Tips for Choosing a Dog Trainer

You don’t have to look far to find ads for dog trainers. You will find them in your local newspaper, in the Yellow Pages, online, and through announcements posted in pet stores and veterinary offices.

Before joining any training class, observe one of them in person. Do the dogs and the owners seem to be working together and making progress? Would you be at ease using the methods used? Does the teacher offer alternate ways to solve problems? Not every method works for all dogs.

Do not work with a trainer that uses physical punishment to train your dog. A good dog trainer should not be demonstrating how to scruff your dog or force him into a submissive position (this is called “alpha rolling”). If you don’t feel at ease with any of the training methods being used, trust your inner judgment and move on.

Methods such as “choke chains” can work well when training your dog, but I prefer a different approach. I’ve come to the conclusion that my dogs learn more quickly when I reinforce their behavior with a reward when they do something correctly, as opposed to punishing them when they do wrong.

Are the dog trainers you are interested in using keeping up with the latest research and developments in animal behavior? Or are they using the same training techniques they learned 20 years ago? Once again, experience matters but you have to make sure that the trainer you are working with hasn’t just been doing the same thing for 20 years without adopting any new approaches or techniques. Check to make sure the trainer or instructor is a member of educational organizations like the Association of Pet Dog Trainers or is making an effort to get ongoing training from other sources.

A few dog trainers offer very personalized service and will come to your home. In-home dog training isn’t cheap, but training a dog in their own environment is very effective. This can be extremely valuable if you can do it.

Some trainers offer a service where they will train your dog for you. All you do is drop your dog off, and they do the rest. I think this approach is less than desirable because the dog’s owner really isn’t learning anything this way. I also can’t understand how this would deliver a consistent message to the dog. You also never know what methods they use with your dog while you’re away, either. If you’re going to spend the money, I believe it’s better to hire a dog trainer to come to your home.