Those of you that train dogs for a living - click here

[Dixie]

ever heard of the thing where they say Need experience? Get a job. Need a job? Get experience.

As for my Lab living outside - its not my rule- its my dads rule as it is his house and I have to respect that. If I had my own house where I had my own say then yeah my Lab would be inside with me. Bur for now I make do with what Ive got.

You people are making training alot harder than it really is. No Ceasar Millan is not my role model but he is an example I used. He must have learned something otherwise he wouldnt be as successful as he is.

I think alot of people thing that if you are not kissy kissy to your dog 100% of the time then you are 'abusive'. I praise good behavior, and correct bad behavior. If the dog blows me off (as in he knows the command full and well and looks at me then goes back to what he's doing) then I can dish out the discipline. Im not afriad to discipline my dog. By that I mean a stern NO, and swat on the rump.

Youve got to start somewhere with or without qualifications. If you can show your methods work and are consistent then thats proof enough. Now I will say that Ive seen a trainer run some awesome dogs BUT here's the deal they were running like scared pigs not knowing when the hammer was going to fall - if the dog is doing the work willingly then thats a good sign, if the dog is doing the work with its tail tucked and doesnt like being near the trainer then thats not a good sign. Dogs dont lie. Thats where the proof lies in the trainers abilities.

 

[Doberluv]

If the dog blows me off (as in he knows the command full and well and looks at me then goes back to what he's doing) then I can dish out the discipline. Im not afriad to discipline my dog. By that I mean a stern NO, and swat on the rump.

Well, that right there just proved what everyone has been saying all along. Your grasp of canine behavior has fallen through your slippery fingers if you think they have morals and "blow you off," or logically work all that out in their minds. "Hmmmm, well, I know what that command means but I'm just going to blow him off because I don't wanna come." Then you can dish out the discipline????? Discipline is teaching, not punishment. When a dog "blows you off," he's not blowing you off. He's being a dog, doing normal dog behavior. He's motivated by something more interesting in the environment.....just exactly what dogs HAVE to do in order that they survived and evolved over the last 15,000 years or so. If they ignored what was more interesting to them in the environment, they'd either starve or be killed by a predator. Training means motivating and reinforcing behavior you want. If you can't do that, then blame yourself, not the dog. Swat yourself for mistreating an innocent animal. No good dog trainer would ever hit, intimidate or put a dog on the defensive like that, cause fear or distrust by hitting it. Dogs don't understand that.

I'm sorry to say, but if I heard a trainer make a statement like that or demonstrate anything that you've described, I'd hang up the telephone on my very first interaction with the person. No offense or anything, but you need some education first, mentoring with a GOOD trainer, apprenticing, experience under guidance before you TOUCH anyone else's dog.

Projecting human morals and value systems on dogs, anthropomorphizing....in other words making them out to think like we would, care about what we care about is a glaring, neon red flag.

You're still living at home with your parents? So, you're very young, I assume. You should follow what interests you. But don't be so cocky that you resist learning. That attitude will get you nowhere. Instead work toward an education and finding someone who will let you help them so that way you can have hands on experience while you learn.

If, after you grow up. you still feel the way you do...that swatting, hitting dogs is how you train them, then you best pick another profession. You obviously don't have a repore with animals.

Cesar Milan grew up on a farm and had lots of dogs. He worked with dogs as a groomer and dog walker. He's use to being around dogs and he's not a child. He's about what....40 years old or more? He knows how to handle them and control them. He does not handle them the way most trainers and behaviorists approve of. Educated aniamal behaviorists do not use that kind of force and punishment in order to teach. They have much more sophisticated tools in their tool box.

He's a good business man and he's quite charming and good with people. And he's very confident. He's got all the attributes to do what he's done....made money, have a TV show, fix some dogs, fix some dogs so their behavior is controlled even if the dog is squelched and ruin others. (that part we don't get to see on TV but we sometimes hear about it)

Going out and training other peoples' dogs without behavioral knowledge and experience under a controlled situation is irresponsible. But I'm not too worried. Most people today with any education ask for credentials and ask a lot of questions, just like they do when they're interviewing any professional before using his services. That concept has been around for a while. Most people who pay big bucks to have their dogs and themselves trained are savvy enough to ask the right questions.

You can keep right on resisting advice and help, resist learning. But you'll stay exactly where you are instead of growing and becoming a good dog trainer or any professional of any kind if you hang onto that attitude.

 

[dr2little]

ever heard of the thing where they say Need experience? Get a job. Need a job? Get experience.
Striking out on your own with no experience is not necessary when you can gain experience from any number of volunteer rescue positions where you can learn under supervision.

As for my Lab living outside - its not my rule- its my dads rule as it is his house and I have to respect that. If I had my own house where I had my own say then yeah my Lab would be inside with me. Bur for now I make do with what Ive got.

You people are making training alot harder than it really is. No Ceasar Millan is not my role model but he is an example I used. He must have learned something otherwise he wouldnt be as successful as he is.
Cesar learned how to schmooze a few hollywood stars...the rest as they say is 'showbiz'..

I think alot of people thing that if you are not kissy kissy to your dog 100% of the time then you are 'abusive'. I praise good behavior, and correct bad behavior. If the dog blows me off (as in he knows the command full and well and looks at me then goes back to what he's doing) then I can dish out the discipline. Im not afriad to discipline my dog. By that I mean a stern NO, and swat on the rump. :yikes: :yikes: AND YOU WANT TO TRAIN OTHER PEOPLES DOGS:yikes: (Hitting your own dog is inexcusable, hitting a clients dog is that AND an invitation for a law suit. Every reply that you post proves that you lack the bare minimum required to do the job. You'd best look into an education or another field.....SORRY..

 

[Angel Chicken]

ever heard of the thing where they say Need experience? Get a job. Need a job? Get experience.
Striking out on your own with no experience is not necessary when you can gain experience from any number of volunteer rescue positions where you can learn under supervision.

As for my Lab living outside - its not my rule- its my dads rule as it is his house and I have to respect that. If I had my own house where I had my own say then yeah my Lab would be inside with me. Bur for now I make do with what Ive got.

You people are making training alot harder than it really is. No Ceasar Millan is not my role model but he is an example I used. He must have learned something otherwise he wouldnt be as successful as he is.
Cesar learned how to schmooze a few hollywood stars...the rest as they say is 'showbiz'..

I think alot of people thing that if you are not kissy kissy to your dog 100% of the time then you are 'abusive'. I praise good behavior, and correct bad behavior. If the dog blows me off (as in he knows the command full and well and looks at me then goes back to what he's doing) then I can dish out the discipline. Im not afriad to discipline my dog. By that I mean a stern NO, and swat on the rump. :yikes: :yikes: AND YOU WANT TO TRAIN OTHER PEOPLES DOGS:yikes: (Hitting your own dog is inexcusable, hitting a clients dog is that AND an invitation for a law suit. Every reply that you post proves that you lack the bare minimum required to do the job. You'd best look into an education or another field.....SORRY..

BRAVO!!!!​

 

[silverpawz]

This is so strange, I could have sworn I posted somthing here after the OP's last response....where'd it go?

If it's been removed I would have appreciated someone letting me know why. Thanks.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

Youve got to start somewhere with or without qualifications. If you can show your methods work and are consistent then thats proof enough.

No, it's not. No one who knows anything about dogs is going to hire you with the attitude put forth in this thread.

People have listed ways to gain experience without 'practicing' on other people's dogs and you've blown them off. Swatting stranger's dogs on the rump isn't an acceptable way to train. You can blow off clickers if you want, but many of us have only used, or mainly used positive methods without an issue whatever positive way that suited them.

 

[RD]

Judging by what I've seen here, I wouldn't let you train my dog nor would I recommend you to anyone who wanted to send their dog away for training.

I go to a trainer for creative solutions to my dogs' problems, that DON'T involve physical punishment. ANYONE can slap a dog around or give leash corrections. There is no thought involved in that. That's not problem solving, it's just suppressing it. When my dog is having an issue, I ask trainers because they often times know how to deal with this. Could I deal with it myself? Sure. I could put the pinch collar on the dog and correct them whenever they exhibited the behavior I don't like. But it wouldn't ever totally fix the problem, and no matter how great the trainer is, no physical punishment will ever completely eliminate a behavior.

I'm a 16 year old volunteer trainer at an animal shelter and I feel bad for saying this since I'm not the picture of expertise either, but your posts really show how little you know about dog behavior and how dogs learn. I hope you educate yourself on the subject, prior to "training" other people's dogs.

 

[Doberluv]

Silverpaws, when I wrote my most recent post, it was after the OP's last post. I didn't see any other post there. I don't know what happened. I hope you can re-write your thoughts and make a new post.

 

[Gustav]

A SWAT ON THE RUMP!! :yikes:

It takes a very small person to hit an animal, any idiot can give something a clump...

It takes a much bigger person to realise that hitting an animal is both abuse and uncalled for!

 

[silverpawz]

Silverpaws, when I wrote my most recent post, it was after the OP's last post. I didn't see any other post there. I don't know what happened. I hope you can re-write your thoughts and make a new post.

I think the forum ghost ate it. I know I typed it up but who knows where it went, somewhere out in cyber space I guess.

You guys said everything I was going to say. No need for me to re-post.

 

[elegy]

I think alot of people thing that if you are not kissy kissy to your dog 100% of the time then you are 'abusive'. I praise good behavior, and correct bad behavior. If the dog blows me off (as in he knows the command full and well and looks at me then goes back to what he's doing) then I can dish out the discipline. Im not afriad to discipline my dog. By that I mean a stern NO, and swat on the rump.

i'm very rarely kissy kissy with my dogs (i'm just not a kissy kissy kind of person) but i still would never hit them. i don't consider myself a "pure positive" trainer, but i sure think it's a lot easier to teach the dog what you do want than correct what you don't want. i also think that we treat dogs unfairly and very harshly quite frequently in the name of "discipline" and that often dogs "misbehave" because we haven't taught them well enough.

i also think we've got this weird hang-up about dogs doing things because we said so and because they're supposed to want to please us, but we don't give them any reason that's really worthwhile to them to do it.

Youve got to start somewhere with or without qualifications.

apprenticing under someone you respect is a very good choice.

*shrug* i'm starting classes next month with one of my dogs and a new trainer. i don't know her at all. all i know about her is that she's got a degree from some distance learning school, which means next to squat to me, and that she apprenticed with my former trainer (who has moved). the only reason i have any hope for this class is because of the latter. if my old trainer thought highly enough of her to take her on as an apprentice, she's got to have something.

 

[sam]

I can't imagine why anyone would pay to have someone "train" their dog who has zero education, zero training, hasn't apprenticed = no real experience, doesn't attend conferences, isn't up to date on current methods, hasn't achieved any titles in any dog event or sport.

I look for ALL of those things and also membership with the APDT and in Canada the CAPPDT and also certification with the CPDT (certification council for pet dog trainers). the trainers at my school have all of those things and have acheived multiple obedience titles with multiple breeds and also have competed in agility, rally, scent hurdling, herding etc

I think dog training is very much a behavioral science. It's also a mechanical skill and an art form.

I agree with you that lots of dog training programs you find online look pretty "scammy" as you put it, but there are good programs out there including some that do distance ed plus an apprenticeship program.

I TA in my dog school's manners, puppy class and rally-o from time to time and there is a big difference between being able to teach your own or a friend's dog to sit or down on cue and being able to teach a class or a variety of dogs a variety of skills.

I wouldn't consider marketing myself as a dog trainer or taking anyone's money until I had achieved all the things I mentioned in my first paragraph and also trained a dog from each group ie a sporting dog, a herding dog, a non sporting, a toy breed, a terrier etc. I have found it VERY enlightening working different dogs when you have herding dogs or other easy to motivate breeds, you tend to think you're all that, then you work a friend's shiba or husky in a set of manners classes- downright humbling .

Oh and I can't imagine a professional trainer dropping a client "like a hot potatoe" if the dog had a problem they weren't qualified to deal with. Plenty of dog trainers don't work with aggressive dogs and that's fine, but rather than dropping clients they should be able to set them on the ight path, support them and refer them on to a good professional who does aggression work.

 

[otch1]

I can't believe I missed this thread. Dixie... I am 46 years old, having had my first job in the animal care industry as a teenager, working for a vet. It took me 25+ years to get where I am now, owning my own facility and making my living full time at this, the past 18 years. I am guessing you are a teenager and you are male. This is a very difficult line of work to get into and these days, very competitive. I am not worried about you getting into training and quite certain no one's going to pay you for your time, not yet. It is a concern that you think you don't need to have any education, experience and that "anyone can do this". You are wrong. Most of us have had years of apprentiseship under qualified proffessionals, years of hands on experience and continueing ed. before ever considering going off on our own to train and actually being qualified to take someones money for it. You have the wrong attitude, some pretty misinformed ideas about handling dogs, while looking for your niche in life. If you truly love dogs and want to make a go of this, email me and I'll try to send you in the right direction. Posting rebutals to trainers advice, that do this for a living, and that have 20+ years on you is what's going to keep you unemployed or trying to find something to make money off of that entales working out of the back of your truck. That doesn't sound like much fun to me. Nothing like earning a paycheck at doing the thing you love most, but you have to be willing to really work for it. Would love to help send you in the right direction if you were serious.

 

[otch1]

Bump... are you out there dixie?

 

[Jynx]

I guess the first question I would ask you if I was interested in your training services is "what credentials do you have"...I agree with the others, with no training credentials you aren't going to make money doing this.

EVEN if it's Joe Public who wants to train Fido to sit/down/heel/come most Joe Publics have DONE that..Most people go to a trainer because they either have a specific goal in mind OR they have dog problems..IF they have "dog" problems, they will need someone who is knowledgeable in canine behavior.
Can you "read" a dog?

I guess what I would also wonder is,,if you plan on having more than one dog per session what "if" you end up with a dog fight and one dog or person gets hurt? Who's paying for that? That's why most trainers are insured/bonded, will you be?

I certainly don't want to discourage you, (the swat on the rump comment was really turned me off), my suggestion is , to seek out a training center in your area and GO MENTOR! Ask to be a volunteer assistant! Work at your local shelter hanging around with dogs, teaching some basic manners! take an animal sciences course! Watching and learning from someone who's done it for years will put you in a far better position in the future than just "doing it"..

Diane