One stop shopping is so convenient for so many things. You go to your mall and you can pick up living room furniture, clothes, food gift items, and tires for your car. The supermarkets can provide you with groceries, banking services, non-prescription drug items, the business community has caught on to this trend and the synergies developed that drive different business with different products or the one business that provides all products.
But does this work for veterinary services and training programs? With some exceptions, as there always are, in my opinion the answer is no.
The reason for this is that the large retail chains do not want the best veterinary clinic or the best dog-training program that they can provide. These corporations simply want you to come into their stores and buy more products. Of course these other services do provide income for them, but that is not why they are there. They do not hire the best veterinary talent, behaviorists, vet techs, or trainers; they can to provide these services. They hire people that can stick to a certain formula that provides the most revenue for their retail establishment. The classes are geared so that everyone was aggressively encouraged to buy things like five treats, various toys, their leashes and collars, et no matter the supplies that were already purchased at home. Each class is set up to basically go over at least one other group of products each time, and the trainers are coached to direct you to those products at the conclusion of each class.
For instance, you will graduate from the beginner or basic program to the advanced no matter what unless your dog openly and publicly attacks another dog or person. This is especially so if you have already bought the next available course. I know this because I trained at one of these stores, and was appalled at both the advanced classes and the “graduation” ceremony. To see the difference, go to a dog show sometime, and see what even the Novice AKC A dogs can do to pass (not win but pass). This should be the end result of a beginner or maybe an intermediate course. The advanced course at these retail establishments can generally not heel with loose leash, but are counseled to have a spoon with peanut butter ready. In every case I saw, the dog was either just interested in the spoon while not heeling, or was interested in the rest of the store while not heeling. Walking your dog on a loose leash is the least that you want to get out of your training program, and in general they can’t even deliver that on a large scale.
Check out trainers advanced classes in the area that are not retail pet supply chains. How do these measure up? Again, there are some exceptions and some fine trainers at these retail establishments, but I would estimate that less than 10% of these trainers would get you where you want to go. Covered in another article upcoming, they also only offer one method of training that is “friendly” for customers to see when they come into the store. That method and those tools may not be appropriate for your dog. However, if you choose to train there, your options are going to be severely limited for training.
If this is your first dog or your first dog in awhile, sub standard training methods may seem perfectly acceptable. There is the social component that is nice, and so what if my dog doesn’t really learn to stay or learn to sit except when he wants to? It may be hard to imagine without having experienced it, but your life and your dog’s life is so much easier and has more freedom with training. It is a pleasure to be able to take your dog almost anywhere, do errands with your dog, go on vacation with your dog, as long as he/she is trained. Far less pleasurable is traveling, visiting relatives, or going on vacation with an untrained dog. Your dog will enjoy more freedom in the end, and he/she will finally understand what it is you want him/her to do with the proper training and training program. Good, solid training is great for all parties in the transaction.
These retail situations may be good if you are accomplishing training privately already, and not really looking for guidance on the training portion. Beware though, only certain equipment is allowed in the retail store environment and these do not include prong collars, e-collars, or even metal training or choke collars. To be able to work around distractions where your dog is accepted as part of the environment is valuable. Dog clubs can also provide this atmosphere for you with a higher level of training, although these may use only positive only methods also.
Don’t sell yourself or your pooch short. Find a trainer whose major source of income is training not pet supplies. If you live in the York ME area, give me a call.
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