Don’t shoot the messenger, but heed this warning…
 
 
 
 
This article is all about how I train and what I think, but it is based on years answering questions, telephone calls, emails and text. When you call a dog trainer you are doing so because there is issue between you and Fido! So there are a few things that you need to be ready for.
 
1.       Dog trainers, train owners not dogs, so do not expect your trainer to pay more attention to your dog than you.
2.       There are no quick fixes… Your problems did not occur overnight nor will they be fixed overnight. There are no Jedi mind tricks or silver bullets in the dog training arsenal.
3.       You will have to be consistent and frequent with the techniques that the dog trainer teaches you. Unfortunately frequency and consistency are the same reasons humans have issues with dieting, going to the gym or quitting smoking.
4.       The only way to achieve success is to work hard.
5.       Even though you will not enjoy it all dog trainers are going to require you to work outside your comfort zone.
 
Now that you have some idea of things that will be necessary of you to make this partnership work how about a small list of things that your dog trainer just might require you to specifically do…
 
1.       Chances are your dog trainer might very well ask you to change how you feed your dog.
2.       Your dog trainer may ask you to manage your dog, which might require the use of a crate, day care, dog walker or even having to keep the dog with you consistently to ensure no mistakes happen…
3.       Your dog trainer may require you add rules and routines to the everyday life for Fido. He or she might even require that certain freedoms be restricted or removed completely.
4.       The dog trainer will demand consistency from everyone in the household. If just one person is doing things differently or just not doing them, it will completely and totally hamper the success of the entire family…
 
In most cases many of the problem behaviors that dog trainers deal with are related to the freedom aspect of living with people. We get this cute fluffy little ball of joy and it is adorable, but as this little powder puff grows it becomes more and more like a teenager! Life gets in the way, kids have to be taken to soccer, dinner has to be made and of course we all have to go to work. Fido finds himself all of the sudden being left to his own devices with all of the freedom he cannot handle.
 
In reality calling it freedom really is a misnomer instead we should really call it what it is… You did not have time to manage, train or teach your new dog, so it is with hope we turn them loose to their own devices and are truly shocked when our lovable little dog start peeing, pooping, chewing, jumping, barking and doing all the other things that make him a dog (and you crazy)!
 
I end this article with a simple reminder, the definition of crazy is: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So before you pick up the phone to call that dog trainer ask yourself one simple question, am I ready willing and able to change what I have been doing up until now? Because if the answer is no you will not only have an untrained dog, you will have a frustrated dog trainer and in many cases you yourself will be angry.
 
My goal with K .I.S.S. Dog Training has always been one of customer service!  My goal is simple, always under promise and over deliver and by having honest conversations like the one you are reading in this article I do my part to keep everybody, dog, client and yes even myself on the same page. That being said the last piece of advice I give you about hiring a dog trainer would be this… Talk to at least three trainers before you make a decision. The client trainer relationship is a special one and one that requires both understanding and agreement on methods. If you choose a trainer you do not agree with you will not enjoy the process, the dog will not have fun and in the end no one will learn.
 
Hopefully this article will not only help you choose a trainer but be ready for the challenges that will occur once they show up at your front door! Good luck and as always remember to Keep it Simple Stupid…

 
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