Whether you are just looking for a basic Bradenton dog obedience trainer or you are interested in more extensive training for your dog, it may seem difficult to find someone that you can really trust with your dog. How do you know that the dog trainers you have been considering are the right one to train your dog? This is an extremely important decision. The right trainer will help turn your dog into an obedient, happy pooch, while the wrong trainer can make behavioral problems worse (or even cause behavioral problems if your dog was originally happy and friendly).
You have probably already decided that you need help to train your dog. You may have done a little online research and found trainer after trainer who claims to be the only person with the expertise to really help you understand your dog. Some claim to have miracle cures for everything from aggression to chewing to barking. Don’t be fooled by someone who claims that only they know the method that will transform a poorly behaved or untrained dog into an angel. Here’s what you should really be looking for in a trainer:
1. Someone who encourages you to get involved in the process.
One of the most common questions we hear is, “Do I really need a trainer?” The truth is that if you have tried and failed to train your dog, you do need a dog trainer. That doesn’t mean, however, that you hand your dog over to the trainer and leave everything up to them. Dog training is about training the human owner just as much as it is about training the dog. When you are present in the process, you are establishing yourself as the authority figure in your dog’s life. They’ll see you as the pack leader, instead of seeing the dog trainer as the pack leader and basically ignoring everything you say.
2. They have great people skills.
Because a Bradenton dog trainer’s job is to train you just as much as it is to train your dog, the trainer you ultimately work with should have good people skills. They can communicate with you, answer your questions, are willing to work more with those who need more help and offer praise to both dog and owner do things well. Nothing is worse than being in a class with a teacher who basically ignores half of his students. You should be able to understand them and have a good rapport.
3. They are positive.
It’s almost common knowledge now that positive reinforcement is much more effective for training dogs than punishment is. Keep in mind that dogs have very little understanding of what is right and what is wrong without being taught. They also do not have a good grasp of causation. They will not understand that it is bad to pee on the carpet, so when you yell at them for peeing on the carpet, they will not make a connection between peeing on the carpet and being yelled at for it ten minutes later. When their good behaviors are immediately rewarded, however, they will want to repeat those behaviors again, naturally suppressing the bad behaviors.
4. They are genuinely interested in you and your dog.
When the teacher has genuine interest in you and your dog, they will be very interested in seeing your success. They will also be willing to take the time to talk to you about your dog and his situation and will want to know the full behavioral history of your dog. Dog trainers who are not interested in the success of their students will teach a class as if everyone is on the same page, not factoring in the reality that some dogs might be far behind or far ahead of other dogs when it comes to behavioral issues.
5. They want everyone in the household to participate.
The father and the dog training together is not going to do much good if the teenagers in the home do not enforce the rules when the father is not around. Many families undo training without even realizing they are doing it. For example, if the dog is being taught not to jump on people, but the kids in the family encourage the dog to jump on them, the dog is getting mixed signals, which is never good for a dog who is the process of training. Training the entire household together will ensure that the work that you and the trainer is putting into the dog actually sticks.
6. They will not pass off all bad behavior as a show of dominance.
It’s unlikely that your dog is legitimately trying to dominate you. Even if you adopted your dog as an adult, they generally understand that they are not the pack’s leader. When they chew on the sofa, they are not trying to assert their dominance, though some trainers will claim exactly that—that your dog misbehaves because he is trying to control you.
