What personal qualities should you expect from your dog trainer?
Obviously, a dog trainer has to know what he’s talking about, but that’s just the beginning.
They must master their craft, understand the science of how dogs learn and be able to apply their knowledge in unique situations. But these are things that most people could learn if they wanted to. Although it’s absolutely necessary, knowledge alone isn’t enough.
When knowledge is combined with essential personal qualities, the result is someone who will provide exceptional service.
Love for People and Dogs
Someone who claims to love dogs and dislike people isn’t going to meet the first qualification as a dog trainer. The goal is to enrich the relationship between the dog and the owner. To be successful, a trainer must deeply care about people as well as dogs.
Kindness
Being kind to dogs means having an awareness of their state of mind and giving them every opportunity to succeed. A great trainer is generous with reinforcements and uses them to motivate. Kindness toward the dog’s owner builds a person’s confidence and motivates him to participate in the training process. Measuring words so that they are encouraging and not critical creates an ideal learning environment.
Empathy
Great trainers have to be able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They have to always keep in mind what it feels like to be a beginner. When empathy is truly a part of a trainer’s personality, they are never impatient with or critical toward a student who is struggling. That applies to their canine student as well as their human student.
Ability to Teach
People who know things are not always good at teaching those things to other people. But great dog trainers must have the ability to teach people. The ability to teach is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice.
But the instincts of a natural teacher take the learned skill to a higher level. Natural teachers are creative about solving problems and reducing difficult challenges to smaller easier steps. They plan, organize and simplify. They are excellent communicators.
Perseverance
Great teachers don’t give up on a student when things are not going well. Learning is filled with setbacks, failures, and disappointments. Great dog trainers see failures as valuable information and opportunities to improve. Frustration is a challenge to find a new path to success. If one technique doesn’t work, they have a dozen others in their toolbox. They respect the uniqueness of every student.
A truly qualified trainer would never label a dog as “untrainable” or “stupid”. They know that doing so would make them guilty of those same labels.
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