Learn to Train Dog Owners to Become a Better Dog Trainer

There are a number of training phases that a dog goes through including the teaching, correction, proofing, and maintenance phase.  The maintenance phase is the responsibility of the dog owner and they must do their part to ensure that it is continued properly.  You can be the best dog trainer in the world, but if you can’t convey how to properly maintain the training to the dog’s owner, the training you have done will quickly fall apart.  This situation happens all too often and is the greatest reason to learn how to communicate and educate people in the best way possible.

You, as a trainer, must fully understand the type of training method or methods you are using to work with the owner’s dog.  Your understanding of this information should be so sound that you can convey it to the owner in a way that they can quickly and easily understand it.  Many trainers utilize positive reinforcement as one of the methods of obtaining solid and reliable behaviors from a dog they are training.  This is often the best way to teach new behaviors in a way that is least stressful for the dog.  This method works well as long as it’s understood and the timing of the reinforcement is proper.

Teaching someone what positive reinforcement is can be quite simple.  Teaching a dog owner proper timing can be rather challenging.  There are a variety of reinforcement schedules that are used to make dog training successful and teaching this to an owner can be confusing and intimidating.  This is where a good dog trainer earns their money.  You must dissect the process and take the time to explain it to the owner in a way that they can easily use.

Regardless of the training tool that you choose to use for training, it is also something that the owner will need to understand.  Whether it is a clicker, prong collar, or remote training device, if used improperly, your skills as a trainer will be less than productive.  First, as the trainer, you will need to know the equipment forwards and backwards.  You should be able to use the equipment with ease.  This instills confidence in the owner that the tool is simple and easy to use.  If you are fumbling with the equipment and are having trouble making it work properly, your client will be less than convinced about the selection of your training tools.  Take the time to explain to the owner how the tool works, why the tool is the best option for their situation, and how to use the tool to accomplish their goals.

It is important to understand some of the pitfalls and common mistakes that dog owners make and some of the things that can go wrong in maintaining the dog’s training.  By understanding these problems, you can discuss with the owner their propensity to occur and you can teach the owner how to establish a training program to prevent these problems from occurring.

Working with and teaching owners can be one of the most challenging aspects of being a professional dog trainer.  Whether you are conducting group classes, private lessons, in-kennel training or teaching police K9 or search and rescue handlers, making sure that the owner/handler is well educated is important to your success as a professional dog trainer.  Our School for Dog Trainers not only teaches graduates progressive and innovative methods of training dogs, we also teach them how to properly work with and train dog owners.

If you have questions about our programs or want more information on our School for Dog Trainers, feel free to call us at 866.200.2207 or email us at training@highlandcanine.com .