How Much Dog Does a Dog Trainer Train?
I'm often asked, "How much of the obedience training that you do is training the people?" My standard response
is, "About 95%."
That's no exaggeration. Sure, most trainers are quick to point out that it's the end of the leash with
the handle on it that generates most canine behavioral problems (we trainers are a cheeky lot). However,
less often recognized and acknowledged is the fact that it is also that same end of the leash -- held in the
dog owner's hand (not the trainer's!) when at home and when walking through the neighborhood and
while at a busy public venue -- that is capable of producing over time the most significant advancements and
improvements in a dog's behavioral modification and obedience training.
The competent dog trainer
recognizes that in the overall companion dog training equation, the key precursors to success are
modifying the behavior and developing the skills of the dog's owner.
I'm not surprised that 100% of the clients that come to me after beginning their dog obedience education at a
commercialized "group obedience class" report that they themselves learned very little, and as a result,
neither did their dogs.
It's far more efficient (read:
"profitable") to instruct a room full of people and their dogs with the same, rote training
based on some time-worn training script pasted into a 3-ring binder. For some of these volume-oriented
trainers, canned training oriented to large groups may be the only kind of training they've ever done. This type of
wholesale, mass production obedience training fails to take into account each individual dog's
breed, age, gender, temperament, behavioral makeup, nerve costume, drive orientation -- you get the picture.
And if you think each dog is unique -- imagine the varied personality types, life experiences, learning styles,
physical abilities, language skills, retention rates, etc. of each individual dog owner.
Automobiles can be successfully produced in the tens of thousands on a mass production line. Frozen peas can be
successfully produced by the metric ton on a mechanized packing line. Educated and skillful dog owners and
their reliably obedient companion dogs can not.
Dog training, when done correctly, isn't always easy for the dog owner. It can be a whole lot of fun, incredibly rewarding, a
tremendous anxiety reliever and a great big boost in the confidence department for both the owner and the dog.
But for all this to happen, the novice owner will be working a lot harder than will the dog. The dog owner must first learn a
number of new behaviors, techniques, and skills before they can begin to effectively teach their dog how to learn.
Given that the predominant emphasis should be placed on teaching the owner half of the owner/dog team,
it should come as no surprise that I am not a proponent of high-volume group classes for obedience beginners.
It simply is not possible for the
uniquely individual behavioral
challenges of any one owner/dog team to be adequately identified, addressed, and resolved in a room with
a dozen or so anxious novice dog owners and their fearful, or overly excited, or aggressive, or play-on-the-brain, or
overwhelmed and cowering in the corner companion dogs -- and one extraordinarily over-extended class trainer.
If you're sharing an instructor's time and attention with 12 other owners and their dogs, the most you can
hope to achieve is a few minutes of "one-on-one" time during any given lesson hour. After all, you're contending with
11 other dogs and 11 other people in the classroom creating all manner of overwhelming distractions for your dog and
peer pressure for you. In the large group setting, it's unrealistic to expect that whatever one-on-one attention you receive from the
class instructor would be customized specifically to the behavioral management and training needed by you and your dog.
When competing for personalized instruction in a crowded group class, "one-on-one" time typically only
happens if you aggressively demand it. After all, how many novice dog owners go
into their first group class, and confidently request that the instructor ignore the rest of the students and
give special attention to them and their dog? It just doesn't happen very often in a group environment. And when it
does -- then that "squeaky wheel" is likely to demand far more than their "5 minutes." The rest of the class is
left to their own devices, resenting all the while the copious attention being paid to the most demanding student --
who more often than not is the dog owner least in need of individual help and instruction.
Long before the dog learns a single new obedience command,
the dog's owner should be learning about fundamental canine behavior, how to read their dog, proper leash
management, consistent voice command, clearly communicative body posture, operant conditioning strategies,
effectively timed reward, appropriate correction, when to continue training and when to take a break, how to celebrate
successes and how to recover from mistakes, and much more. This is a significant learning curve for the average dog
training beginner.
Properly teaching the novice owner how to teach, train, and handle their dog demands that the professional
dog trainer explicitly customize the team's training plan and be wholly committed to providing
one-on-one instruction and personal coaching.
Back to the original question: How much companion dog training is people training? And the answer is, almost all of it should be ---
IF the goal is lifetime success for the owner/dog team. When that goal is achieved, imagine the "people end" of the leash
exuding confidence in their own handling skills and in their dog's dramatically improved behaviors and abilities.
Then imagine the "dog end" of the leash demonstrating enthusiastic, energetic responsiveness and obedience. Now imagine that it could be you and your dog!
