Don’t Hire A Dog Trainer… You got this?
Stop kidding yourself… your dog doesn’t know SIT. If you have to ask your dog more than once, he doesn’t know sit. If you have to have a treat in your hand, your dog doesn’t know sit. If you have to be facing your dog when you ask, your dog doesn’t know sit. If you have to be in an area with no distractions, your dog doesn’t know sit. If your dog gets up as soon as you reward him, he doesn’t know sit. When I walk in your house, don’t tell me your dog knows sit and proceed to ask the dog to sit 5 times before he looks at you and still doesn’t sit. I understand you may feel it’s expensive, but there are two main reasons why you need us.
FALSE CONFIDENCE
It’s super easy to watch a couple of youtube videos or read a few chapters of the “it” trainer’s new book and think you can do the job yourself. Training a dog in real life is something different. Most videos/books are written in a way that teaches behaviors from a very general perspective. Every dog is different, and some methods won’t work for every dog all the time. It’s one thing to tell your self mark and then reward… it’s another thing to get your mouth and hand to work in succession(don’t even try using a clicker). You have to know when to mark a behavior, when to reward a behavior, when to ignore a behavior, when to correct a behavior, and so on. You have to be able to read a dog. Are they sensitive, bullish, bored, confused, tired, goofy or aloof. You have to be able to work a leash. Give slack, take up slack, pop, pull and drop when appropriate. Youtube can’t teach you what that looks or feels like, only working multiple dogs can do that. Do yourself a favor and hire a trainer.
LOSS OF TIME
Another big thing that happens with people who don’t hire a trainer is they waste time. During the time you are fumbling through your DIY training, your dog is picking up on habits that may not seem like a big deal at first, but can lead to big problems with socialization, resource guarding, leash reactivity, housebreaking, jumping on guest, barking at the door, etc… Basically you’ve wasted valuable months in your dog’s mental development sending mixed and inconsistent messages instead of reinforcing desirable behaviors. Let someone who’s worked with multiple dogs through their entire lifecycle help you start off on the right foot.
Don’t be stubborn… Gentlemen, this goes for you mostly. Most of you guys think you can get the job done in the same amount of time and for free. Trust me, you can’t. Dog training is a profession for a reason. Not to say you can’t become a pretty decent DIY trainer, but you’ll have to train more than your own dog, and the dog you had when you were a kid.
Rant done.
