Being a professional dog trainer is all about teaching dogs and their human’s skills and management techniques that can be used to eliminate conflict and increase communication. As part of the process, we are expected to hand out advice, outline plans and actions on how to fix issues, and offer insight on how to make improvements with our clients and their pets.
As is the same with a lot of other industries (nutrition, personal finance, raising a child, or exercise, just to name a few) our advice is often met with objectives, negative feedback, unwillingness, and hesitation. And really, who can blame them – there is so much conflicting information out there that advice often leaves us with more questions and hesitation then we had before!
Every dog and and every person are different. Some people are more willing to take advice and make large changes for the greater good while others are only willing to make minimal changes. The value of a good dog trainer is to be able to present multiple options and approaches that can all lead to solutions. It’s up to the person seeking the advice to “chose the option you hate the least and go with it”.
Let’s use housebreaking a puppy or dog as an example to illustrate my point. The solution to remedy the problem lies below.
- Limit or monitor your dog’s water
- Take your puppy outside more frequently
- Do not leave your dog unattended in the yard with free access to water
- Crate your dog when you can not watch them
- Keep your puppy tethered to you when inside the home
- Put a leash on your dog and go outside with them and make sure they go to the bathroom
- Put your dog on a scheduled feeding routine so you can anticipate when nature calls
Yes – they all take work, they are all inconvenient, they are all time-consuming, and they all require effort. Work, time, and effort are all required to make change, that is unavoidable – so, choose the option you hate the least and go with it!
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