One key to having a close bond with your gun dog is to be sure its training is complete. If you hire professional trainers, you need to be able to spot questionable ones so that your dog has the best chance of being helpful and safe in the field.
Here are 12 ways you might be able to spot questionable dog trainers:
1. Make sure your prospective trainer has a track record of working with your particular dog’s breed.
2. Training techniques evolve over time. If the trainer has not taken courses or participated in continuing education classes, you may want to consider a different trainer.
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3. Meet your prospective trainer in person and bring your dog. What are your impressions? How does your dog react to him or her? If the dog does not respond to the trainer, this may be an indication of their effectiveness.
4. Ask how the trainer uses discipline. If it isn’t positive reinforcement methods, consider another trainer.
5. Ask for references. If the trainer cannot provide any, there probably is a reason.
6. Ask the potential trainer for credentials; any trainer worth their salt will have memberships to several professional associations.
7. A trainer that will not involve you in the training may warrant closer examination. You have to learn how to handle your dog, and you learn this along with the dog in many instances. If the trainer won’t let you participate, how is the dog going to react to your commands if the only person it’s conditioned to respond to is the trainer?
8. Ask the potential trainer about dogs that have failed training. If they say it wasn’t their fault or offer an excuse other than their methods didn’t work, you may want to find another trainer.
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9. Look for a trainer that knows the difference between empowering the dog rather than overpowering the dog.
10. Military dog trainer Bob Bailey uses empowering methods. He
told Dog Star Daily if the trainer you are interviewing uses one-word or “catch phrases to explain methodology, they are being evasive and illustrating their ignorance.”
11. Do not choose a trainer that uses electric shock. A 2009 study on the effects of electronic shock in training reported that in "nearly 80 percent of the dogs exposed to shock in a training context [it] had adverse effects on their behavior outside of the training context."
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