I wanted to create an article about how to find a Salt Lake City dog trainer. Every month thousands of Utah dog owners are looking for quality training and there are dozens of companies to choose from. Choosing the right trainer can be a daunting task.
Contrary to what one might think, this is not an article telling you that you SHOULD choose Ty the Dog Guy for your training needs.
There is a certain type of dog owner for whom we are a great match. But, for others, we aren’t a good match.
Watch the video below or read below the video to get ideas on what you need to choose the right dog trainer for your dog:
When choosing a dog trainer the first thing you should do is choose the style of training you are looking for.
While there are thousands of ways to train a dog there are, essentially, two main styles of training that you’ll find in Utah:
1- Clicker Training/Treat Based Training/Force free Training/Positive only training
I’ll be up front with you.
I don’t like this style of training.
In case you aren’t familiar with different styles of training, a trainer who labels as force free or often a clicker trainer (although all types of trainers use clickers) is often a trainer who doesn’t use corrections.
A correction could be a stern ‘no’, a tug on a leash, a correction from an electric collar, a spray from a spray bottle, or any number of different style of corrections.
Some types of corrections are less effective than others. Some types of corrections have more negative side effects than others.
For example, whispering ‘no’ to your dog is considered a correction…it just isn’t very effective.
Or smacking your dog in the head with a brick is HIGHLY effective to stop a behavior…it’s just horribly inhumane and carries awful side effects.
But a simple tug on a leash or a light stimulation from an e-collar can often be highly effective without negative side effects.
A positive only trainer is going to not use any type of these corrections believing them to be harmful to the relationship and unnecessary.
Again, I’ve seen these claims to be false but the fact remains. Many people wish to use this style of training.
If this is the style you choose I’ll give you some tips in a moment for how to find the best positive only dog trainer.
2- Balanced or Stabilized training
A balanced trainer is one who also uses a lot of positive reinforcement like a positive only trainer.
But they balance that positivity with correction for misbehavior.
Being clear, this is the type of training we do at Ty the Dog Guy so it’s the one I think is best.
Having said that, just because a dog trainer is a balanced trainer doesn’t mean that they’re doing a great job.
Many balanced dog trainers are too harsh. Or are using dog training techniques that simply don’t work well.
So whether you’ve decided to use a positive only trainer or a balanced trainer it’s important to find the best one for you.
Here are some ideas for how to do that:
1- Personality. You’re going to be working with this dog trainer a lot. Make sure you like them. And they like you.
2- Proof. Can this dog trainer provide any sort of proof that they have success with their methods? Do they have testimonials and reviews and dog training videos
showing what they can do? If not, why not?
Dog training certifications aren’t proof. Certifications really don’t mean anything about how well a trainer can train a dog.
3- Guarantees. What guarantees can a dog trainer give you? Many dog trainers will say they can’t guarantee anything because they can’t guarantee how well you’ll follow through.
There’s truth in that.
But any dog trainer worth their salt should be able to give you some sort of guarantee
to help you know you’ve got some safety in signing up.
I hope this helps you in choosing a Utah dog trainer
If you’re interested in seeing how we can help you feel free to check out our links:
Leave a Reply