If you’re considering whether to hire a professional dog trainer, the differing opinions and variety of options online can be mind-boggling. How do you choose the BEST dog trainer available?
The answer is simple.
The question you have to ask the dog trainer is: How successful are you with your clients? How long before your doggie clients show obvious improvement?
Unfortunately, most dog trainers may not be able to answer these questions with certainty (if at all). As our mentor, dog training and dog behavior legend Dr. Ian Dunbar, states in our video interview below, “We must always be quantifying what we’re doing…and if we did that at the moment, so many trainers would find they’re not doing very much. Especially when dealing with reactive dogs…the training is going on week after week! They’re not getting it done.”
The truth is, most dog trainers ask you to pay upfront for “packages” of 8 to 10 sessions (on average). Yet those same trainers can’t, or won’t, tell you what their success rates are with their clients. So in actuality, you have no idea how good these trainers are at their job or whether the “package” is a good use of your money.
At Sura Dog Training, we take pride in quantifying the success we achieve with our clients. A whopping 96% of our clients achieve success in a SINGLE SESSION!
That means 96% of all of our clients see obvious and clear improvement in their dogs’ behavior issues in ONE SESSION with us. Regardless of what the behavior issues are–whether it’s reactivity or potty training or anything in between–our single-session success rate remains 96%.
Do you know why we take so much pride in our success rate with our clients?
Because we’ve been right where you are. We know what it’s like when you’re dealing with your dog’s behavior issues and you want the best for your furry best friend, but you’re not sure where to turn or who can really help you. For more difficult behavior issues, we know what it’s like to be scared and worried about your pup’s future. When we got the help we needed, we also knew the joy and the relief of getting real SOLUTIONS.
So if you’re looking for a dog trainer–whether it’s for prevention with your young puppy or for more urgent behavior issues with your adult dog–ask the trainers what their success rates are. How many sessions do they need with their clients before there’s clear improvement? If they sell “packages” of multiple sessions, ask them why they do that. If they give you vague answers like “it depends on the dog,” look elsewhere.
Of course we recommend finding a trainer who uses only science-based, reward-based training methods that do not frighten or cause harm to the dogs. Not only is reward-based, positive reinforcement dog training ethical and humane, it is actually much more effective than punishment. Positive reinforcement training is also far easier and safer than other training methods.
Make a list of questions and either see if the dog trainers’ websites answer any of your questions upfront, or ask the trainers your questions directly so you can make the best choice for your dog.
After all, we all know that pet parents have to advocate for their dogs’ safety and well-being in every area. Finding a qualified and effective trainer is no different.
Demand more from your dog trainer!
