Should I hire a professional dog trainer or train my dog myself?

Hey folks! This is Frank from Sit Happens Dog Training.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from y'all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"Should I hire a professional dog trainer or train my dog myself?"

 Answer

That's a great question. So, it depends on the dog. Some dogs just come out of their their mother's womb, perfect dogs, and no real strong negative behaviors that need to be corrected. So, not all dogs need formal training. They need some kind of training though, whether you do it yourself or you've hired somebody. But some of the easier breeds to train typically are labs, you know, golden labs, retrievers, um, you know, breeds that that just want to please, you know, the owners. Um, other breeds are a little bit more strong willed. And I've always said this, the stronger the the more intelligent or smart the breed or dog is, the more strong willed and stubborn they can be.

 So if you have one of those dogs, I highly encourage you to reach out to either me if you're in my area or, you know, whatever area you're in, reach out to experienced dog trainer and get some advice on that. Um, in my area, I do a free consultation. So, I go out, I assess the dog and and I speak to the owners about what their goals are and then I, you know, I make a recommendation on what I feel the dog needs for training and then we go from there.

Summary

Jake Ni asked whether to hire a professional dog trainer or train the dog personally, to which Frank Silva responded that it depends on the dog, noting that some breeds like Labs and Golden Retrievers are easier to train because they aim to please. More intelligent or strong-willed dogs may benefit from professional help, and Frank Silva encouraged owners with such dogs to seek advice from an experienced trainer, perhaps starting with a free consultation to assess the dog and set training goals.