Rip-Off Trainers & How To Avoid Them

Unfortunately anyone can call themselves a dog trainer, consultant or behaviourist in the UK with no prior experience or qualifications. Frequently I talk to clients who tell me they've tried dog trainers before who charged a lot of money (Over £300 up front is not unheard of!) and - at best - have seen little return for their investment. At worst, they've actually made a problem more serious.

Regulation is coming, but until then, here are a few pointers on how to find a good trainer or behaviourist:

• Avoid anyone who wants money for talking to you for hours, but will not be showing you practical ways to resolve your problem. I spoke to one lady recently who paid a lot of money for four hours of waffle around the kitchen table and no hands-on training at all - and the problem was pulling on the lead and aggression with other dogs. You can't fix that in the kitchen, believe me!
  

• Beware of anyone who will not take the lead to show you how to act (Particularly in cases of aggression or lunging at other dogs etc). Anyone can stand at the sidelines giving advice, that's easy!

• Do they give guarantees? In my view, that's a dead giveaway that they’re not on the level! I may be sure sometimes that I can make a difference, or even quietly confident that I might fix a given problem entirely, but give guarantees? Never! No one reputable will ever give guarantees about outcomes.

• How about "Pay up front and we’ll come back unlimited times in a year"? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But if you or your dog don’t get along with the person, or you don’t like the methods - or simply don’t see any results - then in practice there’s a limit to the number of times you will call someone back (if at all) before calling it a dead loss (I hear this so often...). It's your money and your choice, but I think that rather than pay hundreds up front, it's better to pay someone a fraction of that for a first consultation and decide for yourself if you want them back. That's the basis upon which I offer my services. (And I'll probably never be rich because on average my clients spend about half as much as these 'up front' costs in fixing the problem!)
  

• Don’t rely solely on someone’s claims to be a member of a certain professional organisation. There is no governing body for dog trainers or behaviour “experts” in the UK. Until such time, some are reputable to differing degrees, but none are officially recognised.

• Likewise qualifications. There are good qualifications out there (Ask if their qualification is recognised by a regulating body such as Lantra, for example). Unfortunately there are also a lot of certificates and letters-after-names that mean little or nothing.
  

• Lastly, give them a ring. Talk to them and feel free to ask a few questions. Do they listen and seem interested about what you want? Or do they jump to conclusions about what's needed before even seeing you and your dog/s? What experience do they have of cases like yours? Are they full time professionals or is this a hobby for them? Are they insured, even? Finally, what’s your gut reaction? If you’ve considered everything else and you like what you hear, then the chances are you’ve found the right dog professional for you – Go ahead and hire ‘em!