The first 18 years of my life were fairly typical. I was born and brought up in Manchester, CT, a suburb a few miles east of Hartford. My father worked for the post office and my mother was an 8th grade social studies teacher.
I was a very shy kid and started having problems in school right away. Around 2nd grade I had a bunch of tests done on me and it was discovered that I had a learning disability. In those days they had not come up with the label ADHD,everyone was just told they had a learning disability. My entire school career consisted of low-level classes where I was shuffled from one grade to the next. All I had to do was show up, and as long as I did that, I was passed along to the next grade.
In my freshman year of high school, my mom decided that due to my apparent lack of academic brain power, I should learn a trade and enrolled me in a technical school.
It was a total disaster.
On top of not showing a lot of brain power, it turned out that was just as bad with tools. I’m sure that by then my mother was completely distressed. Her middle child couldn’t make the grades, couldn’t hold a tool, what was she going to do with him?
Turns out that I’m not a big dope, I just have an active brain. If I get bored I tend to mentally check out. It still happens today, I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be in a class or a seminar with Rachael and I just start day dreaming. I don’t even realize it’s happening and afterwards, I always have to ask Rach what was being talked about.
My First Dog
When I was about 10 years old my mom came home with a little beagle mix. She and my dad were in Boston for the weekend and while walking through a park came across a young couple giving puppies away. My mom scooped one up and brought him home. I still don’t know how she did it because my dad was never a big fan of dogs.
I loved everything about this little dog but his name. My mom decided to name him after the park she got him from. She named him Union Park. I’m not kidding, the dog’s name was Union Park and she insisted on calling him his full name. Not Union, U or any other abbreviation – his name was UNION PARK.
Union Park loved to escape and run around the neighborhood. I still remember my brother, sister and me walking around calling “UUUNNIOOOON, UUUUNNIOOOONN PAAAAARRRK.”
Whenever I would take him out for a walk and someone would ask what his name was I always kind of looked at the ground and would mumble, “Union Park.” It was always the same, the confused look and “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Union Park,” and I would then have to give the full explanation of the name.
He was a great little dog but was probably the worst behaved dog in the history of domestic pets. He did not have a mean bone in his body but was loaded with energy. He loved to run and play. Leash walking was more like a sled race with me being the sled.
I went to my first obedience class with Union in Glastonbury, CT when I was 10 years old. The class was outside and the instructor was not too happy about my age and made this very clear to my dad. The entire class was made up of only me with Union and another adult with their dog.
We were handed a choke collar by the instructor and started what seemed like the first of about 3000 miles of walking in circles. Back in those days you spent most of the class walking in circles. Around and around we went.
The instructor firmly stated that treats are never to be used to train a dog. God forbid the dog gets a treat.
Anyway, Union Park and I graduated and my mom was very happy. She made us put on a graduation cap and took a bunch of pictures in the backyard, boy was that embarrassing.
Sadly, Union Park came to a tragic end. One snowy Saturday morning my friend Mark came over and Union slipped past him and out the door. I was about 30 feet away screaming his name when a van hit Union and I watched him slide on the snowy road for about 100 yards.
When I got to Union he was still alive but was severely injured. My mom rushed Union to the vet and I remember praying for Union to be okay and to come home.
He never did.
Continue to Part 2 of Eric’s Dog Training Time Line
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
