Tips & Guide To Looking For A Good Dog Trainer

Dog training is definitely not rocket science and is easier than you would expect particularly if you can get help from a good dog training book or guide. It’s also certainly possible for almost any dog owners to train their dogs themselves provided they put in adequate amount of effort.

Nevertheless, you might still want to get additional help from a professional trainer, especially if you got a tough nut to crack in your hand. Before you engage a trainer, it’s always best that you do some research first as there are many trainers with different teaching styles and not every style suit every dog or owner.

Here’s a guide for you to find a reliable trainer:

Ask someone

It wouldn’t hurt you to open your mouth to ask someone for advice or recommendation.

- Ask your friends, even strangers you meet in the park for the contacts of their trainer if you notice that he owns a particular well-train dog. Even if they don’t engage a trainer, you could still possibly pick up some valuable training tips. You’ve got nothing to lose and I’ll bet the owner would also most probably be flattered.

- Ask your veterinarian for recommendations. He deal with dogs everyday and must have seen the best and worse dog. He should have contacts for some good trainers in your area.

- Ask the local Humane Society, dog breeder or even your pet supplies shop owner. They are also a good source of information and might just be able to direct you to a trainer who is particularly suited to training your dog breed.

The directory has a search engine that allows you to search trainer by specific geographical location and also list out if trainers are Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) to help you make your decision.

*CPDT is certified by the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers an international testing and certification program for professional pet dog trainers. It is basically to ensure that the trainer has a certain level of knowledge and expertise. To be certified, trainers must have at least 300 hours of dog training experience and have passed an exam that assesses basic knowledge of canine training. For more details, visit http://www.ccpdt.org/

There are several things to look out for before you engage a trainer. You might want to consider these factors first before you engage one from a list of good contacts you got. The Trainer must have the following traits:

- must be humane and gentle with the dogs during training.

- must be an effective communicator and teacher. Both you and your dog must be able to understand his teaching for effective training. In short, “Do you understand the words that are coming out of his mouth?” As dog training involve both you and your dog, you must also be able to understand his teachings so that you can practice them when you get home.

- must be experience and up-to-date with the latest training methods. You might want to request a sit-in session to observe him and see if he can deal with the particularly difficult dogs. Don’t be afraid to ask him questions about his training background, training techniques, methods and etc. An experience trainer should have no problem answering your questions.

Distance - This might not be a big factor but certainly one worth considering. Imagine a 4 hours drive for every training session!

Hope these tips are useful to help you look for a good dog trainer.

Good luck in your quest for a good trainer!

Top 5 Myths About Becoming a Professional Dog Trainer

You love dogs.You love training your own dogs. You should become a pro dog trainer! It just makes sense. Right?!

Well, maybe.

Dog training is one of those professions that sounds more like play than work. But - like the life of a professional musician or artist - fantasy is often more glamorous than reality. So, before you invest a lot of time and money changing your career, consider these top five myths about life as a professional trainer:

Myth #1: As a dog trainer, I'll be free of the 9 - 5 grind of a desk job.

It's true that actual obedience training doesn't happen in a cubicle or behind a desk. But, remember that in addition to his or her "official" title, every pro trainer moonlights as an entrepreneur. Yes, they do spend some time working with dogs. But, when the training is done, there is still plenty of work to be done. Just a few of these responsibilities include:

Marketing yourself and your business to gain new clients. Especially as a new trainer, you'll spend a lot of time building your business by attending local pet-related events. Most often, these events are held on weekends and require a participation fee that ranges anywhere from $25 - $1000. Additionally, a successful trainer must spend time developing and implementing print and Web marketing strategies.
Performing Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable functions. Usually, only an established trainer can afford to pay a bookkeeper. Most new trainers spend around 5 - 10 hours per week managing the financial operations of their business.
Providing customer service. Polite and professional customer service is imperative to building a successful dog training business. This is true throughout the customer acquisition cycle, from the first time you speak with a prospective customer through ongoing interactions with long time clients.

Myth #2: As a pro trainer, I'll spend my time with dogs instead of people.
When I was attending school to become a dog trainer, one of the greatest lessons I learned from my mentors is that training is as much about people as it is about dogs.

If you want to be a pro trainer because you'd rather interact with animals than people, you should choose another profession, because the goal of every good trainer is to improve a dog's relationship with its human companions. Some of this improvement may be achieved working one-on-one with a dog. But, to truly help a pooch learn to function more effectively in his world, you must involve his humans.

Myth #3: The life of a pro trainer is low stress and highly rewarding.

Dog training is not a low stress career. In fact, at times it's pretty high stress. Trainers worry about getting enough clients to pay the bills. They worry about the owners they just can't seem to help, no matter how hard they try. They worry about about the dogs who live with owners who are more likely to
euthanize than work through problems. They worry about those owners who won't euthanize an obviously troubled dog that poses a danger to humans and/or other animals. The list goes on and on.

Training is a rewarding profession, but the rewards are balanced by stress and frustration, just like in any other career. It's very fulfilling to see your efforts result in a better relationship between a pup and its companions, but those results can be hard won.

Myth #4: Dog training is an easy profession.

Some dogs are easy to train. It's like they were born with an understanding of how to interact with humans. If you've got one of those pooches, consider yourself lucky, but don't assume every dog you train will be as easy. As a pro trainer, you'll often work with those pups that are hardest to train -
for example, those with aggression or severe anxiety issues.

The hardest thing about working as a pro trainer is that every dog is different... and every owner is different. Your job as a trainer is to provide simple advice that's customized to each unique dog-human relationship. That's harder than it may sound.

Myth #5: Every dog I train will end up a success!

Oh, how I wish this were true. But, unfortunately, as a pro trainer, you just can't help every dog. Sometimes, due to physiological issues or simply due to an owner's wishes, fixing a situation is just plain out of your hands. You must be prepared to accept these situations as they arise. This is one of the toughest challenges of working successfully as a trainer.

How to Become a Dog Trainer - Helpful Tips for Starters

Becoming a dog trainer is without a doubt a lucrative business if you know how to get into the business of dog training and start providing the much needed services for the ever increasing population of dog lovers who are in need of the professional assistance of dog trainers. Because there are no specific institutions or lay-down path that would-be trainers are meant to follow in order to become certified dog trainer therefore the burden of becoming a professional trainer rest squarely on the shoulders of the would-be dog trainer. This means that he will have to find out the steps that will lead him to his dream of becoming a professional trainer.

As a would-be dog trainer you should know that training is essentially a service profession which means that you will be working a lot with the person that own the dog and in actual fact the profession involves training the people who own the dogs as much as providing training for the dogs. For this reason, a good human relation is an essential part of the requirement for the would-be dog trainer because if you fail in your relationship with the dog owners than you can as well kiss the career goodbye.

Those who are employed as dog trainers are essentially self taught, which means that they have attended seminars, convention and workshops, read extensively about dog ethology and probably mentored by other established trainers.

A would-be trainer should at least be knowledgeable in the following area:

Dog training history from around the late 19th century till date. Training for other animals in comparison and contrast with dog training.
Animal learning which includes positive and negative punishment, positive and negative reinforcement, motivation, conditioned reinforces, desensitization and sensitization. Comparison of human learning to dog learning.
Dog behavior - genetics of behavior, body language, breed characteristics, ethology and dog development, social development, hormonal influence, social signals.
How to design his course materials for training, how to motivate dog owners, ability to screen and steer his clients and how to effectively counsel his clients.
To become a successful trainer it is very important to mentor under the leadership of an established trainer regardless of how knowledgeable you may be. Apprenticeship affords you the opportunity to work with experienced trainers and a wide variety of dogs which you will encounter in the course of your career as a trainer. Also by volunteering to work with local and shelter rescue groups you will be able to gain insight into a wide range of dog breeds and personalities. However when deciding on a trainer to mentor you, ensure that he is committed to improving his own education and that he is dedicated to human methods of training.

24 Hours In The Life Of A Dog Trainer

Have you ever wonder what entitles to be a certified dog trainer? What kind of education does it take to become a dog trainer? First and for most, the dog trainer must love pets, otherwise he would not enjoy his task and would be a hard task to have to train dogs day in and day out. Then he would have to take a course to become a certified dog trainer. It would be better if the dog trainer take a course of several months duration and that he or she have spent some time at a veterinarian office or at a dog training facility doing hands on work.

If you own a dog, you are very well aware that you are the center of your dog's life. And chances are that you love your pet dearly, but do you have all the knowledge and time required to train your dog? Training a dog has become a specialist's job. Not only do trainers apply to the pets the latest dog training tips, but they also need to know why the dog is acting or behaving in a particular way.

If you are not too excited about the idea of training your dog or about taking care of your pet training requirements, you should seriously consider hiring a dog trainer. The characteristics you should look in a trainer are patience and commitment to take care of dogs. You also want to be certain that the trainer uses positive reinforcement and not negative reinforcement or punishment to train your dog.

Most people postpone the dog training classes until their pet has developed a behavioral problem or the dog has become hostile and aggressive, or had bitten someone. Don't be like them. Don't wait until is too late. Preventing dog behavioral problems is a major instrument that dog trainers can help you with.

If you have ever seen a dog trainer in action, you probably noticed that as soon as they come into contact with the dog they seem to immediately be in control of the situation, and not the dog. This is a clear indication that this trainer is confident, and probably very knowledgeable about his career.

To effectively train a dog, the trainer must know how the dog's mind and body works. They also need to know how to effectively communicate with the pet. The best time to train your dog is when he is a young pup. Puppy training tends to be easier because dogs are more receptive to learning when they are in the early states of their life.

When you hire a dog trainer, he or she will provide you with multiple training techniques and methods that are tried and proved. You will have to apply these dog training techniques at home in a consistent basis. Don't make the mistake of believing that because you hired a dog trainer, you will not have to work with your dog. The contrary is true, the trainer will teach you how to handle your dog, but you will be responsible of applying these techniques at home.

Make certain that the dog trainer is certified, and you might even ask to see his certification papers. Remember your dog's future and yours even, are in this trainer's hands.

Don't get frustrated if your dog behaves better with the dog trainer that he does with you, this is actually normal. The trainer have more experience handling dogs than you do, and therefore he will come out more dominant toward your dog than you probably will. Just apply the learned dog training techniques properly and you will enjoy a well trained dog for many years to come.