Meet Erin Marion

 

We were lucky to catch up with Erin Marion recently and have shared our conversation below.

Erin , thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?

I found this to be such a beautiful question. I am 35 years old and I feel like I am still learning how to communicate, however over the course of my life I have taken steps to make sure I am striving to work on this skill. My journey in life has been a consistent push to be a better communicator. Being a small business owner I want to make sure my clients feel heard and respected. In my personal life I went through a large break up six years ago that pushed me to learn what it took to effectively communicate while simultaneously being a good listener. I have been in an out of therapy all of my life for different chapters that I have gone through and it wasn’t until our couples therapist that I had a chance to really look in the mirror and ask who I wanted to be in a relationship. Even though that relationship ended I have taken everything I have learned and have applied it to my now spouse, family and friends.

As a dog trainer I have also learned how to effectively communicate with my animals through positive reinforcement training methods, taking time to pause and read my animals body language and go into our relationship with patience and respect. My deaf and blind dog Darla has taught me that language does not need to be verbal or even hand signal that communication can be so much more. We use tactile cues to talk to her!

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a certified professional dog trainer who specializes in working with dogs who are deaf, blind or both. I always knew I wanted to work with animals, I just didn’t know in what way. Growing up my Uncle was a zoo keeper on the west coast and my Aunt worked for Guide Dogs for the blind. I found them to be the coolest people on the planet (haha). I decided that my first step would be to major in Animal Sciences at Colorado State University and everything seemed to change when Temple Grandin was one of my professors. She taught us such a unique way at looking at animal husbandry and how animals perceive their environment. I then went to the Karen Pryor clicker training acdemy with my first dog on my own, Otis. Otis was a difficult first dog. If I didn’t the time to learn animal body language or different training methods I don’t think I would have been able to continue to be his guardian. As I fully immersed myself in dog life I worked in feed stores, dog daycares, animal hospitals and learned everything I could to be the best dog professional I could be. It was truly when I started volunteering with Deaf dogs of Oregon that my life changed. I knew then that working with dogs with disabilities was my true calling in this profession. Many times these dogs strive to communicate with us, we just didn’t have the knowledge on how to communicate back. I wanted to change that. I wanted to share with the world that dogs with disabilities are capable of so many extraordinary things. Over the course of my twelve year career, last seven years have been dedicated to fostering, training and supporting dogs who are deaf, blind or both. I currently now have a deaf and blind dog Darla, a fully blind dog Clark and my aging dog Dahlia.

I am also a queer individual with a transgender spouse. Living during a times where rights are being taken away and the world can feel heavy I want all of my friends, family and clients to know that they have a safe space with us. My life’s purpose is to cultivate a community and environment where disabled dogs feel safe and understood and all humans (clients or more) feel fully themselves.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Such a wonderful question!

The first impactful part of my journey was to strip what I knew of myself and start new. I struggled in high-school with finding my way. I suffered from substance abuse and knew that if I stayed in my small town of Pennsylvania I wouldn’t change my habits on my own, I needed a push. I decided to leave for college states away so that my parents couldn’t just come and save me in moments I was struggling. I wanted to grow up. I wanted to learn how to be better on my own. This ended up being one of the best decisions of my life. Even though there were moments I questioned it and swore I would move home, I didn’t! if anything I continued my journey even further by moving to Oregon after college. During this time period of 11 years (18-29) I learned more about what I was capable of on my own and I grew up in every way I wanted to. I learned to not only love others better but to love myself more.

The second impactful part of my journey was experiencing heartbreak. This may sound like an odd thing to say but I am so grateful for it. Experiencing the loss of close family members, my beloved college dogs and break-ups from long term relationships pushed me to learn how to grieve, process my emotions and communicate when I needed time for myself. I never knew how to do that before. Heartbreak teaches and humbles you. It’s a beautiful reminder of how strong you are and that even though days are limited in life, life is meant to live fully every day.

The last impactful part of my journey is still happening. It is to continue to always be a student. I went to college thinking school would be over after 4 years and that couldn’t be further from the truth. I strive to always be able to continue perfecting my craft and to learn new skills. I never want my journey to feel over. I continue to stay open with receiving new information, new training tactics for my profession, new ways to be the best friend, family member and spouse I can be.

Overall, my largest piece of advice it never give up on yourself. Take the things you love about your and nurture them, take the things you want to improve and work on them over time. Remind yourself that you have your whole life to learn who you are and what you want. Make mistakes, love harder, laugh when you can, and live the life you always dreamed of (even if it takes time to get there).

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

YES! I absolutely love collaborating with others. I am looking for folks who believe in bettering our community through education, support and understanding. Communities I am already apart of mean the world to me. Being able to train alongside other LGBTQia members, disabled dog guardians and folks who have experienced large life set backs to get where they are today are extremely close to my heart. Folks outside of these communities but who believe in positive reinforcement training are also near and dear to me. I want to share space with folks who check ego’s at the door and want to create an educational experience through vulnerability and love.

For contact information :
All socials @Downtoearthdoglady
Downtoearthdoglady@gmail.com

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