Do dog trainers really work?
Dog trainers work with dogs and their owners. They show owners how to teach their dog to respond to commands, as well as how to get their dog to perform certain actions. Dog trainers also help owners understand why their dog does a behaviour and how to overcome that behaviour if it is a problem (like jumping up, excessive barking, pulling on the lead, not coming back).
Contrary to what most people think, dog training mostly consists of training people! The owners are trained on how to get their dogs to do things and the dogs are trained on how to respond to the owners. Some say its 80% training people and 20% training dogs!
Dog waiting for their owner to train them.
Is my dog too old to train?
An essential part of owning a dog is to train it. It doesn’t matter how old your dog is, training is worthwhile. It building confidence, provides mental stimulation and strengthens a bond between human and dog. Anxious or timid dog can benefit immensely from training.
I train dogs how to be family pets and do a lot of fun stuff like scentwork and tricks. Dog trainers also do other training such as obedience, search and rescue, hunting, therapy, entertainment, dog sports, protection, and detection.
1-2-1s or Group Classes?
Owners come to a 1-2-1s consultations generally because their owner can’t make my classes or there is a specific problem with the dog and it is not suitable to train the dog in a class environment. Problems such as aggression, lunging at other dogs, fear, separation anxiety, toileting, barking, and destructive behaviour is better dealt with on a 1-2-1 basis or private consultation.
I only use reward based and force free training methods which include clicker training and whistle training.
When we train dogs we learn their communication cues and this, in turn, strengthens the bond we have with our dogs through positive attention.
As Camilla Mills says in DaySmart: “When you properly train your dog, you’re giving it the skills it needs to live peacefully among humans and other animals. You might think that domestic dogs have easy lives compared to how they’d live in the wild. But living in a human household puts pressure on your dog that it needs to learn to deal with.”
Old Dogs can learn new tricks and training is especially good for them
The benefits of using a dog trainer:
- They will teach you how to train your dog themselves.
- Dog trainers can identify behaviour in dogs, for example, signs of aggression or fear and help you learn how to handle these moments.
- You are taught different methods for training the basics in every training session.
How to find a dog trainer
A good way to find a dog trainer is to talk to your doggy friends and ask them where they got their dog trained. You can also look online and read dog trainer’s reviews to understand what other people think of the training. Another good way to find a dog trainer is to ask your breeder or rescue centre.
At Smarty Paws we offer a variety of packages and classes. From FUNdamental classes to socialisation walks and masterclasses. Check out the packages and availability on my Booking Calendar.
And if you just want to chat about an issue you have with your dog, give us a call and we’ll be pleased to help if we can.
Contact me on my website, email kathy@smartypawsdogtraining.co.uk or ring 07973430952.