When to Hire a Dog Trainer: Setting You & Your Dog Up for Success

Hello, dog peeps. Jack here. Just a quick one before we get into this episode. You may or may not be aware that when I'm not talking dog stuff with Max, I in fact interview people who are incarcerated in prisons across the United States on a show called One Minute Remaining: Stories from the Inmates. And that show has been nominated for an award in America. And I would love your support if you've got 60 seconds to click the link in the show notes of this episode and just vote for my show. That would be amazing if you could. Thank you very much indeed. Oh, and don't forget to verify your email address. Otherwise, the vote does not count. Thank you.

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It's the Dog People Podcast with your host Jack Lawrence.

Secretly, I decided to start this podcast for some free dog training advice. You know, Malinois seem to be like the dog at the moment. Like, I think people see them on Instagram doing these incredible things. Yeah. Go, oh my God, that's awesome. And then I get one like, oh my God, what the fuck have I done? And Max O'Neill.

You would not believe how many people I meet and I go, what made you want to get, say, an Aussie Shepherd? They go, I don't know. I go, had you met one before? They go, no. If you want to ask me how often I walk my own dog a week, it's only twice a week.

It's the Dog People Podcast, the podcast hopefully giving you a no-nonsense approach to dog training so you never have to shout, it's okay, he's friendly. My name's Jack Lawrence. Not a dog trainer at all. I've got a dog trainer here, of course, Max O'Neill from the Down Under Dog Trainer. And Max, this question today is an interesting one because you can't be biased here. Okay. Because the question is, when should you get a dog trainer? Now you can't say immediately and then never let them go.

Yeah. You should get one right now. It has to be Down Under Dog Trainer. Yeah.

Once a week for the rest of your life.

It's a question we get a lot. People go, hey, I, I don't know if I need to employ you guys. And we always like to give people a really honest thing. Like just on Tuesday night, I spoke to someone and said, hey, actually I don't think so. Like, I think you're good from here. Like, we're cool. Um, and I'm going to give you guys the same honest answer now. So what we tell people is whenever there's a significant gap between where you're at and where you want to be, and if you don't know how to cover that ground on your own, that's when you should get a dog trainer. And the example we give people is like whether, you know, whether you're a dog expert or a, you know, a dog novice is at some point most people are going to need a dog trainer. I'm a professional dog trainer and I see other dog trainers. Yeah. I'm new to this whole protection thing, so I don't want to just walk up and go, oh, I know what I'm doing and I'm just going to figure it out. Training can be so broad. So, I've employed multiple trainers to go, hey, I need help with this little thing and this little thing and this little thing. So, it's, you know, and that's the same. Plenty of like— recently when I saw Michael Ellis last year in Australia, he said, oh, yeah, I get this guy in to help me with this because I don't know about this. Even the best in the world can get people to help them with this stuff. So it's about having an open mind.

But just for those who don't know, Michael Ellis is like a huge name in dog training. Like, he's one of the, one of the old school greatest dog trainers there is. Just for those who don't know.

Absolute legend. And everyone at some stage is likely going to need one. So if you've got a gap between where you are, where you want to be, and you don't know how to cover it, you might need a dog trainer. So one way of thinking of it is let's just say that you're somewhat handy with a car. You know how to change a wheel, you know how to change the oil, you maybe even know how to top up some fluids and do things like that. But let's just say your car comes up and it needs a timing belt and you don't know how to do that. Same with a dog. If you leave that and just go, oh, I kind of know what I'm doing, so I don't think I need a trainer, but I don't know how to do this thing and I'll kind of figure it out, is you might get some luck, but chances are you're going to kind of screw it up and that problem is going to become bigger and you go, I should have just seen someone. It's no different for your dog. You can know all of this stuff or you can know none of this stuff, but if you've got something you need fixing or needs working on that you don't know how to do, that's the time to get someone.

Yeah. I mean, look, I've been on both sides of the fence. One of my biggest regrets in life was I did get— I got a dog years and years and years and years and years ago. German Shepherd cross Kelpie. Stupidest thing I've ever done because I had no experience. I didn't know what I was doing. I was, you know, it was the, you know, it's a dog. I'll teach it how to sit. Lie down, come, all the rest of it. And I never employed a dog trainer until it was too late, until I then had a reactive dog and it was just major issues. It was separation anxiety, it was escaping, it was all sorts of terrible things. And that's when I got the dog trainer in and then spent a fortune on dog trainers trying to help me understand where I was going wrong and try and, in air quotes, fix the dog. And it was just a nightmare. So this time round, because I wasn't even planning on getting or keeping Kira. I didn't want a working dog. And at the end of the day, she was here for too long. And I just said, well, we can't get rid of her now. We've got to keep her. And I was like, in my head, I'm like, if we're doing this, I've got to— I don't want to repeat the past. So I'm like, from day one of, okay, she's my dog. That's when I came and found you. And I'm like, I need to get this right from day one. And for me, that was important. Even since then, you know, I've, I've asked you so many questions since then. I've used other dog trainers as well for other parts of it. Because I just feel for me, I just want that knowledge. And I, and it's guilt as well. There's a lot of guilt for me in the past of that dog. 'Cause I'm like, God, if I could go back, if I knew what I knew now, blah, blah, blah. But I didn't because I didn't get the help that I needed.

You were at that place. You go like, look, I thought I knew more than I did. And it turns out I didn't. So I know right now I'm at this point where I'm here and I want to be there. And I thought I knew how to do it, but I don't. And that's it is in a lot of the times, guys, in terms of whether to employ a dog trainer or not, it's about being proactive because you don't want to get to the stage where you let things go so much longer and things either become a bigger problem that's going to cost you more time, effort, money, or things become unfixable. You go, damn, I really wish I'd done that sooner. So sometimes the time is now, sometimes it's not. But when deciding whether to do, just try and keep that in mind and go, is there a gap that I need to cross? Yes or no? Do I know how to do this on my own? Yes or no? And if you can be honest with yourself about both those questions, you'll come to your answer.

I think the most important thing is if you're listening to this and you don't have a dog and you've never had a dog before, maybe even if you've had a family dog when you were a kid and you're thinking about bringing a new dog into your home, I would just say, you know, from my own personal experience, get help. Because dogs don't— and we speak about this so much— dogs don't come pre-programmed. I think people have this And I was the same with my— that dog, like, oh yeah, I'll teach you to sit, you know, I'll YouTube a few things and blah, blah, blah. But there is so much more to it. I really think it's— yes, getting a dog can be expensive, but again, you're better off spending, investing that money now so that down the track you've got the dog you want. Because I now have the dog that I want, and I would hope that she's found the person that she would want because she gets everything that she needs because I've learnt from you. And because I've learned from other trainers. And I think, you know, it's like with anything in life, we don't know things. So when you don't know something, you look for the people that do so you can learn and sponge the knowledge from them. So, you know, I think don't get a dog on a whim and just go, oh yeah, we'll get a dog. That'll be fun. As we've said in the past, in other episodes, our shelters are so full of dogs at the moment.

Yeah.

I would suggest 90% of the dogs in those places, maybe more, are in there because Behavioural issues potentially, and situations that people have got into where they're like, I can't, I don't know what I'm doing. I can't fix this. This dog's barking or whining. This dog's reactive. This dog's this, this, this, and this. Those dogs, I guarantee, would not be in those shelters if they were amazing dogs who had no issues.

Yeah. Or if they'd sought professional help.

If they saw, if their owners had sought professional help in the beginning.

Yeah.

As you said, you know, it's, you've got to work out where your own knowledge is and be honest with yourself. But I would just say like, why not just do a few sessions? Even just, just do one session, like with a trainer like yourself. Yeah. You know, I know that there's a lot of people also that they get a dog and they're like, right, we're going to go to puppy school, which is great. Fantastic. Not all puppy schools are equal, of course. Like, not all dog trainers are equal, but they go there, they get a bit of knowledge and they go, right, perfect.

Job done.

Yeah. Fantastic. We can go. We've done our course. They've got a little certificate. That's it. And then the training stops and everything else stops. And then suddenly those problems start creeping in again.

Yeah.

I've got no skin in the game at all. I think dogs— I think dog trainers are super important. From my personal opinion, I would say, do you need a dog trainer? Unless you have experience and had a number of dogs before, yes, you do. Yeah, you need a dog trainer.

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And sometimes I guess the last point is this. You might think you're fine. You might have looked at today and gone, no, you know what? We're, you know, we're exactly where we want to be. There isn't any gaps or anything like that, but you might find that getting a professional out and someone who really knows what they're looking at to run an eye over your dog, and even just an objective You might know what you're looking at. You might be a very smart dog person, but just getting that extra set of eyes to go, actually, I can see gaps here, here, and there. There might be bigger problems underlying or bigger gaps than you're not quite aware of. So the answer is honestly, everyone needs a dog trainer. Like I said, even the best in the world need dog trainers. I need a dog trainer. You also probably need a dog trainer.

My next dog, I know what— I know the next breed I want, and I know the dog I want. Close your ears, Kira. Not for a very long time, Kira. You're gonna be here for years. But I know the next dog that I want, and I know when I get that dog, I'm going to get a dog trainer no matter how much I think I know, because people will ask me, oh, how did you get Kira to do that? And I suddenly go, shit, I can't remember. I don't know. So, you know, I think you can never stop learning with anything. I think, you know, and you can— I don't think any— as you said, you use dog trainers. The best dog trainers in the world use dog trainers.

Yeah.

So I think normal Joe Blow on the street, you should get a dog trainer.

The last thing we'll leave you with, guys, is wherever you're listening from in the world, whether it's Australia or abroad, is reach out on the page. Yes. This isn't a sale pitch for Down Under Dog Trainer. We service the Gold Coast and we do video chats remotely, et cetera, but this is not a pitch for our business. If you are looking for someone and you go, hey, I'm in the Melbourne area, I need someone, reach out. If you're in New Zealand, I need someone, reach out. I'm not going to try and push my services. I can push you to the best possible person in your area. I'm a pretty good directory. We have a very big network. So wherever you are listening from, reach out in the Facebook group, The Dog People Podcast, and we'll put you in touch with someone really good in your area.

Yeah, because that's the other thing. A lot of people get nervous about, well, who's the best person to go to?

What if they're shit?

Yeah, exactly. Because I don't— I've had shit trainers in the past and it is frustrating because you spend, you know, all this money and then you're like, hold on a second, what's going on here? So jump on the Facebook page right now, The Dog People Podcast. Jump in there, ask questions, and we'll see you next time.

Thanks for listening.

The Dog People Podcast is a Mashed Pumpkin production hosted by Jack Lawrence and Max O'Neill. Edited, produced, and audio production by Jack Lawrence.

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