What Makes A Good Dog Trainer?

Over the years, I have watched a lot of dog training classes and I have found that there are certain qualities that all good dog trainers have.

One thing that good dog trainers always remember is that the people in their classes genuinely want to have a good relationship with their dogs. The people are there voluntarily. No one forced them to come. So that enthusiasm for a good relationship has to be nurtured and encouraged.

Dog training is a people-oriented activity. As the old joke goes, dog training teaches the people more than it teaches the dogs. And a good trainer has to like both people and dogs to be really effective.

Good trainers know that different people learn in different ways. Some people learn by watching. Others learn by doing, in a trail-and-error process.  Still others learn by listening. So the lessons have to be presented in a way that includes all of the people with different learning styles. The trainer has to tell people what to do, then demonstrate with a dog, and then let people try it for themselves. Throughout all this, there has to be abundant praise for both the people and the dogs.

In my opinion, the best way to teach dog training is to make it fun for everyone. People and dogs learn best when they have a good time.

For those of us who have been training dogs for a long time, it is very easy to forget that a lot of people don’t know how dogs learn. In fact, a lot of people don’t know much about their dogs. I believe that it is always best to take the time to explain how and why a dog does something, even if it takes a few minutes of class time.

A frustration of teaching dog training classes is that many people do not do their “homework,” or work with their dog outside of class.  When I find this frustration building up inside me, I always stop and think about all the things that I should be doing that I don’t do because of time pressures. My intentions are good, but my time is limited. And so it is with people who don’t work with their dogs outside of class. I think that having a fun time in class is more conducive to learning than reprimanding people for not working with their dogs.

For the dogs, part of the fun of a class is seeing and interacting with other dogs. They are social creatures and thrive on seeing, smelling, and perhaps licking their fellow dogs. In my classes, I have a dog socialization period in the first few minutes of class, where the dogs can greet and meet each other, and I have a socialization period at the end of the class, where the dogs can romp around with one another.

I always end classes by asking people to lavish praise upon their dogs for a job well done, and I always spend a lot of time praising the people for making good progress with their dogs, even if it is only in class.

I believe that the ultimate goal of a good dog trainer should be to enrich the lives of both the dogs and the people that he or she works with. That can best be done by bringing out the love and joy that a dog and a person share for each other.

--Con Slobodchikoff

Comments

[ramaraobobby]

the main task of a dog trainer should be trying to build better relation between the dog and its owner and make the dog feel secure and praised when listened to the owner. The dogs often gets stubborn and don't obey the words of the owner when there isn't much interaction between them which may be caused due to time pressure as quoted by you. So, if there is a good relation between owner n the dog then there is no probs even if the dog just takes advantage of socialization period and ignores the class... So, I have to agree with you that in dog training, more has to be taught to owner than the dog itself