03/18/2026
Rescues and shelters: Choose the right trainers
One positive I have seen over the last 16 years in animal welfare is the number of rescues and shelters who are turning to trainers to help with dogs that have behavior issues.
Shelters and rescues are also recognizing the benefits of paying trainers to help keep dogs in a home. Paying a trainer to keep an animal in its home is often less expensive than having that animal returned.
At the first shelter I worked at we euthanized any dog that failed a standardized behavior assessment. Then we started a program where we worked with dogs that failed the behavior test to see what would happen if they had behavior support. At one point in the program 93 percent of the dogs that had initially failed were able to be placed in homes and were not being returned at any higher rate than other adoptions.
Groups learned that people would donate money for behavior and training help. People love supporting programs that save lives.
Unfortunately, many rescues and shelters have wonderful intentions but end up working with the wrong trainers. Not because they are bad people, but because hype really does sell and most people don’t really know there is a difference between trainers and types of training. And many shelters rely on trainers who volunteer their services. Volunteering is awesome but it doesn't guarantee the person is the right fit for your organization.
If you work in animal welfare you obviously care deeply about animals and want the best for them. So, why would you choose a trainer who is going to use a prong collar or electric training collar? Or a trainer who tells you people in your shelter must be “dominant?”
Does punishment work? It can. But if you can get the same result without using punishment then why use it in the first place? The other issue with punishment is it may make the dog seem better in the short term, but months down the road the dog could have a different behavior that is linked to the harsh training methods.
At the first shelter I worked at we adopted out a 10-week-old puppy. It came back at 16 weeks with a serious bite history to children. The family had been hitting the puppy on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper every time it grabbed at anyone’s clothing or jumped on the children. Then one of the children reached her hand out to pet the puppy and ended up bitten so badly she required medical attention. The puppy had two more serious bites before it was returned. However, the family happily reported the puppy had stopped jumping on the children or grabbing their pants’ legs. So, the punishment “worked” but it made the puppy so worried about hands moving toward it, it started biting to protect itself.
The puppy became difficult to handle in the shelter as any hand that reached out to it resulted in the puppy biting. This combined with the documented serious bites to children in the home resulted in a euthanasia decision for the puppy.
So, how does a shelter or rescue navigate through the quagmire of dog training and behavior and find someone they can trust?
Here are some general guidelines:
• Look for a trainer who is certified through a national organization. Look up the organization and see what their certification protocols entail. The words “master trainer” often don’t really mean anything other than the person is the top trainer in their organization, so if you see “master trainer” find out what that means and how that person got the designation. Many fabulous trainers aren’t certified, but they attend conferences related to training and behavior. Find out what continuing education a trainer you are considering working with has done in the past year.
• Be skeptical of any trainer who guarantees his or her results. You absolutely cannot guarantee to “fix” an animal’s behavior.
• Board and train may sound fabulous, but will it change your particular behavior? Dogs tend to be very specific learners. So, if you have a dog that is biting children and the owner is considering returning it; don’t send that dog to board and train unless you are also sending the owner’s children with it. If the dog resource guards a toy on a walk and bites the foster parent, don’t use board and train. Teach the foster parent why the behavior is happening and how to change it. Sadly, many board and train owners use punishment tools. If you must use board and train, ask a lot of questions about how your dog will be treated and how the trainer plans to change the dog’s behavior in your home or shelter. There are some amazing board and train operators but you have to really do your homework.
• If you see the words “balanced” or “training protocols fit the need of the dog” or “dominance” in a trainer’s online information, ask questions. These words in and of themselves can be just fine, but often they are a red flag that the user is going to be training with some form of punishment.
• Conversely just because someone says they only use positive methods doesn’t make that person a good trainer. Words are just words. Find out what the person means when they use them. Do they have references? What are people saying about them?
• Put your money where it counts. Every animal shelter and rescue begs for money on an almost daily basis. If one of the rescues or shelters you support is raising money for training or behavior help research who they are using before donating.
If you are a shelter or rescue and you have not considered using trainers to help dogs either overcome behavior issues in the shelter or to help keep dogs in a home, you should explore the options. I am happy to provide more thoughts on the subject to any shelter or rescue who wants to consider the topic.
This photo shows me at Clicker Expo held in Chicago in 2025. This was my sixth Clicker Expo. I can’t go every year; but if it is close to where I live I will make the effort to get there. I also have attended two Aggression in Dogs conferences in the last three years. I attend at least one conference or workshop each year. This continuing education means I keep up on what my peers are doing and I am constantly learning new ways to help dogs. I am a Certified Training Partner with Karen Pryor Academy so you will see KPA-CTP after my name. It is easy to Google KPA and see what that means in terms of the type of trainer I am.
