Training Owners in Dog Training
With our Richmond dog training, we work with your dogs and formulate training plans that addresses your dogs’ individual needs and behavioral problem. The owner’s training goals are a big part of this training plan, as well, as the dogs’ progress is dependent on the owner’s work and consistency. While we will show your dogs how to succeed, will handle them on the leash, and get them behaviorally trained, a big chunk of dog training is actually owner training as well!
Every day, we get calls and e-mails from owners who are at their wit’s end with their dog’s bad behavior. Every potential client that we meet learns from us that the training is a process and in many ways, a lifestyle. Commitment and consistency is required to succeed in training, and the owners must be prepared to do the work consistently. But the reason why owners call us in the first place is because they have no idea on how to fix their dog’s behaviors themselves. The majority of our clients have tried training in the past, either with another trainer or they took a DIY approach (previous knowledge training a different dog, reading books or internet articles, watching The Dog Whisperer, etc). Often times, when dogs are misbehaving, a huge reason is because the owner is not communicating and training their dog appropriately or consistently. As a dog trainer that wants their clients’ dogs to succeed, it then my job to help the owners open the communication channels between them and their dog, and teach the owners how to handle and properly train their own dogs!
If I were to take a dog, any dog, to my home to train it, I could do it within a few weeks. But in reality, that doesn’t matter at all because while the dog will learn that I possess unwavering leadership, if the dog doesn’t understand that about their owner, then the dog has no incentive to continue the learned good behavior with them. This is why dog training is about also training owners to be consistent leaders for their dogs. If an owner cannot show leadership and maintain the training work, then the dog will less likely respond positively to the owner, and in some cases, their behaviors could worsen due to anxiety and confusion.
For those owners looking to fix their dog’s behavioral problems, be prepared to fix your own! It is not necessarily that the owners have bad behaviors, but might have poor training habits with their dogs…or just have no clue what to do in the first place. Training is about developing good habits for your dog…and for you as the owner. In a way, you are setting an example for your dog. If you want your dog to be consistently behaved in any environment, you have to consistently work with them and expose them to these different environments. If you want your dog to be less of a dominant alpha over you, then you have to display leadership and show your dog that you got the reins, not him/her. If you want your dog to be less anxious and skittish, then you have to present a positive and confident energy, rather than your dog potentially feeding off of your own nervousness (I know that’s tough…but it can be accomplished!). You must train your dog, but dog training is also about training yourself so that BOTH you and your dog can succeed and live peacefully together!
Owners that are looking to expand their knowledge and become consistent leaders for their behaviorally troubled dogs, give us a call and we’ll train you and your dog! We can be reached at 800-649-7297 or write us using our contact form.