Welcome back! This is the continuation of the slow-burn story The Trainer. If you haven't read the first part yet, you'll really want to do that first. You'll be a bit lost without it, I'm afraid. Thanks to everyone who has written to me about part one. I love hearing from you! Thanks also go out to my wife and to Broken Spokes for their comments on this story and helping me make it better. I hope you will enjoy reading this second part as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know your thoughts by dropping me a message or leaving a comment. Happy reading!
* * * * *
It took a little while for Charlie to appear at the gate after Amy had hooted her car horn. She opened the gate so Amy could park her car inside. There was no one else yet, it seemed. Yet, the clock on her dashboard told her it was just after six. She thought she was late.
"Am I the first one? Where are the others?" She asked Charlie.
"Well, you're a bit early. Training only starts at seven. You're quite keen, hah?"
"What? You told me it started at six!" Amy burst out. She was sure she hadn't misremembered that.
"Did I?" Charlie said with a twinkle in her eyes that suggested she knew very well that she did. "My bad, must have gotten my times mixed up. Oh well, I'll give you a tour since you're early. You want a beer while we walk?"
She was so casual about it. And why wouldn't she be? She had no idea that Amy had left work early and rushed over here through the island's modest but still existing evening rush hour, certainly driving faster than the speed guidelines in an attempt to make it by six.
"Aren't you supposed to be working?" She asked tersely, not sure why she felt annoyed about the casual offer of a beer.
"I'm a dog trainer, not a pilot. I'll grab you one." Without waiting for a response, Charlie walked off towards the house with Jamie following her excitedly.
"So this is obviously my house, the pool, terrace," Charlie said casually as she indicated each location in turn. Amy couldn't help but be impressed at the size of the home and surrounding land a girl her age managed to have and maintain. However, it seemed rude to ask about that.
"And what's that?" She asked instead, pointing at the smaller building on the other side of the pool.
"Oh that's a little holiday home. My sister runs it. She really wanted to do that but didn't have the space, so we converted that little outbuilding into an Airbnb. She lives down the road and comes over to do the cleaning and check-ins and stuff. Although obviously I still get a lot of the questions, since I'm right here." Charlie pulled a face that suggested she wasn't all that pleased about that.
"People aren't really your thing, are they?" Amy teased.
Charlie looked at her in surprise for a moment, gauging Amy as if to see if she should be amused or offended. Then she laughed. "You're right. I'm more of a dog person than a people person."
"I hadn't noticed," Amy said with a grin.
"Shut up!" Charlie pushed her shoulder playfully. It was the first time the other girl had initiated physical contact with her since they'd danced together.
"Speaking of dogs... this is my pride and joy." Charlie gestured for Amy to follow her through a gate in the fenced off area. They entered a large field with various agility obstacles: a seesaw, a bridge, a tunnel, a few jumps, some hoops, various plateaus at different heights, cones, and a row of small poles, which dogs were meant to zigzag through.
"This is the training field, completely equipped for anything from basic training to agility. We've even got the ball pit and the snuffle wall over there for scent games." Charlie beamed excitedly. Even if she hadn't said it, it was clear this was her pride and joy.
"Wow, you really do have everything."
"Yeah, you don't get this anywhere else on the island. You can't even buy these things. I've had to make most of the obstacles myself."
"Really? And I thought my dog bowl stand was quite impressive."
Charlie laughed. "It was. So was that black nail you gave yourself. First DIY project?"
So she had seen that and connected the dots. "We can't all be DIY goddesses like you," she said embarrassedly. "At least I tried."
"Yes, you did. You can always come practice over here if you want. There's always loads to do. This weekend that fence over there needs fixing."
"You do everything yourself?" Amy asked, impressed.
"Not everything. I had some guys in to build that wall over there, but anything I can do with nails and screws, yes, I do that myself."
"And you live here all by yourself?" Amy's cleverly worded question - if she thought so herself - aimed to satisfy her curiosity about if indeed Charlie was solely responsible for the entire property, and if she had someone she shared her life with.
Charlie paused for a moment, looking into the distance thoughtfully. Perhaps she realised she'd be telling Amy much more than the face-value answer to the question. Or perhaps there was more to the answer than she wanted to share.
"Yep, just me here," she said eventually. "But my sister pops over at the most random times and obviously there's holiday guests often, so it never quite feels like that." Again, her facial expression suggested she wished it did.
"But how? I mean, it's such a big place. You must be roughly my age. I can't even own a tiny flat in England."
"It's not the same here, I think. It's not that difficult to get a mortgage and buy a place if you're not too picky. I had saved up some money from my odd jobs while I was in school, which helped. But this place was a dump when I bought it. It was dirt cheap. I had to fix up literally everything. And then there was obviously building up the business alongside that. It was hard work. I don't think I slept much at all for a few years, but it was worth it. It's going well now."
"That's amazing. Most of my friends who own their homes had help from their parents to scrape together a deposit."
Charlie laughed bitterly. "Oh yeah, that happens a lot here too. A nice, comfy beach condo as a graduation present, or a lump sum to get their child on the property ladder. Lucky for them. Not a chance in hell my parents would do that."
Amy sensed there was more to that story, but she never got a chance to ask. Two women with dogs on leads walked onto the training field and Charlie greeted them with a wave.
"Best you put Jamie on a lead now too. We usually at least start off that way until we know how the dogs behave in the group," she said to Amy, all business once again. Amy called over her dog and did as she was told.
Three more people with dogs arrived not long after, completing their little class of six dogs - all of them of the island's own 'pavement special' mixed breed variety - and their handlers.
Charlie had everyone introduce themselves and their dogs and told them all a bit about the outline of the course. The focus was on building a communicative relationship between dog and owner and getting to dog to respond to basic commands, such as sitting, coming over, staying, and following. Depending on how quickly things were picked up, they would continue looking at things such as searching, fetching, tricks, or agility.
"You may not see the purpose of tricks and agility at first, but you'll be surprised to see how much your dog will love it. It really exercises their brain, which helps to tire them and relieve their stress." Charlie concluded. At the last part, she looked pointedly at Amy.
Next, the trainer handed every one of them a treat bag filled with what she called 'high value treats', which turned out to be pieces of sausage, and a small device that made a clicking noise when you pressed it. Clicker training, she explained, was centred on the idea of pointing out the exact moment of the desired behaviour with a click and a treat to help the dog learn quicker. She gave some background information about the technique and Amy couldn't help but be impressed with her knowledge. But then again, if someone asked her about tax legislation, she could also wax lyrical.
The first exercise Charlie had them do seemed completely impossible. Without using any words or guidance, the dogs were supposed to sit exactly inside a hoop on the ground. The only encouragement the handlers were allowed to give was a click when the dog was doing it right, for example putting a paw in the hoop or walking through it.
Amy got to work sceptically, and by going to work she meant doing absolutely nothing. Jamie just stared at her for a while and then lay down, next to the hoop.
"Come on, girl, don't embarrass me again," Amy whispered as she saw Charlie approaching, checking in on each person one by one.
"Just get her up and walk around a bit with her. And remember, as soon as she puts a toe inside that hoop, you click and give her a treat."
Of course, now that Charlie was near, Jamie seemed a lot more cooperative and she actually walked through the hoop with one of her back legs. Amy fumbled with the clicker but eventually managed to make a sound, which she followed up with some sausage.
"A bit quicker next time, but that was good," Charlie said, "keep going!"
One by one the dogs miraculously got the hang of what they were meant to be doing and Amy was pleased when Jamie was the first dog to sit down triumphantly inside the hoop.
"Very good, Jamie!" Charlie said.
And Amy,
Amy thought. "Now keep going until her behaviour is absolutely consistent and she sits inside the hoop every time."
This took a little longer but Amy was just amazed how the dog had just gleaned what was expected of her without any commands or guidance. This turned out to be the next step, linking the action to a verbal command. In this way, Charlie explained, they could send their dog to a dedicated space, such as their bed. It was their homework to practice this at home with a spot of their choice.
Amy was surprised to see that they had been going for over an hour when Charlie called the end of the lesson. Jamie seemed quite happy for the lesson to be over. Amy had never seen her this tired.
"So, what did you think?" Charlie asked her, as everyone started leaving.
"I really liked it," Amy said honestly. Charlie clearly knew what she was doing and she was clearly in her element as the teacher. It showed her in quite a different light. "I can't believe she just knew what to do."
"Amazing, isn't it? The key is rewarding incrementally. Once she gets the hang of the first thing, you shift your marker of what you click for and she'll understand she'll need to do a bit better to get that treat. And that's how you build up a new behaviour."
"Very impressive."
