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Over the past 5 months or so, my little man and I have been taking training classes, and I've been working with him a lot. This is something that I've found that I seem to be pretty good at (or maybe he's just making it easy on me, lol), and thoroughly enjoy doing. I've also been volunteering at the shelter walking dogs and helping a little with some of the basic training.
I'm very interested in becoming a dog trainer, mainly to work with shelter dogs to assist with getting them adopted out into good homes. So here's my question...what is the best way to go about becoming an actual QUALIFIED trainer?? I had looked into Animal Behavior College, but after reading some of the reviews from past students and trainers, I'm thinking that is NOT the way to go if I really want to be legitimate...
Any suggestions on how to get started? I've started reading books on it as well, and would just like to pick your brains!!
A dog trainer couldn't do much better than the Michael Ellis School:
[url=http://michaelellisschool.com/]The Michael Ellis School for Dog Trainers[/url]
Be wary of any training class that has a group of dogs all in one room or field as is the case with most most popular classes -- that is your flag of a trainer who has no appreciation for canine behavior or learning process. (It's sort of like taking a kid to Disney Land and trying to teach them math.) If a dog manages to learn in that environment, it was an unnecessarily stressful path to that lesson, but a lot of dogs, especially the defense breeds, can actually be damaged: the stress and frustration they feel is compounded by their natural wariness of anyone not in their "pack". The wrong kind of training or socialization for defense breeds can actually make them more likely to be aggressive as adults (around 2 years old, when a lot of them get dumped at shelters.)
All this is to say that dog training is more that Sit and Stay, and it's more than clickers and treats -- that's just not enough for many many dogs. Someone who wants to train dogs professionally needs to understand how they learn, what kind of leadership they understand, and how to deal with issues that are defense-based, because a dog who believes he or his pack are at risk, even if it's from the FedEx guy or the neighbor's dog, is not going to go for clickers or treats. For any dog beyond the easiest ones, the challenge for a real trainer is teaching the humans how to convince their dogs that they have every conceivable problem covered. If the dog believes that, Sit, Stay and the whole pile of basic (and beyond basic) obedience is a cake walk.
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Originally Posted by KittKat
Over the past 5 months or so, my little man and I have been taking training classes, and I've been working with him a lot. This is something that I've found that I seem to be pretty good at (or maybe he's just making it easy on me, lol), and thoroughly enjoy doing. I've also been volunteering at the shelter walking dogs and helping a little with some of the basic training.
I'm very interested in becoming a dog trainer, mainly to work with shelter dogs to assist with getting them adopted out into good homes. So here's my question...what is the best way to go about becoming an actual QUALIFIED trainer?? I had looked into Animal Behavior College, but after reading some of the reviews from past students and trainers, I'm thinking that is NOT the way to go if I really want to be legitimate...
Any suggestions on how to get started? I've started reading books on it as well, and would just like to pick your brains!!
If I were trying to get actual, good experience and my goal was to be a real dog person with a skill set that could become a profession, I would find a professional trainer who's methods I agree with and who has accomplished what I wish to accomplish, make friends with him/her and start volunteering as his/her helper in my free time. Books and theory are great, but you have to work with and finish a lot of different dogs, have gotten through a lot of different problems and have a real mentor before you really know what you're doing.
Also, be aware that some "real" dog people are just plain naturals and can't really teach what they know.
You might want to call some of your local rescue organizations. Many of these have behaviorists/trainers they work with and might be able to recommend and connect you with them. Then you can pick their brains about how they got started, what type of training they received and from where, etc. I will send you a DM with some contacts.
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