Q: Red flags in dog-training ads/sites—what makes you suspect their claims?
▪ Why do you suspect these claims?
▪ What else about the ad/site is “off”?
▪ What would you rather see instead?
A. Red-Flag Words
▪ “Guarantee”
▪ “Alpha”
▪ “Pack”
▪ “Discipline”
▪ “Whisperer”
▪ “Secret”
Anna Abney (South Carolina) Any time they use the word “guarantee” or when they denigrate science-based methods. This tells me they don’t actually understand behavior or the mechanics of behavior modification. I am particularly suspicious of anyone who claims to be able to “cure” aggression.
Misty Mills (Texas) “Whisperer.” I suspect this claim because it lacks a consistent meaning and definition, requires no independent verification, and taps into a popular-culture myth that has been repeatedly debunked. What else is off? [A] particular site says things like “I know how your dog thinks,” “My sessions are five hours long,” “Your dog will be rehabbed in one session.” Instead, I’d like to see some verifiable credentials . . . or membership in a reputable organization . . . or something a potential client could research.
Bex Dot Smith (Colorado) “K-9” in the name of the company—not always but often means they use heavy-handed methods. Any advertisement for “off-leash” training.
Katharine Weber (Illinois) They won’t directly answer questions.
Dianna Stearns (Maryland) “Guaranteed results” . . . “discipline” . . . “alpha.”
Stacy Braslau-Schneck (California) “Secret” methods.
Sarah Adams (Oregon) “Training can be completed in two weeks” (or some other completely unrealistic time frame).
Mandy Collins (United Kingdom) We don’t use food or toys.
Jane Finneran (North Carolina) Instant results.
Marni Fowler (Florida) 100% guaranteed.
September B. Morn (Washington) “First ever” . . . “guaranteed” . . . “secret process.”
Photo by Marni Fowler — Joli
Bex Dot Smith (Colorado) If there’s no mention of techniques or they emphasize that “not every dog learns the same way.”
Sarah Adams (Oregon) If they tell you that training collars (electronic collars) don’t cause pain.
Karen Lawe (United Kingdom) “It’s not a shock collar. It is stimuli that distracts the dog.”
Micha Michlewicz (Maryland) Not being upfront and clear about methods used. I like to see it clearly stated that they don’t use physical punishment or intimidation.
Buzz words like pack, alpha, submissive, dominant, K-9 (often, but not always), leader (often, but not always), balanced, corrections (described as what’s used), “stim” (electric shock) remote collar (shock collar), obedient (sometimes, not always), “train the dog in front of you/different methods for different dogs” (which means the same punitive collar/s and methods on pretty much every dog, ironically), boot camp, or absolutes about behavior—dogs aren’t computers.
Gives guarantees. (Again, dogs aren’t programmable computers.)
Not always, but “ex-military” or “ex-police” can be worrisome and mean outdated and harsh modalities (in the USA this is still very common in these two fields).
Mention of training “protection” dogs (attack-trained).
Rebecca King (Ohio) [I]f you ask about their training methodology and they don’t know what that means. Anything with a lifetime guarantee. Many “boot camp” trainers (not all). Anything “balanced.” Claims to cure anxiety, aggression, or reactivity. Calling oneself a behaviorist when one is not a DACVB or CAAB.
Inna Krasnovsky (New York) Being vague about methods and equipment that they use to me is the biggest red flag. That always means [to me that] we are dealing with a “balanced”/punishment-based trainer, a trainer who “occasionally” uses food, but almost always resorts to physical corrections and choke, prong, or shock collars.
Sarah Adams (Oregon) Yes, “balanced” seems to mean “mostly corrections, with an occasional treat,” more often than not.
Eileen Anderson (Arkansas) “We’ll break your dog of nuisance-barking so he’ll only bark when there’s a real threat.” [T]he idea that all dogs can be taught to assess threats to humans and should be given that job is ridiculous, especially considering the tools that this trainer uses; e.g., throwing things to scare them.
Jessica Stinson Hudson (Alabama) Stock photos on website.
Micha Michlewicz (Maryland) I also make sure to look at pictures/videos. If I can see active training videos, great. I’m looking for coercive/punitive tool use. I look for shock, pinch, or choke collars or even excessive head halters or lots of slip leads.
I like to see rewards being used and used well. I like to observe the body language very closely and look for signs of (dis)stress. This will mostly be signs of tension held in the body. It’s important to know what body language to look for. You can always tell how a dog is trained by what they’re saying with their body. Not so much in pictures, but in videos.
Laura Bourhenne (California) When all the dogs in every photo on the site are doing down/stays, especially when it’s multiple dogs on beds in a room or on a path like a pack walk.
Flacortia Rosiea (Canada) If dogs in the photos look subdued, if there’s any sign of harsh collars, I would not use that service.
Sarah Adams (Oregon) All videos/photos of their training show dogs in training collars. If they’re that good, they should have examples of dogs that are trained well enough to work without equipment. What I’d like to see, if they’re showing dogs training/working, is dogs working safely and legally. If leashes are required where they are, the dog should be on leash. If you’re next to a busy road? Dog on leash. Dogs working willingly. If it’s an example of a trained dog, it should need neither luring nor force to perform. Dog should appear comfortable with the tasks (i.e., not a lot of panting, which is usually a sign of stress).
Colette Kase (Mexico) The word “balanced.” Any mention of reward-based methods in a negative light—calling them bribes, saying “no treats/food,” etc. No indication of respected professional affiliation or qualifications. No indication of ongoing professional development. The words “red zone.” Dogs wearing pinch or electric collars in photos. Woo. [What is woo?] I just saw a “balanced” e-collar trainer advertising as using “yin and yang.” But other types of woo would include words seen on dog trainer’s websites. A great one: “Nature’s message of quiet power.” “Energy channeling” is certainly intriguing. Actually, anything about “energy” that doesn’t involve your dog’s physical activity levels. Claiming to know a “secret.” Claiming to have miraculously become qualified by being around dogs.
Q: What do you look for in the way of education and experience of the trainer/s listed in the ad or website? What would be some red flags there?
Stacy Braslau-Schneck (California) Certification from some school I’ve never heard of, and when I look up that school it’s one guy who found his method 30 years ago and has been practicing the same thing ever since. (Or it’s a school I have heard of, and I know they teach aversive methods.) Also lack of any education is a big red flag. “I’ve always loved dogs and compete with my own” is not enough.
Debby McMullen (Pennsylvania) “Master trainer.” Nuff said.
Rebecca King (Ohio) Often, not always, training police dogs.
Q: What would you suggest—to a novice dog owner who’s new to training—that people do look for in these ads/sites? What would be good signs about the business?
Anna Abney (South Carolina)
▪ Group classes may be observed freely at any time.
▪ Trainer is knowledgeable about both operant and classical conditioning and can explain terms and concepts readily.
▪ Trainer comes with good references from the community.
▪ Trainer doesn’t make blanket statements about timelines or results and also doesn’t claim expertise in every single training method, skill, or sport. Trainer knows her own strengths and weaknesses.
▪ Trainer remains up to date on latest science and practices.
I asked commenters to share their bios—here are some examples:
Connie Price (California)—I started apprenticing in the mid-’80s under a trainer who said what they were doing was positive training. It wasn’t. It was negative reinforcement and positive punishment. Once I started crossing over in the mid-’90s, I read everything I could, asking questions of positive trainers on groups, then on Facebook. I learned about APDT, joined, and started working toward certification. I attended seminars at UC Davis—one of the first had Dr. Dunbar, Dr. Lore Haug, and Jean Donaldson, among others. I attended one of the low-stress handling and restraint labs by Dr Sophia Yin. I attended a presentation by Steve White, and online webinars and teleconferences by Raising Canine. I obtained my CPDT, which later became CPDT-KA. In 2007, I became an RVT and was later accepted for an internship at the UC Davis Behavior Center.
https://www.facebook.com/GentleTouchDT/
Nan Kene Arthur (California)—As the author of Chill Out Fido! How to Calm Your Dog, Nan brings 24 years of experience to the dog-loving community, and works with dog professionals, shelter employees and volunteers, and pet dog owners.
Nan is also a Karen Pryor Academy faculty member, holds one of the highest certifications available by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, and is a Certification Instructor for Canine First Aid with DogSafe—all of which require continuing education to maintain those certifications.
Through her business, Beacon of Hope Dog Behavior and Training Services, Nan and her trainers provide dog-training classes in addition to private behavior and training classes for both dogs and cats and their people. She also lectures and holds seminars that help shelter staff, the public, and other trainers understand dog behavior and the fundamentals of positive-reinforcement training.
A passion of Nan’s is working with dogs from rescues and in shelters, after spending 10 years working in the largest shelter in San Diego, as well as at the San Diego Humane Society. Because of that passion, Nan has developed volunteer-training programs and lectures for many local shelters, ensuring that the dogs receive not only environmental enrichment but positive training to help improve their adoptability. Included in these programs are safety measures that help staff and volunteers understand how to read the body language of dogs and training techniques that help dogs find and stay in their new homes.
Nan holds memberships in PPG, APDT, IAABC, KPACTP; studies improvisational techniques; is a certified DogSafe First Aid Instructor; and is a mentor with DogBiz’s Dog Walking Academy.
Stacy Braslau-Schneck, CPDT (California)—Stacy is dedicated to helping pet dog owners solve their behavior problems and “love their well-trained dogs”!
She pursued her lifelong interest in animal behavior through a master’s degree at a research laboratory, Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lab (KBMML, now called The Dolphin Institute) in Hawaii, studying dolphin cognition and intelligence. At the lab, she learned to train dolphins for research and exercise, using the same modern techniques that are now used with pet dogs. She designed and ran a research project investigating how creative dolphins could be and how they coordinate their movements with each other. As a staff member at the lab, one of her duties was to teach dolphin-training to new volunteers and students.
When she returned to her native California, she began transferring her animal-training and student-teaching skills to teaching pet owners how to train their dogs. She was asked to help develop and teach the first clicker-training classes at the San Francisco SPCA, before moving to San Jose.
She is a professional member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), an organization that encourages the exchange of ideas and continuing education of pet dog trainers. In 2001, she was named Member of the Year, and in 2002 she earned a Level 1 Certification through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT), the first national certification for dog trainers in history. Over the years she has attended the Marin Humane Society Dog Trainers Academy and Dogs Of Course’s Advanced Instructor Training Course. She has been continuing her education ever since, including completing Susan Friedman’s LLA Course, attending several Canine Science Symposium events, and attending multiple conferences with the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and ClickerExpo.
In January 2005, Stacy achieved Kay Lawrence’s “Competency Assessment Programme” (CAP) test at the second level “with distinction.” CAP tests the trainer, not the dog. The trainer must demonstrate her decision-making prowess and her ability to communicate with the dog, use a target, shape, fade lures and targets, use hand signals or verbal commands, and capture and shape new behaviors. Stacy was among the first in the USA to attain CAP certification. In 2006 Stacy was asked to become a member of the board of directors as well as a presenter for KADIE (Kids and Dogs Interactive Education) to help develop and promote an educational program to reduce dog bites to children. In 2015 she was recruited by DogTec to teach the Dog Walking Academy in Silicon Valley.
Stacy’s writing on dog training and animal behavior has appeared in several publications, from the Association of Pet Dog Trainer’s Chronicle of the Dog and The Clicker Journal, to local club newsletters like the Prairielands Bloodhound Club “Puppy Issue,” the Arizona Pointing Dog Club, and the Los Vast, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Instructeurs in Honden (the Dutch Dog Training Club). References to her writing are found in several books, including Peggy Tillman’s Clicking With Your Dog, and she has a chapter in The Dog Trainer’s Resource published in 2006. Most recently she has published training articles in Bay Woof on training “come,” stopping jumping, barking at skateboards, and more. She is an instructor for several telecourses (telephone conference-call seminars) for Raising Canine, an international resource for dog-training and teaching seminars. Even though Wag’N’Train is a one-person operation, Stacy won “best private trainer” in the South Bay in Bay Woof’s “Beast of the Bay” competition.
Stacy has worked closely with the Humane Society Silicon Valley, socializing dogs awaiting adoption, teaching staff and volunteer socializers, and fostering puppies and “issue-challenged” dogs. She has lived with Shelties, a herding-dog mix, and an “all-American” (mutt), as well as rats, hamsters, and numerous fish, and of course she worked with four great bottlenosed dolphins. She shared 14 great years with Flipper, a black-and-white border collie mix adopted from the Humane Society in September 1999, and currently lives with Fletcher, a red border collie adopted at a year of age from Marin Humane Society, with a “laundry list of behavior problems,” including dog aggression, resource-guarding, handling issues, counter-surfing, and more. Fletcher has overcome enough of his issues that they are training in nose work (earning his ORT and NW1 so far) and agility, and he shares his yard with the family’s two chickens. Stacy lives with with her husband and a daughter born in 2003, giving her a better understanding of the issues faced by families with young children!
Stacy is dedicated to using methods that are humane and effective. She subscribes to the “LIMA” training philosophy, which means she has a commitment to use the “least invasive, minimally aversive” methods and techniques that will be effective for each client. All dogs and their situations are different, but all dogs follow the laws of learning, and Stacy is dedicated to using positive reinforcement techniques. Stacy says, “You can do anything to me that I might suggest doing to your dog—except feed me liver treats!”
“Stacy has a gift for teaching and for communicating with other species.”— from a class evaluation (anonymous)
Benjamin Bennink, CDBC, CPDT-KA (New York)—Ben has been a Certified Professional Dog Trainer since 2012 and a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant since 2018. These certifications require demonstrated expertise in the field and dedication to continued education. He is also a professional premium member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) and volunteers on the APDT’s education committee, membership task force, and legislative task force. He is committed to excellence in training and utilizes the most up-to-date methods in the industry to provide clients with convenient and effective solutions to create a more harmonious home with their dogs.
https://www.gooddoggysaratoga.com/about-the-trainer
