I visited a dog trainer recently and came away feeling like I had been lectured for 90 minutes straight. The trainer used their own dog to demonstrate what a well-behaved dog should look like. The last 30 minutes were spent on some walking exercises. The session was supposed to be 2 hours of one-on-one training with 4 follow-up puppy socialization classes included. I can’t help but feel disappointed. Hopefully, the group classes will be more beneficial, but right now, I’m quite disheartened.
What have your experiences been with dog trainers? At this point, I’m starting to think that training apps on phones might be more effective.
Our trainer never brings her own dog and never handles our dog. She gives us pointers and tips, and tells us what we do well and what we can improve on. We do all the ‘work’ ourselves.
Meech said:
Our trainer never brings her own dog and never handles our dog. She gives us pointers and tips, and tells us what we do well and what we can improve on. We do all the ‘work’ ourselves.
Depending on what you’re paying, this isn’t necessarily the wrong approach. Each trainer is different; some are more hands-on than others.
Meech said:
Our trainer never brings her own dog and never handles our dog. She gives us pointers and tips, and tells us what we do well and what we can improve on. We do all the ‘work’ ourselves.
Our trainer demonstrates and initially helps our dog understand what we’re asking for. After that, it’s up to us to practice and reinforce. They guide us on our technique, especially in terms of timing our markers.
That doesn’t sound like a good trainer at all. Our experience has been much better; the focus was entirely on coaching us and our dog in our own environment. Sorry you had to deal with that!
I’m not sure how old your puppy is, but 2 hours of one-on-one training seems excessive to me. Our trainer prefers 30-minute sessions and never goes beyond 1 hour. Our puppy has a short attention span even for weekly sessions. I can’t imagine lasting 2 hours! Personally, I would look for a different trainer.
My trainer never used her own dog, only mine. She corrected behaviors and handled my dog directly. I had both a senior trainer and someone working on certifications assisting. I’m in Central Florida and plan to continue training monthly until April, then increase to bi-monthly until my dog is 2 years old.
My buddy just had his first one-on-one training session today, and it was fantastic! He loved it, and so did I! My buddy isn’t great with people, but the trainer used a different approach, which worked wonders. I didn’t handle my buddy during the session; instead, I observed and learned a lot. The trainer taught us about ‘prey drive’ and how to teach my buddy to ‘speak’ on cue for safety. I can’t wait for the next session!
In our sessions, our trainer demonstrated with our dog to show us what to do, then we would try it ourselves. She verbally corrected us and would demonstrate again if needed. Sometimes, our dog was trained alongside hers to work on distractions and how to handle them. We stick to sessions of an hour or less because it’s intense work. We train daily but have formal sessions weekly with our trainer.
I have a great trainer who has been incredibly helpful throughout the challenging first year with my dog. Even though we’re past the hardest part, I still reach out to her for advice and attend enrichment classes she offers.
I’m attending a basic class with a trainer I’ve worked with for over 30 years through PetSmart. She’s experienced and blunt about what it takes to have a well-trained dog. She uses a demo dog sparingly, only as needed. We haven’t seen her dog in our sessions yet. If she uses it, she demonstrates what we should do with our own dogs and then it’s our turn to practice. There’s no showboating or shaming, just honest advice on consistency for effective training.
Our first trainer was condescending, repeating instructions excessively as if we couldn’t understand. Despite that, we tried a second session with her for loose leash walking, where she spent the whole time fixated on one small detail. When we mentioned our dog’s distractions, she ignored us and suggested a bizarre solution with Vicks vaporub. That’s when we decided to find a new trainer. The second one, although cheaper, was much better and more effective!
I participate in group training with 6 people and their respective dogs. Our instructor covers various exercises throughout the hour, giving us guidance and corrections as needed. We have a break halfway through and then continue with more training. The last ten minutes are for questions and discussion.
Sounds like you may have encountered a difficult trainer. They usually try to hide it better, but it sounds like yours may have been off. Hang in there!