's not that activity. It's about that connection with my dog. And it's about finding what they love and what we can love together. And so I wasn't really ending my goal. I was just setting a new direction for it. That was compassion. You started off. That was kind of good.

Melissa Breau: You started off when we were talking about that, when I was asking you about compassion, talking about, like, how, you know, sometimes people think that means being soft or letting something slide. Right? And I do think compassion, it gets misunderstood, maybe as being permissive. So can you talk a little bit about, like, boundaries and how you like still try to hold criteria and still try to, like, move towards your goal, but, you know, you are prioritizing kindness at the same time?

Crystal Wing: Yeah, I do think compassion gets confused with being a pushover. It's not letting them do whatever they want. That's chaos. That's the opposite of compassion. We get lots of that in training, too, though. Oh, yeah, right. Okay, let's go back to high school teaching. I know I keep going there, but I've seen it played out for 23 years of working with adolescents. I can tell you, I mean, within the first probably day of that kid of getting to know them, I can identify which kids come from, like, a very permissive home and which ones were given boundaries and guidance.

And I'm telling you, the ones with guidance and boundaries, they were way more successful because they understood how to. How to function in other people's worlds, and their existence was so much easier on them. So that's compassion in my book. So if I'm being compassionate, I'm absolutely being a kind leader. And I loved if you guys get a chance. Denise's webinar on leadership. It's been my favorite one, and I've listened to a lot of webinars, but it's one of my favorites.

And I think sometimes we get hung up giving so many choices and putting our own needs aside to make our dog happy and to keep them comfortable. And that's not compassion to them or ourselves. If we're creating this resentment, especially between family members or even ourselves toward our dog, because everything now centers around them. Like, we can't go on vacation anymore. We can't even have a dinner, you know, because the dog's doing this, you know, or.

You know what I mean? It just. It snowballs. And who wants that? We need balance. And I think that's where boundaries come in. And when I think about real compassion, I talk about this in the webinar. It's when you say, you know, I see you. I know where you're at, and I'm gonna set things up so you can be successful without rehearsing the stuff that's gonna get you or somebody else in trouble.

And this goes to puppies and adolescents. Like, they immediately hit my brain because I'm not gonna let them just run laps around the house, you know, they're gonna body slam my older dogs. They're gonna hurt them or hurt themselves. They're going to get in fights, you know, or they're going to chew on socks and destroy them. And that's. That's not a relationship, you know, I'm not going to pretend that is.

So I'm going to tether them. They get to be in the living space, they get to be part of the family, but they're not free to harass the other dogs or go eat a couch cushion, you know, or while I'm pretending to be an adult doing something else. I don't know what I do, but whatever. But one of the things I love, Susan Cleveland. She's a training guru, just an amazing trainer.

And one of the things that she told me when she taught me about tethering is she says to her puppy, I acknowledge your pain. And it just hit me, I was like, yeah, I'm not going to let you just sit there and scream and be upset. That's not what I'm talking about. So if you're hearing that, that's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is I acknowledge your pain, but this is a boundary.

It's not mean. It's compassionate because I'm keeping you safe and I'm protecting the emotional well being of everybody else involved. I'm preventing my relationship with the puppy from turning into like, no, no, stop. Leave it. Quit. You know, people will tease or like, I think my dog's name is, you know, my dog thinks her name is no, damn it, leave it. You know, and it's like, no. So I think when we talk about permissive, that's removing structure.

And that's not what I'm about. Because compassion is about giving structure, but it's with intention. So, yeah, compassion, it's not about the absence of boundaries. It's about knowing exactly which boundaries help your dog feel safe, successful and sane. And you, you are just as important. Lots of alliteration today. Successful, safe and seen. I like that one too. It is. Ooh. I mean, but really though, it is. It's about, I care so much.

I don't want to let you fail. You know, and that's where they're not opposites. It's all part of it. And people also say it's pity or enabling or lowering expectations. No, it's none of those things. Just I see you, I see your struggle, and I'm going to help you get through this.

Melissa Breau: So what if something happens that kind of causes a breaking connection? Right. How do we rebuild that sense of connection when it's been damaged? Whether we're talking about, you know, a stressful event or like there's a training breakdown or just long term, like, we realize we've been super inconsistent about something. How do we go back in there and, you know, say, okay, connection's not where it should be. What do we do?

Crystal Wing: Yeah, connection is so important, right? Because you're responding to each other in real time. And that's where we really have to.

We have to build that connection. And that starts with compassion. I know with my guys, Yukon. I have had to earn every ounce of connection. He is so independent, and I'll call him opinionated. I think that's a fair thing to say. When he tunes in, oh, man, it feels like he's choosing me, and that means the world. Now, Radish, I feel like our connection is just flow. It is so beautiful.

She's right there, engaged. Our eyes are bright. Like, she's like, yes, mama green light, tell me what's next? And Checkmate. I'll call it playful. That's the best word I can use because it's like. It's. We're like two teammates, you know, we're enjoying the game together. And it's. It's not a physical connection. I'm not talking about when you're next to each other. It's not eye contact. Um, it's. It's.

It's a conversation. I guess that's the best way I can always say it. It's not my dog performing for me. It's my dog participating with me. And there's a huge difference to that. So it's always showing up in the little moments. So if it gets broken, it's about the little moments in between behaviors. Like, before I cue anything, is my dog checking in with me. Are they saying, hey, are you ready?

Because I'm ready. So that's step one. It's not when you've already asked for the behavior. It's the moments in between and before. And so it's first being aware. We need to be in it together. And so to be in it together, we have to create moments that our dogs can be with us. Maybe it's doing a little challenging puzzle. Maybe it's holding a bone. Don't get your fingers bit.

For certain dogs, okay, like, I wouldn't do that for some. But for some, you can hold the thing to make it easier for them to chew on it. You know, we can exist together. For Yukon, so much of it was I had to slowly and slowly get closer and closer while he sit there and just suckle in his furball. But just that being with him in the same space was enough to get that started.

Nagging is your number one Enemy. When you start nagging, that is what's going to really hurt you. I love playing the name game. Every time I say my dog's name, and this was something that Susan made me do. I have to reward my dog. It can be with praise, it can be social, it can be food, it can be toy. But my dog's name needs to mean something.

And if you're finding that you're saying your dog's name over and over and over, you're taking the value away from that and you're taking the connection away, too. So those are the things I start to think about with rebuilding. It's rebuilt through presence and not pressure. And if you're constantly pressuring them to be with me, pay attention to me. That's typically how you break it. And you don't earn it back by demanding engagement.

You earn it by showing up consistently and that consistently. Word is hard. When you said that, that's why I giggled because I'm so bad at consistency. And the other big deal. Regulate your own emotions. That goes back to that breath. And if you can, try to listen before you speak. What is your dog telling you? That's the connection piece. Okay, so slight shift here. Curiosity and creativity. So how did they kind of come into this, all of this?

So how do curiosity and creativity really play a role in both initial training and then troubleshooting? When something's maybe not going quite right, we go back to the beginning with curiosity, because that's what keeps me in the game, and that's where I'm asking the questions. When I ask the questions, that's what helps me develop my compassion, and then that's what helps me get my connection. And then the creativity is what keeps my dog in the game.

So when I'm curious, I'm not judging. I'm just exploring. I'm not, you know, saying, well, what isn't working? Instead, I'm like, you know, how can I show up for my dog? You know what. What can I learn from this? I love that question. What can I learn from this? Like, how cool is that? Like, what a fun little shift. So it's. It's keeping me open to whatever the dog is doing, and it definitely keeps me from getting into control mode. And that's that frustration mode.

We kind of talked about that maybe somebody out there somewhere has felt one day, and I'm thinking about creativity. That's how I respond to what my dog tells me. And it's not some, like, I have to do the coolest thing. That's Ever been done before. And I'm inventing this thing that no one's ever seen. That's. That's not how I see creativity. I'm looking at curiosity.

I'm asking a question. And creativity, I'm answering it. It doesn't have to be something big and special. The Radish example, the creativity was, what can I do? What do I already have in place to help me figure out how to get her comfortable with touching me, and how can I get her body against my back leg, but against both my back legs? That wasn't some, like, genius thing that, you know, is mind blowing that everyone's gonna be like, oh, this is the new training thing.

No, I mean, but it was an answer to that question in that moment. And that's how training, how it thrives and it stays alive, and that's how it stays joyful. And that's what keeps me coming back day after day. I'm just. I'm not just thinking about reinforcement and reinforcing behaviors. I'm constantly discovering things with my dog, and every dog is so different. So, yeah, it's. I think creativity is what's turning kind of all of those possibilities into progress.

Melissa Breau: I feel like, though, people are always telling you, like, I'm sure you heard this as an art teacher, I'm not creative, but I'm not a creative person. So do you think creativity is something that trainers can develop, that they can practice? Is it a mindset? They need to adapt? Like, how are we talking about creativity here?

Crystal Wing: So I did leave creativity last because I feel like once you have your compassion and connection in place, and then once you start to add clarity to your training, that builds confidence, and that's confidence in both of you.

You know the questions to ask now you know how to answer them, because you have all that other stuff in place. So creativity is not a personality trait. It's just a habit. It's what you start. So if you start saying, you know, a lot of people say, you know, is this right? Am I doing it right? That's what I got a lot in high school. Can you just tell me what I get right now?

What's my grade right now? Is this right? Is this good enough? And instead, what I always had to ask my students is to say what's possible, and that's what creativity is. And once we can start asking that question, basically, okay, it's this simple. If you can observe, you can be creative. I mean, really, that's all there is to it. It comes from paying attention. It's not inventing something.

My favorite way to help people be creative is I use a like wish wonder. And that's how I help my students analyze artwork. So instead of always starting with all the negative stuff, we start with the positive. What do you like about it? And then once you have the thing that you. That stands out that you like and this, I'm going back to dog training, not art. What do I like that my dog did?

What do I like that I do? And then that creates the wish. That's the awareness piece of the thing that. Oh man, I wish that I would have set this up differently. And in the wonder is now the creativity part. What if that's all creativity is? It's you asking that question, what if? And now you can find your answer. And that's your next training session. I love that set.

And I like that little, that little mindset of how to review your sessions too. Can you repeat it one more time? Yeah, it's like wish, wonder. What do you like now? Create that thing that you wish. And now what if I wonder if I did this, how could things change for next time? And now you have your training plan. So we're talking about all of this because you have a new webinar that's actually gonna happen the day before this comes out, but it should still be available.

Melissa Breau: If folks are listening to this today, it comes out on the schedule called the Six C's Balancing Mindset and Behaviors. Six C's Not Sexy, Not 60. And my understanding is you told me you're also thinking about turning this into a full six week class. So can you share a little bit about the webinar maybe who should grab it even though it'll technically have already aired and then what you expect to like, expand upon or talk about when you offer the full class?

Crystal Wing: Yeah. So in the webinar and the class both, I will walk you through all the six Cs again. They are compassion, connection, clarity, confidence, curiosity, and creativity. I had to count on my fingers. Yeah, I got six. That's terrible. I was like, there are six. Yes. And my, my goal is, and I'm going to show you how they're actually showing up in your real time training sessions. They're already there.

It's just me helping you become more aware of them and how they can guide you and make you an even better trainer. Then my hopes for the class is it takes it even deeper. So each week is 1C. How perfect is that? That there's six of them? And my goal is that we're not just learning it, but we're living it. And you'll be experimenting, reflecting, getting coaching, getting feedback, and applying it to your dog immediately.

And I'm hoping that you'll be able to shift from kind of running reps to actually growing as a trainer. And if I'm really good, then even as a human. So I guess it's for anyone that's ever thought, you know, I know what to do. But why doesn't it feel good when I'm doing it? Like, some people have that question, like, you know, I'm doing the mechanics, I'm doing the thing, but it just doesn't feel right.

And maybe this can help that person. Or if you feel like you're having too much pressure in your training instead of partnership, maybe this could be a good. A good thing for you. Maybe. Why do I lose clarity or confidence when things go wrong? Because that's something that I struggle with. And so these are all things that I've done a ton of reflection on and that I've been so blessed to have so many people across the country that I've worked with that have refined this and helped me with, really see how I can help others with it.

So I guess if any of that kind of resonates, then the webinar and the class, it's for you. So. Oh, and it's, you know, also, I do want to make this clear. It's not about being a different trainer. I think that's really important, and I say that a lot. I don't want people to be different. I don't want them to try to change who they are. It's just helping you become more you in your training. It's about taking away some of the stuff that you don't need so that you can be kind of in full partnership with your dog.

Melissa Breau: I like that. Any final thoughts or maybe key points you kind of want to leave folks with?

Crystal Wing: I want to help you become a more aware trainer. Not. Not a different one, just more aware. Because mindset. I'm not saying that that replaces mechanics. That's why I have clarity.

Clarity is important. That's the mechanics. But it's what makes the mechanics meaningful. And they're not just something extra. They're already happening inside every session, inside what you do. I just want to help you use them with intention.

Melissa Breau: I like that. All right, well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Crystal.

Crystal Wing: This was excellent. I really appreciate you. This was fun.

Melissa Breau: It was fun. And thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in.

We'll be back next week. Don't miss it. If you haven't already, subscribe to our podcast in itunes or the podcast app of your choice to have our next episode automatically downloaded to your phone as soon as it becomes available. Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty free by Benson.com the track featured here is called Buddy.

Audio editing provided by Chris Lang. Thanks again for tuning in and happy training.

Credits

Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzi for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty-free by BenSound.com; the track featured here is called "Buddy." Audio editing provided by Chris Lang.

Thanks again for tuning in -- and happy training!