Let me make this clear–professional dog trainers are almost always worth the money. If you need help with the basic foundational work, are cagey about gunfire intro, or just want someone to untangle the canine mess you’ve created, the pros know how to do it.
But, remember this: They have their specific methods. They have ways of communicating commands that are largely specific to them. And, whatever work they do to get your dog polished up will last only as long as you do your part.
Consistency Is (Almost) Everything
Have you ever noticed how often dogs, particularly bird dogs, will obey one person in a relationship but not another? Like, dad might have a pretty solid handle on the family German shorthair, but the kids can’t get it do a single thing it just doesn’t want to do?
Dogs figure out the most they can get away with when it comes to each person with whom they’ll interact. That’s it. Just like your kids might act a totally different way for grandma or a favorite babysitter, your dog will act one way with you and another way with your wife.
This is because the commands and the corrections aren’t consistent. It’s that simple. Now, think about that in terms of you versus an actual pro trainer. How your trainer gets results out of your dog might seem simple, but it’s not. If you don’t at least closely mimic them once your dog comes home, you’ll see some attrition in skills almost instantly.
Beyond Commands
The best pros communicate with dogs through commands and body language. They rarely lose their shit and scream at the top of their lungs (although that’s probably not totally unheard of). Generally, they have a calm, firm demeanor when it’s time to work, and that matters.
They think about how they position themselves during drills, and they give dogs a real chance to understand what they are asking of them. They don’t go from angry to giddy at the slightest change in dog behavior, and they don’t send a dog out for a long-distance retrieve and then immediately pull their phones out to see who posted what on the ‘Gram. They stay focused on the dog.
Whether you have a pro do an overhaul on your pup or just a tune-up on your bird dog, pay attention to every single thing they tell you. Then watch them closely. Pay attention to how they address the dog, how they stand, at what points they blow the whistle or raise their voice, and when they dole out praise. The closer you can follow their template, the better off you’ll be when it’s all up to you to keep the good behaviors coming.
Questions & Confidence
A huge reason so many people have messed up dogs to begin with is just a lack of confidence in training. While a good pro can make up for a lot of that, they can’t magically instill that level of confidence in you, which is part of the deal.
If you don’t understand how to get your dog to stay, or heel, or do whatever the pro could get out of them, ask what you’re doing wrong. Now, trainers are busy, and you should respect their time, but anyone worth his or her salt will help you with post-training questions.
Treat them not only as a valuable tool, which can help your dog level up behavior-wise, but also as a resource to ensure that whatever work they do won’t be undone by you within a few weeks of getting home. The best trainers are proud of their work, and they want to see their clients succeed. What they don’t want to see is a dog that they put hours into, suddenly revert to old behaviors, because it’s back in the situation in which it was created in the first place.
This last point is probably the most important. If you don’t want to waste money on training, then understand that your behavior will have to change just as much as the dog’s will. That’s a big issue, and probably the number-one downfall of most professionally trained dogs.
Ask questions, pay attention, and then prepare yourself to be a different person with your dog.
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