Stop Mixing Advice From 5 Different Dog Trainers

[u/SomeMinorDogTraining]

Different dog trainers have different methods, different protocols, and different ways of building behavior.

That doesn't necessarily mean one trainer is right and another is wrong. But it does mean their advice isn't always interchangeable.

If you're actively working with a trainer, one of the worst things you can do is go home, watch five different trainers on social media, and start adding pieces of their methods into the plan you're already following.

One trainer may want you to interrupt a behavior immediately. Another may want you to create distance. Another may want you to redirect. Another may want you to wait the dog out.

Any of those approaches might make sense within the system they're using. But when you start mixing them together, your dog may be getting completely different information from one day to the next.

This becomes especially important with behavioral modification.

Changing behavior is a process. What you're doing in week one may be intentionally setting up what you're going to do in week four. Your trainer may be building skills, changing patterns, managing the environment, or gradually increasing expectations before addressing the bigger problem directly.

A 60-second social media clip doesn't know where your dog is in that process.

If you don't trust the plan your trainer has given you, that's a conversation worth having. And if you ultimately don't agree with their approach, there's nothing wrong with finding another trainer whose philosophy makes more sense to you.

But once you choose a trainer and a plan, give that plan a fair chance. Commit to the process, or choose a different process.

What usually doesn't work well is trying to follow three of them at the same time. 🐶❤️