Hiring a dog trainer can be a daunting task. You are confronted with many certifications you have never heard of and have no idea what they mean. You can search online but are those ratings meaningful? Are their reviews genuine? It can be hard to know what to look for. And then, all kinds of groups and well-meaning people have lots of opinions on what you should do. None of that makes it easier. This episode provides an overview of what to consider when hiring a dog trainer.
Essential Considerations When Hiring a Dog trainer
We are discussing the following areas in detail.
Licenses: Understand why licenses for dog trainers don’t mean anything at this point.
Certifications: Do they have value? Which are meaningful? How to tell what matters.
Time in Business: How to look at this.
Communication: How does the trainer respond to your questions?
Age of the Trainer: When that can matter and why it often doesn’t.
Social Media: Don’t confuse online popularity with good training. Good dog training is undramatic.
Videos: Watch videos of the trainer working with dogs on their website or YouTube channel.
References: They are the best but understand it may still not be the best trainer for your dog.
Confidence: Avoid braggarts who think they can ‘fix’ anything.
In my view, the best way to hire a great dog trainer is to look for people trained and certified by some of the best trainers in the world. Some trainers have built a stellar reputation of excellence over decades. Anyone they train and certify can be considered above the pack. These professionals don’t hand their certifications out like candy. You have to earn them through demonstrations of knowledge and skill in front of their critical eyes. Unfortunately, too many dog trainer schools don’t have such high standards. Too many were franchised when they shouldn’t have been. Even when the founders were great trainers, many franchises struggled to maintain the same standards.
Regardless of the trainer’s qualifications, you still want to interview them. You want to be confident their style works for you. There will be differences in form. But, at least you can rest assured that they have a solid understanding of learning science, understand dogs, treat them with respect and possess high-level skills.
We are located in Southern California and train dogs nationwide. Happy Dog Training currently offers local dog training services in the following counties. Riverside County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County, and San Diego County. In addition, we offer our board-and-train program nationwide and all virtual training services worldwide.
Do you want your new puppy trained right from the start? Are you looking for help for your fearful dog? Do you need to resolve a severe aggression problem? You came to the right place! We are experienced, professional dog trainers. Ralf has trained over 1500 dogs in over 18 years, and Sarah has trained over 1200 dogs in over 11 years. Consequently, we can help you with any dog training goal.
We can help you, regardless of your dog's challenges or training goals. Being a professional dog trainer means having experience, knowledge, and skill. Further, we developed a highly effective training program to specifically help fearful dogs gain more confidence and become the best possible version of themselves. Building Confidence is our second most popular training program.
Last but not least, we are experts in dealing with all types of aggression in dogs and are often the trainers of last resort after many other programs have failed. Most of our aggressive dog clients previously spent significant money on half-baked solutions without much improvement. This is different from us. We will give you an honest assessment of what goals are realistic for your dog. We will tell you what can be resolved reliably and what likely needs to be managed before we start.
Our flagship product is our board and train program. But our virtual dog training and coaching services have become quite popular over the last couple of years. Our setup enables us to deliver online dog training services from our indoor and outdoor training areas. This allows us to help clients worldwide.
Finally, once you're ready to move forward, please use our dog training contact form to schedule a free phone consultation or book a paid, in-person consultation.
