Author Topic: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?  (Read 6826 times)

Offline brigid67

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Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« on: July 13, 2005, 02:37:21 pm »
Hi, I am getting my 1st Dane up in a couple of weeks and I know I will need a trainer.  I currently have 2 Poms - who don't listen to anything anyone says.  So I thought - "lets get a trainer for the New Big Pup and work on the little dogs at the same time."  Ok So how much are trainers?  I met with one yesterday  - seemed good and uses positive reinforcement (which I like) but it is 800.00 for  session to include all 3 dogs.  Does this seem like too much.  Could I just go with the puppy classes at petsmart or somewhere else and then try and teach the little dogs as I learn with the pup?  My ideal would to have everyone with great manners...of course I would have to take the 2-legged teenagers to the class also.

GR8DAME

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2005, 02:53:28 pm »
We found our trainer through word of mouth at dog shows and through area breeder recomendations . Then we contacted all of the suggested names and requested to attend a current class just as observers, without our animals. Anyone who said we could not attend a group class as observers got tossed out. Then after we attended a class we talked over the teaching methods and culled out from there. It was a tedious process, but I love our trainer, and recomend him to anyone in our area every chance I get. So far he has trained four of our dobermans and one of our danes, and will be taking on our newest dane/irish wolfhound cross. He charges 125.00 for a 9 week group class per dog.

I am so glad to hear that you are taking your dane to obedience school, as I firmly beleive that they benifit greatly for being socialized and trained.
Stella

Offline TwoNewfies

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2005, 04:23:31 pm »
Great idea to begin training class :)  We've heard the earlier you start the better. We found an awesome trainer near us. Initially, we took Bella to a trainer who used food as a reward in class.  That method just didnt work for Bella. When the treat was not present she had no interest in "sit" or "'down".  We hunted around and found a woman who has 25 yrs of experience in training. Her methodology and philosphy are very different from other trainers, in that she does not use food as a reward in obediance training. Rather she teaches that you must develop a bond with your dog, and use praise as a reward. It was diffiuclt at first, since we had started Bella training with food. Its worth the challenge though.

 Our trainer used to be a director for Paws for a Cause here, which trains dogs to be guide/leader dogs.  She's shown goldens and pyrs and has had many champion lines. Bella did wonderful in Obediance 1 and 2, and we will enroll her in the therapy dog program in the fall.  Rocco has had 2 puppy classes with her and is doing very well also. For a puppy class we pay about $110 for 6 weeks.  It is a good idea to observe a class before you enroll, so you can really appreciate the teaching style and method of training the trainer uses. Good luck and I know you'll find the right trainer for you and your baby :)
Gina

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Offline fcsantos

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2005, 04:52:29 pm »
My trainer is a client of mine. He comes every week for an hour and a half per visit and charges $50 per visit. I have done research into these doggy boot camps where they actually take your dog for 5-8 weeks to train them and then bring them back ready to go. These ranged from $1400-2500 per dog so we opted not to do it. That was more than the cost of my OEM. My trainer is pretty strict with the dog and I love it he always stresses that we are in charge and they need to obey. Good luck. Here is a picture of my daughter making the dog work for her, and she is only 14 months old. Our trainer taught us how to get the dog to listen to her too.

Offline jabear

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2005, 05:50:47 pm »
Our trainer was awesome and only gets work through referrals which is awesome. My mother-in-law recommended her and it totally worked out. She did private lessons but we opted for 3 levels of group training. The cost was $80 for a 1 hour class, 1 day a week for 12 weeks. I guess she is pretty cheap considering the time we spent together but she is totally dedicated to the dogs.
Hugs,
Jaime
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Offline rockettgirl68

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2005, 06:05:57 pm »
i dont use a trainer as they are to exnsive here i clicker train chance and its the easiest way i have found he responds perfectly with or without it i use the gary wilkes methods and it works like a dream 
http://p2.forumforfree.com/furbabies.html
a place to talk about all your pets regardless what they are

Offline shangrila

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2005, 07:11:19 pm »
We took Zoey to puppy kindergarten at a small 'gourmet' pet store called 'especially for pets' near our home. It was $175 for six 45 minutes classes. I found that the class was helpful for us since it was my first time training a dog and also because it was also nice to meet other puppy owners. But, besides socialization it didn't do much for zoey. It was more geared towards teaching people how to teach dogs, and zoey learned only from our 'homework' not from the class itself.

Since we didn't feel we got enough out  of puppy kindgarten, we decided to get private lessons. When we looked at the bulletin board at especially for pets, one of the trainers had pictures of her saint bernards in her ad, so we called her first since we wanted someone with saint experience. When we talked to her we quickly realized that we had met her the week before in the waiting room at the animal hospital (we were getting zoeys spay stiches removed; she was visiting one of her dogs post op). We had really liked her, so we hired her.
RIP former BPO

Offline moonlitcroatia

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2005, 10:15:03 pm »
Here is a link to some basic information about "Choosing a Dog Trainer" from the HSUS.

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/dog_care/choosing_a_dog_trainer.html
I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role model for being alive.  ~Gilda Radner

Offline moonlitcroatia

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2005, 10:16:46 pm »
If you are interested in searching for a trainer first-hand and would like to know what to look for, here is a link to an article on doglogic.com that pertains to aptitudes a competent trainer should have:

http://www.doglogic.com/chooseatrainer.htm
I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role model for being alive.  ~Gilda Radner

Offline moonlitcroatia

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2005, 10:18:34 pm »
When searching for a one-on-one trainer ask for a free consultation to see if you feel comfortable with the trainer's methods. :)
I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role model for being alive.  ~Gilda Radner

Offline slickerk

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2005, 09:53:20 am »
I asked my vet. Because I don't really know anyone else with dogs, except for the people who choose to train thier's by beating them with newspapers.

ann

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Re: Trainers?!?!?!?! How do you know who to pick?
« Reply #11 on: August 06, 2005, 10:04:37 am »


  call around and ask alot of ?? and then sit in on some classes good luck

ann