We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wendi Blanton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Wendi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I spent the majority of my 40s trapped in bed as I fought my way through multiple surgeries, resulting in now having metal in several parts of my body. When your mind is sharp, but your body is weak, it’s hard to stay positive at times.

I was scrolling through channels out of boredom and stumbled across Cesar Millan’s Dog Whisperer TV show. At first, it was entertaining to see how he worked so well with so many different dogs, but quickly I became completely intrigued. Soon I found myself taking notes and thinking I wanted to try his techniques on my own dog (at the time) Lexi when/if I was ever able to have a life outside of my bed again. There were many years I didn’t think I would be strong enough to have my life back, but surgery by surgery, I was able to fight my way out of bed. I started working with Lexi to see if Cesar’s techniques would work for us…and they did! From learning how to understand Lexi’s forms of communication to practicing how to be a good dog leader with having my own calm and confident energy, I was amazed at how well she began to listen to my commands. It was an amazing connection with her in a new and different way, which I would later learn was a result from gaining her trust and respect, in addition to her love. From that point forward, I knew I wanted to learn dog psychology. In San Diego, there weren’t a lot of dog behaviorist listed, so I decided to start my own business to help people have a better relationship with their dog. I’ve invested in taking three of Cesar’s classes so I could practice my skills and get expert advice from him and his team of amazing dog trainers.

Wendi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I started my business, I wanted to learn as much as possible to help ensure my business would be successful, so in addition to getting my certified professional dog trainers (CPDT) license, I signed up for several of Cesar’s classes.

I remember him saying how much he learned from walking dogs, so in addition to offering dog training sessions, I also offered dog walking services, and soon had several dog walking clients. While my dog walking clients didn’t initially hire me for dog training, they quickly saw the loose leash walking results I was getting from their dogs and started asking me questions. Now, one of my dog walking clients can push their baby in a stroller while their 100 pound Rottweiler walks nicely right beside them.

I help people understand how their actions directly affect their dog, and teach them ways to stop their dog’s bad behaviors. When learning anything new, it can be difficult to retain all of the information, so to help my clients, I send them notes on all of the topics we discuss during our session. Many of my clients have commented on how the notes have really helped them remember everything they learned during our session. For client’s who have a lot of problems with their dogs, I create a training plan for them (and their family) to follow so they can begin to eliminate the bad behaviors.

I use a bit of humor and make the information relatable to help people understand the differences between human psychology and dog psychology. Once we understand the importance of being a good dog leader for our our dogs, we can begin to gain their trust and respect.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

People often think of “learning” as learning something new, but “learning” can also involve having to unlearn something, and given a habit takes 21 days to start or stop, unlearning something can be frustrating.

During my first training class with Cesar and his team, I brought a client’s dog that was extremely nervous around new people and new environments, so you can imagine how scared she was at Cesar’s ranch around a bunch of new students and their dogs. During the first hands-on demonstration, I was excited as I knew I would be learning ways to help my client’s dog get over her nervousness. Before I say what happened, I what to first say that most people would describe me as a calm person, but the trainer at the class quickly pointed out that I was way too excited and my energy was NOT good for the dog I brought to class with me. The trainer explained how my energy needs to be completely calm when working with certain dogs, especially dogs that are nervous. I acknowledged that I was excited to be there and would work to calm down, but little did I know that there was a whole new level of calmness I was about to learn.

On a walk with one of the trainers, we were talking about different techniques to help the nervous dog that I brought, and the more we talked, the more I realized that in addition to learning the new techniques, I was also going to have to unlearn several other things. You think unlearning something is fairly easy, until you realize it’s a habit and it’s going to take three weeks to stop or change the behavior. Then when you realize you have to unlearn several habits, the frustration kicks in! At one point of the class, I was so frustrated with myself, I walked over to one of the memorials on the ranch and had a very cleansing cry for an hour or so, but when I realized and accepted that I was there to learn (and not there to be perfect), a complete calmness came over me.

When you are truly passionate about being good at what you do, you learn to analyze everything you do so you can make improvements. Once I really started to pay attention to my energy, I discovered some habits that are quite the opposite of being calm (i.e. tapping my foot, bouncing my leg, twirling my hair, flailing my arms as I talk, etc.). Now when I feel that nervous energy, it’s easy to stop the behavior and return to being calm.

It’s important to celebrate who we are, and my natural self is very happy-go-lucky, but if I truly want to help the nervous dogs I work with, I have to tap into my new superpower of being calm.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

It was amazing to me which of my friends thought I should get another job when I got laid off, and which of my friends told me to jump head first into my own business and make it happen. People often say that their haters become their source of motivation, and I can see why. I am determined to show my friends who thought starting my own business “wasn’t a good idea”, that with my hard word, dedication, and passion for dogs, my business will be successful!

It’s said that most successful people did not achieve their success alone, it’s only with the help of others that we can rise to reach our goals. I’m thankful to the mentors in my life who taught me to grow my mindset as being an entrepreneur is not easy at times. When the roadblocks pop up trying to keep you from reaching your goals, it’s your strong mindset that tells you to rise above those roadblock so you can use them as stepping stones and not allow them to stop your progress to your goals.

Like an affirmation mantra, I used to repeat to myself “I can do it”. Now, after several years, I am telling myself “I will do it”. There is no doubt, I will work as hard as it takes to ensure my business is successful so I can help as many people as possible have a better life with their dogs!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wenswaggintails.com
• Instagram: @wenswaggintails
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• Other: Email – [email protected]