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Author Archive for Professional Dog Trainer – Page 9

ADVANCE YOUR DOG TRAINING CAREER WITH COMMUNITY EVENTS

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

I had the best time, yesterday! I gave the last lecture in a series presented at the University of Texas, Austin called “Wolf to Dog.” The series was comprised of the following topics:

The Nature of Wolves & Dogs
The Nature of Wolf Evolution
The Nature of Wolf Transformation to Dog
The Nature of Ice Age Human Hunters
The Nature of Hunter & Scavenger
Discussion with a Dog Behavior Consultant

I’m the Dog Behavior Consultant! We did actual case studies, using the attendees’ animals. We resolved simple problems such as the cat who wants the owner to scratch her ears and lift her onto the eating table; the Shih Tzu who jumps on people at the door, and runs away when called. It’s always great fun to use operant learning in order to change yourself and others – owners always think it’s about animal! The lady with the cat mentioned that this cat is not as smart as her other cat. I had to ask her which cat was really smarter – which cat is getting his ears scratched and being lifted onto the food table?

While resolving these problems, I was able to weave in basic information on dog behavior and learning principles. A good time was had by all! Although I don’t do much consulting anymore, I do enjoy these types of presentations, because they’re fun and you are able to help both people and dogs.

However, as a behavior consultant, don’t overestimate the good that reaching out to your community can do for your business. A presentation such as this reaches an affluent, well educated focus group – just the clientele we’re looking for. And, if they learn from your presentation and are impressed with your style and ability, they’ll spread the word.

Think about your market niche, find community groups that serve that niche and offer to do a presentation. These groups are often looking for speakers, so should welcome you with open arms!

If you do not feel comfortable speaking in front of an audience, consider joining a group such as Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a non-profit group which specializes in public speaking. They have many groups around the country – some are very business-like, while others are into having a good time – you should be able to find a group that suits your needs.

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Categories : Running a Dog Consulting Business

Tags : Dog behavior, Dog trainer, Dog training

Professional Dog Trainers Can Help Prevent Animal Hoarding

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Thursday, February 10th, 2011

I subscribe to a news service which I browse through everyday. Today, there was a story about a woman whose property was deemed unfit for human habitation because of the number of dogs she had living in her house; additionally, the woman is being brought up on charges related to hoarding. When I clicked on the story, related story icons popped up on the same page. As a professional dog trainer, you can help dogs stay in their original homes through training and educating the public on dog behavior and responsible dog ownership.

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Miscellaneous

Tags : Activities, Dog, Dog trainer, Dog training, Pet, professional dog trainers, Recreation, Reinforcement, Training

Present yourself as a professional!

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Monday, February 7th, 2011

One thing that will set you apart from others in your career as a dog trainer is to present yourself as a professional. Order yourself professionally printed marketing materials, from a company like vistaprint. Build a website that has a sharp, professional look that matches your new marketing materials.

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Miscellaneous

Tags : career as a dog trainer, Dog trainer

How long should it take you to become a professional dog trainer?

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Friday, February 4th, 2011

That’s a question with no straight-forward answer! The answer will depend on your background and previous animal experience, the quality of the dog training program you pursue, the type and quality of hands-on dog training experience you are able to gain, and your own natural skills and abilities. The following should help give you an idea of what you are looking at in terms of time in your journey to a career in dog training.

Your own background and animal experience: If you want to be a dog trainer, you will need to gain experience in handling dogs and recognizing signals and signs canines give off with their body language. If you have spent several years working with dogs in a shelter or working as a kennel technician or groomer, you may have a jump on your competition in terms of your comfort level with dogs, handling ability, recognition of canine body language and more. There are several companies or franchises that hire and train people that have a background in the corporate world with no background at all in dog training. Although these candidates may very well use their skills as an attorney, accountant, business manager, marketing expert, etc. in their careers as dog trainers, if they want to become the best professional dog trainers they can be, they will need to gain a great deal of experience working with dogs before they can really succeed as a professional dog trainer. Although some people coming from a corporate background will have volunteer or other experience with dogs, sadly, many of the companies or franchises that hire people with no background in working with dogs provide as little as THREE WEEKS of training before turning them out to work as professional dog trainers!

The quality of the dog training program you pursue: Not all dog trainer educational programs are created equally. When you choose a program to give you the education you need to be a dog trainer, look for a dog training program that is based on science and teaches you the underlying sciences of learning theory and ethology rather than just giving you a handful of recipes to deal with different scenarios. If you understand the science that underlies dog training, you won’t run into trouble if none of the typical recipes work for a particular dog. You’ll have the knowledge and depth to modify your training approach to specific dogs and specific dog owners.

The type and quality of hands-on experience: After you learn the science of dog training, it is important to master the physical skills necessary to excel in the field of dog training. Volunteering to work in a shelter or kennel will give you the variety you need – you’ll work with a wide range of breeds, mixes, and ages of dogs. In addition to that, you’ll want to work with a professional dog trainer who can give you feedback about your timing, criteria setting, delivery of reinforcements, and handling ability. You can do this by working as an apprentice to another trainer, choosing a dog training course that includes either hands-on or video feedback work with a professional, or taking dog training classes with a number of different dogs from different trainers in your area. You will also need to practice your group class and instruction skills. Teaching people and running both private and group lessons take skill and practice. The best way to gain this skill is to work as an apprentice with an experienced dog trainer. Having a mentor that you can call on to ask questions and talk to about cases is also important.

If a program promises you that you will be able to become a professional dog trainer in a very short period of time with no hands-on experience or mentoring, be wary! You need a program that takes a commitment of time and energy and that offers you mentoring and feedback on your physical skill as well as an education in the science of dog training. Don’t settle for less!
If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Miscellaneous

Tags : career in dog training, careers as dog trainers, Dog trainer, dog trainer educational program, dog trainer program, dogtraining, professional dog trainer, want to be a dog trainer, work as professional dog trainers

When Beginning Your Dog Trainer Career, Avoid the Trap of Under-valuing Yourself and Your Services

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

It’s very common for trainers just starting out in their dog trainer career to under-price their services, thinking that will bring them more business. However, this technique may very well backfire on you! There are two types of price shoppers. Customer A is looking for the cheapest price; customer B is looking for the price range.

Think about which customer you would rather work with. Client A is looking for a bargain; these clients are often demanding, have unrealistic expectations, and get angry when you don’t meet their every demand. Client B is trying to find out what the going rate is for trainers in their area; they are generally more realistic in their expectations. Which client would you rather work with? And – more importantly, which client is more likely to spread good word of mouth, and to whom?

Under-pricing your services not only brings in the wrong client, it may actually lose you customers. If people are price shopping to determine the going rate and you are priced toward the bottom of the range, there will be a lot of potential clients who feel you are not as qualified as those in the middle- to high-end of the range.

Don’t fall into this trap – if you have completed your training to be a trainer, are beginning your dog training career, and feel you are qualified to receive money for your services, then price yourself in the mid-range. If you feel you are as qualified (or more qualified) than most of your completion, price yourself in the high-range. You’ll find yourself attracting a more desirable clientele.

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Miscellaneous

Tags : Dog trainer, dog trainer career, Dog training, training to be a trainer

Where are your credentials?

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

One thing that is often sorely missing from professional dog trainers‘ websites is an About Us page or a page that describes their background and credentials. When you begin your dog training career, it’s important to build credentials that you can count on. Begin by attending a dog training school that will get you the scientific knowledge you need to be a professional dog trainer. Next, work with other dog trainers to gain experience or have a mentor whom you can discuss cases and issues with, as we do in our weekly phone calls with our dog training students. After that, work towards earning an independent certification, such as the CPDT-KA designation. Last, make sure that you are continuing your education on an annual basis.

All of this information should then be readily and easily available for your potential clients on your website. Use an About Us page to describe your credentials and background and to describe your training methodologies, any professional organizations you belong to, and the continuing education that you engage in each year.

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Miscellaneous

Tags : credentials for dog training, Dog training, Pet, Training

The phone call column!

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Twice a week, we meet by phone with our professional dog training students and discuss case studies or questions they’ve developed as they work their way through our dog training curriculum. We’re going to start highlighting some of these discussions here on the blog so that our readers can get a sense of what our professional dog training students experience on their road to a career in dog training!

For example, last week, we talked about resource guarding in dogs. This turned into a discussion about the differences between operant and respondent behavior. Often, dogs are engaging in both operant and respondent learning and operant and respondent behaviors. A top-notch professional dog trainer must be able to articulate and recognize the differences. If you want to become a professional dog trainer, you need to be able to put both operant and respondent learning into action!

Keep an eye out for future Phone Call Columns!

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Miscellaneous

Tags : become a professional dog trainer, career in dog training, Dog trainer, dogtraining, our dog training curriculum, professional dog training students

How cool is my dog? Well – he’s training me (with a low rate of reinforcement)!

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Monday, January 17th, 2011

We humans are soooo superior. We think we are so smart; we can teach our dogs to do so many things like sitting pretty, begging, closing the door. But have you ever thought about how many things your dog trains you to do? My dog is such a good trainer, I sometimes think he should be an instructor in my professional dog trainer course!

A short list of things your dog has taught you might consist of:

Opening the back door on cue (my dog, Jimmy Joe, walks back and forth between me and the door)
Feeding dinner on cue (JJ walks back and forth from the kitchen to me and looks at me with ears perked and head tilted)
Playing with the plush toy on cue (all he has to do is pick it up and bring it to me)
Petting on cue (a little nose nudge usually does it)

But the coolest of all is howling! Every evening when I stop working, have eaten my dinner and sit down to read or watch TV, Jimmy Joe cues me to howl with him.

He’s got me trained, I howl every evening, but I keep trying to get it on video and for some reason I’m not prepared. I hate to admit that I’m like every typical owner; I know he’s going to do it – he does it every night under the same circumstances. But do I have my Flip at the ready? No! He starts cuing me, and I think “Dang – where’s my camera?”

If we want to get technical, I think it’s a rate of reinforcement

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problem. Because we only do this once a day, my ROR is pretty low – once every 24 hours. But, I’m getting better. I’m starting to actually keep the camera on the end table; now I just have to remember to turn it on and aim it before Jimmy Joe starts cuing me.

The good news is that I actually have a short clip for you to watch – it’s not the best example, and if I ever catch a better clip, I’ll post it. I know that I have a strong bias and think my dog is the cutest, cleverest dog in the world, but I hope you enjoy this clip as much as I do.

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Learning Theory, Uncategorized

Tags : Dog, professional dog trainer course, rate of reinforcement

Certified Dog Trainer Certificate – How Can I Purchase One

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Thursday, January 13th, 2011

While searching for keywords, I ran across this phrase. I am shocked and appalled that someone is actually searching the Internet for “How to Purchase a Certified Dog Trainer Certificate!” I would hope that no one who cares about dogs would think that simply purchasing a certificate qualifies them to become a professional dog trainer. I hope that the person using this phrase really meant to search for something like “what does schooling to become a dog trainer entail?” Or “what’s involved in becoming a certified dog trainer?”

Because the dog industry is not regulated and currently has no uniformly accepted standards, anyone can hang out their shingle and call themselves a professional dog trainer. One of my personal (and professional) goals is to help professionalize our industry – which includes comprehensive education and standardized testing for professional dog trainers.

In the last 50 years, our society has changed drastically. When I was a kid my mother would go to work, my brother and I would go to school, and my dog Spot would roam the neighborhood. This was pretty normal for most dogs, at that time. This practice provided them with the opportunity to socialize and learn how to live in their world, as well as providing ample mental enrichment and physical exercise. Today parents go to work, kids go to school, and dogs stay indoors (often in a crate or other confined area) or in the back yard. There are both good and bad consequences to both of these scenarios.

In the good ol’ days dogs:

	Pros		Cons
–	self socialized	–	were hit by cars
–	had plenty of mental enrichment	–	were injured in dog fights
–	had plenty of physical activity	–	were shot by irate neighbors
–	generally learned good house manners	–	generally lived short lives
		–	were shot or euthanized if they had behavior problems

Today’s Dogs:

	Pros		Cons
–	are well-cared for, physically	–	don’t get enough exercise
–	are beloved and pampered pets	–	are bored out of their minds
–	generally live longer lives	–	are improperly socialized
–	owners’ are more likely to seek professional help for behavior problems	–	are often aggressive with other dogs and humans
		–	are generally unruly
		–	Often don’t learn good house manners
		–	Are more likely to have separation issues

The point of this chart is to illustrate that the problems we see with dogs today are much more complex than the problems of 50, or even 20, years ago. Owners are less willing to give up their dog simply because it has behavior problems and will go to the expense and trouble of hiring a consultant.

However, because the problems are more complex, consultants need more formal education. Aggression and anxiety are high-stakes problems and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you risk serious injury to people and dogs, potential death to other household pets (and occasionally, but rarely, humans), and death to the dog displaying these problem behaviors. Even with less serious behaviors such as housetraining, jumping up and digging, if the problems are not resolved the dog often ends up in a shelter.

To sum up, I hope everyone who cares about dogs will encourage professionals to become certified professional dog trainers, and to always continue educating themselves. The scientific community is doing fascinating and wonderful things in the areas of behavior and cognition, and we are learning more and more about dogs every day!

Two organizations certifying dog trainers that I recommend are the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (www.CCPDT.org) and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (www.IAABC.org)

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.