At this time, NADOI and the APDT are the only organizations recognized by professional trainers and veterinarians.

What qualities do you need in order to be a good trainer? First of all, you should be aware that your primary job will not involve training dogs; it will involve training people! Most of your time will be spent teaching the owner how to train his or her dog. Good communication and people skills are a top priority. You will need a great deal of flexibility, as well as the ability to see other people’s point of view.

Accredited colleges do not offer dog training programs. Most colleges do offer some courses which would be beneficial as background information, such as Psychology of Learning or similar classes dealing with applied learning theory.

There are several private dog training academies throughout the country, most not worth the price of attendance. Remember, NADOI and the APDT are the only “certification” entities recognized by trainers and veterinarians in the US, so an individual school’s “Master Trainer” or “Certified Trainer” title may wow your future students, but is a rather meaningless accolade.

If you should decide to go to a training school, avoid the ones boasting that they can teach you everything about all aspects of dog training in one course. Each field of dog training is its own separate field of expertise, and it takes years to become expert in any ONE area. “Learn obedience training, behavior problem solving, personal protection training, police dog training, tracking, search and rescue, assistance dog training, and how to run your own business in just six weeks,” is not a realistic claim. There are no “secrets of professional dog trainers.”

Another problem with most training schools is that they tend to teach only one “method.” There is no one training method you can learn that will work on all dogs in all situations, or even come close. In order to be a good trainer, you have to know many, many training methods, and preferably know enough about canine behavior and how dogs learn to make up your own methods to fit a given situation.

And, just as anyone can call themselves a dog trainer, anyone can run a school for dog trainers. Buyer beware!

Dog Training Courses and Dog Trainer Course product reviews so you know you are only teaching your dog the very best techniques.

By the way, if you’re not quite sure what a typhoon is, it’s the Asian name for tropical storms or hurricanes.

Our little town of about 18,000 has only one industry — its white beach — and it waits all year for the two hottest summer months when hundreds of thousands of vacationers come from all over Japan to lie in the sun and play in the peaceful little bay.

And this particular night, the town had planned its annual fireworks display. They have something called “Message Fireworks” where a visitor pays up to a hundred dollars for somebody to read an announcement of his undying love just before a volley of fireworks are fired off. This one event raises many thousands of dollars for the town.

In addition, the local merchants make a sizeable part of their yearly profit during the summer months.

But tonight the beach is dark. No fireworks will dazzle the crowds tonight. No concession booths will sell snacks, and no families will congregate to enjoy the summertime display.

All those plans. All the money invested in food, in merchandise, in giant fireworks that shoot two hundred meters into the air.

So when a typhoon comes — and no amount of “positive thinking” will stop it happening from time to time — the merchants here just sigh, suck it up, and go to Plan B, which is to try again tomorrow night. And if that doesn’t work, then next weekend.

You see, they’ve seen it all before. They know that sometimes things WILL get in the way of their plans. So they stay flexible. They have contingencies, Plan B’s and even Plan C’s.

Now, the point I’m making is not that weather is a doggone nuisance.

Instead, I invite you to consider one question: how flexible are you prepared to be? (The operative word is “prepared”.)

When stuff happens — and it will — what’s your Plan B and your Plan C? Don’t have one? Then shouldn’t you think about getting one?

Because stuff WILL happen. That’s just the way life brings you special opportunities you never expected, never imagined, and never wanted. But once life brings it on, you need to be prepared to deal with it.

Like a boy scout, you need to be prepared with backup plans.

But to have a backup plan, you first need a main plan. And of course you’ve got one of those… right?

Charles Burke says that “luck” doesn’t work the way you’ve always been told. Not even close. Read “The Synchronicity Report” – a free PDF download – 2-bedotcom/synchro