Trainers?
 Does anyone know of any good trainers in Northern Indiana? We're specifically located in South Bend, but are willing to travel a bit. I just wanted to check here and see if anyone could recommend specific trainers before we start with meetings. We're starting to interview potential trainers. What kinds of questions should we ask? What should we look for? What is a huge red flag? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. |
|
|
Congrats on your new puppy  Please be sure to post many pics of your new bundle of joy.I cannot recommend specific trainers because I live in St. Louis,....but here are some things I look for in a trainer. 1. Positive reinforcement. I believe in catching good behavior and rewarding it. Then you can eventually name the behavior and ask for it. ( but not demand it --- if your puppy chooses not to do the behavior you simply say oops and walk away.....no reward is given) 2. Patient. With you and your dog. If you feel that you or your puppy is being pushed too hard then you are less likely to enjoy the training and will spend less time working with your puppy....so keep it fun. Red flags: Any methods that you are uncomfortable with. (Ex. Spray collars, choke collars, pinch collars, electric collars,.....) Many people use one or more of these methods and are okay with it, some don't,....you have to do your research and decide. Just my thoughts. Do your homework and enjoy training your puppy. |
Is there a reason you are going with a trainer vs. a basic obedience class? I have always found that the classroom situation helps round out the dog socially. They learn how to behave appropriately around other humans & dogs. If you choose the classroom route, you want to go with an instructor that does more than just run a basic pet class. Even if you never have any intentions of competing with your dog in performance, the best instructors are those who are actively competing with their own dogs & have some years of experience under their belt. I recommend starting out with what is called an "attention" class. Then moving on to the different levels of basic obedience training. And yes, the praise & reward method is the only effective way to train an OES.  Give them a good reason to do something & they will do it. |
| May be able to help you find someone. Check your PM's Nita Midwest OES Rescue |
| Thanks so much for the PM. We're willing to do the whole classroom type thing, but the only one that I've been able to find is PetsMart, and I'm not truly comfortable with that route. I know people who have done their classes with great success, and some who have had more problems than success. We haven't crossed anything off our list, though, as I love the idea of a class type setup as well. We do want to be careful when choosing an instructor, however, and still want to interview them. |
| If you can find a trainer that user clicker training- I'd go that way. It has been way more effective with Hank than any other training. |
We took Winston through pet smart training.... but I am with you on being iffy about it. It was an ok process, but I have alot of experience with training dog's, so I really just wanted the environment to work with him since we don't have a dog park or anything similar around here for distractions  They have a decent program for basic knowledge if you aren't familiar with obedience training. Sounds like you are going for the better route though, Good luck!! |
| MollyinPDX: I've found a trainer that utilizes clicker training. I've heard about it before, but I honestly don't know all that much about it. I sent the trainer an email, but I wanted some first hand experience. How well does it work? And do you need to use the clicker for their entire lives? |
| It REALLY works!!! Clicker training works with the older parts of the brain. When you just treat and praise after say, a sit... The dog knows something was correct, but not really what exactly- so it takes a long time to fully get it. With a clicker, you’re marking the exact moment that was correct. You "take a picture" with your click of what you like.. The rump hitting the floor etc... Even though the treat comes later, the dog quickly gets the action to repeat. It's very simple once you start- then you can train any behavior. You don't have to do it forever, just while you’re teaching the new behavior. Eventually the clicker fades out, and the treats do as well. It’s a different process than any training I’ve done before, and WAY more successful in our case. First, the dog learns: clicker=treats and good thing! You just start clicking and treating. click/treat. Once the association is made, then you move on to things you like. There are no word cues or hand signals to start. Around the house, as the dog does its normal things, you are clicking them. He goes to sit, you click/treat as his butt hits the ground. The dog starts learning- wow, my mom/dad likes when I do that! I’m going to keep doing it for more treats. Eventually hank was "throwing" sits at me. In a class, you will work on 1 or 2 things each week. Once the dog knows the action reliably, you add a cue/signal to it by saying/motioning the signal AS his butt hits the floor. Not before. You keep repeating until eventually, if you would be willing to bet $50 bucks on it, you ask for it. If they do it, keep practicing, if not, they don’t truly know the cue/signal, so go back to the last successful step. Eventually you add distractions, distance, and duration. I'm rambling on here... but it really works. You should also really read "Don't Shoot The Dog" by Karen Pryor. She really started the operant conditioning training movement. She also has a website http://www.clickertraining.com/ One more thing: there are trainers that truly clicker train, such as Karen Pryor, and the are people who train with clickers. It's a very different process. Click trainers are really using operant conditioning with a clicker as the marker. If a clicker school aslo uses a food lure- its not really clicker training. Sorry for the lengthy post, hope it’s more helpful than confusing. |
| Also, I have been reading a ton of books about leash reactivity, (because is having a problem with it.) These are more general, but are both great! They really taught me a lot about how dogs think vs how humans think, and why it can cause problems. Two other books that every dog owner should read: The other end of the leash. For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend. Both by Patricia McConnell http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/ She has a very helpful blog too: http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/ |
| No worries, I really appreciate the explanation! The trainer was recommended to me by one of my co-workers who is currently at vet school. She studied training at Purdue with this girl, and I really admire her abilities, so I trust her judgement. The class is a bit more expensive, but if it will truly make a difference, then I'm definitely willing to pay it. I think it will also pay off because I'm definitely interested in our pup eventually becoming a therapy dog, so the more trained he is, the better. The other class we're looking at is by club that trains dogs for rally and agility. They're less expensive, as it's a larger organization, but I'm honestly a little lost with what else constitutes good/better training experiences.  Is there any chance that, if I post the websites for the trainers/classes I'm looking at, that I could get some feedback from all of you more experienced sheepie lovers?? It'd be greatly appreciated!! T-9 days til we get our pup!!!   |
| If possible, its always good to go and observe a class in session - without your dog - to get a feel for the trainer and facility, etc. Or ask the trainer for some references.. |
Ashley wrote: If possible, its always good to go and observe a class in session - without your dog - to get a feel for the trainer and facility, etc. Or ask the trainer for some references.. I think that this goes for training, agility, herding etc. too. We have signed up for things, showed up, and quickly realized that the style or approach in the class did not work for us, so wasted money. |
| You may also want to ask your Vet, most are familiar with training classes in your area. |
Chauncey, I'm actually a vet assistant.  I've talked to her, but she lives about an hour away from the practice, and only knows of trainers that are quite far from me. The one she recommended is a 50 minute drive from my house! I'm willing to make that drive if necessary, as I've talked to the trainer and love her approach and the class atmosphere, but I would like to find something a little closer!! Especially with gas prices the way they are!  |
| I think the best thing to do is to go & observe some basic obedience classes & advanced classes. This will give you a truer idea of how the trainers interact with the dogs & the handlers. Most of us here will tell you that a 50 minute drive is nothing . A longer drive for the right trainer is better than wasted time & money on a shorter drive to someone mediocre. Much easier & better to start off with a good trainer & a clean slate than to have to break bad habits & start over again. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|