Have you attended dog training classes with your dog or hired a dog trainer to work with you and your dog at your home? Do you wonder how dog owners are attending classes or working one-on-one in person with dog trainers during the coronavirus lockdown? Easy answer: they’re not!
Instead, dog trainers have been scrambling to offer training and behavior counseling in ways that are definitely not “in person,” unless you mean virtually! It hasn’t been easy, but for many trainers, it’s a challenge they’ve met and met well: classes, behavior advice, puppy training are all available—online.
I asked dog trainers what long-term changes in training they expect as a result of COVID-19.
Ben Bennink (New York) I’ve gone fully virtual, but that’s not entirely a change because I’ve always offered that option. So long as I’m able to observe the client interacting with the dog and communicate with them, I’m able to do my job effectively. The most important thing to me is that my clients are safe and healthy. I’ve seen a small downturn in total business—I’m not sure if it’s because of economic hardship, a dislike of remote work, both, or other—but I’m happy that I can provide quality service to people in ways that protect everyone.
My biggest fear would be going back to in-home consulting and acting as a vector, infecting one of my clients. That to me is horrible beyond imagining.
My biggest hope is that people trust that we can still provide quality consulting remotely (I’ve only seen mild push-back on this topic personally, but not zero).
Good Doggy Saratoga
https://www.gooddoggysaratoga.com/
Meira Frankl (Quebec) My sessions have been virtual Zoom meetings up until now. Starting Monday, I will be seeing clients in person in their backyards with safety measures in place (masks, social distancing). Backyards are fine for the summer and fall, but I’m worried come winter when it will be -20 degrees. I’m thankful that I can do virtual sessions, but I do find it sometimes difficult to convert clients to virtual sessions from in-person sessions. The silver lining is that this pandemic has pushed me to finally start virtual training and consults, which is something I had been thinking about doing for quite some time. I have had to take a part-time job, though, which will become my new reality. I’m just hoping that clients feel confident that they can still get their needs met.
Stacy Braslau-Schneck (California) Since I’m teaching by video appointment now, I’m really enjoying knowing that I’m doing a more conscientious job of transferring some of my knowledge and mechanical skills to the owners/clients, so that they can be better problem-solvers and trainers themselves. This will make their dogs listen to them more, and will improve their bond. The dogs’ behaviors are improving just about as quickly as if I’d done a hands-on “jumpstart,” and I think the behaviors will end up being stronger and more consistent in the home. There’s a bonus in that I’ve been able to work with families outside of my immediate area. I do miss being able to touch the dogs, though!
Stacy’s Wag’N’Train
Alisha Ardiana (California) Until further notice, all consultations will be done via Zoom/FaceTime. I will not be entering clients’ homes. I will be doing any dog training outside.
I will instruct the client to have a headset and phone when working outside, in the event that I need more distance. I’m actually surprised that the consultations are easier than I expected. I am able to show people what my house set-up looks like, I’m able to show my massive collection of toys—I get my dog to demonstrate. I am mostly just doing puppy consultations right now. But I’m also grateful that I run my own business and get to decide my own parameters. When I worked at the San Francisco SPCA, the fires caused air quality that made me very uncomfortable. It was painful for me to teach, and I felt like it was unsafe for my students and dogs. Despite my best intentions, I was never allowed to cancel my classes.
I’ve also had to reject more clients, if the initial emails are difficult. I often get clients who believe that their dog is problematic. They have gone through several trainers, and it’s more about changing their perception of their own animal. I live in San Francisco and get a lot of fearful and leash-reactive dogs. Positive reinforcement can be a hard sell to some people. I have found that I am hugely successful when I demonstrate in person what the dog is capable of. But I don’t know how I can make that leap via Zoom.
empawthy
Photo by April Shoe
Trish McMillan (North Carolina) I am surprised at how well I can teach concepts by Zoom, demonstrating with one of my dogs or a stuffed dog. The tough part is selling the concept of remote lessons to clients. It’s actually better in some ways with my cat clients because the cats don’t hide!
Michael Shikashio and I have moved our seminars to Zoom livestream as well, which saves people travel and lodging expenses. One hard-core trainer from Singapore stayed up all night two nights in a row to attend our last one!
I’m also doing puppy socialization board-and-train at the farm, where I can expose pups to my friendly dogs, as well as chickens, goats, horses, and a cranky old cat. We also go on daily field trips to learn about the world and meet friends of mine and their dogs, with me at a distance.
Trish McMillan–Certified Animal Behavior Consultant
Helen St. Pierre (New Hampshire) I think there’s going to be some significant long-term changes for many of us training dogs, some good and some bad. And frankly, some trainers are going to seriously struggle with the adjustments, but many of us who have been training humans more than dogs for a while will modify quickly. Some things I’m currently doing are holding all group classes outside. Each station for the clients is a drive in—they park, work their dogs, and then leave. I have a 3600-square-foot facility that I will use only if it’s too hot or raining, but all props, chairs, etc., won’t be present. As a result, more body-work exercises will need to be done and that will be fun for people to learn.
I’m going to keep this set-up for at least six months, and I’m debating holding winter classes in person vs. online now. This is huge, though—in the past, if it snowed, we simply cancelled classes. Now, because we’ve learned how to teach groups virtually, we can still keep dogs learning consistently and there are no excuses. I’ve been able to work with clients in California, Italy, etc., and help them. I’ve also added monthly cheap Zoom workshops on all kinds of subjects and I use my own dog to demo—people love it! And it’s great for bored kids, too.
Long-term changes: I will no longer be able to simply go over and take the leash of a client to help them—that change is going to remain. It will require my verbal coaching to get even sharper, but honestly, I’ve been doing that for a long time. Other more punitive trainers, I think, will struggle with this and I’m hoping it will force them potentially to switch their coaching style—this could be a great thing for dogs.
Greetings training—like walking over and shaking hands with clients to practice the dog not jumping—is now off the table for good, I think. At least, until there’s a vaccine. Again, though, this will be beneficial to dogs—learning that not every person they meet gets to come over and say hi—and that will greatly reduce conditioned excitement.
Puppy socializing will still always be at the forefront for me. Whether we do hands-free drop-off play groups or provide resources for safe ways to socialize younger dogs to the world and other animals, I will modify and adjust that as needed to ensure my clients’ puppies get that exposure. I will no longer do large (owner-present) playgroups, though. I’m having some puppies come play at my house for the day for added help, and because of the set-up I have, I can do this without any contact at all. Super great for all involved.
As for B-Mod and private work, I can and have been doing the majority of that online and via Zoom, with occasional in-person meetings outside. I plan on continuing that for a long time. I explain to clients that I don’t need to get my hands on a dog with aggression in order to help them. Seeing their environment via Zoom is actually MORE helpful than their coming to my office. Reactive dogs are rejoicing at this, by the way. I will continue doing my shelter evaluations at safe distances and masked, of course.
For dog training, I think the long term impact of COVID-19 is not as big as we think it is, other than the economy’s affecting people’s view on it (more as a luxury than a necessity) and the demand lowering—although time has yet to tell on that. The idea that we need to be touching dogs, touching people, and greeting everyone needed to change long before COVID-19. The virus just implemented it faster and has given us whiplash. But in time, we’ll adjust!
No Monkey Business Dog Training
http://www.nomonkeybusinessdogtraining.com/
Next week: more from dog trainers on long-term changes they’re expecting in dog training.
