Schooling

[1423hrj]

Victoria is my idol, and i'm realy interested in becoming a dog trainer like her, but i do not want to take an online coarse. I have no idea what to look for or where to look to find a school who offers what i would like. If anyone could help or recomend schools i would very much appreciate it!

[GundogGuy]

Are you in USA, UK or somewhere else?

[jacksdad]

regardless of where you are, you will be hard pressed to find a school that teaches along the lines of what Victoria does. Still, if you can give us roughly where your at without giving away your exact address, someone here might know of an exception.

Anytime your dealing with a living being, school, book etc as good as they are/can be, you still need to get out an get your feet wet and hands dirty so to speak. If you have your own dog, that is a perfect start. work on training your dog, learn your dog. you can also volunteer at animal shelters, rescues and such to start gaining wider experience. though you have to be careful there too that they aren't old school. Another option is see if any of the trainers in your area are willing to take on an intern or apprentice, again checking on their methods first and ideas first.

Some (not all) of the top people in the field actually took classes at a normal college and their study was in one or more of the following behavior, learning, psychology, zoology etc. then they applied this education to dogs. Point being, there are many paths you can take to do this other than "official dog trainer school".

Also think about if you want to be a trainer only (teach basics like clicker training, sit, stay, silly tricks etc) and leave behavior issue to others or do you want to also get into behavior. and you don't have to be exclusive to this choice, but it might help focus your starting point. you can later grow into and explore into other areas in the future.

[Mattie]

You need to mix the practical with the theory, this way you can keep up to date with modern thinking and get the practical as well. A friend researched all the different breeds of dogs for 2 years as well as all the theory, she knew the theory better than I did. She bought a Weimaraner from a good breeder and started to train her pup. Her hubby was much more difficult to train even though she had a pup that didn't think much to training. She made many mistakes, it was so different when putting it into practice, didn't get his recall as well as she should but I suspect that was partly the dog as well. Most people start of with the practical first and get snowed under with problems and how to cope, mixing them together really does help. When my friend got her second Weimaraner pup things were very different, he is so much better behaved.

If you are in the UK there are colleges you can go to were you also learn to train your dog, you dog goes with you, these are good options if the training is positive, I do know there is at least one that is all positive because another friend went there. This friend used to say you can't be a trainer if you don't understand dog behaviour, and you can't be a behaviourist if you don't understand how to train a dog, you need to be able to do both.

If you have your own dog there is lots of information on here that will help you especially the Clicker Training thread in the Articles section, if you don't have a dog try and borrow a neighbours, they may be pleased for you to train their dog.

Get as much experience as you can, help out at rescue kennels or pounds, learn to read what dogs are telling us, there are some clips in the articles section which will help. Learn as much theory as you can, learn why methods work and why they don't, again lots of information on here which will help.

Stay with us and you will learn a lot, good luck.

[Nettle]

I'll just add the bit I always add when asked this - observe everything, question everything, don't take anything at face value, and if you think a theory or a practice is wrong but you have to go along with it because that particular course or trainer does it that way - store it all away in your mind and have a good look at it later. Be analytical: think with your intellect and don't let emotion get in the way because it will cloud your thinking.

[1423hrj]

I'm in usa.. Ga to be more precise.
I am currently working under a famous groomer, she is being super helpful in teaching me. Thank you to everyone on here, I think I will be looking into animal behavior for a major in college. When I first posted this i didnt realize everything that needs to be tied in, not just telling a dog to sit and stay. I'm taking small steps right now but i've had many doors fly open for me this last week. The local animal shelter thanks you all as well, i have been there many times now to walk the dogs and clean kennels, i never thought about that before but it is realy helping me become more comfortable wih different dogs and how they each react!

[nightsrainfall]

The A.B.C. (Animal behavior college) is something I've heard about. That stated, it seems from what I've looked into they depend on area. I talked to the person in my area, and people here who have attended them and they liked it - but they could be not as "good" in another area. Not sure how define good though - to me good is a mix of theory/study and hands-on work However, I haven't gotten a chance to investigate other groups yet so I haven't been able to compare them to anything. I am starting to look into animal schooling, including ethology, animal science, and other such majors, but I personally am not going to go that route - so again I don't know much on it.

It really sounds like you are off to a good start though so I wish you luck with your future career!

[TxPepper]

hey- I want the exact same thing! Well, I want to train dogs with behavior issues. Is there a way to get one of those degrees without being separated from your dog? I like the sound of the ABC thing- those are in the US right?

[nightsrainfall]

I think it is in the USA only - bright news is that alot of the dog articles and research articles I like are from Europe and UK especially so I bet there are good behavior and training schools there too. It may take a bit of digging around to find them though.

Also a good number of things are online now - so you may be able to find one of those, I personally want lots of hands-on work because I don't own a dog. (If I go that route, that is)

[Mattie]

One thing you can learn about is nutrition, how we feed our dogs is relevant to their behaviour, they more you understand that they more information you can give your future clients. There is no reason why you can't start learning about nutrition now.

[afk]

Hi, I just wanted to say i went to ABC and was very happy with their training program, with the people i met and it is now really paying off because not only do you learn how to train dogs and owners and everything else you need to know to start out at least. You also learn how to start your own business, in detail, with lots and lots of useful advice. I really recommend ABC for anyone living in America wanting to become a dog trainer. Of course it helps to read various books about dog training, dog trainers out there, etc. but ABC was the best starting point for me.

[jacksdad]

http://www.academyfordogtrainers.com/

this option was not available when this thread started, but knowing the reputation of Jean, if I had the money I wouldn't think twice about signing up.

jean used to run the trainer school at the San Fransisco SPCA and it was referred to as the Harvard of training schools.

[afk]

Thanks for the link, jacksdad. I researched other schools too before signing up for ABC and i don't think this one was available as a self-study type course yet. It sounds good. I looked into the KP academy too but somehow i lived in the wrong area at the time I really liked the sound of it and of course knew of KP's reputation.
Anyway, the only option i really had was ABC but i don't regret it at all. Like I said, I have met some wonderful people on the way and learned a lot, then went on to reading all kinds of books by Jean, Nicole Wilde, etc. to continue my education and gain as much knowledge as possible.

[jacksdad]

from what I can tell, Jean has only had her "distance learning" format available for a couple months now. Big old thanks to Noobs for finding this.

she closed down the in person school at the SFSPCA back in 2009.

would be interested to know how her fees compared to what you paid for ABC. you don't have to give out details of what you actually paid if you don't want to, feed back like it's close or cheaper or more expensive would be helpful.

[afk]

The fee is pretty much the same unless ABC raised their price in the last couple of years I don't know if they offer payment plans like ABC did which was a huge help for me.