How to make the most out of hiring a trainer

Reaching out for help is often the best thing you can do for your animal. At the same time, seeking professional guidance for your dog's behavior can be an intimidating step to take for a lot of people. There are emotional and mental barriers to working with a trainer, like not wanting to admit that you are struggling, or not realizing how small your world has become because of the accommodations you have had to make for your dog.

Training also often signifies the start of a significant commitment of both time and money, two of our most valuable resources in this life that we often feel we are running out of. Responsible trainers don't offer quick fixes- they take the time to assess your animal's behavior and make adjustments at the pace that you can feasibly implement them, while making sure to go slow enough for your dog to really learn the needed skills to succeed long term. This often means that it takes a number of sessions to adequately address a dog's behavior, sometimes including trying new things and adjusting as needed, which takes time and effort.

There are many things you can do as a perspective client to make taking this first step easier. Finding a trainer who has both dog and people skills, and who will work hard to find a training plan that is right for you is crucial, as well as hiring someone who understands the emotional weight of living with a behaviorally complicated dog.

And, if there was one piece of advice I could give every perspective client to save time and money in this process, it would be this: talk to a trusted veterinarian about any behavior problems before reaching out to a trainer.

The most frequent first step I stress to new clients is to speak with their veterinarian. Having your dog already assessed for things like pain, whether it be allergies, digestive issues, dental problems, arthritis, or anything else, and discussing the nature of their behavior history can help rule out potential causes, and/or begin treatment for things that will make training easier and more effective from the start.

Many people think this step is irrelevant to them, assuming that pain would be obvious. But try this exercise: make a list of your dog's problem behaviors and habits that you are considering contacting a trainer about, and go down the list asking yourself "could pain be causing or contributing to this?" Using this framework can help us start to see patterns we might otherwise miss. Your dog might not be stubborn, disobedient, picky, or unpredictable after all; they might be in pain.

As humans, we tend to overlook, dismiss, or misunderstand our dogs' signs of discomfort. Pain shows up in all sorts of ways that aren't what we stereotypically think of, and the signs can be a lot more subtle than we realize, from things like pickiness around food, to a slight change in posture, or coat changes. And as much as we believe our beloved pets are members of our families, we can still be slow to truly empathize. An old injury can still hurt, even if a dog isn't overtly limping. Multiple days of vomiting or diarrhea would warrant rest for us humans, but often people don't facilitate the same for their dogs. A tooth ache, arthritis, chronic allergies, ear infections, and split nails are all extremely common and painful ailments that owners simply forget to account for. These things hurt, which we may forget because often our dogs are wagging at the door, masking their symptoms, and need us to be the responsible adults in the equation.

Sometimes it is hard to imagine our pets may be in pain, because accepting this means realizing they have been hurting for a long time without us noticing or taking action. Instead of refusing to believe this, the best thing you can do for your dog is begin to treat and manage that pain under the guidance of your vet.

Entertaining the pain theory can help us make progress in otherwise stagnant situations. If you have tried many methods, many trainers, even many medications without seeing improvement in your dog's behavior, consider talking to your vet about pain! As we all have experienced, when we are hurting, our tolerance for stress decreases, and we are more likely to react, lash out, or have intense emotions about things that on a day free of pain or discomfort, would not bother us at all. Pain and discomfort make it harder to think, learn, and respond appropriately - imagine if you began taking violin lessons while you had the flu. You would likely have a much harder time making progress than if you began lessons after you recovered, and you may become frustrated or lash out because the demand of this task is too much for you in a state of sickness. The same can be true of your dog.

Trying to train your dog without getting proper support for potential underlying medical issues sets them up for frustration rather than success. You will get the most out of training sessions with a dog who has been assessed recently by a trusted vet. Even if pain has been identified, but is not yet completely or effectively managed, just having an awareness of this aspect of their behavior can help your trainer create a plan that is more tailored to their needs and current abilities.

While treating pain will not necessarily fully solve behavior issues on its own, it does take care of an important piece of the puzzle, and sets your dog up for the most success possible when training new behaviors and skills. So, if you are feeling stuck with your dog, or are looking to contact a trainer to work with, please reach out to your vet first!

For more information, and a more detailed list of signs and symptoms to track and watch out for, take a look at this video, which outlines the current scientific research suggesting correlations between behavior problems and pain in dogs, and has helpful pictures and clips to illustrate examples.