Ah, these young, dog trainer, whippersnappers have it so easy. Back when I was learning how to become a professional dog trainer, I used to walk 18 miles in the snow, carrying 40 pounds of dog treats, wearing flip flops, with a clicker the size of a TOASTER … er, not really.

My goal is not to come across as a grizzled, old, veteran dog trainer who paid her dues while everyone starting in the dog training profession today has it easy. Rookie trainers face many challenges when entering the industry. This is hard work to get into, and even harder to do it well. The benefits new trainers have today include many more educational opportunities than were available when I started more than 25 years ago. And, you have old … er, vintage dog trainers like me who are willing to help you learn the ropes!

Join me October 9 at 10 a.m. Central for the live webinar, Things I Wish I’d Known When I First Became a Professional Dog Trainer, offered by Raising Canine. You’ll get tips that some of us veterans learned the hard way, on topics including dogs, clients, and business. If you’re just starting your journey as a dog trainer, or if you’re thinking about getting into the field, this webinar is definitely for you. It will also be great for those considering making the leap from other jobs into training dogs full time.

This webinar, by Teoti Anderson, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP for Raising Canine will be live October 9 at 10 a.m. Central. If you join us live you’ll be able to ask questions. If you can’t join us live, no worries. You can purchase the webinar for listening later. Real-life tips for the professional dog trainer industry via webinar — technology I certainly didn’t have when I started out! Take advantage today!

Never was a dog training subject so enshrined in mystery and mythology, so misunderstood, as house training. No other dog training project causes as much frustration, aggravation and disappointment as house training. And there are so few courses for dog trainers that address this topic.

The house training industry is swollen with products to attract the beast, encourage the act and contain the waste. Pheromones, posts, sprays and wipes promise to help your dog know where to go. Pads, litter boxes, sacks and bags help to capture and contain the mess. Soaks, enzymes and oxy-stuff will neutralize the odor and eliminate the stain, leaving your home as fresh as a meadow in spring. But does any of this stuff work? Is any of this at all necessary?

Let’s not forget about the dog’s part in this. Did Fluffy really poop on your bed because he’s angry you went to Dairy Queen without him? Or maybe it’s separation anxiety? Is Spot peeing on the carpet because he’s lonely, or did he just forget where to go? And is there any such thing as partially house trained?

When I was a kid, about a hundred years ago, all our dogs were house trained with little more than a baby gate and a stack of newspapers. How is it possible that this low-tech solution was so effective, but now, in this modern age, house training still sits high on the list of dog behavior problems people seek help for. And that frustrate dog owners for months (and sometimes years) before seeking help. And sometimes, sadly, the dog that doesn’t know where to go will lose his home as a result.

The fundamentals of house training will be revealed to you in a 90-minute dog training course webinar called “The Straight Sh*t About House Training” (One of the best courses for dog trainers). We’ll lay out a simple house training protocol that will work great for 95% of all dogs. We’ll have solutions for puppies and adults, and even those latchkey dogs your relatives claim you can’t train. We’ll debunk the myths and legends about house training products, which ones are worth your time and money and which ones aren’t (hint: most of them aren’t!). We’ll even have help for the more challenging cases that have stumped so many for long. Whether you’re a dog trainer helping owners, or an owner with a house training problem, or a new puppy, or just want to be prepared for your next challenge, then this webinar is for you!

Barbara Davis, CDBC has been a dog trainer and behavior consultant for over 35 years. Barbara is a founding member of IAABC (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants), and has been Dog Division Chair since 2013. Committed to continuing education, she is faculty mentor for IAABC’s acclaimed Animal Behavior Consulting: Principles & Practice course, and offers many other workshops and seminars through her business in southern California. She’ll be presenting her webinar, The Straight Sh*t About House Training on May 8.

When doing dog behavior training, we’ve all had at least one – that case where we just don’t know if we’ll ever be able to improve the dog’s behavior. Inevitably, it’s an extreme emotional problem – aggression, fear, or anxiety. The animal is either hurting himself or hurting someone else. We all have our own way of dealing with these situations. Personally, I don’t want to recommend euthanasia. I feel that the dog should be seen by a veterinary behaviorist, because there are many things they can do that a trainer cannot. Until this avenue has been explored, I feel it’s inappropriate for me to make that life or death call.

I have vivid memories of one particular case I had like that. It was a rescued coon hound. The background info said that he’d been a medical research dog. Of course, we never know for sure if this type of information is correct. I had some doubts because a coon hound is a pretty big dog, and most labs want smaller animals because of space issues. However, this dog was not normal by any stretch of the imagination, and that type of environment could certainly result in aberrant behavior.

The owners brought the dog to me, and the minute I saw him, I knew I was not going to approach him – he was flat out scary – this was not going to be straight forward, good old dog obedience training! He had a hard stare the entire time he was there, as well as penile crowning and piloerection. He was not affiliative to me or the owners. At this time, I was running a dog sanctuary, and he didn’t even seem particularly curious about the dogs in the environment. No sniffing around, looking out windows, etc. Just very abnormal behavior, in my opinion.

During the intake I learned that the dog had attacked the husband (the less dog-savvy of the two) three times. The last time he sent the husband to the hospital. The dog was a severe resource guarder and they lived in a very small space. They had an apartment in Manhattan, and anyone who’s lived in New York City knows that unless you’re wealthy, you’re going to live in a very small space. They also had a small one-room cabin in the Catskills. So, in either home, space was tight.

In the last incident, the husband had been in the kitchen cooking dinner and the dog started growling and stalking the husband – I assumed he was guarding the food that was cooking, but it could have been something else. The husband backed up, but the dog came after him. As we know, in most aggressive situations, the dog just wants space between you and him or the object he’s guarding. In this case, the fact that the husband was creating that space didn’t affect the dog’s behavior. He trapped the husband in the bathroom and attacked him, sending him to the hospital for several stitches – I can’t remember how many, but it was a lot. That was when they called me.

The wife was willing to euthanize the dog, but the husband wasn’t. The wife was dog savvy and didn’t have problems with the coon hound except in specific situations, and she was experienced enough to know how to deal with those situations. It was the husband’s first dog, and he was adamant that he wanted to try working with the behavior before giving up on him.

After taking the history, I decided to refer them to the vet behaviorist in Cornell. In dog behavior training, we trainers do not have to make that decision. We can, and should, refer a case like this on to a vet behaviorist. There are many things a vet can do that a trainer cannot.

The first reason I didn’t want to take on this case was because I was frightened by the dog, so that didn’t bode well for working with him. I could have given instructions and kept my distance, or we could have desensitized him to a muzzle but, all-in-all, I really didn’t want to work with this dog.

The other reason I didn’t want to take on this case was because the wife was adamant that she wanted to walk in the woods with the dog off leash. I felt this was dangerous and a liability waiting to happen. I could see the dog guarding something – a carcass, garbage, whatever – and some innocent bystander walking by and getting attacked. Unless the wife would agree to keep him on leash, I wasn’t willing to risk that. And she really wanted him to be able to roam.

They met with the vet behaviorist, and it was recommended that they euthanize the dog. They called me, very upset – they hadn’t like the vet behaviorist and felt that she had no empathy. Personally, I wasn’t at all surprised that she recommend euthanasia, and was in agreement with that recommendation. However, they did not want to work with her and really wanted me to help them. Aargh!

I wasn’t going to put myself in that position. I’d already decided I didn’t want to work with this dog, and had informed them of that decision and why I made it. However, I did give them some dog behavior training help. One of the situations where the wife had problems was when the dog was in his crate, so I gave her a protocol for approaching and opening the crate. The other situation was when he had chews, so again, I gave her a protocol.

They reported back to me a couple of times to let me know that things were going well. The wife had no problem approaching the crate, and could even take chews away from the dog. However, the situation with the husband had not improved much – at this point it was a whole lot of management.

Then, one evening I got a hysterical call from the wife. The dog had attacked the husband and he was in the hospital with some very serious injuries. At this point, the husband agreed that the dog should be euthanized. It was a difficult call for the owners; they suffered a lot of guilt over that decision. Personally, I had no problem with it. I didn’t see this dog ever being reliable enough to be considered safe.

Ultimately, this situation was a pretty easy call. It’s those other cases where you feel like there’s hope for the dogs that are difficult. And that’s why Dr. Lore Haug will be doing a webinar for us on that very topic!

If you’d like to attend this webinar, you can get more information here:  https://www.raisingcanine.com/course/treat-or-euthanize/. 

Susan Smith, CPDT-KA, CDBC is the owner of Raising Canine, LLC, (www.raisingcanine.com), which provides online education for professional dog trainers and dog behavior consultants, as well as business and marketing education and consulting to help their businesses, including an intensive course for those wanting to become professional dog trainers. Sue is also the co-author of the book “Positive Gun Dogs: Clicker Training for Sporting Breeds.” Sue is certified through CCPDT and IAABC. She is an ex-Board member for the CCPDT, an active, professional member of CCPDT, APDT, and IAABC, and was named APDT Member of the Year in 2004.

As a professional dog trainer running group dog training courses. One person is talking on his cell phone. A couple others have struck up a conversation with each other and are ignoring you giving instructions to the class. One person has started working his dog while you’re still going over a demo. And another student is wrestling with his barking, adolescent Schnauzer. Sometimes, it may feel like you’re a ringmaster who’s lost control of the circus!

As a professional dog trainer who runs group dog training courses, you face some unique challenges that you generally don’t have to worry about with private lessons. In private lessons, you customize the lesson for one client. In a group class, you typically have a curriculum that you teach to a group of people. Everyone in the class comes with a different skill set, ability to follow directions, individual goals and personalities. Your group class topic may be the same for everyone in the class, but that doesn’t mean everyone is going to learn it the same way. And if you have a particularly difficult client or clients in that group class, it can make your job as the instructor that much more challenging.

In the upcoming Raising Canine webinar, Dealing with Difficult Clients in Group Classes, you’ll learn that challenging clients don’t have to be thorns in your side. Most people aren’t trying to be difficult. If you’re going to be completely honest with yourself, aren’t there certain personality types that just seem to rub you the wrong way? That isn’t their fault. As a teacher, it’s your job to help all your students reach their potential.

Understanding how adults learn can go a long way toward better reaching them and help them with their dog obedience training. The webinar will also cover common barriers to success and how to overcome them. For example, what about the Chatty Cathy who keeps interrupting you? Is she just rude … or does she need something else from you? Maybe she’s actually nervous because she feels her dog is out of control and is embarrassing her in the class in front of the other students. Maybe she is an auditory learner – she learns more by listening, rather than watching your dog training courses and dog training video demo. Do you have more patience for that barking Schnauzer than the Chatty Cathy? Then this webinar is definitely for you! After all, if you don’t help the people, you’ll never help their dogs with your dog training courses.

With the Raising Canine webinar Dealing with Difficult Clients in Group Classes, you’ll learn effective, polite ways to deal with common issues that often come up with clients so you can stick to your schedule and still get results. Don’t write off difficult clients! With patience and positive techniques, they may turn into your best customers.

Teoti Anderson, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP, has been a professional dog trainer for more than 24 years. She is the author of The Dog Problem Behavior Solver, Ultimate Guide to Dog Training, Dog Training 101, and more. Teoti is also a popular international speaker and educates pet parents and fellow trainers on canine behavior. (Do you want a link? If so, you can also include: For more information, visit her at www.teotianderson.com)

For more information on this course, go to Dealing with Difficult Clients in Group Classes. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the hundreds of great on-demand webinars Raising Canine offers – you can find them at this link:  https://www.raisingcanine.com/education/od-webinars/.