Margot Woods bio on the Leerburg forum (Leerburg.com) says
"Margot Woods, creator of the Bedrock Training Method, has trainedmore than 100,000 dogs in the last 30 years. Active in the training and placement of assistance dogs, Margot was the founder of Fido's for Freedom and served on the Governor's Workgroup on Guide/Service Dogs for the State of Maryland. Considered one of America's leading experts on canine aggression, Margot also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Canine Professionals,a group of trainers, veterinarians, kennel operators, dog walkers, retailers, and other professionals dedicated to the well being of dogs."
I dug up my thoughts on her Bedrock Basics seminar. This was a three day, 8 hour a day course in which all 17 paricipants and their dogs were in attendance. These were my thoughts after her seminar:When everyone else was gushing about her like a love sick puppy, I thought"jeez, these must all be Margot's friends". Not that I thought it was possiblethat Margot lacked skills, but too much good press always makes me suspiciousand pretty certain that I am going to be dissappointed.
That is why I was somewhat relieved when another didn't gush.The reality is though, it is that good. That comes from someone who didn't think I would get more than one or two tips to bring back. Those alone would have been worth the price to me. Instead, I came home with 67 pages of notes(okay, I don't write that small, but still) AND the darned handbook that Margot gave us. And now, I need to transcribe all this into new lesson plans and training program for my demo dog, Jack.And then there is the big secret, that Margot contrary to being the "dragonlady" is someone that cares so much about YOUR success, that she is not afraid to point out your errors, and have you do it over and over until you feel it right. She WILL also bark at you, but how else do you think you are going to get out of the bad habit memory motion? She needs to snap you out of it.
At the same time, when we all went brain dead on day three, she is patient and can back it down to your level of retarded intelligence by day three when all you want to do is crawl on a cot somewhere and take a nap.That in itself is incredible as Margot is neither as young, nor as able bodied as most of the rest of us, and SHE and Sanity are doing most of the work. We looked like we were ninety years old by the end, and although I know Margot wasn't feeling this way, she managed to come back fresh as a daisy for US.
Really, you will doubt everyone before you go. There are some that may have not been ready for what they saw or understood IMO, but there is no doubt that most dog trainers can only benefit and improve in ways they can't even imaginef rom her travelling school. There is a fair amount of individual tutoring you get while you are there aswell, and getting used to performing in front of others. I know I have horrible nerves in front of a group, and in Margot's setting, I could only try to concentrate on what I was doing, and not what anyone else may be thinking.If you ever have the rare chance to go to one of her seminars, just go. It was well worth the money, and contributed greatly to my training. I also commend this method for making it much easier to train my dog, Jackie, and get our Companion Dog title.
http://www.applewoodsdogtraining.com/
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/
Margot travels with her school (she is actually stationary in MD right now), but she is horrible at keeping up her website (and I suspect not all too computer literate---may still have dial up) and dates. If you want to know if there will be a seminar in the area, you will have to contact her via her e-mail on her website. She has also written a book called Mud Heaven.
"Margot Woods, creator of the Bedrock Training Method, has trainedmore than 100,000 dogs in the last 30 years. Active in the training and placement of assistance dogs, Margot was the founder of Fido's for Freedom and served on the Governor's Workgroup on Guide/Service Dogs for the State of Maryland. Considered one of America's leading experts on canine aggression, Margot also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Canine Professionals,a group of trainers, veterinarians, kennel operators, dog walkers, retailers, and other professionals dedicated to the well being of dogs."
I dug up my thoughts on her Bedrock Basics seminar. This was a three day, 8 hour a day course in which all 17 paricipants and their dogs were in attendance. These were my thoughts after her seminar:When everyone else was gushing about her like a love sick puppy, I thought"jeez, these must all be Margot's friends". Not that I thought it was possiblethat Margot lacked skills, but too much good press always makes me suspiciousand pretty certain that I am going to be dissappointed.
That is why I was somewhat relieved when another didn't gush.The reality is though, it is that good. That comes from someone who didn't think I would get more than one or two tips to bring back. Those alone would have been worth the price to me. Instead, I came home with 67 pages of notes(okay, I don't write that small, but still) AND the darned handbook that Margot gave us. And now, I need to transcribe all this into new lesson plans and training program for my demo dog, Jack.And then there is the big secret, that Margot contrary to being the "dragonlady" is someone that cares so much about YOUR success, that she is not afraid to point out your errors, and have you do it over and over until you feel it right. She WILL also bark at you, but how else do you think you are going to get out of the bad habit memory motion? She needs to snap you out of it.
At the same time, when we all went brain dead on day three, she is patient and can back it down to your level of retarded intelligence by day three when all you want to do is crawl on a cot somewhere and take a nap.That in itself is incredible as Margot is neither as young, nor as able bodied as most of the rest of us, and SHE and Sanity are doing most of the work. We looked like we were ninety years old by the end, and although I know Margot wasn't feeling this way, she managed to come back fresh as a daisy for US.
Really, you will doubt everyone before you go. There are some that may have not been ready for what they saw or understood IMO, but there is no doubt that most dog trainers can only benefit and improve in ways they can't even imaginef rom her travelling school. There is a fair amount of individual tutoring you get while you are there aswell, and getting used to performing in front of others. I know I have horrible nerves in front of a group, and in Margot's setting, I could only try to concentrate on what I was doing, and not what anyone else may be thinking.If you ever have the rare chance to go to one of her seminars, just go. It was well worth the money, and contributed greatly to my training. I also commend this method for making it much easier to train my dog, Jackie, and get our Companion Dog title.
http://www.applewoodsdogtraining.com/
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/
Margot travels with her school (she is actually stationary in MD right now), but she is horrible at keeping up her website (and I suspect not all too computer literate---may still have dial up) and dates. If you want to know if there will be a seminar in the area, you will have to contact her via her e-mail on her website. She has also written a book called Mud Heaven.
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