Use 5 essential tips to choose your dog’s perfect trainer

Are you considering choosing a dog trainer? Training your dog is essential, but many fur parents have their reasons for hiring one.

Who wouldn’t? It teaches your dog life skills, improves their behavior, and helps you have a better relationship with your dog — it’s a win-win situation.

Due to this, many are on the market, searching for the perfect dog trainer. However, what would a great dog trainer consist of? Continue reading to learn the answer.

Personal rapport

Rapport is essential for dogs, just like it’s essential for humans. It’s critical when your dog is wary of strangers or other people.

Building rapport with a dog is about building trust, and one way to do this is by giving puppy treats, reading the dog’s body language, and respecting their space. All of these are immediate to a good trainer.

Establishing rapport is also essential between dog owners and trainers. A trainer is a person you would welcome into your own home. Thus, you should feel comfortable with them and trust them with your puppy.

Thus, a good trainer should be compassionate, patient, and able to tailor their training methods to your needs and preferences as the fur parent.

Qualifications and education

Ensure the trainer you hire has all the qualifications and education to conduct dog training. These certifications would vary from country to state, but the most common ones are from the following:

• Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers — This certification requires candidates to have at least 300 hours of experience in the past three years and a letter of reference from a CPDT-KA-certified trainer or veterinarian. After these prerequisites, a certification exam that can cost up to $385 would be required.
• Grisha Stewart’s Certification Program — This program is for candidates interested in dealing with aggressive, scared, or apprehensive behavior. If your dog behaves like this, hiring someone with this certification or something similar may be best.
• International Association of Canine Professionals — This program requires candidates to have at least two years of training experience and six months of membership, ensuring that they produce the best of the best candidates.

Experience

While looking for dog trainers with a long line of qualifications and excellent education, experience is also essential. Even if a trainer has all the perfect qualifications, the training may only be effective if they have the necessary experience for a dog like yours.

As such, you should look for a trainer with experience with various breeds and temperaments. A trainer must have the necessary expertise in addressing dogs’ behavioral issues.

As you can see, a wide range of experience is essential to draw out their various techniques and tools to tailor their training methods to your dog’s needs.

After all, all dogs are unique and special in their ways, so this is highly essential.

Communication skills

Just like how humans communicate with each other, communication is also evident between animals and between humans and animals. Thus, effectively communicating with your pups is vital to successful dog training. So, be sure to look for a trainer who can communicate with your dog and with you, the owner.

Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful dog training. A good trainer should be able to communicate their expectations to both you and your dog clearly.

They should be able to explain their training strategies in an easily understandable way, and they should encourage you to practice these techniques at home.

This open line of communication ensures that you understand the training process and actively participate in your dog’s training, strengthening the bond between you and your pet.

References and reviews

Another factor that you should look into is the trainer’s reputation. You can check this by looking into the trainer’s references and reviews. These valuable pieces of information can give you a sense of a trainer’s track record and the first-hand experiences of other pet owners.

Thus, when searching for a good trainer, you should look for one with a history of success and positive reviews from other fur parents.

Also, there will be times when a trainer doesn’t have a positive review, and when this happens, you can determine if it’s something that the trainer has already improved on or otherwise.

When you interview them, you can always bring this to their attention if they fit your furbaby.

Final thoughts on how to choose a dog trainer

If training your dog can be challenging and you need help figuring out where to start, hiring a dog trainer is always a great option.

A trained dog knows how to behave, and it can enhance the bond between the puppy and the owner. Remember the factors mentioned above when you’re looking for one in your locale.