Why Professional Dog Training Doesn't Work.

It is wholly unrealistic to say that all dogs will respond to training or behaviour modification. In saying that there are usually very specific reasons why.

There's no judgment in what I write. It is just a reflection on issues, (hopefully) from both a clients and a dog trainers perspective (of course mainly from a trainers perspective). There are far more reasons than those mentioned....it doesn't happen very often but these are a few examples of why getting a professional dog trainer in can fail.

ABC Dogs NZ.

Not Providing The Full Picture

I pride myself in being non judgmental with clients....they can tell me anything (and often do).

How have you disciplined in the past?

What have you tried ?

What did you resort to ?

I don't judge people for the choices they have made before we meet.

I listen with an open mind...hearing how they have struggled and are absolutely emotionally spent.

There may be tears, frustrations vented and as strange as it sounds...it helps both of us.

It helps me enormously to know what they have tried (for obvious reasons) and having someone listen to their stories with absolutely no judgement helps them realise they really can tell me anything and it is absolutely confidential.

However, sometimes people just can't open up.

I get that!

Being vulnerable is hard!

Sometimes there are dynamics between family members and partners that prevent transparency.

While I don't need to know the ins and outs of your life, it really is important to know just how secure this dog feels in their own home environment or is there a lot of volatility in this family?

Are the children in the house affecting the dogs behaviour?

Does someone in the family struggle with their own emotional regulation?

How does that impact your dog?

Am I needing to change my approach to provide more opportunities for a more open dialogue?

Assumptions on a trainers side are also not helpful.

The best conversation I can have with a client (and one that helps enormously) is when a client does feel safe and is able to share.

They usually start with "I didn't really want to tell you...but we did try ****, sorry I didn't mention it before".

"No problem !, thanks for opening up. Now some things are a bit clearer let's put this into place"!

Eureka!

The missing puzzle piece is now in place !!!

What can be difficult (and thankfully this has only happened a few times) is there can be a "hidden" partner....All family members need to be in attendence for all sessions. It is vital for a plethora of reasons.

Sometimes, a family member or partner is "hidden".

"My partner works over seas", "It's only me living here" or "He only comes home every 4 -6 weeks"....while these are ALL legitimate reasons, sometimes a member in the family won't be invested in ANY behaviour modification or dog training and someone is left to make excuses for them.

Maybe they think it isn't their issue?

Perhaps they view something as "their fault" or has "nothing to do with them"?

There could even be a possibility that they have caused the issue to begin with?

It is absolutely OK....there will be NO judgement.

What isn't OK is someone who isn't invested because they are distancing themselves from their family and their dog. They may refuse to believe that anything they do could contribute to their dogs behaviour and that is a very difficult situation for the person wanting help to navigate.

The Perfection Myth

As dog trainers it is our job to prepare our clients for exactly what the journey together is likely to entail.

We have to be truthful about what that experience will look like and how we will get to the goal together.

A good trainer will work with a client and not overwhelm them.

A good client understands that perfection doesn't exist.

We break down training into "chunks", explain why we need to do it this way and follow up lessons together with videos, notes and graphics, and (in my opinion) those videos should show other clients at the stage this new client is at...and I am a firm believer that those videos shouldn't be "perfect". I feel it is really helpful for others to see they aren't alone in their "clunkiness" when they first start training.

Perfection is a myth.

Aiming for perfection is fraught with failure.

It is unobtainable for dog trainers and clients.

Yet some people will give up when what they are attempting isn't perfect and give up too soon.

It is really helpful for people to know it can feel awkward, it isn't fluid....but fluidity WILL come!

For whatever reason they aren't ready for the process.

They may have self confidence issues, hectic lives or they think they were prepared (but hoping there may be a magic wand hidden somewhere).

The magic wand issue is probably the most common in this grouping.

Are the 5 min "do this now" videos on YouTube to blame?

Yes... a little, as is societies tendency for fast results.

While certain areas of dog training can be relatively "easy" to train (sits, stays, downs etc) usually, (but not always) fit into that category.....behaviour modification is a whole different area entirely.

Emotions take time to change.

Confidence takes time to build and stress levels take a while to drop.

Optimism needs to be nurtured and built upon.

Hardly any YouTube videos speak about those very important points.

A few people will still strive for perfection after employing several trainers.....then (sometimes) a realisation will occur.

Personalities

There could be a personality issue between a trainer and a client...it happens. Sometimes (happy to say rarely) these issues can occur, to think they never will is unrealistic.

Dog trainers and clients need to quickly form a relationship, when something just doesn't "gel" it isn't really anyone's fault, it is what it is....thankfully it is a rarity.

Finances

This relates a little to the magic wand mentioned earlier....Yes, dog training costs money.

Some people truly believe that the most complex issues should be solved within one or two sessions, because there is no more money available to spend on training.

I accept that times are very hard for people.

It is really tough out there.

Behaviour modification cannot be resolved or adapted because there are limited funds available to pay for it.

Sometimes people have an end goal in mind but insist on working on that....rather than all those vital steps needed to get you there.

An example of this would be a client that insists on recall when their dog is at a beach surrounded by people, dogs, birds, the ocean.....a very busy environment.

They may struggle with the fact that for the vast majority of dogs, that can't be helped in one or two sessions.

They may struggle to understand the issue isn't a beach issue at all.

Finances have dictated two lessons, so they really want the end goal in two lessons, almost impossible when a dog barely listens in their own home, recall is more miss than hit in their own yard and their dog really doesn't have any meaningful engagement with them.

There is a strange (undertone? overtone?) associated with people that work with animals....some people truly believe we should provide our services cheaper, for longer and charge less (or offer for free) simply because we work with animals.

To charge (even a very reasonable) hourly rate is sometimes seen as "excessive" by some, a money making venture by others.

We are often asked to provide advice for free to strangers by email, messages and phone calls.

There can be abuse when advice isn't given.

What other profession has these expectations attached to it?

The reality of dog training and the "useless" trainers

There are some people that do have an unrealistic expectation that dog training involves a dog trainer doing all the work.

We will come to your home, work our "magic" and hand you back a fully trained dog.

Wa Lah!

For some, they are unprepared to put any effort in and expect that magic wand to be pulled out of our back pocket again.

We can break everything down into the smallest, bite sized chunks for them to practice and for some we could make those bite sized chunks into crumbs....and it would still be too much effort.

These people have often had other trainers in before (and likely will have after).

Just because someone has had other trainers in, it doesn't necessarily mean the other trainers were "useless".

We have some great trainers here in Dunedin.

If someone has seen multiple trainers before, often (but not always) it is more a case of a "slow awareness" that dog training WILL require effort and that as dog trainers we can guide you, teach you and support you.....but when we leave, we have left you with the knowledge of what to do and when.

What you then do with that knowledge is the most important part of dog training.

ABC Dogs NZ