My life at the moment.

College went great. I got my diploma in Pured and Applied Science, after 2 years and a half of hard work. Yes, 2 years and a half, not 2, because I had other things going on. That said, I now had all winter to do whatever I want. This is when I had a choice. Should I start university early, take this time for myself to live new experiences or get a job to earn a wage?

Choice 1 : Go live new experiences.

Choice 2 : Go to university early.

Choice 3 : Do nothing and play video games.

Choice 4 : Get a job.

New experiences.

I decided to go experience other stuff. Dogs were always a big part of my life, so why not go into this area? What I want to do is help dogs and their owners. Should I do something with them? I have a few options that are opening to me. I can volunteer to a shelter, or I can become a dog trainer myself.

Choice 1 : Volunteer abroad.

Choice 2 : Become a dog trainer.

University early.

I decided to enter university. I chose to go to Laval University, in Quebec City, for their research projects. I am passionate about dogs and how they behave, so this is what my research is going to be about. I still have one problem, which is what characteristic about dogs should I research?

Choice 1 : Dog reactivity and aggressive behavior.

Choice 2 : How to maximize training potential.

Dog reactivity and aggressive behavior.

My team and I came to the conclusion that the biggest problem for dog owners are the aggressive behavior of their dogs. Therefore, we decided to help them by studying how they become aggressive. After contacting multiple dog owners, we established a few elements that deserved further investigations.

Choice 1 : The amount of outside walks per week.

Choice 2 : The behavior of the owner in stressful situations.

Choice 3 : The quality of the dog's interactions with other dogs.

How to maximize training potential.

The early period of a dog’s life is often mentioned as the most important part of the life of a dog. Therefore, I decided to study this period in order to increase my understanding. This period is essential to a dog’s life because this is his childhood. It’s the time that they will observe the world and conclude if it’s safe or not. To learn more about this period of life, I need to get in contact with puppies.

Choice 1 : Steal puppies.

Choice 2 : Ask the dogs breeders.

Do nothing and play video games.

Procrastination caught me off guard, and I didn't start any of the projects I wanted to start. Instead, I've been playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate 10 hours a day, and somehow won a few tournaments in my city. Maybe this wasn't a waste of time after all.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Volunteer abroad.

I have no money. It would be the worst financial decision to spend the little money I have on this. I'll think about it once I make a premium wage.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Become a dog trainer.

That's it. I'm now officially a dog trainer, and I opened a Skillshare and Fiverr account in hope of getting clients. In the last few days, some dog owners wanted me to walk their dog, which was easy. The first real client that had a problem had a golden retriever that barked a lot. Quickly, I realized that I had no idea what to do in this situation. I properly told my client that I don't know how to fix it, and that I wouldn't charge her anything. This situation told me I should get proper training by a professional. Should I go online, to a nearby dog training company or learn by myself?

Choice 1 : Online training course.

Choice 2 : In person training course.

Choice 3 : Learn on my own.

Online training course.

Here I am, scouting the internet in search of a trust worthy website to receive training from. Days go by, and I've yet to find a single one that doesn't look like they only care about my money. Weeks go by, and I've found nothing worth my money. I've tried the cheap $20 try-outs, but they always told me stuff I already knew from YouTube videos. Truly a waste of time and money.

Choice 1 : Try another learning method

In person training course.

This solution seemed like the most promising. After a few hours of research and backgrounds checks, I found Chloe, a known dog trainer in my city. She was amazing, and hundreds of testimonies on her website were showing off her abilities. Shortly after, I found Lucas, another well-known dog trainer. This one had a reputation of being more on the strict side of teaching, but just as competent. Both had similar prices, which one should I choose?

Choice 1 : Chloe.

Choice 2 : Lucas.

Learn on my own.

After a few hours of watching Youtube videos about dog training, I felt confident to take on another dog. Everything seemed normal when I talked to George, the owner, on my phone, but it quickly changed when I got to his house. This was not a dog. This was a bear. A fully grown brown bear with powerful paws and a scary-looking face. After a glance at my client, I understood that he really needed my help to be able to control this beast.

Choice 1 : Help George.

Choice 2 : Decline politely.

Choice 3 : Run away screaming.

Help George.

I am a man of my word. If I said I was gonna help George, I will, no matter the cost. Fortunately, the bear didn’t seem to have noticed me yet. This gave me time to think of a solution.

Choice 1 : Let's go buy treats.

Choice 2 : Let's go buy a prong collar.

Decline politely.

After a brief reflexion, I decided to decline. No amount of money can convince me to face a bear on my own with no experience.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Help George another way

Run away screaming.

I just can't. This bear took me by surprise, and I couldn't help it but to run away. Bye George. Have fun with your problems, I can't help you.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Help George another way

Let's go buy treats.

I went to the pet store and bought the biggest treats I could. Then, I went back to George’s house. This time, the bear immediately smelled the food and noticed me. I took some of the treats in my hand, and threw them in his direction. After a few seconds, the bear immediately asked for me. After a few backs and forth, he finally accepted my presence. Since then, I’ve been seeing George and his bear every week, and we made a lot of progress. He can now control himself when seeing other people.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Help George another way

Let's go buy a prong collar.

The plan was simple. I go buy a prong collar, and I use the bear own force against him. By being aggressive, he will only hurt himself, so he will understand that aggression is bad. This is not what happened though. The second I walked in my client’s door, the bear seemed to recognize me and punched me so hard I finished at the hospital. I guess prong collars are never a good option, huh.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Help George another way

Chloe.

Since then, I would, every weekend, go to Chloe's place, and we would talk about dogs. She has multiples, so the training was simple and straightforward. I understood everything she was saying and applied it perfectly. Maybe a bit too well, as I saw some students were getting jealous of my success. Every time I would get a compliment or a praise from Chloe, I could feel the looks of my classmates pointing directly at me. After a few uncomfortable weeks, some rumors had spread : I was sexually harassing Sarah, a classmate, after class. This, of course, wasn't true. Despite my best efforts to defend myself, everyone believed the "victim". Fortunately for me, Chloe decided that since no proof and no witness can testify, she would allow my presence in class. I was relieved, as she truly was an amazing teacher. But this meant that Sarah would go even further to make my life miserable. As predicted, when she saw me pull up to the next class, anger was in her eyes. When class ended, she walked up to me, and I suddenly got scared. I was hoping for an apology, but I got something way worse. Out of no-where, Sarah threw a punch at me. I was so surprised that without thinking, I ran away and went home.

Choice 1 : Come back next week.

Choice 2 : Get revenge.

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Lucas.

I was not expecting this. Lucas's class was in a dark alley close to my house. We were supposed to go at 7 p.m. for the training. Every time I would show up, Lucas was there with an aggressive dog, waiting for us to train him out of his anger. I understood now why he was so strict : our actions will decide the future of the dog. Its faith is in our hands. If we fail, the owners have no choice but to euthanize their dog.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Try another trainer

Steal puppies.

As a joke, I suggested this to my research team. Somehow, by next week, my colleague got us 5 puppies to experiment with. Surprised, we all looked at him confused, but he did not want to tell us how he got them. He just told us not to worry about it, which just made even him more suspicious. Despite their cuteness, we quickly got overwhelmed by the puppies. They chewed on every single thing they could. Despite our best efforts, our lack of proper equipment to handle five 2-month-old puppies showed itself and had a lot of consequences. With all the noise they made when breaking our research equipment, words spread out that we got ourselves puppies. The day after, when I got to class, 2 policemen were waiting for us. A short man was with them, trying to calm his temper as he saw us approach. At the end of the day, we were behind the bars, in prison, for stealing puppies. I can't believe my colleague actually took me seriously.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Try another study field

Ask the dogs breeders.

My team and I contacted some dog breeders in hopes of knowing more about the early stages of development. Fortunately, we got responses. They were really kind and really helpful towards our project. We learned that puppies first discover the world not with their eyes or their ears, but with their smell. For this reason, it is very important to make your dog smell an abundance of different items such as apples and oranges, but also different materials such as wood or metal. Maybe metal doesn't possess as smell for us, but puppies' noses are hundreds of times more developed than humans'.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Try another study field

The amount of outside walks per week.

In our survey, we discovered that owners of an aggressive dog spend 2 hours less on walks with their dog. This was expected, as less socialized dogs are more scared of their environment and therefore have a tendency to defend themselves. What can you do to prevent this from happening? Simply take 15 more minutes per day to walk and play with your dog outside of your house. Those minutes add up and really make a difference in your dog's behavior and regarding their mental health.

Choice 1 : Research another element linked to reactivity

The behavior of the owner in stressful situations.

Our research finds that dogs can actually smell adrenaline. In the case where you are panicking because, for example, your dog is approached by a weird looking person, or when a child doesn't know what he's doing, the dog can sense this adrenaline. But there is a problem. They can't make a difference between this situation and the adrenaline you release when entering the famous fight or flight mode. The dogs might interpret your signal the wrong way and therefore bite someone as a way to defend their owner.

Choice 1 : I wonder what grade we got.

The quality of the dog's interactions with other dogs.

We all know this one dog that will never stop barking. Well, in the same way as humans, dogs like to do what they see others doing. Therefore, a dog that doesn't bark a lot might begin to bark if he hangs out too much with the barking dog. Plus, quality interactions also mean to let the dogs talk in their language. In our research, we have seen many times dog owners interrupting the interaction their dog was having. Worst, thinking their dog was fighting but was actually just playing. This might cause the dog to consider this interruption as a punishment for interacting with other dogs, leading to aggression towards them.

Choice 1 : What grade did we receive?

What grade did we receive?

My teacher was amazed by how deep our research was. She gave us an A, congratulating us on our determination and hard work. This grade came in handy for me because I was on the verge of failing this class. Because of this, I was able to graduate and make my family proud.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Research another element linked to reactivity

Get a job.

I went and worked at McDonald's for 12 weeks now. I now have some money, but I feel like I could've used this time in a more useful way than working a dead-end job.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

I wonder what grade we got.

I am proud of what we've accomplished, but my teacher wasn't. She gave us a C, without any explanation more than "unorganized and didn't take the project seriously." Come on! I've put a lot of work into this! From this point on I decided to never spend more than 2 hours a week on a project because the work done isn't even recognized.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Research another element linked to reactivity

I have a bad feeling about this.

We did not do well here. The only research we did was to survey dog owners and collect the answers. To my surprise, our teacher gave us a B. She said we were the only team to take this research project seriously, which made me question my whole semester. Did I put too much effort into this?

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Research another element linked to reactivity

Come back next week.

I came back the next week. I saw the look of surprise on her face when Sarah saw me, as if she expected me to leave the class entirely. I should have left. From this point on, her and her friends would throw hands at me at the end of every class, sometimes even stealing my lunch. I was in shock. Everything happened so quickly that I couldn't say or do anything. Next thing I know, I was at home, crying in my bed. My dream of being a dog trainer was gone, simply because of the jealousy of one person. How can someone even do this to their classmate? After this, I lost it. I lost everything. I lost my mind. I lost my love for dogs. I lost my will to live.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Try another trainer

Get revenge.

There was no way I would simply leave. This was my dream. I can't just let it go, and yet that's what Sarah wanted me to do. Screw the dogs, I have a new objective. Ruin the life of Sarah. For the remaining of the winter, I snuck up on Chloe's class to watch what they were doing. I saw Sarah having trouble teaching a dog to come when called. This was because of me. I dispatched food and other treats on the ground as distractions. When Chloe told Sarah she just wasn't made for the job, I smiled. But I wasn't satisfied. This wouldn't end there. Over the following months, I made sure to identify who were her closest friends. She started rumors about me, I will start some about her. One day, she was sitting on a table eating ice cream by herself, the eyes wet. I understood that I succeeded. She no longer had any friends.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Try another trainer

Leave the program.

No way I'm dealing with this. Bye Sarah. Bye Chloe. I will find a training program that doesn't have bullies like her, perhaps private lessons? I will see this next year. Right now, since the winter is almost over, I will focus on my studies.

Choice 1 : Go back to the beginning

Choice 2 : Try another trainer