Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Ores-Uhrich.
Megan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I got started in dogs 19 years ago. I’d had dogs as a kid but the reality is that your mom takes care of them. My first pup as an adult was a little wild thing. She was smart, sweet and she loved us as much as we loved her. She could do no wrong. I looked around and felt that I was in the minority, It seemed like the general notion was that you had to control dogs or they would dominate you. What I saw was a lot of nice social dogs who hadn’t had any or enough training/education regarding how to live in our overwhelming and complicated world getting a lot of grief from the people they were most connected to. It’s a lot like getting in trouble for answering a question wrong when you never heard the question in the first place.
Fortunately, I got involved at a time of tremendous crossover from brutal physical “training” to positive reinforcement. People were finally taking dogs seriously as a species and not just extensions of their ego. It was a golden age. The myth of dogs as dominant was coming to an end and learning theory and understanding species normal behavior was taking root.
The reality is all golden ages have a backlash and now there is a host of holdovers and newer younger trainers who are espousing the alpha macho control stuff. Now more than ever we need to get the word out that positive reinforcement changes lives. These days dogs are being taken seriously and actively studied so we will know what and who they are.
This research may be the thing that finally shuts down the abusive and suppression rhetoric of shock collar and correction based bullying.
Has it been a smooth road?
Ha ha ha! My first professional gig was doing behavior assessments, day training, and behavior modification at a major shelter in Chicago, Worrying about the day to day sanity and well being of 70+ dogs will make you lose some sleep. The stink, the stress and the handling of scared, uncomfortable and often wired dogs (LOTS of displaced energy) was an education beyond compare. It made me who I am. I am so lucky to live in a place like Chicago with its amazing shelter system. I currently work with Chicago Canine Rescue. They are the bomb!
These days my work is mainly working with dog owners to help them understand what is going on and work toward resolution (aka to help them keep their dogs and make everyone happier as well as safe). This is a totally different ball of wax. My goal is always to understand an owners strengths and limitations and ditto for the dog. Choosing to rescue has become so normal and every day but it is so important that rescues put safe dogs out there and take the time to match them with the right family. I work with a lot of broken hearts. Families who were given the wrong match for their life and needs. This is one of the reasons I offer professional matchmaking. The more moving parts your life has the more you need to be bringing home the best for you. It is not up to families looking for dogs to know everything beforehand. What they need to know is that the dog they are being matched with is safe and can be a great family member and that they will need to put some work into it.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Capricorn Dog Training story. Tell us more about the business.
After years in the field working with and for other trainers, I started Capricorn. I wanted to build a service that truly reflected my passions as a dog professional. We work with the basics of good manners training as well as behavior modification for anxiety, aggression, and fear-based behavior. We are unique in that we do not believe in a uniform or cookie cutter ideology. We think holistically. During our initial assessment, we take all relevant factors into account. This might include the family’s inability to commit to any sort of regular training schedule, very deep emotional attachment or an owner that is not physically strong enough to control their dog.
There is a lot of judgment in the training community (yep, even the positive reinforcement community). We do not bring that to our practice. We empower and support the family. Our goal is to teach you about your dog, how to train and best manage your dog in the real world, not just a class or lesson. We want you to feel like a team.
Additionally, I offer professional matchmaking to utilize my decade of behavior assessment and put it to work for you. I work with shelters as well as breeders to help you get the best match.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
My dream is that positive reinforcement becomes the default or baseline in all animal training. If it becomes normal to respect animals and recognize that they experience pain and fear then more people will have a strong reaction to pain and force based training. The movement is there. The more people that recognize that force based and shock “training” is abusive and unnecessary the closer we get.
There are loads of very nice people but very busy people who want someone to do the work for them. I get it. What isn’t clear is that classic boot camp involves their dog being strangled, hit and kicked (for starters). The shock collar training sold as “force free” involves making a dog afraid to try a given behavior and if it isn’t working you just turn the dial higher and deliver a more significant current.
I would love to see more positive trainers offering effective day training and boot camp type programs. People are busy they need a pro to install the basics. I get it. We as a community need to fill that need and make a difference to animal welfare as a whole.
Dogs are such an incredibly social species that we do them a disservice when we use methods and quick fixes that do not take into account that they (most dogs) really just want to fit into their group but need help learning how to do that. If we approach animals with empathy we can only be evolving as a species, right?
Pricing:
- $100 for inital visit.
- $85/hr for follow up training
Contact Info:
- Website: www.capricorndog.com
- Phone: 773 563 2561
- Email: megan@capricorndog.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapricornDogTraining/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/capricorn-dog-training-chicago?hrid=6ViSbj0juwYqCxm_WmK31A
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
