Trainers

It appears to me that the dog training world is fairly polarised with force-free positive reinforcement on the one hand and the alpha dog theory, firm hand type on the other. Or maybe that's just the polarisation of the internet.

But if some trainers are still peddling the debunked alpha dog theory, how do non-trainers navigate the conflicting advice.

I had a bit of a rocky road navigating this at the beginning. I didn’t know where to begin to look for a trainer and assumed a Google search and reading a few reviews was sufficient.

I now know to check that trainers are registered with the Association of Professional Dog Trainers New Zealand.

I read so much information before getting a puppy. In the first couple of weeks, I was quite overwhelmed. It's difficult doing it by yourself with little to no sleep and not being able to leave the house.

I wasn't sure about my setup (whether George had too much or too little space) and the biting was out of control.

So I got a trainer to come round. It was really helpful but mostly for reassurance and my own peace of mind that I was on the right track. He advised the setup was perfect and gave some helpful tips on redirecting the biting.

Overall, we've had really good experiences with trainers (we've had a lot of experience!) but we handled George's separation anxiety badly with our second trainer (see 'Separation anxiety').

George's puppy school offered personal consultations so I engaged the trainer as they already knew George. My main concern at the time was separation anxiety but I'd started to notice tiny hints of reactivity and wanted to nip that in the bud if possible. At the time she described him as the least reactive dog she'd ever seen!

The trainer endorsed Julie Naismith's protocol for separation anxiety which we had just discovered.

It was also helpful to learn more about preventing reactivity; namely increasing the distance from triggers and pairing triggers with positive emotions. I think it was working until we had the two scary incidents with dogs.

We had a follow-up consultation a couple of months later. The separation anxiety training was slow going. George had just started to display reactive behaviours in the car so we focused on that. It was really helpful to go for a drive to the local park so she could observe his behaviours. She recognised how difficult car reactivity can be to deal with on your own and recommended enlisting some help if possible (someone sitting in the back reinforcing positive behaviours). In the park, she showed us how to work on greeting dogs calmly.

This trainer was the first one to mention medication as a possibility. At the time I was reluctant but I think it helped to plant the seed in my mind. She explained that there is stigma around mental health in humans and we need to be careful not to impose that same stigma on dogs. She recommended the vet behaviourist clinic where we eventually ended up. I was grateful for this conversation a couple of months later.

Unfortunately the trainer left to go overseas otherwise I would have liked to continue working with her. George loved her and she knew him well having seen him through two puppy schools, an advanced class and a couple of other classes.

I was really pleased when she saw George so happy and relaxed at home and advised I'd done a really good job to build his confidence given how timid he had been in the initial puppy classes.

Unfortunately we had a couple of scary incidents and George's fear increased and his reactivity worsened. It got to the stage where he was constantly on edge and barking and pacing at home, and leaving the house was incredibly difficult.

This led us to the vet behaviourist and our current trainer. It's really helpful to work with both as the behavioural modification plan is necessary alongside the medication.

We've now had two sessions with the VB and four sessions with the trainer. We are making good, slow and steady, progress. We have a WhatsApp group and I greatly appreciate the support and advice along the way.

We've also done some online courses which have been helpful (Tackling Reactivity and Beginning Sniffing Games for Fearful Dogs so far) and we've just signed up for Dogkind's Reactive Dog Survival Guide. Still throwing everything possible at the issue!

I steer clear of any courses claiming to stop reactivity in a matter of hours or days...changing emotions and rewiring the flight/fight response takes a lot longer than that.

The online courses have been helpful but you can't beat working with an in-person trainer who knows your dog and can advise a tailored approach. I've found that if they come to your home/your environment, it is especially helpful.

All in all I've spent an absolute fortune on trainers but with the exception of one, we have learned really valuable things along the way.