#dog program

*weird noise outside of the visiting room*

This is a letter I wrote when I was in ninth grade about my dog, Grace.  I haven't edited it at all, just typed it as it was written.  My mother has kept it, and I'm thinking of using it as a jumping off point for my college essay.  Plot twist:  I fall in love with the dog. 

To whom it may concern:

It is unfair for a child to work with a dog like Grace. There is a line between challenging and insane. There is a point in which the reward in any task becoming considered “rewarding” doesn't counteract the frustration incurred in this task. Adults look down on any minor who has an “out of control” dog. It is unfair to tell a child who likes dogs that an animal that will do nothing but cause emotional trauma is their only option aside from leaving dog training entirely.

There is a line between challenging and insane. Grace crossed that line when she went from being a decently tempered dog to dog reactive in one incident. I realize that she feels the need to protect me, but this is a habit she will most likely never outgrow and it could end in disaster.

There is a point in which the “reward” doesn't equal the frustration. This dog has reduced me to tears many more times than I can count. We have been working together for going on four years and have made as much progress as most people and dogs have in one year. She remains unable to respond to correction that is acceptable outside a training class (verbal.) I have put everything I can and exhausted my patience and have not succeeded to an acceptable level. I'm beginning to seriously doubt my competence as a trainer and even if it is worth it to continue in dog activities of any sort.

Adults look down on minors with dogs considered “out of control.” I do my absolute best to keep Grace's attitude in check but many times it isn't enough. I'm trying my best and having the people I want to take me seriously look down on me hurts. I am being looked at as a joke even among my peers and I hate the feeling I look and feel stupid when my dog outwardly disrespects me. No one can look at me like a serious competitor when I have a dog that won't show me the will to work for me above food motivation.

It is clear that I don't feel my abilities are being properly exploited in a project like Grace. Not only am I frustrated in my situation but I am wasting my time. I have earned two qualifying scores in obedience in nearly four years. Grace is around six years old. By the time I leave for college in three years she will (mathematically projected) only have four qualifying scores to her name. It would take more luck than I have for both to be with the American Kennel Club. She will be roughly nine years old and possibly arthritic, blind, or deaf and will not have the qualification for the Companion Dog title.