04/26/2025
Dogs aren’t being surrendered because they don’t have a solid focused heel, or because they don’t consistently do a fist bump on command.
The training world has exploded with all manner of cool things dogs can be taught. Whether it be sport-related stuff, or fancy tricks — it all can be fun to train and fun to see.
But, as cool as all this stuff might be, there’s also a downside. The downside is that as the training world inevitably gets caught up in the new cool stuff, it’s easy to miss what might not be as cool, fun, or interesting for the trainer — but might be precisely what the owner and the dog need to cohabitate harmoniously.
The amount of clients struggling with their dog’s behavior issues, who’ve come to us for help, and who’ve shared the incomprehensible nonsense that their dogs were trained to do, and that the owners were coached to focus on — and which had ZERO impact on the actual issues and why the trainer was called in the first place… would boggle your mind.
I’ve had seriously aggressive dogs who were taught 36 fancy obedience commands (true story) — but the one “command” they were never taught was… don’t bite. Same goes for highly anxious dogs who’ve been put through high-intensity, super speedy, super flashy obedience work — which only exacerbated their anxiety — when what they needed was to learn how to be calm and have an “off-switch”. And I’ve seen countless dogs with a multitude of behavior issues, who were never corrected for them, but instead were taught “engagement” tricks and puzzles to better build their relationship with their owners, and to give their brains a “workout” when all they actually needed were clear boundaries and some mild accountability.
My point isn’t that teaching cool, fun stuff is without value, my point is, trainers are often ignoring the actual needs of the owners in service of their own interests and enjoyment — or their own naïveté/ignorance.
What do 99% of owners want? A dog who isn’t a huge additional stressor/burden. They want a dog they can enjoy, have fun with, live life with — without being overwhelmed. They want simple stuff.
Deliver that and you’ll help keep dogs in homes. And even if it might not be as fun for you in the selfish sense, I hope you find some deeper satisfaction in serving the owners and dogs that are depending on you… and that you agreed you would, and could help.
PS, and for those bristling, “Why not both?” Sounds good. Just make sure that 1/ You tackle the actual pain points first. And 2/ Ensure your fun and fancy stuff isn’t counterproductive/undermining for that specific dog and the issue the owners are dealing with.
