I'm On A Roll

I had so much fun writing the first article for the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, on the different ways to take care of your pet after you're gone, that I wrote another one. It's called Liability Waivers: A Primer for Dog Trainers. This is written for pet professionals, but can easily apply to other business that use waivers. Here's the intro. I thought it was fun:

Liability Waivers: A Primer For Dog Trainers

By Christina Schenk-Hargrove, Esq., CPDT-KA

I am looking right at him, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. It’s Basic Manners Class, and Tom is in his 60s, with an over-sized, exuberant, young Labradoodle named Georgie. One moment, Georgie is focused, working on his sit-stay, his leash firmly under Tom’s foot, and then suddenly he is bounding off, leash dragging, to greet his neighbor – a little white Havanese named Lark. As I turn my head to see what the commotion is, I see Tom hurry after his dog, toward Lark and her owner Susan, who is crouched on the floor next to her. In my mind’s eye, the next few seconds play in slow motion . . . Tom’s feet are shuffling and his arms are reaching forward . . . he is wearing sensible shoes with rubber soles . . . Tom’s right toe stubs the floor, the sole of his shoe sticking to the rubber-matted floor . . . his body pitches forward in . . . and he falls right on top of Susan and Lark and crashes to the ground. Susan and the dogs are fine, but within minutes Tom’s elbow swells to the size of a softball. It is broken and requires several pins and casts and several months to repair. Later, Tom confides to me that he has something funny to tell me – he is a lawyer but not to worry, he won’t sue. I tell him that is funny – because I’m a lawyer too!

Send me an email at christinaschenkhargrove@gmail.com if you want to read the whole thing.