Talking to the Screen
I'm taking a break this week so there might not be any "Tidbits" on Wednesday. Below is an update of an essay from 2015. Here's hoping your summer is going great and the pandemic is easing. Back soon!
427 reads, 29 likes, 18 shares, 1 comment. Numbers. I am a content provider on the Internet. Numbers are a main source of feedback that I get to tell me whether what I am producing resonates with my audience. In fact, it tells me whether or not I actually have an audience. It’s a bit like being on stage behind a closed curtain – you hope that someone out there is listening and enjoys what you do but you have no way to know for sure. Except the numbers and the occasional comment or contact from someone.
The “dog world” has so many facets that it can be a challenge to know what I should write about from week to week. To make things more complicated, I have to decide who I’m talking to; is it the training professionals or is it the people trying to teach their own dogs? And then there is the question of attention span and word counts. People have busy lives. I need to be considerate and keep my essays to a reasonable length. It can be hard to say what I want to say within these various considerations. Sometimes it can be a struggle to sit down and produce Canine Nation.
What has gotten me to the keyboard for more than a decade has been the belief that my experience with modern science-based concepts of working with my dogs could make a difference in other people’s lives with their dogs. Twenty years ago I opened a door on the world of science based animal training. The journey that set in motion has taken me to amazing places and introduced me to amazing people. Most importantly it has given me a wealth of incredible experiences with my dogs including remarkable achievements in performance sports like agility. It has been magical watching my dogs respond to me in ways I never thought possible.
But the world changes fast, particularly on the Internet. When I started Canine Nation, there were a few other places to read about dogs and training. Now, a decade later, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs, websites, podcasts, and other online forums dedicated to dogs and training. It can be hard to know how relevant Canine Nation is these days; whether it is even necessary when so much content is available.
A few years ago I received a wonderful, heartfelt email from a woman thanking me for an article I had written in 2011. It was both gratifying and humbling to know that my writing can be so important in helping someone to deal with something regarding their dogs. It is the reason I write these essays in the first place.
But those emails are few and far between. Feedback is important. Social media, while it can be unnecessarily cruel and combative at times, can provide some idea about how my writing is being received. But staying away from the nastiness on Facebook groups and other social media outlets like Twitter also cuts me off from that feedback. It’s hard to balance getting the feedback and filtering out the garbage.
So I try to see past the numbers. You are the audience on the other side of that curtain. Sometimes you applaud and sometimes you don’t. That’s fair enough. But I wonder if you know how important your voice is to people like me. The number of reads or shares or likes can tell me a bit about how people enjoy what I do but there is nothing like hearing from real people and getting their thoughts. Do I need to talk more about some things or less? Is there another point of view that I should consider? Are there things I can learn from the people who read my stuff? These are all things that I have gotten from comments and emails over the years and I’m grateful for them.
I appreciate more than you know the time you give to read and listen to what I write for Canine Nation. I’m grateful that you consider what I have to say. I’m honoured and humbled that you think my thoughts are worth your time. Please know that the time you take to leave me comments or send email is even more precious and important because that is how I get better. What you have to say tells me what I’m doing right and what I should try to do better.
Your voice matters. Thank you for supporting me and Canine Nation.
Eric
eric@caninenation.ca
If you enjoy these essays, the most important thing you can do is to share them with others. Pass them along in emails, send a link to a post or to the website, post about what you read here on your social media accounts. Spreading the word means a bigger and better conversation about our dogs and how we work with them.
You make a good point Eric. It never occurred to me that I should let you know after I have read your articles. Sorry, I shall in future.
M