When we brought Bella home at 3 months old, we really had no idea what we were in for.
We had issues with toilet training but that was minor, because she was smart and picked up toilet training quite fast, play biting, biting our wall corners and the most annoying habit of all was barking at us when we closed our room door and she was outside in her playpen. At that time Bella was too young to be allowed to run around the house unsupervised.
So we decided that we needed the help of a dog trainer. I had looked around the Internet and asked for recommendations from friends. It wasn't an easy decisions because it's pretty expensive. I then narrowed down my choice to
Waggies and
Happy Dog Training. Waggies got my attention because they had videos of the classes and the price was more pocket friendly. At that time it was about $650 for 10 group lessons. The videos showed how well the dogs responded to the obedience training, And it seemed pretty fun, until the part I saw where at the end of the training session, you had to perform all the tricks in front of the whole class, I guess like an exam to show that you passed the class. We're not much on being the centre of attention kind of people. Lame, I know. The other reason we were leaning towards Waggies was because, well, he was friends with the Dog Whisperer himself, Cesar Milan!
But in the end, we went with Happy Dog Training because the price for 1 on 1 training was much cheaper than Waggies and a friend of a friend had gone through it and said it helped. Since our issues were related to things at home, I felt that 1 on 1 training would be more beneficial. But on hindsight I really wished we had done the group lesson so that Bella could've gotten more dog socialisation. But for group lessons pricing, Waggies is still cheaper as they were 10 sessions of 1.5 hours each, whereas Happy Dog Training's lessons are only 1 hour each for 7 sessions at $500.
Before the first lesson started we were really excited, but my initial impression wasn't that great because the trainer was late at almost half an hour and never bothered to contact me. Our area is a little hard to find because it's a new place, so I would have understood if you got a bit lost. Another thing that I felt would have been good is if he didn't take up the first lesson to find out what are the issues we wanted to work on, instead would be good if he perhaps asked us to message him what our issues were so he could prepare lessons accordingly. So for the first lesson, perhaps due to our excitement, we sat excitedly hanging on to his every word, expanding our puppy knowledge. Nodding at everything he said and some things were real eye openers.
We have now finished all our 6 lessons. I can say the best thing about this trainer is his flexibility in lesson timings, if you need to postpone a lesson to another week or something he is okay with it. However, here is the less than pleasing things I found with this trainer: I didn't feel like he connected with our dog very well, I'm not even sure if he remembered her name...called her Buddy at one stage. Secondly, I was a little annoyed when one lesson, after we had missed and reshuffled some lessons, he said to us, where were we? Have I taught you this? To me, I felt like it was a little unprofessional and disorganised, shouldn't he take notes after each lesson and review each stage before he comes? I guess perhaps it's such a casual atmosphere for the 1 on 1 lessons that a lesson plan wasn't necessary as each lesson is to work on the problems we have at home. We spent a great deal each lesson talking and sometimes felt like one lesson only managed to deal with one issue.
Third thing I wasn't that happy about was that at times, we felt like he talked down on us and made us feel bad for not being a better pup parent. Perhaps trainers forget that normal people have a life and other things to do and can't spend hours on end training their dogs. Progress may be slower. It also felt like we didn't get to do some of the things that was listed on the website such as come to you when called off the leash, walk nice on leash without pulling, how to socialise your dog nicely, etc. Some things were only briefly touched on. Maybe 6 lessons just wasn't enough. On the last lesson, we went to his house where he also does Dog Boarding, so the pups in training are able to go there and socialise with the other dogs there. I was quite excited because we don't get to meet so many other dogs in one go. It was a n interesting experience to watch how Bella reacted to other dogs while off the leash. He had a big grassy backyard where the dogs can roam around freely anytime, but be warned because we got attacked by lots of bugs on our legs so we were itching like crazy. My only annoyance for this lesson was I felt like we pay $100 for this lesson and all we did was stand around for an hour watching Bella sniff other dogs, and other dogs sniff Bella. The purpose for the lesson was to watch the dog's body language....and I guess that's it?? Basically we're supposed to just go out and socialise Bella much much more (which is harder to do than it sounds) and put her in time out in her pen whenever she does something we don't like. That in itself is exhausting.
Though he has no doubt helped us on some issues, I don't think I can say that this was entirely worth the $600. First lesson yes, subsequently, no. And the more it dragged on the more I felt like I couldn't wait for the whole six sessions to be over. Maybe we just didn't have a connection, maybe others have, but this is just our experience and how we feel. I'm sure he's rehabilitated many many dogs and he's had many happy customers, but for me personally I think it was lacking great customer service, message replies are not very prompt or warm, eventhough there's a lifetime support, I'm doubtful that we'll get much support if we asked him questions now and I think it's important that he build a relationship with the dog and their owners. Just watch dog trainer Zak George on Youtube and you'll know what I mean
https://www.youtube.com/user/zakgeorge21.
So if you're looking for a dog trainer, please think long and hard on what your needs are and what you are also looking for in the trainer themselves. Unfortunately we won't know what it's like until you've attended the first class but by that time it would be too late if you don't gel since you've already paid for all the lessons in full.
I would still love to sign Bella up for lessons at Waggies, but wish it was more affordable since we've already spent so much on her with the other trainer.
