Exercise care in choosing a trainer for your dog

Having a well-trained dog is a celebration of the human animal bond, but dogs do not come into the world already understanding human speech, responding to our requests or knowing how to live in our houses and walk on a leash.

They have the capability to learn these things, but they will do that only if we teach them what it is we want them to know.

For most of us, that means enlisting the aide of a dog trainer and attending a training class. So finding a good trainer, who teaches skills while strengthening the bond, is important.

And that is not always an easy task.

I asked some experts what they suggested looking for in a good training class and a good trainer, and surprisingly, although they come from different backgrounds and styles of training, their advice was remarkably similar.

“Ask to visit a class in progress, said Terry Ryan, author of “Coaching People to Train their Dogs,” “but don’t take your dog.”

“If possible, observe both a beginners and advanced class,” said Suzanne Clothier author of “Bones Would Rain from the Sky.”

“An owner might want to observe a class at the beginning of the session and then again 6 to 8 weeks later to see the improvement,” said Sophia Yin, D.V.M. and author of “How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves.”

“If a trainer won’t allow you to observe a class, don’t enroll,” says Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., certified animal behaviorist and author of several books and video training programs (see www. AnimalBehaviorAssociates.com).

Here are some things to look for when you visit.

“Watch the dogs and the handlers,” Clothier said. “Are they having fun? Are they learning with joy?”

While this may seem like the least important thing, this is the best indication that the owners are relaxed and getting the information they need and the dogs are focused and in the best frame of mind for optimum learning.

“The class should look like the dogs are having fun and the dogs/owners should always have something they’re working on,” says Yin. “If the dogs just walk in a circle and are bored, it is because the pace of the class is sort of set in stone rather than dictated by the progress of the individual dogs.”

Probably the greatest advances in dog training have come from the application to training of scientific advances in the field of learning.

“Historically, companion dog training in the United States pretty much started after World War II, and the trainers were military K-9 handlers who employed the same techniques with companion animals that were used with military dogs,” Clothier said. It was an offshoot of these techniques that I originally learned as a child by watching the training classes my mother was attending. But we’ve come a long way.

As Yin said, “Along with this application of science to training has come the realization that we don’t have to force an animal to do what we want. Rather it is better to set things up so that he WANTS to do what we want, since that’s the only way to get what he wants.”

“Look for trainers who rely on teaching methods that focus on encouraging and rewarding the right behavior with positive reinforcement rather than punishing or ‘correcting’ undesirable ones,” Hetts said.

“A good trainer will have a variety of techniques, most of them positive,” Ryan said.

“And positive training is supportive of the kind of relationship people want with their dogs,” Clothier said

Look also at class size and availability of individual instruction.

“Are people getting individual attention and coaching, or is the instructor simply calling out general directions?” Ryan asks. “I feel that a ratio of more than five students to one instructor is pushing the limit for a quality class.”

Also, you should look for a class that has an introductory class that you attend without your dog, where they go over some dog behavior and training basics, suggests Yin.

Are the instructions to owners clear, and do they use a variety of methods that recognize the individuality of dogs?

“If people in class say, ‘My dog is flunking class,’ then the trainers haven’t made it clear that the dog only does what the owner teaches,” Yin says.

“Also, are the skills being taught useful ones, and does the trainer explain the real-life application of them?” Clothier asks.

It is very important that the class teaches owners how to get their dogs to pay attention to them.

“Some dog training classes teach people how to get their dog to do tasks like sit and heel, but they don’t teach the dogs to focus on their owners,” Yin says. “As a result, the dogs really can’t do anything, because they aren’t paying attention to their owners.”

Lastly, you should always remember that the welfare of your dog is your responsibility.

“Don’t be afraid to tell a trainer to stop if he or she is doing something to your dog that you don’t like,” Hetts says.

“And if the trainer tells you to do something to or with your dog that you are not comfortable with, don’t do it. Don’t be pushed into doing something that is not in your dog’s best interest.”

“Though they may try to explain why they feel a certain technique is necessary, a good instructor is respectful and will accommodate an owner’s concerns or unwillingness to use certain techniques,” Clothier says.

“So for most owners, the best way to choose and keep a trainer is to search out people who not only have the qualifications but whose moral choices are in keeping with one’s own, and to have the courage to fire a trainer if he uses methods that you disagree with or are inhumane,” says Trish King, director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society, in Marin County, Calif. ( http://www.marinhumanesociety.org).

Other suggestions for helping you find a good trainer can be found on the Web at www.APDT.org and www.animalbehaviorassociates.com.

A happy dog that pays attention to its owner and responds to its owner’s requests with delight and spirit is truly a joy to have and celebrates the human-animal bond. And getting that is up to us.