Bespoke workshops – with a canine twist

12 Jul 2016

It’s hard work. Trying to get everything planned effectively, managed properly and executed to perfection is hard work. Building a social enterprise is incredible!

I mainly play with dogs. There’s a little bit more to it than that, but essentially, I play with dogs and enable other humans to play with dogs too. When I tell people about our social projects, sometimes in a little more depth, they ask if they can come and play with dogs too. Who doesn’t want to spend the day in the company of a hound?

It’s the story of the impact of one of my own rescue dogs that inspired Canine Perspective CIC and I never take it for granted that I am living the dog lover’s dream. I get to spend my days playing with hounds.

When people started asking about joining us on our projects, we realised that the benefit of spending time with dogs transcends the projects we’re working on. The lessons that we learn from dogs, the experiences that we share on our projects and the power of the human-canine bond has benefits for all of us.

Part of the fun of being a social entrepreneur is the desire to keep going, keep working and not always having the time to take a break and reflect. Social entrepreneurs are trying to have increased impact with limited resources and that is exhausting.

When it gets a little overwhelming, I head to the hills with my dogs. On the rare occasions I head to the hills alone; my head is still working overtime. I’m thinking about what I need to do, what I haven’t done and how long I have to make it through the ‘to-do’ list.

When I’m with my dogs, my focus shifts. I’m able to interact with another living being who doesn’t care about the deadlines or lists. They live in the moment, explore, embrace every new experience and remind me that I should take time to do the same thing.

Our projects never cease to amaze me as the dogs add such an incredible dimension to learning and personal development. We can now bring this opportunity to you.

We have developed a bespoke workshop for social enterprises and charities that will help to empower and engage your team members. The key difference to traditional team development sessions is that we tap in to the lessons we can learn from dogs. With the help of a canine co-tutor, we’ll help you to: