M She Story
feature story
C
indy has fostered two Airedales this
year. The first one had been extremely
neglected and needed much care
before going to his new home in
Charlotte, NC. The second one was
transported to her home from Knoxville, TN after
being surrendered. She was in much need of training
and discipline before she could be a good candidate
for adoption. After three months of working with her
and searching for the best fit, she will be going to her
new home in Minneapolis, MN.
Regarding the specific rewards and challenges of
dog training, Cindy especially enjoys helping people
bring calm and order to the relationship with their
dog. Her favorite part of her job is when she gets
to observe the “ah-ha” moment when working with
a client and their dog - the moment when an own-
er realizes how much their dog reflects the owner’s
state of mind. This is when people really start to un-
derstand the owner-dog relationship. Cindy also en-
joys just being with the dogs, interacting with them,
and with team members who also share her love for
dogs. On the challenges side, it is difficult sometimes
to communicate to owners that, following a training
program, a dog is not trained for life. It is something
that has to be reinforced and practiced every day.
Even the best training result - getting a dog to the
right state of mind, attentive and obedient - does not
last if the dog returns to living in chaos.
Cindy firmly believes that every dog has some-
thing to teach the trainer if only one is willing to listen.
“I learn something from every dog while training.
When a dog is not responding as you expect you
have to stop and ask what you are missing. My recent
foster dog has required so much patience and been a
constant reminder to slow down, which is something
I am not especially good at doing. I am usually a
go-go-go person. This foster dog was a very anxious
and driven dog that could be difficult to handle. The
calmer I became the less anxious she became and
thus the easier to handle.”
Successful trainers must be equally effective with
the owner as with the dog. There is as much learning
that must occur for the owner as there is for the dog.
According to Cindy, sometimes the owner is more
challenging; sometimes it is the dog that is tough.
Ultimately the owner and dog must be a bonded
team. No matter how well the dog may behave with a
trainer, if it is not transferred to the owner, the training
goal will not be accomplished.
Cindy looks forward to continuing to improve
her skills as a trainer by taking every advantage to
train and learn from others as well as by practicing
her skills with clients and their dogs. “For me this is
about always having a challenge and not stagnating.
There is nothing I enjoy more than learning. I am
continuing my love of genetics by taking courses in
canine genetics. I just started a new 10-week
course on the genetics of behavior and how current
knowledge can be used to breed healthier more
behaviorally sound dogs… I find inspiration in so
many places. I find inspiration in watching dogs that
have come thru horrible circumstances and abuse, yet
they go about their day enjoying a moment in the sun
or a chance to play ball without concern or thoughts
about the past. This reminds me to be thankful for the
moment.”
For the dogs and families that come into con-
tact with Cindy Green, dog trainer, there will
likely be many thankful moments to share. The cotton
breeding industry may have lost a professional, but
the dogs have won a trainer with a heart for learning
and teaching…and fostering hope.
Cindy Green was raised in a military family, her father an Air Force pilot. She was born in Texas, then the family soon transferred to Andrews AFB in Maryland, Cindy spent much of her growing
up years in Charleston, SC, with the exception of two teenage years spent in the Philippines when her father was assigned as a helicopter rescue pilot during the Vietnam War. Cindy completed
her undergraduate work at University of Georgia and earned her MS and PhD in plant breeding and genetics from North Carolina State University. She and her husband, Bruce Martin, met during
their post-graduate studies and were married in 1984. The couple moved to Florence in 1986. Bruce is a professor of Plant Pathology and works at the Clemson University Pee Dee Research
and Education Center as a specialist in Turf grass diseases. Cindy Green retired from her 30 year career as a cotton breeder in 2016 and now works as a professional dog trainer and is actively
involved in a southeastern regional Airedale rescue group. Cindy currently has two Airedales at home: Grace, age 5, and Finnegan, age 4, along with the occasional “foster-dale”.
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AUGUST 2017
SHEMAGAZINE.COM