My goal this past long weekend was to retrain Baxter Bug Royal on the leash.... Baxter is my little warrior prince, a West Highland White terror, err, I mean Terrier. He's a small dog who doesn't know he's small. Luckily for all of us he's all bark, no bite and once you are on his side of the fence he rolls onto his back for belly scratches.

Because we have a good sized yard and he has his usual run pattern, daily walks have not been necessary to keep him in good doggy shape. Needless to say all of our early leash training was lost and replaced instead with Lil Red's training to get him to pull her on her skateboard, scooter or roller skates. Much like a sled dog.... only much smaller! While this is awesome if you are a 9 year old girl on wheels, it's not so much fun when you are, let's say, older than 9 and don't want your arm yanked out of your shoulder. With close proximity to a lovely river walk parkway I thought that would be a good place to work on retraining.

Here's how it went....

Day 1: Holy Hell! I think the dog is going to choke himself to death on his collar from pulling so hard! AND my left arm is kinda sore! Damn dog!

Day 2: I'm pretty sure that gasping, wheezing noise isn't good for him OR ME! And even the cyclists on the parkway are giving me withering looks. Switching to the right arm....

Day 3: Started out better.... much less pulling, seems happy to trot along side me with some slack in the leash! Yeah! BUT then he spotted something (furry woodland creature?) in the weeds down by the water. I'm REALLY glad there were no cyclists going past us at that exact moment, that would have been UGLY for everyone. Damn Dog!

Day 4: I've got a humdinger of a kink in my neck, how did I do that? Started out better.... didn't give him quite as much slack in the leash as to avoid whiplash today. And..... I'd say we have PROGRESS! No gasping, no wheezing, no lunging at wild life, no lunging at non wild life.... Dare I hope we've crossed a hurdle?

He's an old (ish) dog at seven which is middle age for a dog and he's learning, albeit slowly, something new!

That gave me hope!

I'm an old (ish) dog too! What does that mean for me and other old (ish) dogs like you?

I'd say that means we can learn new tricks too!

Seriously!

Okay, let me ask you this.

Have you learned anything new since college? Duh, Janet, of course!
Have you learned anything new since you started your current job or started your recent business? Oh yah! Those first few months were a steep learning curve!
Did you willingly learn or was it forced upon you? Ummm, do I have to answer?
Is there anything you feel like you should know more about but haven't yet taken the next step? Can I plead the fifth?

With the marketing landscape changing so rapidly,with social media, website optimization, paid online ads, paid off line ads, and so many other choices of marketing strategy, how can an old dog learn the new tricks? The new tricks that are becoming so NECESSARY to stay relevant in a constantly shifting business climate?

Willingness to learn is a major hurdle for many. I call it being "coach-able" and use that term frequently with Lil Red, especially at basketball practice... with seven other stubborn teenagers... three times a week...

Being coach-able means that our mind is open to the idea that we don't already know everything we need to know. It is open to the possibility of learning a new methodology. It is recognizing we don't have all the answers. It is willingness to retrain 'da brain!

I'll give you an example.

My background is in print magazine advertising.

I know!

I used to hear all the time how "Print is dead!" and I agreed.

Say what?!

Yes, print advertising IS dead, and with it all traditional marketing, if you are doing it the same way you did it 20, 10 or even 5 years ago. However, print doesn't have to be dead if you embrace the new ways! i.e. Digital versions of print products, embedded mixed media, niche (targeted) publications with supporting websites, print on apps, etc. Those in the print (or any) industry not actively evolving, growing and learning are the ones rapidly going out of business and if you are aligned with them, get out now. It's time.

But if you are an old dog willing to learn, the huge upside to all of this is that all of those years of experience give you a tremendous advantage over the young dogs. You can take those basic tenants of truth from the "old way" and incorporate those into the "new way". For an even better way! That's the truth, Dawg!

One thing I forgot to mention earlier, my old (ish) but sweet as pie little dog actually trained me on how best to manage him on the leash. Give Baxter some slack, let him sniff and distract him with vigorous ear scratches so he doesn't notice the ducks in the pond until we are safely past them.

Until next time, if you'd like to stay in touch please sign up for my updates below and if you need "coaching" contact me here!