Last night I was teaching a dog training class at a local shelter. The first night I always ask the dog owners to come without their dogs. A lot of them wonder why I would want them to come to a dog training class without their dogs.
I explain to them that I learned long ago from a great British dog trainer John Rogerson that the secret to dog training is simple. Let me share it with you:
“In order to have a good dog you have to become a good dog owner.”
So at the first class I teach dog owners how to become good dog owners, which takes me about an hour and is much easier to explain and answer questions when the owner is without their dog.
During the class one lady in the back raised her hand and wanted to make a comment. She explained that everything I had just talked about she would be happy to do, but she knows her husband will not do any of the steps I had just talked about. He just sat next to her nodding his head up and down agreeing with her that he will not do anything that I had just talked about.
She then asked me what to do about her husband. I informed her that I help train dogs not husbands. After everyone stopped laughing I informed her that she will not get very good results from the class and offered her a refund. She refused the refund and said that she wanted to train her dog.
I explained to her that I was offering the refund because in order for training to happen, the owners have to be consistent, and her husband made it clear that he was not going to comply. If there is no consistency, the dog becomes confused and will not respond the way we want them to.
Dog trainers are really people trainers. They show dog owners how to train their dogs. The better the dog owner is at following the instructions of the dog trainer the better the results will be.
So if you want really good dog training results learn how to become a good dog owner.
All the best,
Eric
P.S. Be on the lookout for my next video newsletter. You can subscribe for my video newsletters at www.AmazingDogTrainingMan.com
