Calling all Master Trainers

This is a placeholder text
Group text

by VonIsengard on 16 August 2007 - 15:08

OH, and I forgot, all Petsmart trainers are "certified", their certificate is signed by the local Petsmart district manager- becasue we all know a retail manager is a dog training expert.

by VonIsengard on 16 August 2007 - 15:08

My goodness, this forum needs an edit button, I also forgot: You misquoted me Dennis. I referred to decades of training experience with ":everything from competetive work to behavioral issues" I did not refer to competetive work without exception. Did my mentors comete in schutzhund and other dog sports? Yes, some of them have. Is that the exclusion of their experience? Not by a long shot. The next time you choose to be derisive toward someone you want to read what they say a bit more closely.

by Hundguy on 16 August 2007 - 15:08

I know the Tom Rose school has a master trainer degree.. I am unsure what it takes to get that but they do give such a title. I know there are some K-9 certs. that give a master trainer. Well if any of you think highly about Triple Crown School in TX, when they first started they hired nothing but Tom Rose School Graduates! Now they teach new trainers!

One of ths posts said it is the person and if they have it they have it... That is 100% correct. I had 15 students in my group in WV and 3-4 of us did all the helperwork, building searches/suit bites and handled all the hard dogs that were being cert for K-9.. I enjoyed the school and I feel it helped me understand details that I would never had learned in a club.. I have been a member of a few different clubs and trust me they do not teach you about animal behavior or any real detailes. I think a good school helps leap frog you ahead of someone who is starting at the same time but learning from a group or club.

Unsure about the whole Master Trainer thing.. I guess anyone can call themselves such a thing and probably do... I for one am "not" a Master Trainer nor do I try and pretend to be something I am not.. So just as in everything there are always going to be posers and there are always going to be doers... The Doers get the job done and the Posers talk about how they could !!!!!

Best Regards,

Dennis Johnson

www.johnsonhaus.com

by Don Corleone on 16 August 2007 - 16:08

A while back we used the term as a joke. Because typical dog training is 20% training the dog and 80% training the "master". The instructor must be a "Master" trainer.

by Shelley Strohl on 16 August 2007 - 17:08

I am not a Master Trainer. Never will be.

I have often been described as "certifiable" in some circles, however. Does that count for anything here?

by EKvonEarnhardt on 16 August 2007 - 17:08

I agree there are different levels of trainers and some people are naturally great at it while others have to work on it. I do believe going to school does give you the extra edge but there is nothing like working with a animal shelter and learning how to deal with different temperaments and so forth.

Don you are correct when you say 80% is training the owner!

I guess the best way to see if someone is really a "master trainer" or a "trainer" is see his dogs and his clients dogs. See what they have really done

Web sites can be so dehonest.

Thanks everyone

by shasta on 16 August 2007 - 19:08

hmmm, on the comment of "if it's not in the scorebook you don't got it" I think it's a matter of what are they a master of? I know plenty of excellent trainers who have absolutely no desire to stand on a podium made of a piece of wood, nor do they have the time to do schutzhund, they're too busy training every body else's dog. Now if someone was advertising their services for a schutzhund handler, that's another story. I think the pieces of paper that give the title are nothing more then that, a piece of paper. ABC students (and mind you I'm not really knocking them, I worked at corporate for awhile) only do some volunteer hours and mentor under a trainer for 3 sets of group classes, then they are "certified dog trainers". Even that's better then calling them a master dog trainer. On how to become a trainer, yes there are schools out there. There were not really any notable ones out there when I started. I've been training professionally in a variety of capacities for the majority of my life (at least 2 decades) and I don't consider myself a "master trainer". Personally I think that the only perfect trainer is the dog:-) I think the truly excellent trainers that are masters at one aspect of training, are just like true alphas. They don't need to pee all over the place to tell everyone that they're masters. They just are. (sorry to be crude, it's been a sore subject of late, I've got all sorts of "certified trainers" popping up all over the place and advertising in my area to do things I KNOW they have no clue about). And then those that market "master trainer" when they've done lets say a 12 week class, while I've been trainin for over 2 decades and don't have the desire to go learn from someone who may not know anything about what I want to learn about, the papered person sometimes get the ignorant client because they used a cheap marketing ploy. The fault is in the general public not doing their research, but still. It's highy irritating. Of course, I often end up in the long run with those that weren't helped by someone that didn't have the experience to be able to handle their individual situation, but I worry about those that went on to believe trainers don't really help. I think the key is for each trainer to know their limits and to train within those. Don't say that you're a master and can handle aggressive dogs, if you've only been training for 6 months. I didn't start working behavior mod until I'd trained 10 years and even then it took prodding. And I still know my limits and refer cases I'm uncomfortable with to those that have the experience to be able to do it. The papers are all about someone paying to get the title. Sure it may give some experience an some book learning. But it takes years of reading dogs and learning on a wide variety of subjects to be truly good at it. What if you went out to do martial arts and in "just 12 short weeks" got your black belt? Does that mean you're a master martial artist?

by shasta on 16 August 2007 - 19:08

(sorry, had to post my comments in two messages, this is a hot topic with me at the moment) Still, the book learning does provide some good foundation. As long as the graduates of those schools understand that just because they own a piece of paper, does not make them a true master trainer. When I've worked in facilities (and I've worked in a few different ones) where I"ve had to be the one hiring a new trainer....I preferred the newbie with no experience to the newbie that had a piece of paper and thought that because they had paid for that piece of paper they should be exempt from paying their dues any day. I had graduates of a variety of schools sitting there telling me that they did not need to clean kennels because they had the skills necessary to start as trainers at the top pay range because they had "gone to school". sorry, I paid my dues, and if it comes down to my decision, it made me better for it, and therefore anybody working with me needs to go through the firing process just the same. School is great, it gave them an edge in a few areas....but not when their experience wasn't long enough to be able to read a dog and know enough styles to adjust to that dog. Only time and practice can teach that. At the same time, there are some ways that having a piece of paper is good. I have a lady (don't even get me started:-)) that was a student in one of my classes. I asked her to leave, she was not in control of her dog who at one point tried to attack another dog. She would not follow my instruction during in home sessions as well, but kept arguing every point. I "fired her" as a client. 2 years later she has advertisements all over the place claiming 30 years experience as a behavior specialist for dogs. How did she get that? She was a manicurist for 30 years and would give her clients advice about their dogs. AND she watched the dog whisperer. She advertises the ability to work with aggression. There are dogs whose lives are on the line because of what she says. I'd rather have someone that at LEAST did some schooling then nothing....but definitely the better set of the newer trainers are those that understand that all they have is a piece of paper and a little knowledge. Honestly the best trainers I've ever been around, didn't know that they were the best trainers. They just went about their business and trained the dogs. You don't need a certificate to tell you that. I by the way did look into some of the trainer schools but did not find any that suited me. I do however prefer to attend seminars under a variety of trainers, read anything I can get my hands on, and stay in constant touch with trainers across the country. That's my "education" (in addition to some college of course, and a whole lot of following around a bunch of trainers that were better then me). I think you can learn something from everyone, whether they stand on the podium, or have only taught their dog a few stupid pet tricks. have clients teach me all the time. Again though, the dogs are the best teachers!

by The Good Shepherd on 16 August 2007 - 19:08

For what it worth:

My Trainer has titled her 2 GSD's and 1 Bordercollie to a OTCH and MACH. Her dogs also have numerous other titles in Herding, Tracking and Rally. She has been doing this for over 30 years and has over 300 pictures of her students receiving titles.(ME being one of them )

And NO, she has NEVER called herself a "Master Trainer"

Claudia

by Brittany on 17 August 2007 - 02:08

KCzaja,
Just thinking about petsmart trainers gives me a headache :/

it's great that I have well mannered and well behaved dogs. If my dogs had some temperament issues, this petsmart trainer who approached my dog and began to pet her (I believe I had zambi at the time) without my permission would of gotten her fingers bitten off.

When this event happen... I was exasperate but not surprised by the lack ethic with this so called trainer.

Anybody with a common sense brain knows better than to approach a dog and start petting him without the consent of the owners.

Contact information Disclaimer Privacy Statement Copyright Information Terms of Service Cookie policy ↑ Back to top

Calling all Master Trainers - Page 2

Pedigree Database