When you are helping to teach others new things you quickly learn that you have to change the way you teach them. Not everyone learns in the same methods. Everyone's points of view are different. This can depend on what was recently described to me as a "generational gap" which does make a lot of sense. The older generation grew up with Old Guard vs New Guard protocols which have different standards. Now I cannot begin to say that I fully understand these as I am in no way close to an expert in them. What I can say is I have met a lot of people on both sides of the fence in each of the two groups. They are as diverse as the vanilla community is in the way that no two communities are the same. Just as no two girl scout troops will agree on what activity they should get together and do for their next meet up without it involving a ton of other people and debate. The list can go on and on but you get my point.
The more you teach and understand about the students you are teaching, the more you learn that communication is a HUGE factor that often becomes a problem because for some odd reason, *cough society cough*, there is a pressure to be solo when you have intense feelings. When anything is going on in your life then you shouldn't share it but keep it to yourself rather than share it. So many people these days keep things in when they should be talking them out. They pretend they know about things to prevent themselves looking silly or stupid. There is again no need for it when all you have to do is admit you don't know something and the one you are talking to will more than likely happily explain what they mean and be overjoyed you wanted to lern about it. I know that when people ask me about stuff they dont know and I do, I.E. puppy play, I am more than happy to talk about it and help teach them all about the wonderful world and dynamics of it because it is my passion and lifestyle as well as a part of who I am as a whole.
Then again as it is said "With great power, comes great responsibility" which to me as an Alpha means looking after those I love and reading between the lines and knowing what isn't being said. Learning the signs that may be subtle and hard to read through text. It is not easy but after a few years of managing a pack I have learned that when puppies start retreating inwards then it is time to think about why, start looking not at them, but at myself. What have I done recently with them that might have caused a change? Then from there you work toward the pup and move inward. Eventually that leads to some realizations that solve problems and you can have happy solutions that work out for everyone in the long run and keep everything peaceful as it should be.
--Kit--