The benefits of working and interacting with animals for health and social benefits are well recognized and accepted. Working with animals to explore the concepts of communication and team dynamics is more unusual, yet can be equally rewarding.
Pacific Center for Leadership is pleased to offer team development sessions focusing on better communication and understanding the underlying motivation of team members through working with highly trained search and rescue dogs.
Working with dogs provides the opportunity to interact with another living creature free from hidden agendas, career ambitions, or influenced by office politics. What matters is clear, consistent direction and reward for task completion. Like our human counterparts, each dog has a different set of skills and preferences; it’s the leader’s task to figure out how to best motivate and put talents to best use. Through a series of controlled exercises, the themes of motivation, communication and authority are explored.
All of the dogs used in this session are highly trained and socialized. They each come with their own dog handler, who ensures control and safety at all times. Participants are not required or expected to touch or approach the dogs unless they want to; it’s much like bringing an outside consultant to your workplace.