Is Online Dog Training Effective? Will It Help My Dog?
Does online dog training work? I often get asked why I continue to do 121 online dog behavioural support sessions and run the Fun Not Fear® Club, even though the lockdowns have long ago ended.
When online dog training took off.
During the first few years of covid, in people’s bid to stay healthy, everything went online. From food shopping, to doctor’s appointments, to dog training. Online communication became the norm because of the lockdowns. The consequences were devastating for certain industries, leading to widespread shutdowns.
But for dog training and behaviour, it was extremely busy.
Every person and his uncle bought a dog to go jogging with, for their one hour exercise a day. Breeders shot up their prices, and rescues had empty kennels. Dogs were more in demand than ever.
But how to train them if classes were not an option?
It took a little while, but people got their heads around the new way of working. Virtually. Dog training could now happen anywhere and anytime. Not just in an inconvenient village hall or drafty barn at 7 pm every Thursday with six other dogs.
More and more dogparents opened up to teaching at home instead. Sitting on your own sofa, with a cup of tea. Sessions at a convenient time for you. A more comfortable experience for your dog where they can learn more efficiently.
Lockdown dogs often had a new set of problems to their pre-covid counterparts, having never been alone or properly socialised. Dog behaviour consultations boomed. As a behaviourist, my business got busier, and I opened up an online school in response.
Unexpected advantages
At first it was all a blur. We all did our best to pivot, to continue helping dogs and started learning how to zoom, how to create better resources, and how to cobble things together and keep going in this new, scary landscape.
But we soon realised that we had been missing a trick all these years.
Virtual dog training and behaviour support is brilliant!
It was particularly advantageous for dogs in need of behavioural help, as they didn’t have to interact with a new dog expert or endure a stressful car ride to an unfamiliar place in order to start their support program. They could jump straight into confidence building exercises, which meant that by the time they ever (if they ever) met me, they were already well on their way to feeling better about the world.
It also meant their dogparents could re-watch recorded sessions to help them remember everything that was said by their behaviourist, and play the sessions to their families, dog walkers, and anyone important to their dog.
We can work with people all over the world, and people all over the world can seek a dog pro that focusses in on their dog’s exact struggles.
Specialists
Here at Locke’s Dogs -121 Behaviourist & Trainer (our 121 business) and at Fun Not Fear® Club, we specialise in working with anxious dogs.
People rely on dog professionals for advice on diverse dog-related topics. This leads to many dog pros who knew a little bit about a lot of things, in order to satisfy the wide range of struggles that local dogparents have.
Lots of doggy Jack-of-all-trades, and Masters-of-none.
Virtual dog training expanded opportunities for dog professionals beyond their local area. This gave us the ability to learn more about the aspects of dogs that interested us most.
The widened client base gave us the opportunity to specialise in our chosen fields of knowledge. We no longer had to rely on local clients to keep us afloat. Now we could cast the net wider to expand our client base and find those dogs and dogparents who needed the best online dog training for their specific issues.
Dog pros become specialised masters at helping dogs with their individual struggles. The rate of effectiveness and success of behaviour support sessions rocketed as we became experts.
We found in most cases, online support for behavioural struggles enhanced our good results further.
book a virtual 121 behaviour support session
How to find the best online dog training.
As with everything, for your dog, you want to be sure you have someone you can trust taking care of things.
Whenever looking for a dog pro, make sure:
They use kind, force-free and reward based techniques, and have relevant logos on their websites to show their training intent.
These logos do not have to be from fancy organisations, especially when it comes to businesses just starting up.
Some, like the Dog Welfare Alliance, check their members and allow their members to publicly take a declaration of intent to use force-free methods for just £10 a year, with the benefit of being able to be part of ICAN: International Animal Network as part of joining.
INTRO members at INTODogs pay just £35 and are vetted on entry.
Some, such as the Shock Free Coalition are even FREE!
Other organisations, such as PPG, Full INTODogs Members, ABTC, NICE do have a higher membership fee for trainers and behaviourists, but also require an even more thorough examination of the professional’s skills before they may join. These organisations require their members to do CPD and even help towards achieving that by giving their members access to leading figures in the business.
The dog pro is making a statement of using ethical methods for which they are held accountable, and that is the important thing.They should talk about how your dog feels about things and how to help them, rather than the task want they want to make your dog do.
They should use a holistic approach.
They will ask what is causing unwanted behaviours and deal with things at source. They consider your dog as a sentient being with needs, thoughts, wants, feelings, urges and more.They keep up with learning modern, scientific techniques and are not stuck using outdated aversive equipment and methods.
They use language like “cues” instead of “commands”; “Family” instead of “pack”; “Guide” instead of “Alpha.”
These may seem little things, but how we talk about our dogs determines how we view them and treat them.They have good reviews from people you know and trust.
They will want to know if you have seen a vet about the struggle. Many behaviour cases can be attributed to pain or illness. Often a behaviourist will ask for a vet referral.
They can explain WHY they do certain things with your dog and it makes sense to you. They teach YOU, so you can teach your dog.
They make sure that you, the dogparent, know exactly what is required for you to do, and that you are comfortable with it. They tailor sessions to your individual circumstances.
How does it work?
All 121 dog behaviour support service providers will differ slightly, but at Locke’s Dogs the process goes like this:
Book – With virtual behaviour support sessions, we allow clients to book either a free call with us, to see if we can help, or we allow clients to go straight ahead and book a session with us using our calendar.
Choose your time and date, fill in the short online form so we can get to know you better and then make payment when prompted.Check your email – We will send you a zoom link to the email address you provide, for signing into your session.
In a separate email you will also receive details on how to take advantage of your FREE Fun Not Fear® Club membership (available to ALL 121 clients).Join the meeting – at your chosen date and time following your link.
Bring along :
* Anyone who wants to join in the session to help your dog
* Lots of soft, chewy treats
* Your dog’s favourite toys
* Some Pet Remedy* or similarGet your recording – we will email it to you after your session as a YouTube link. This is for you to watch as many times as you need, and to share with anyone else who needs to see it.
Give us a review – if you were pleased with our service (and if not then get in touch and let us know what we could do better)
Do you need online dog training?
Is your dog anxious? Do they react aggressively to triggers? Or show fearful behaviour?
Book a session with us and let’s explore ways to help your dog live their happiest life, and feel better about the world.
Book a virtual 121 behaviour support session
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