Have been searching and searching. Found someone, in London, who seems very well qualified as both a trainer and with serious qualifications in canine psychology, and doesn't have a website called darlingdoggywoggies.com or alphamaledominate.com (or similar). Or have an "about me" section containing "I loved dogs as a child - got a dog - found it difficult - so became a dog trainer". : Right. Initial emails were positive. Hopefully this will go ok. Speaking to her tomorrow, and hopefully meet up at the weekend. I think what I'm looking for is an intelligent pair of eyes that can observe what I'm doing and give me good feedback. Rather what everyone on the forum would do if only I could post a video of everything. . Plus, I hope, help me do good set ups with other dogs in "real life" situations (by that I mean help me train for the chaos of Wimbledon Common). : Fingers crossed.
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... Looking forward to hearing your progress, Julie! Hope it goes well...seems to be tricky to find the right trainer, but I guess that's to be expected with all the different approaches, people, and dogs involved!
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... That sounds really good Julie. That's what you need someone to observe what you've achieved with Charlie and help you progress rather than tell you how to train if you get what I mean ? Don't forget to let me know any tips she gives you about controlling his excitement etc. Hope it goes well.
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... Hope it's useful. (I laughed at your domain names, by the way ;D )
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... No, I haven't found a trainer. After long phone call today, not convinced she knows more than I do (which is not a lot at all). Sigh.... back to the drawing board.
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... Doh! The search goes on !!!! You both deserve the right trainer x
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... I know. Maybe it's me.... Actually, what it is - I think - is that trainers have a sort of programme that they teach and I don't want it, I want something else. It's probably an efficient way for them to run a business, but it's not what I want to buy. The conversations tend to go something like this: Trainer: What have you got? Me: A nutty 1 year old Chocolate labrador who... Trainer: Right! You'll need the inability to get your dog to walk on a lead properly section A, teenage problems with recall section B, and no jumping up from first principles. Me: Oh, well, I was actually thinking of... Trainer: It's £xx for 2 hours, how does next Wednesday at 2pm sound? Me: er.....
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=JulieT link=topic=5548.msg70293#msg70293 date=1398193555] The conversations tend to go something like this: Trainer: What have you got? Me: A nutty 1 year old Chocolate labrador who... Trainer: Right! You'll need the inability to get your dog to walk on a lead properly section A, teenage problems with recall section B, and no jumping up from first principles. Me: Oh, well, I was actually thinking of... Trainer: It's £xx for 2 hours, how does next Wednesday at 2pm sound? Me: er..... [/quote] Anyone calling themself a trainer but won't listen can't possibly teach!
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... Mmm, it is a problem. And, MMM, I quite agree! I think, from the trainers' perspective, probably 99% of their clientele are consulting a trainer instead of reading up themselves and actually trying to train their own dog. And probably most dogs/owners they are consulted about can be helped quite significantly by imparting some pretty basic principles, which would be mostly old hat to us Lab Forum regulars! It's probably very rarely that they encounter anyone as well-read and knowledgable as you, Julie (or indeed Helen who's similarly struggled). From what I've seen and heard, dog trainers rarely seem to have that much experience of training (in it's broader sense) human adults, and all the subtleties that involves if you're going to do it well, like establishing their individual starting points, finding out their personal goals and ambitions, preferred learning styles etc. and then guiding the people to learn what they need. Maybe we should set up our own training consortium? I reckon between us all we've got a pretty impressive range of skills ;D
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=Merla] It's probably very rarely that they encounter anyone as well-read and knowledgable as you, Julie! [/quote] Totally agree [quote author=MadMudMob ] Anyone calling themself a trainer but won't listen can't possibly teach! [/quote] Absolutely [quote author=Merla] Maybe we should set up our own training consortium? I reckon between us all we've got a pretty impressive range of skills ;D [/quote] That would be awesome! Can you imagine a poor unsuspecting prospective owner? ;D
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=5548.msg70301#msg70301 date=1398195008] [quote author=Merla] It's probably very rarely that they encounter anyone as well-read and knowledgable as you, Julie! [/quote] Totally agree [/quote] I'm probably a nightmare student. . All the books but zero practical experience. : My tongue was red raw from biting it during my first ever gundog lesson. I made myself not say - ever - "I think you'll find, in Pippa's gundog book 2, section 3.3, paragraph 2, that...." :. I didn't say it, to my immense benefit! At least I know my limitations though, which is something. ;D ;D ;D
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=JulieT link=topic=5548.msg70305#msg70305 date=1398195907] I'm probably a nightmare student. . [/quote] Au contraire, I think you should insist on being recognised as Gifted and Talented ;D ;D Seriously though, I think the trainer any of us would really want is one who is more than happy to discuss (at length!) the different theories and techniques we've seen and read about, and justify their own practice and methods. When this person is located, there'll be quite a queue!
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=Merla link=topic=5548.msg70315#msg70315 date=1398197880] Seriously though, I think the trainer any of us would really want is one who is more than happy to discuss (at length!) the different theories and techniques we've seen and read about, and justify their own practice and methods. When this person is located, there'll be quite a queue! [/quote] Exactly. Well, I'll keep looking.
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=Merla link=topic=5548.msg70315#msg70315 date=1398197880] [quote author=JulieT link=topic=5548.msg70305#msg70305 date=1398195907] [/quote] Seriously though, I think the trainer any of us would really want is one who is more than happy to discuss (at length!) the different theories and techniques we've seen and read about, and justify their own practice and methods. When this person is located, there'll be quite a queue! [/quote] Now that would be a find I think after taking Charlie to 3 trainers without any real success I give up as I seem to be the only "trainer" that listens God help Charlie ;D x
Re: Think I might have found a trainer... [quote author=JulieT link=topic=5548.msg70305#msg70305 date=1398195907] [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=5548.msg70301#msg70301 date=1398195008] [quote author=Merla] [/quote] [/quote] My tongue was red raw from biting it during my first ever gundog lesson. I made myself not say - ever - "I think you'll find, in Pippa's gundog book 2, section 3.3, paragraph 2, that...." :. I didn't say it, to my immense benefit [/quote] You did better than me Julie, I kept saying Pippa said "never repeat your recall whistle as you are teaching your dog to ingnore you" ;D Thankfully I never had to explain that I have infact never met Pippa and only communicate with her through the Labrador Forum ;D ;D
