08/02/2023
It might sound odd to say a dog trainer won’t train your dog but it’s true. The only person who can do that is you.
You are the person your dog spends the vast majority of their time with. You are the person they have most interaction with. Who sets the boundaries, who has the opportunity to consistently reinforce behaviours, who chooses the environments your dog is exposed to, who has control over your dog's day to day life & experiences.
When you go to a weekly training class or have a weekly session your trainer isn’t really teaching your dog….they are teaching 𝘺𝘰𝘶 how to teach your dog. And your success will be determined by whether you take what you learn and implement it on a daily basis. Because even if you see your trainer or attend your class religiously every single week, week in week out, that still amounts to a tiny proportion of your dog's life ( just 0.6% of their week if the training session lasts 1 hour).
Your trainer's job is to give you the understanding, skills and confidence that will allow you to effectively teach your dog and to support and guide you through the process.
Your job is to put what you learn into practice.
