I think it's important for the general public and dog owners to know the significance of a trainer having titles with their dog(s).
It's one thing to have a dog, it's one thing to train your dog and it's a completely different thing to be a dog trainer. Some people who are self-taught with a well-behaved and decent dog think they can simply start a business and charge people money for training services.
The problem with that is, one dog isn't a track record and this person and their dog have not been held to and judged under a standard or a set of exercises by a recognized organization and an individual, who, according to that organization, their standards and rules is qualified to assess them, their dog and ability.
That's the difference.
It's one thing if you have your own dog trained to sit and down. I truly think that's great because a lot of people can't even manage that.
Those people should book with me.
However, a trial environment is much more difficult than your daily life, the full routine, the standards, the scoring and what they judge on may not be something you have trained up to. Trials, qualifying runs and even non-qualifying runs at least show clients that a person is invested and committed in proving their work to a certain standard. When they earn qualifying runs and earn enough qualifying runs that earn them a title, that is proof they have demonstrated their training meets a standard set out by some organization or governing body. To me, it's not about the number on the score sheet, the title itself, the bragging rights or attention and winning. It's the sense of pride and joy that I know my training is not only good enough but my dog also enjoys it and enjoys being with me and working for me enough to do it.
That's why they matter.
Schools, courses and certificates, in my opinion are largely a waste. Not all, but most. More on that later.
The point is that a dog trainer's education and resume is not traditional in terms of attending a school with professors, courses and, lectures then finding a job that's just a matter of putting in time at a place of work. The dogs and what they've accomplished with them over the course of their life is their resume.
The dogs and their records of achievement are what really count.
Similarly, behaviour rehab is a mark or indication of a trainers skill and devotion. There may not be titles for this type of work but the same point that the proof or the trainer's resume is in the dog. The most common example would be a mature dog with reactivity or aggression issues and doing the work so those behaviours become less and less frequent and less and less intense with minimal tools, building confidence and establishing some foundational obedience is, in a lot of cases, much harder than earning a title in whatever dog sport. Over using and reliance on tools, in my opinion waters down the success.
And I'll share more on that later.
Safe training everyone!
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