I've been out of work for three months and am finally working towards a new career in dog training. I've done really well with all the guys I have trained in the past, but with my present guy (Bane), I've worked on training him as an in-house assistance dog, with a little protection skills on the side. I also have changed my style to a much more relaxed and light touch system that has been proving to work very well. Essentially I use commands for immediate response in case of emergency needs, such as "stay" in case of a car driving by him. All helper activities are soft-toned and much more "asked for" than commands would be. The reason for this initially was that I expect to be laid up sometime in the near future and if someone, or Bane in this case, helps me do something, I would feel guilty demanding help. That was when I discovered how well a little cheerleading worked compared to typical training. I also depend on allowing Bane time to reason things out. Granted, all top trainers declare dogs can't reason which I don't find true at all. Two recent incidents relate this well.
1) I was on the phone and told I guy I needed to get a pen to write his address down. Even before I found one in the clutter on my counter, Bane came walking back from the living room with one for me.
2) While my son and I were talking about what videos we could tape to help with my future job, I mentioned that we had to tape him getting my laundry bag. 20 seconds later, here comes Bane with my bag in tow.
Thus my question; Anyone have any ideas of what kind of videos I could make and post for potential clients to see as an aid in selling my services? I can correct virtually any bad habits rather well (aggression with other dogs and people being a very long term situation because of safety issues of course), but touting my ability to train dogs as in-house helpers I feel would help a lot of older and infirm people to a greater extent, not to mention simply having a helpful child in the house instead of a needy one. It's also something that most trainers charge huge amounts to do which I believe I can do in home much, much cheaper. I know I should apprentice and take all kinds of courses, but those aren't things I can afford right now. Food and shelter seem more important for the time being.
Please don't think anything would be too "out" there. If you think a dog could be helpful to someone you know that has problems in mobility, I would love to tackle anything they need help with as long as it’s within a canine’s ability.
To see what I've been able to manage so far, I have several vids up on YouTube - Todax69's Channel. They are first attempts at filming (son will be filming next ones in better light) and were done right after learning new tasks and before becoming dependable. The big thing they show is that he does get every task done.
So please, any ideas would be very helpful to me, and perhaps to others.
BTW, I'm going into this with a guarantee: I fail, no charge.
1) I was on the phone and told I guy I needed to get a pen to write his address down. Even before I found one in the clutter on my counter, Bane came walking back from the living room with one for me.
2) While my son and I were talking about what videos we could tape to help with my future job, I mentioned that we had to tape him getting my laundry bag. 20 seconds later, here comes Bane with my bag in tow.
Thus my question; Anyone have any ideas of what kind of videos I could make and post for potential clients to see as an aid in selling my services? I can correct virtually any bad habits rather well (aggression with other dogs and people being a very long term situation because of safety issues of course), but touting my ability to train dogs as in-house helpers I feel would help a lot of older and infirm people to a greater extent, not to mention simply having a helpful child in the house instead of a needy one. It's also something that most trainers charge huge amounts to do which I believe I can do in home much, much cheaper. I know I should apprentice and take all kinds of courses, but those aren't things I can afford right now. Food and shelter seem more important for the time being.
Please don't think anything would be too "out" there. If you think a dog could be helpful to someone you know that has problems in mobility, I would love to tackle anything they need help with as long as it’s within a canine’s ability.
To see what I've been able to manage so far, I have several vids up on YouTube - Todax69's Channel. They are first attempts at filming (son will be filming next ones in better light) and were done right after learning new tasks and before becoming dependable. The big thing they show is that he does get every task done.
So please, any ideas would be very helpful to me, and perhaps to others.
BTW, I'm going into this with a guarantee: I fail, no charge.