Which dog trainer should you trust?

There are a lot of ‘new’ dog trainers appearing everywhere lately, says animal behaviour expert Karen Wild.

Some even call themselves ‘behaviourists’ too. How do we know who to trust? Our dogs are very important to us. How can we avoid the fakes and trust the good folks?

Thanks to lockdown, people have perhaps settled on a change of career. Some may have been offered an online certificate in ‘dog training’ or even ‘dog behaviour’ and decided to set up business in a really short time, charging people for their services with little or no experience of anything but the dogs they have lived with.

Be warned. This is happening now, and it is happening locally. Even more worrying, hapless owners do not know how to decide who is properly qualified and who is not. Nowadays you can set up a website, put a logo on a Facebook page, and be seen to look the part.

It is actually easy to find someone who really does know their stuff. They have gone to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers) APDT or another ABTC-registered organisation (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors - APBC) and been properly qualified and also assessed to proper, nationally agreed standards. www.abtcouncil.org.uk lists them all. Easy.

So, if they haven’t got themselves registered… why not? Would you trust a mechanic that has ‘always had their own car, and always loved cars’ to mend your brakes? Would you trust a hairdresser that has ‘always had their own hair and learned off YouTube/Groupon’ to cut yours? (Well right now maybe you would, but they can reopen soon so hang in there!)

This is a serious industry, and that is why you need to be very careful to pick someone who is ABTC-registered at the very least. As a result of the strict dog laws in place under the dangerous dogs act, this has meant there needs to be some set standards for trainers and other dog professionals to follow. Sadly, not everyone calling themselves a dog trainer or dog behaviourist chooses to sign up for these
standards.

I am not certain how any individual who considers themselves to love dogs so much to make it their profession will go ahead and do so without the correct registration or proper, accredited qualifications.

To become a registered clinical animal behaviourist, you need to have a university degree, possibly a post-graduate qualification, and then put yourself through an exacting mentoring process that is also very hands-on, not just sitting behind a screen.

If your dog professional has not done this, please ask yourself if you would permit a dentist who just learned their skill from a book, or a swimming instructor for your children who saw swimming on TV and wanted to give it a go.

Please give that same caution and consideration to your beloved family dog.

• Find out more by emailing: karen@pawprintpets.com