[Episode 10]: David Thatcher - ATA Happiness Engineer.
David Thatcher – Bio
My life’s motto is a Zig Ziglar quote, “You can get everything in life you want, if you will just help enough people get what they want.”
What I discovered from implementing this motto was helping others was what I wanted.
So as an Aircraft Mechanic, whether building engines or working crash investigations, I found myself seeking other avenues to fulfill this desire. Even when I started a career as a Journeyman Electrical Technician, that didn’t fill the need, though both of these careers helped build a skill set that became very useful to my next journey.
That next journey was down the path of training animals. Feeling the need to educate myself for this journey I reaped the benefits from some of the best animal training schools such as:
- Karen Pryor Academy
- Animal Behavioral College
- Purdue University’s “Dog’s Course”
- Shedd Aquarium’s “Animal Training”
- L.L.A. with Dr. Susan Friedman
These courses coupled with Purdue University’s Small Animal Behavioral Clinic’s guidance under Dr. Luescher and Dr. Ogata with behavioral issues, especially aggression in dogs, has helped prepare me for an animal training journey.
The next turning of the page was becoming the Director of Training at “The Dog House of Lafayette.” Along with this, the opening of my business, Clicking at Curly’s, with classes in fearful and aggressive dogs, tracking-trailing, Nosework, and Agility assisted me in finding the “helping others” I was seeking.
These days, most of my time is geared towards volunteering at Providence Wild Life. I have found a new love in working with birds of prey.
I also share time being a member of a local SAR team, Hoosier State Search and Rescue, and they are helping me get my two pups, Berdie and Huck, trained for human remains detection.
But number one on my list, these days, is spending time with my two grandest children, Alec (14) and Azalea (11). You can catch us playing board games, word play, training ducks at the local pond, and eating at their favorite restaurants.
In closing, I do hold seminars on topics such as PORTL (Portable Operant Research and Training Lab), nosework, or tracking-trailing.
If you would like more info contact me at shock7388@sbcglobal.net.
