Step By Step with Patience and Compassion: Marc’s Story

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Caring, patient, polite, and a dog lover through and through; this is how we would describe employU client, Marc.  Marc began his journey with employU in December 2020 after being referred by Vocational Rehabilitation. After meeting Marc, his Young Adult Transition Coordinator, Kimberly Halhober, learned of Marc’s love of dogs and his desire to pursue his interest in working with animals.  Kimberly knew an on-the-job training (OJT) with Big Dog Ranch Rescue would be the perfect fit for Marc.  

During this opportunity, Marc learned how to become a professional dog walker by taking a dog walking class with Evan, a trainer at Big Dog Ranch. Soon Marc was walking the dogs around the lake and enjoying every moment of it. Through this OJT, he worked on a variety of skills and improved in many areas including communication, reading comprehension, active listening, coordination, decision making, and problem recognition.  

Practicing these skills helped Marc gain confidence during his work-based learning experience with Big Dog Ranch. But Marc did more than fulfill his job duties while on the OJT.  He also provided much-needed patience and empathy to the scared and previously abused dogs at the rescue. He would offer comfort and friendship to these dogs by sitting with them until they felt safe enough to go for a walk with him. When a dog was reluctant to follow Marc’s lead, he used his instinct to comfort the dog until the dog was ready to resume his walk. He walked dogs of all sizes and showed compassion for every dog that he encountered throughout this experience. Marc hopes to continue gaining experience working with animals and dreams of working in kennels, animal shelters, and zoos.  We are excited to see where Marc goes from here on his career path! With a love and passion for animals, he certainly has what it takes to fulfill his dreams of working with animals. For more information on our On-the-Job Trainings, visit https://employu.org/youth-paid-work-based-learning/