Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” 

- Albert Einstein

I just adopted the 5^th puppy of my adult life - and that doesn’t include my rescue dog, who came to me full grown, or the three dogs we had while I was growing up.  Yup. I’m a dog person.  I also consider myself, as do most of my friends and family, a pretty well-seasoned dog parent.  The glaring exception to this notion is my sister-in-law, the all-around-doggie-know-it-all-trainer-turned-breeder…and source of the new four-legged addition to my family.

Likely sensing the sarcastic eye-rolling and under-my-breath mumbling that would accompany my involvement in the adoption proceedings, my husband stepped up to handle the whole matter.  (Dodged a bullet there.)  I came home last Wednesday to my bundle of squirmy, cuddly fur, feet, and utter joy; complete with his own puppy instruction manual.

What!?

A puppy instruction manual?  Did I not just mention this was my 1-2-3-4-fifth puppy!?

Hmmm…my sister-in-law’s final attempt to assert her dominance in doggie domestication. Ha! I’ll show her! I’ll actually read the book.  Be the bigger person. There. Take that!

So, I’m reading section one of chapter one and there it is…gulp…my first taste of humble pie.  Did you know that a puppy’s brain is best suited for imprinting openness to strangers between 3 and 12-14 weeks old?  Um…I didn’t. 

I am burning daylight people! My puppy is nearly 11 weeks old!  I have got to go to the park. Now!  Oh wait…I’m blogging.

I admit it.  I learned something new.  And I was only on page 2.  Maybe, just maybe, my sister-in-law knew something that I once knew, but seem to have forgotten: you can teach an old dog new tricks – pun intended.  Seasoned or not, there is always something new I can learn about raising my puppy. (I like to think that my sister-in-law passed the book along because she learned something new from it, too.  Soothes my ego.)

My lesson in puppy-rearing brings me to today’s Sign Post:

Be a life-long learner.  

Or, as Albert Einstein said, “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”  Words to live by.

If you are an unemployed and unplanned career changer like me, your current job is finding a job; and part of finding a job is dependent upon your continued professional development and growth.  Use some of the ideas below to continue your professional "intellectual growth":

• Take advantage of free educational resources for the unemployed. Start with the US Department of Labor’s web page for Job Seekers and the Unemployed.
• Go back to school.  Find out if you are eligible for financial aid as an adult student to go, or return, to college.  Visit the US Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Adult Student web page.  Or, check out your local community college.
• Take a class.  Your local library or high school will likely offer adult education classes. If you are a career-changer of a “certain” age and missed the technology train, this is a great place to find basic computer software classes.
• Just read. Find out what’s at the top of the bestseller lists for business, finance, management, self-help, philosophy, or “whatever”, and check the book out of the library.  (Or just pick up the Hunger Games trilogy…I guarantee you will stop and think about life in a way you haven’t pondered before – great for getting the mental juices flowing.)

Do you have any ideas to continue the learning process during your career “down time”?  I welcome your posts, below.