Dog trainer defining the role
A dog trainer is a person in my opinion who takes dog training classes or puppy classes. That’s all they have knowledge in, structuring classes to teach dog obedience or puppies to become more obedient with operant conditioning. Known as dog training. Dog trainers will usually provide solutions to dog behaviour issues with control techniques only, like sit, down, stay. In my years of experience of dog owners who have hired dog trainers to resolve dog behaviour problems reported back that this was the focus to resolving many issues. Now don’t get me wrong it’s good for dogs to learn obedience training for everyday occurrences and it definitely aids certain situations. But dog training or known as operant conditioning won’t resolve dog issues like dog separation anxiety, dog aggression, fear or nervousness.
Dog training class or puppy class
Dog training classes or puppy training classes are good for learning to have good control over your dog when the dog isn’t disturbed by other stimulus causing behaviour issues. These behaviours could be fear aggression, barking and lunging towards visitors who come to the house, lunging and barking towards other dogs son a dog walk. Attending classes or group dog walks won’t resolve this kind of issue and many more because a dog will need a lot more psychological training. Dogs that are underconfident will often cause disruption to the class environment as well. I also know that if your dog has socialisation issues attending group dog walks will behave reasonably well, but once returning back to their normal dog walk will again start to lunge and bark at other dogs on most occasions. I actually think to have some 121 dog behaviour professional advice alongside attending classes or other canine activities is best when you have dog behaviour problems. No problems at all with your dog, then yes definitely find a local dog or puppy class. They are also great social events to attend as well.
Dog behaviourist / Dog whisperer/ Dog listener
This is what I am. A person who can read the body language of the dog, understand its different type of vocal commands. Read their stress signals, understand completely what the dog is communicating around certain situations. I know how to psychological change a dog’s mindset by using subtle cues and signs from the dog’s owners. I also know like many other dog behaviourists know how to treat the triggers because it’s more than teaching a dog to sit, down, stay come, heel. I deploy a whole host of different strategies and philosophy’s for dog owners to deploy upon knowing what their dog’s behaviour means to see a change. Being a dog behaviourist, or dog whisperer as some call me and others too I would presume means that we have a much higher understanding of the species of what we have come to call the dog. So if you are experiencing dog behaviours that seem complex then first I would advise hiring a dog behaviourist as opposed to a dog trainer or a website that seems to convey they focus on classes than behaviour. This is because, in my opinion, we have much higher qualified to resolve more complex behaviour.
121 dog behaviour sessions
As I have already described classes and generally what they offer in terms of what you are trying to resolve, yes if you just want more loose lead control or dog recall then finding a class is probably best, but what I will say is generally there are a lot more underlying issues to what seems a
simple problem like loose lead or a recall problem. That’s the advantage of a 121 over a class is that it gives the opportunity from a dog behaviourist to eliminate any underlying problems on a 121 basis. Yes, there is the cost to this service but paying once instead of paying twice comes to my mind. Because dog behaviourists can deliver dog obedience training as well as dog behaviour guidance. The other advantage of a 121 is that it can be held in locations where a dog owner is most experiencing problems with their dog. Unlike a class where that is a static environment and your dog’s true behaviours can be overlooked easily and from an untrained eye of a dog trainer or dog training assistant. Incidentally, everyone who helps me out whether it be a class or a dog walk will always refer me to a dog owner who has a question
About dog behaviour
Another advantage of a 121 is that you work at the client’s pace, working steadily on any problems. I don’t do 1-hour sessions, but choose to do block training sessions instead. Not sure if every dog training service offers block sessions like do, but it works better for all parties because the client can see results in a session more often than not. Whereas 1hr sessions tend to leave the dog owners wondering how to take things forward.
I hope this has helped choose the service you require
It can be difficult for a dog owner to know what to choose as a service to resolve or improve their dog’s behaviour. But I hope this guide has helped you in making decisions.
These are the services that I can offer to help with your dog behaviour problems including puppy classes.
I would highly recommend that you start here if you have decided that a 121 dog behaviour session-id what you require. From there you can access prices and areas that I cover without a travelling fee. Or you can read what’s involved with a 121 dog behaviour session.
