Interview with Louise Basson
Author | Founder | Dog Training Specialist |
Barking Beach Cottage - Pet Friendly Accommodation | Happy Tails
In 2008, Louise started a business called The Dog Care Centre, which is a pet boarding facility for dogs, cats and rabbits. They train all breeds of dogs and specialize in reactive dog training as well as huskies.In 2011 she started Barking Beach Cottage, which is a pet friendly holiday accommodation in Sandbaai near Hermanus.
During 2015 Louise opened a grooming business for dogs and rabbits. They also stock pet and horse related products.
Find the full interview below:
Below are a few points of interest taken from the interview:
Where did you complete your courses and are any of them internationally certified?
In 2008 she completed her first course in qualifying as a Dog Trainer.During 2011 she done an International course with a company in Texas. The course was based on theory, behavior and training.
Your boarding facility does something different than the other boarding facilities. Will you tell us more about the boarding train?
She introduced board and train after their visit to friends in Texas. She noticed they were doing very well with the boarding train program. The owners leave their dogs for two to three weeks and they train with the dogs during this time. Especially dogs that are active to lead or reactive towards people.
The board and train allows the trainers to spend quality time with the dog and set a good foundation. The owners can adapt easily to the training and the dog already has the foundation set.
Is there any bad habits that you removed from your business life to make your life better and more productive?
Louise learned a lot from her mistakes made with her very first business, a beauty salon. She tries not to repeat those mistakes.A lot of people fear change. You can’t mature mentally and spiritually if you don’t allow change in your life.Change is messy but it’s part of the process. With change comes growth.
She reminds herself daily to be open to change.
I’ve noticed you don’t care about competition. You’ve got a very good philosophy about competition in a business environment, could you tell me more about that?
In any industry there’s competition and that’s something that can inspire change.The more you develop yourself and your business, the less the competition matters.
If you constantly compare yourself to what others are doing and trying to put them down in order to make yourself feel better, there’s something wrong in your business/personal life. Focus on what you do and develop what you offer to clients, there’s no need to focus on what other people are doing.
Do you have any morning/evening rituals or daily habits?
She has one bad habit: coffee. She would rather like to drink tea. Before getting up, she likes to listen to some music. Not traditional music but music set to a specific Hertz.
The rhythm the music produces is there to assist with healing and cleanse your overall mindset.Music influences how you respond to your day and affects your mood. After dressing, she feeds her horses, pigs and chickens. This gives her a good start to her day.
The music you listen (set at a certain Hertz) to gives off a certain vibration, could you elaborate if possible?
Louise says her prayers while listening to music. Through God, she believes that our subconscious is very powerful.
The way we think affects our daily lives.By thinking of everything we don’t have, you create a neuro pathways. The music helps to clear those neuro pathways and heal your DNA.The vibration is just a feeling you give towards people and animals around you. Some have good vibrations, others have bad vibrations.
‘Switch on your Brain’ by Dr. Caroline Leaf validates the connection between neuroscience and Scripture.
Any specific book you can advise entrepreneurs to read on this specific subject?
‘The Power of your Subconscious Mind’ by Joseph Murphy. It’s a very easy and understandable.
You are the author of two books and in the process of writing your third. Give us an idea what the first two books are about and the potential information of the new book.
The third book she’s working on is called ‘Getting to the Heart of Training’. The book will focus on bringing training with emotion and the balance between the two. The first book ‘Winter Dogs’ is a very easy read and understanding the basics of Huskies. They’re a little different than most breeds. A little bit harder to handle and difficult to train.
Her second book (Shaping You Dog: The Positive Way) focuses more on in depth behavior and training of any breed of dog.The problem she finds with training is, it seems very two-dimensional and flat.
Animals do have emotion. Training takes the emotion out of the animal. They don’t train with emotion but with behavior.They’ve recently started with self-selection in animals. This means, the trainers work with the animals through plant materials and essential oils. You offer certain oils or plant extracts and the animal self-select whatever they need. It’s for emotional balance or imbalances and physical issues (stiffness or inflammation) they might be experiencing.
They can smell, eat or lick the product. You can rub it on them.It makes quite a difference on the animal after just one session.
Where are the books available for purchase?
Amazon, Loot, Kalahari, Exclusive Books and Barnes & Noble
Any specific apps that you have on your smartphone?
Audible and Facebook (mostly for business purposes). There’s a saying, “work smarter not harder” and Louise believes that working smarter is less to do with technology. It’s more to do with how you empower yourself and your mind. Not really with apps.
