The Most Important Part of Dog Training

This triangle shows the three players in all dog training schemes: the dog, the dog owner, and the dog training technique or trainer. 

A lot of people think the DOG is the most important part of this triangle.

It’s not. 

A lot of folks think the TRAINING TECHNIQUE or TRAINER is the most important part of this triangle.

It’s not. 

The most important part of this triangle is the OWNER.

It’s the owner or client that has to reinforce and repeat the training over a lifetime.

And here's a little secret that most dog trainers will not mention: they probably cannot change you.

People are who they are, and they do not change much absent a major traumatic life event.

If you are hazy, lazy, or crazy coming through the front door, that's probably how you are going to leave.

A good dog trainer can almost always get a client's dog to settle down, to focus on looking for cues and commands, and to learn a few basic and useful commands.

But if the dog's owner will not follow up and repeat, repeat, repeat, then things will tend to drift back towards what they were.

The good news is that if a dog owner is willing to work with a dog, in a systematic and directed way, for only 10 minutes a day every day, both the dog and the owner will have their life changed forever.