What is dog trainer training like?

It comes in many forms. Some dog trainers just naturally start training their own dogs, maybe as children or maybe later in life. From there, they might begin training dogs belonging to neighbors, family members, and friends. At some point, they begin learning from other dog trainers. Maybe they simply take their dog to a group class. Maybe they read books, watch DVDs or online videos.

But if you are considering becoming a professional dog trainer, there are some even better choices for you. First, think about what kind of training philosophy you have. In the past twenty years or so, there has been a dramatic evolution in what is scientifically known about the best ways to train dogs.

It turns out that positive, pain-free training methods evoke a willingness to learn in dogs and other mammals that just isn’t there if they are trained with repeated punishments. Older dog training methods drew more on yanking choke chains and doing other things to make the dog do what you want. Now we are learning that we can get away from the old dominance theories and methods. Dogs will often happily do what we ask of them because we give them a food treat at first, or reward them with some time playing ball.

If you are more old school, I urge you to keep an open mind to the new training methods. …