During our training classes, our human students often joke about how they need more training than their dog does. They always appear to be kidding around, but it holds much more truth to it than they think! One of the fundamental lessons people learn in our classes is that it is their ability to communicate with their dog that helps everyone live happily ever after once classes are over.
Being taught by a professional trainer provides a great head start to the learning of the dog and the human, but if the human part of the team does not learn alongside their dog, progress will not go as smoothly and may even fade away.
Oftentimes, before training classes, owners describe their dogs as "stubborn", stating that their dog "just won't listen to me". The truth is, our dogs cannot speak our language, so the human has to learn a new language, they must learn to speak dog! When this happens, our dogs are able to understand what is being communicated and they can grow and learn.
What we do and how we communicate matters! That's why a great dog trainer will spend a lot of time working with the human on body language, hand signals, treat delivery and timing. If you come to our classes, you'll see that we go over these things during our very first class. We know it can be a lot of talking, but teaching the human all of these things really helps our dogs learn quicker in the rest of the classes. This kind of lesson empowers you, the owner, forever!
You can also consider the reverse, where the human has no involvement and the dog only works with the trainer. Sure, the dog will listen to the trainer and show off great behaviors they can do, but their human cannot communicate as clearly and once home, the dog will often regress back to their previous behaviors.
How you think about getting your dog trained is important. If you think it is a process that has a beginning, middle and end, while appealing, it is not the reality of life. Just like us humans, dogs are always learning, always changing and adjusting to their way of life. While it may sound appealing to outsource all training to a professional, you might just be disappointed if you do. What you, the human, learn from that trainer is not enough to sustain the life you have with your dog.
While considering this, you may see why it is we spend time in our classes talking to and teaching the owner. Behavior issues your dog is experiencing can't simply be solved by insisting on a stronger response to commands. A great trainer will lead you to a better understanding of WHY your dog has those behavior issues in the first place. When we know why something is happening, we can create true solutions that work for you and your dog that help solve the issue at it's core, not just cover up it's symptoms.
Our dogs love it when we speak their language! The humans who communicate in a way that dogs understand and help guide them into understanding what is expected of them often have a deeper bond and connection with their dog. This is why we train the way we do. At the end of the day we want to develop the bond between you and your dog, not the trainer and your dog!
Remember, training happens all the time, even when we are unaware of it.
The bond between an owner and a dog can last a lifetime!
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