Training your puppy or older dog starts the moment you bring them home and lasts the rest of their life.
To enjoy spending time with your furry friend indoors and outdoors, it’s important to train them to behave well. Training your dog strengthens the bond between the two of you, and it provides the dog with some of the mental stimulation they need to stay happy and avoid getting bored.
The most effective way to train a dog is to find out what motivates them, like praise and cuddles, treats, or their favorite toy. Dogs are social creatures that find positive contact with family members rewarding. Most of them will happily do what you want in exchange for praise and some tasty treats. Harsh punishment for disobedience should never be used as it will cause even more problems, like depression and anxiety, as just two examples.
Dog training is much easier today, utilising the help of sites like Google and YouTube, no matter what issue you face with your dog, help from professional dog trainers is only a few clicks away, in an easy to understand, watchable and repeatable format.
Below, you will find listed the best dog training channels available on YouTube, who we have watched ourselves and would personally recommend, packed with thousands of free dog training videos covering any topic you can think of!
If you have a YouTube account, you should definitely consider subscribing to the channels below to stay updated on new dog training tips and tricks.
We can also highly recommend The Dog Training College for online and in person crash courses relating to dog behaviour and training as well as more in depth and specialist programmes. Dawn has taken many of the courses in person and online and enjoyed each one, learning a lot of very important information! Especially useful when living with a large pack of dogs.
The Kennel Club's Good Citizen Dog Scheme is an excellent place to start for new puppy owners, beginning at puppy foundation level and working your way up through Bronze, Silver and Gold 🏅
The IMDT website (The Institute of Modern Dog Trainers) is a great place to search for professional, qualified trainers from their organisation, across the UK, who run either group or individual training classes.
Please remember, dog trainers and dog behaviourists are two different things. . .
Dog Trainers
Dog trainers train dogs to perform specific tasks or actions. They also teach dogs not to do certain things. Some trainers will work with problem behaviors, even delving into the behaviorist side of things. However, a good trainer knows his or her own limits and, if necessary, will refer you to someone better equipped to deal with the issue. Some dog trainers work in the field as a hobby, while others are professional dog trainers with some kind of certification.
When looking for a dog trainer, research his or her certifications, education and experience. Ask for references as well. Letters after the name, while important, are not going to assure you that the trainer is good. Conversely, there are plenty of excellent trainers without letters after their names. In addition, some dog trainers also have certification in behavior as well.
Dog/Animal Behaviorists
Again, anyone can claim to be a behaviorist. However, technically speaking, professional behaviorists are called Applied Animal Behaviorists. They earn this title through formal education and earning an MS, MA, or Ph.D. in animal behavior. It would be reasonable to think of an applied animal behaviorist as a kind of pet psychologist. Applied animal behaviorists focus on understanding behaviors in animals and can work with pets displaying behavior problems. They can recognize how and why your pet’s behavior is abnormal, and can effectively teach you how to understand and work with your pet. Good behaviorists are experts in behavior modification and also deeply understand the normal behavior of the particular species being treated. In addition, they spend a lot of time counseling humans about the way they interact with their pets. They are not trainers but are often able to give advice about training.
One to One vs Group Puppy Classes
One to One Puppy Training Classes
One to one training is often thought of as the ‘premium product’ and the best of the best. It’s true, one to one training does have its benefits in the way that you can tailor your training sessions to meet your exact needs and requirements.
What’s more, you can also opt for one to one training to take place in your own home. Not only is this great for anxious puppies and may mean they take better to training, it also allows your trainer to identify the everyday at-home problems your family faces, providing realistic training techniques and solutions. Given that you are in your ‘normal’ environment means the trainer is also more likely to notice problems that you had not even considered yourself and might not have been apparent or addressed at a group class.
Group Puppy Training Classes
As a result of the many benefits of one to one training, group training is considered the ‘second best’ option that cannot achieve the same results. However, this is not necessarily the case. In fact, having only one to one classes may actually hinder the results of your puppy training. Dogs are naturally sociable animals, living in packs in the wild, and starting life in a litter, which means it is important to keep them around other dogs as much as possible- especially when they are younger. It is important that you provide your dog with as much quality (and safe) interaction with other dogs, people and environments as possible- and a group puppy training class is the perfect environment to do this. We call it socialisation training: teaching your puppy how to behave outside of the family home, and it’s absolutely vital for any puppy.
But there are even more benefits to group puppy training classes. Whilst it is important that your dog obeys you in your own home, you need to be sure that they will demonstrate the same levels of obedience in the ‘real world’. For example, it is important that your puppy will ignore other distractions and return to you when you are out in the park. Likewise, you might be sure that your dog will wait until you say they can eat, but can you be sure that they will sit and wait before crossing the road when they are excited by other dogs and other people in that environment? It’s rather like learning how to speak a language, yet never having the opportunity to practise it for real: why invest time in learning these skills if you don’t get to put them to the test? The easiest way to train your puppy to do such things is at a group training class.
This means that, in reality, neither one to one puppy training nor group training is necessarily ‘better’ when considered separately but, in order to achieve the best results, you should ideally invest in a combination of the two. If you feel you need help with your dog at home, one to one classes may be beneficial, but they should not be prioritised over, or chosen instead of, group training classes. Particularly given the higher cost of one to one training, keep it to a minimum and only use it when necessary. Ideally, you should choose a puppy trainer that is able to offer you both options. This will ensure continuity and consistency in puppy training techniques, and is likely to yield better results as the more time you spend with your trainer, the more they can understand you and your puppy.
Finally, a word on dog parks... and anywhere with lots of unsupervised and off-leash dogs, we don't recommend them, ever!
Dawn & Phil 🐾
