Who can we trust?

Some questions...

It is a regular occurrence for me to meet dog owners who have been through bad experiences with ‘so-called’ dog professionals. It is becoming more difficult to weed out trustworthy trainers or behaviourists from the chaff.

Every day I see more and more courses, trainers who promise the world, behaviourists who have all the answers and, of course, unique, new ways to help your dog. There are, countless, ‘experts’ pushing out videos showing, in my opinion, some pretty appalling and uninformed methods. For a dog owner with a dog with behavioural issues, it can be challenging to find someone to trust.

I’ve heard some very disturbing stories in recent years from the trainer who will take your dog and ‘fix them’ to the trainer who will ‘fix’ your dog or happily dispose of it for you if they are unsuccessful. The list of these horrors is growing.

So, what can a dog owner do to try to make sure they don’t make an expensive and heartbreaking mistake when looking for help? Here is a short checklist of things we should be asking.

Checklist

1. Check for qualifications
   This should include visiting the websites of the organisations the qualifications come from. If an individual has a website - visit and check that qualifications are clearly detailed.

   1. Often, an individual may have a bone fide degree such as in Animal Welfare - this does not, necessarily, qualify them to be a trainer or a behaviourist.

2. Check for experience
   Simply having owned and having a love for dogs, isn’t enough

3. Check for references.
   Talk, if you can, to others who have been helped by the person you are considering.

4. Beware of ‘professionals’ who, on the phone, immediately tell you how many sessions will be required, having not set eyes on you, your dog or your home (this suggests, money is the most important thing here).

5. Beware of ‘professionals’ who are happy to take your dog for a number of weeks residential training. Ask yourself, would you send a ‘troublesome’ child away to someone else to sort them out?

6. Beware of ‘professionals’ that say they will ‘fix’ your dogs.
   Dogs don’t need fixing, they more often need understanding and help.

7. Make sure they are insured and can prove it.

This list is not exhaustive. It does, however, highlight the need to be care and questioning when seeking help.

Finally, trust your instincts. If you think something doesn’t sound right, or worries you - do not proceed.