Several years ago, a friend of mine messaged me privately about the phrase “Old School”.
I thought on it a while; contemplated the meaning behind the words, context, semantics, you get the drift.
Most of the time these days, it’s delivered in a derisive way. I think it’s kinda funny, especially when it usually comes from someone who uses ‘science’ a lot in their vernacular.
Unless you are a nuclear physicist or a bioengineer, I’m not impressed.
What cracks me up most, is the folks who think they invented something, especially with anything having to do with animals, as if miraculously they traveled to the Mount like Moses to receive a gift from above.
Us geezers just sort of snicker. After all, even with the advent of the consumer use of electronic collars, these wunderkinder are already working with tech that is 60 years old or more. It’s been refined and made better…
And so have I.
I mean, where did they think the information came from? It didn’t just *appear*. It was built, tried, tested and proofed before the newbz ever got their dainty, untarnished little hands on it. Who did that, I wonder? Elves? Dog training fairies?
My eyes glaze over when I see some of the stuff floating around on social media. TikTok and Instagram Reels have become everybody’s darling and I have to say, it’s largely cringeworthy. Especially when it comes to the information surrounding dogs.
I may have to try it sometime, since FB seems to choke everything I create.
I will never grow accustomed to the 30 second to 3 minute sound byte, because that’s not how I learned. I don’t think it’s how anybody learns.
Learning is through rote practice. Whether you are a dog or a human, you can NOT practice a skill with a muscle memory requirement and master it with only a few repetitions.
Us old school folks know this.
Whether you get your information from dusty old books (which, thankfully, for anyone with reading comprehension above the 6th grade level is STILL the primary source of information), or whether you can watch a video to learn how to take apart your widget, these are all ideas and practices created by others, honed and refined until they became rote memory.
Where my friend wanted me to come up with a different way of conferring a great depth of knowledge, I chose to embrace the ‘Old School’ moniker.
Because my knowledge is deep and great. It is ancient by today’s standards. It is ageless, dateless and timeless.
It cannot be forgotten. It cannot be rendered obsolete. It is a testament to my training mentors, and a testament to theirs.
I am an assembly of every piece of information that I have ever drawn to me through study and practice; that ritual that separates the beginner from the master.
Knowledge is *enduring*.
My best days aren’t behind me as long as I have a few functioning brain cells to rub together.
I’ll stick with Old School, thanks.
You can read the comments in here.
And when your dog defies all of your knowledge, and the current strategies have yielded no tangible results, look me up. I am only a phone call or email away.
I used to think old school meant not being progressive until what I saw out there was just garbage. Happy to be old school and in good company