When Face-To-Face Dog Training Beats The Internet

The internet is a very powerful tool; it’s one I use all the time in my new farming venture. What I do understand is that whilst it provides some good information, it doesn’t necessarily all apply to me. Every animal and every situation is different. So whilst it’s good to be informed, I might not apply it to my processes. What I also do is seek professional advise from farmers who can give me an answer based on my exact situations. The same applies to dog training. Looking online is all very well but nothing beats face-to-face dog training.

Only this week I met with a client that had spent over a £1000 with two trainers only to have the same problems and in some instance the problem was worse due to the bad advise given. Both trainers were masking the problems and not helping. Both trainers were using food, which was only encouraging the behaviour of their dog. Imagine a naughty child who constantly hits you. If you were to use food every time to try and distract the unwanted behaviour, then you would be encouraging the child to continue hitting you to the point they might think, if I punch them, I’ll get a bigger treat. All you are doing is rewarding negative behaviour.

A few weeks ago another person attended a lesson only to spend the entire lesson arguing that she’d seen it on the internet and thought it was a good idea. The subject matter was heel work. This particular dog owner was using a harness on her puppy. The dog was pulling all over so cue me with a slip lead. As I always say, “a lead is there to correct not restrain”. Despite me demonstrating, the owner was admit that the internet was better. But the client this week who’d wasted months and a lot of money using a harness was very open minded. Consequently, within a few minutes I had their dog, that was pulling to the point it was hurting itself, walking on a loose lead. So within five minutes I had the owners walking their dog on a loose slip lead.

As with anything, if you come to a lesson with an open mind, then you’ll succeed at solving your problems. If you are a closed book then don’t bother. Anyone who’s already spoken with me prior to a lesson will know what I will say and how I will work. I’m black and white, but I will get results. I do no different with your dogs than I do with my dogs.

Posted: February 23, 2022