“Reach Out to the Community That’s Available to You”: Becoming a Service Dog Trainer with Hallie Wells
Hallie Wells: “There was initially pushback, and I think it was just based on fear of not knowing. Whether it was from my volunteers or my staff, we just kind of faced that confrontation and those fears head on. Like yeah, ‘I know this is hard. It’s scary. It’s extremely difficult to change your skillset.’ But once people started noticing that they were able to tell their dog ‘Yes’ and give them information more and do it through a positive manner, they noticed their puppies were learning things faster. They were adapting to unfamiliar stimuli a lot faster. They were also learning a lot more about their dog’s body language and becoming more aware of their dog and their behavior.”