Anyone tried Dog Training In Your Home?

[Carolina Girl 2]

They were recommended by my vet. The guy is coming on Tuesday afternoon for a consultation. Ozzy has a few behaviors that need to be corrected, and hopefully they can help.

[tzuhouse 4]

There are a lot of trainer that do in-home classes and I have heard good things about some of them....so if they were recommended by your vet, I would think that a good sign. What kind of behaviors will they be working on? Just curious, how could that beautiful baby have any "issues".....???? LOL

[loewenthal.anna 4]

Here's what I look for in a trainer: I want someone who comes in and can put a dog at ease without "doing" anything. A good trainer has spent a great deal of time correcting their OWN behaviors and will not give confusing signals the way many average dog owners do, because of this many trainers can calm a dog just with their presence. Dogs that normally jump and bark at visitors for instance, often will not show this behavior based on very subtle cues from the trainer (which makes it hard to fix those issues, but you should be given plenty of time to express your concerns and have them dealt with)

I want someone who is not overly physical with the dog right off the bat and I would say that I would NEVER feel comfortable with someone who would try to emulate say, Mr. Milian, when working with a small dog like Ozzy -- it's far too much for a little dog to take well. In fact, I'm not sure I'd even want a trainer doing dominance work with Poe. . . she's not expected to be submissive with anyone but me.

I want someone who teaches hand signal simultaneously with verbal commands. Hand signals are much much easier to replicate by multiple people and while a trainer may be able to get the dog to perform on verbal commands only, most owners don't have that kind of repetitive speech pattern.

If I were inviting someone into my home to train I'd want them to survey the house and ask questions about our routine before getting into fixing anything, so that they understand how I need things to work and not just a generic plan of action.

Let us know how it goes!

[Carolina Girl 2]

There are a lot of trainer that do in-home classes and I have heard good things about some of them....so if they were recommended by your vet, I would think that a good sign. What kind of behaviors will they be working on? Just curious, how could that beautiful baby have any "issues".....???? LOL

You would be surprised at some of my little darling's issues! My biggest problem with him is that he will just shoot out of the door and not come back without being "bribed". Scary! His other issue is that when the kids have friends over playing in the yard, he stays at the window barking and chewing on the wood around the window. Ugh! Not sure if it's a "I want to be out with them playing" or if it's a "Your on my property and you are a stranger". He is very friendly with people when they come in and he can freely be around them. But, if he is behind a gate or on a leash he growls and lunges at people and other animals. It's really a weird thing. I got him from Animal Control. He was dumped there by his previous owners. So, I just don't know what went on in his life before he came to us........

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for the tips Anna!

[tzuhouse 4]

You would be surprised at some of my little darling's issues! My biggest problem with him is that he will just shoot out of the door and not come back without being "bribed". Scary! His other issue is that when the kids have friends over playing in the yard, he stays at the window barking and chewing on the wood around the window. Ugh! Not sure if it's a "I want to be out with them playing" or if it's a "Your on my property and you are a stranger". He is very friendly with people when they come in and he can freely be around them. But, if he is behind a gate or on a leash he growls and lunges at people and other animals. It's really a weird thing. I got him from Animal Control. He was dumped there by his previous owners. So, I just don't know what went on in his life before he came to us........

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for the tips Anna!

Well, those are concerning and I COMMEND you for taking action right away.....trainers like Victoria Stillwell make it look so easy and so logical. I hope it works well for you and Ozzy...bless him, that is a problem when you have NO clue what his background brings to the table.

[Carolina Girl 2]

So, the trainer came out last night. He is fabulous! He pointed out that Ozzy is feeding off of Daisy's anxiety. She does bark first at people. When she runs to the gate, door, or window, Ozzy follows her. She barks first. The trainer did a couple of run throughs at the door. Everytime the bell rang, Daisy would start up first. Ozzy would look at her first and then bark. Daisy just doesn't jump at the door or window. Anyway, by the end of the session he would have my neighbor ring the bell. The trainer gave them the command to "sit" , "stay". It was amazing. He said that he wouldn't be training my dogs for me. He would be training me to train my dogs. It was great! We'll have 7 sessions together. Then after that, we can go to a monthly tune up class. There will be other dogs there, and they all get to socialize. I am very hopeful that Ozzy's behaviors will soon be a thing of the past!

[Wicket's mom 1]

So far he sounds like a great trainer, keep us updated on how everything goes!

[tzuhouse 4]

Does he travel state to state....LOL????

Sounds like you have found a good trainer...when they walk away and you feel "good" about their methods and the way they interacted with your dog, that is wonderful.