Five Advantages To Private Dog Training Lessons
Dog obedience training can be conducted in a group setting or one-on-one. Group classes usually include one trainer for up to ten dogs, including your dog. Private dog obedience training classes, on the other hand, are conducted with just one dog. While every dog is different, there are certain advantages to private dog training classes. Here are five main advantages to private dog obedience training.
Flexible Schedules
Private lessons can generally be arranged at a mutually agreeable time for you and the trainer. At the pre-arranged time, you travel to the trainer’s location where the trainer can work one on one with you and your dog.
Unlike group classes, with private lessons you are not locked into a specific time for your classes. The most easily found group classes are run on a part time basis by pet stores. This means that you often have only a few class times to choose from. If your schedule is busy with work, kids, and/or home responsibilities, your schedule might not match up with the pet store’s schedule. By scheduling private dog obedience training classes, you can usually find a time that is mutually convenient for both you and the trainer.
Customized Training Plan
Group classes generally only cover the most common commands that every dog needs to learn. If your dog has a particular issue, you have to hope that it is common enough to be covered in a group class. If not, your dog will have to go without.
Private classes can be customized to your and your dog’s special needs. Classes can cover those lessons your dog needs to learn and skip those lessons your dog already knows or are not applicable to your situation. For example, if your dog knows the basic commands like sit, and stay, the trainer can skip those commands. If your dog, on the other hand, has some behavioral issues, like barking, jumping, biting, or aggressiveness with other dogs, a training plan can be customized to specifically address those unique issues.
Minimize Distractions
Any student can be distracted by the disruptive behavior of another student. This is true with people and with dogs. Regardless of whether your dog is easily distracted or is stoic, other dogs and their unique behaviors can cause problems with your dog’s learning.
And, even worse than someone else’s poorly behaved dog is if it’s your dog that is the disruptive one. You will be the one who other dog owners wish you weren’t there. In many ways, these lessons are just as much for the human as for the dogs. If you are embarrassed by your dog’s behavior, neither you nor your dog will be at your best in a group setting to learn lessons.
Private dog obedience training only involves those distractions that are intentionally introduced by the trainer to get your dog accustomed to real world situations. And, in most cases, unless you are needing to acclimate your dog to other dogs, private training provides excellent training for your unique dog.
Go at Your Dog’s (and Your) Pace
There is a principle in any class, whether it is school or dog obedience training, that you can only go as fast as the slowest student. This is fine if your dog is the slowest student, but if not, your dog will receive less training than he or she is capable of, and in essence, getting less training than you paid for or expected.
Private lessons can proceed at your and your dog’s pace so that you both fully comprehend the lesson before moving forward. No matter if your dog is a fast or slow learner, private training allows you to pay for exactly the training you want and need.
Avoid Bad Habits
According to The American Pet Products Association, nearly 35% of dogs are purchased from breeders. Even if your dog is professionally bred, they can still have bad habits. Worse yet, your dog may pick up bad habits in group settings while interacting with other dogs.
Private lessons can keep your dog away from bad influences and reduce the bad habits that they might be exposed to.
As is true with most things in life, there are trade-offs. Private lessons offer some very specific advantages over group lessons. Your dog can be trained with customized training at a pace that will ensure the effectiveness of the training. Your dog will be trained in an environment with minimal distractions that could disrupt training and instill bad habits. Finally, the training classes can be fit to your schedule.
Dogs are social animals that look up to humans for guidance and behavior expectations. As the owner, you have a role to play in determining how your dog behaves. Training your dog is the only way you can instill wanted behavior in your pet and ensure that your relationship is not compromised by bad behavior.
Some dog behaviors are annoying: begging for food, urinating on the carpet, and sitting on the furniture. While they may be bothersome and justify dog training, they do not necessarily pose a danger to the dog or to the owner.
Like people, every dog has a unique personality. What that also means is that they likely also have a unique set of hang-ups. Just because dog personalities are unique does not mean that their behaviors cannot be corrected.
Are you aware that the earliest remains of humans and dogs buried together are 14,000 years old? The close bond between man and canine has been around for centuries and it is only growing stronger.