#162 Choosing the Best Training Option for Your Dog: Private Lessons, Group Classes, and Board & Train Programs: Dog Training Today will Will Bangura, M.S., CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, FFCP

Why struggle with training your dog when you could have the ultimate guide to success? In today's episode of Dog Training Today, I, Will Bangura, break down the best dog training options for your furry friend. We weigh the advantages and disadvantages of private lessons, group classes, and board and train programs, making sure you get the most personalized advice. Discover why private one-on-one training stands out as the most effective, especially for tackling those pesky nuisance behaviors at home. While group classes offer controlled distractions ideal for more advanced training, they can be overwhelming for novices. And when it comes to board and train programs, we reveal why they might not be as beneficial as they seem, despite their profitability for trainers.

Tired of dealing with your dog's aggression, reactivity, or fearfulness? We’ve got you covered with effective solutions, including the highly recommended Calm Dogs product that has transformed numerous canine lives. Tune in to hear success stories and learn practical strategies to help your dog overcome behavioral issues. Plus, don’t miss my live Facebook event every Saturday at 12 noon Eastern, where I answer your burning questions and offer positive, actionable advice. Share these insights with fellow dog lovers, and let's create a well-behaved, happy dog community together!

Will Bangura M.S. CBCC-KA (00:04.89)
Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood, having trained more than 24 ,000 vets, helping you and your fur babies thrive. Live in studio with Will Bangura answering your pet behavior and training questions. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host and favorite pet behavior expert, Will Bangura. Would you like to go on?

Will Bangura M.S. CBCC-KA (00:38.106)
Good day dog lovers. I'm Will Van Gura. Thanks for joining me for another episode of dog training today. We really appreciate you. We love all your support. Today I want to talk about different dog training options. You know, whether it be you needing or wanting to train a young puppy or you training an older dog, there are different options. You know, some of the most common options are sending your dog away.

for training, what a lot of people call board and train or doggy bootcamp, having private lessons or going to a group class. So I just want to talk a little bit about the pros and cons of all of those. Now, the first thing that I want to say is that I believe, especially, especially when you're starting brand new training with a dog that knows little to nothing, that getting private one -on -one training

the best option for every dog and for every pet parent. if you've got a dog that has problems in the home, nuisance behaviors like potty training issues, jumping, barking, digging, being destructive, again, having private lessons is great. Now, if you've got a lot of those nuisance behaviors at your home, private lessons are best done there, at your home.

and not done at the trainer's facility if they have one or meeting them in a park. Now I'm not saying that that's a bad way to go. Again, private one -on -one training I think is the best thing because you the pet parent get the undivided attention of that trainer without them having to divide their attention with other pet parents, with other dogs. And that leads me into group training classes.

because a lot of people want to opt for group training classes because in many cases they're more affordable than private one -on -one training and group classes can be a g

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood. Having trained more than 24,000 pets, helping you and your fur babies thrive, live in studio with Will Bangura answering your pet behavior and training questions. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host and favorite pet behavior expert.

Speaker 2: 0:25

Will.

Speaker 1: 0:26

Bangura, would you like to go on?

Speaker 2: 0:41

Good day dog lovers. I'm Will Bangura. Thanks for joining me for another episode of Dog Training Today. We really appreciate you. We love all your support.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Today I want to talk about different dog training options. Whether it be you needing or wanting to train a young puppy, or you training an older dog, there are different options. Or you training an older dog, there are different options. Some of the most common options are sending your dog away for training, what a lot of people call board and train, or doggy boot camp, having private lessons or going to a group class. So I just want to talk a little bit about the pros and cons of all of those.

Speaker 2: 1:23

Now, the first thing that I want to say is that I believe. Now, the first thing that I want to say is that I believe especially especially when you're starting brand new training with a dog that knows little to nothing that getting private, one-on-one training is the best option for every dog and for every pet parent. And if you've got a dog that has problems in the home nuisance behaviors like potty training, issues, jumping, barking, digging, being destructive again, having private lessons is great. Now, if you've got a lot of those nuisance behaviors at your home, private lessons are best done there, at your home, and not done at the trainer's facility, if they have one, or meeting them in a park. Now I'm not saying that that's a bad way to go. Again, private one-on-one training, I think, is the best thing because you, the pet parent, get the undivided attention of that trainer, without them having to divide their attention with other pet parents, with other dogs. And that leads me into group training classes, because a lot of people want to opt for group training classes because in many cases they're more affordable than private. One-on-one training and group classes can be a great thing or they can be a complete and total disaster. Now imagine that you've got a dog that knows nothing and maybe it's a brand new dog to you and you take your dog as a pet parent and go to a group class and let's say that there's 12 other dogs in that class. Typically what you have are 12 dogs that know nothing, that are out of control, 12 pet parents that know nothing and don't know how to get their dogs under control and one trainer for 60 minutes, and so typically, most of the time, group training classes are an hour of chaos. Now in some cases there are some fantastic, really, really really good trainers that operate and run some fantastic group classes. But if they were being honest with you, like I am right now, they would tell you one-on-one training is going to be the best option. Now, group training might be a better option for the trainer because they get to make a lot of money in group classes. That's right, it might be cheaper for you. But when you've got 12 people in a class, you're getting paid from 12 people versus doing a private instruction with one person. So you know, group classes sometimes can be very profitable for a trainer.

Speaker 2: 4:14

Now, the distraction factor is the biggest thing. All right, you never want to start training a dog when there's a ton of distractions. You're setting them up for failure. And again, if you go to our group class and your dog knows little to nothing, you know little to nothing and most of the folks that are going to be there are going to be in the same boat. It's going to be distraction after distraction after distraction Most of the time. Granted, there's always an exception to the rule. I know I'm going to get an email from somebody said hey, I took my brand new puppy to this group class. It was the greatest, best thing that we could have ever done. Well, that's fantastic. There's always exceptions to the rule. Right Now where group classes I think are fantastic and where I would wholeheartedly support group training is after your dog has had private training, after your dog understands the basics, after your dog has had some time and some conditioning and after you understand what's going on, because those distractions now are kind of wanted because we need to be able to do counter conditioning and desensitization and get your dog to learn to focus and have engagement with you, even when all heck is breaking loose, even when there is chaos. So group training classes really good for intermediate training, for advanced training, but more than anything, intermediate training for advanced training, but more than anything, I think they're great for the distractions. All right Now.

Speaker 2: 5:49

The third thing would be sending your dog away to board and train. And there's a reason why I left board and train or doggy boot camp or sending your dog away for training last, because in my opinion that is the least effective. Well, let me back up from that. It's not the best for your dog, it's not the best for you, because the best thing is for you to learn one-on-one with private instructions, first of all, to have a dog really well trained and to break bad habits in order to have permanence and reliability that takes more than a week. Liability that takes more than a week and in many cases it's going to take more than two weeks and three weeks and four weeks. It takes months. That doesn't mean that you're not going to start to see some improvement, that you're not going to start to see some success before a month or two of training.

Speaker 2: 6:43

But what I'm trying to say is that, hey, there's no quick fixes and there's a lot of trainers out there and I believe and I want to believe that anybody working with animals they've got a good intention. But let's face it, we're also in business. We're in business to make money and board and train can be the most profitable part of dog training. I know I'm doing everything wrong because I don't do board and train, because, again, I don't believe in board and train. I don't do board and train because, again, I don't believe in board and train.

Speaker 2: 7:11

If you're completely lazy, if you only have a dog that needs the absolute basics like come when called, sit and stay, walk on a loose leash and maybe your dog jumps or barks, ok, maybe board and train, maybe sending your dog away isn't a bad idea. I mean, we want your dog trained. We want you to be able to live in some kind of harmony with your dog. Um, but I'm sorry, a lot of you aren't going to like this. You're not going to want to hear this. But if you don't have time to train your dog, please don't get a dog, get a fish tank or something like that.

Speaker 2: 7:51

Okay, and and I say that jokingly, but I also mean that think about it. You know, getting a dog is a lot of responsibility and they have a lot of needs. And listen, if you don't have time to train your dog, then you probably don't have time to really meet the needs of your dog on a day-to-day basis. Now, listen, I know some of you are mad. Listen, hold your dog on a day-to-day basis. Now, listen, I know some of you are mad. Listen, hold your breath for a second, just pause for a moment and just take that under advisement.

Speaker 2: 8:19

All right, you get to make the choice. If you truly want to send your dog away to board and train, that's fine. You know, I've gotten calls from people that like doctors and they don't have any time, but they want the. They don't have time to train, they got their little bit of family time and they want a dog for the kids. Well, I get that, but still I think if you don't have time for the dog, you shouldn't have the dog. Okay, now the worst thing you can do when it comes to sending your dog away to board and train is to send the dog. Hear me out now. The worst thing you can do is send the dog that has aggression.

Speaker 2: 8:58

Reactivity those are the two behaviors that most people want to send their dog away for training. And there are a ton of trainers that are saying, hey, you got a dog that's reactive, you got a dog that's aggressive. Give them to us. We know you're struggling. Give them to us for a week, two weeks, three weeks and we'll bring back the perfect dog. Folks, listen to me. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You are not.

Speaker 2: 9:29

If we're talking real reactivity, if we're talking real aggression, that's not going away in a week, two weeks, three weeks, and maybe see, here's what happens, and I've talked about it a lot on the podcast. I don't want to get into it, but trainers with little to no education, trainers that aren't certified, um, maybe using very outdated methods that we know make the problem worse, and that's punishment. You know a lot of people think it makes common sense that, hey, yeah, and I hear this on the phone all the time Look, you know we need to. My dog's aggressive, my dog's reactive? Uh, you know I need to nip this in the butt. You know I need to nip this in the bud. Well, punishing your dog is only going to suppress the outward behavior and that reactivity, that aggression, is motivated by something.

Speaker 2: 10:21

Behaviors don't just happen out of the blue. When a dog is reactive, when a dog is aggressive, in 99% of the cases they are afraid, they've got anxiety, they're uncomfortable, and that's the real problem. The real problem is the underlying emotional state where the dog is viewing a trigger. Whatever they're reactive or aggressive towards, whether it's a person or another dog, they're reacting to that. They're becoming aggressive because they're afraid and you just punishing the outward behavior is like smoke and mirrors. It just suppresses that behavior and, trust me, folks, it's temporary. It's temporary. It always comes back if it's the real deal.

Speaker 2: 11:12

It takes a lot of time not forever, but it takes a lot of time and it takes work to overcome those very serious problems of aggression and reactivity, now the apps and again, the best thing is you need the training, and private one-on-one training is the best way to go. Sending your dog away might sound very appealing and it makes a lot of trainers a bunch of money and they might prefer that than driving all over the place to see clients, but most of the time not always, but most of the time that is not gonna be the best option for you. That is not gonna be the best option for your dog. We need to take a quick second to hear from our sponsor. But if you love what we do, do me a favor, hit that pause button. Give us a five-star review. We appreciate your support. We appreciate you listening by giving us a five-star review, that allows this podcast to be seen by more people. More people get to benefit from the advice, the information we give. And you know what. Dog training can be expensive. Not everybody can afford really good dog training and really good dog training advice. All right, we need to. As I said, we need to hear from our sponsor. We've got to pay the bills. So here we go.

Speaker 2: 12:52

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Speaker 2: 13:53

All right, thanks for listening to that. I know we got to pay the bills, we got to keep the lights on, so we got the sponsor. Do me a favor If you've got a dog that's aggressive, reactive, fearful, phobic, check out Calm Dogs. There are some amazing success stories with that product Out of time. Thanks again for tuning in for another episode of Dog Training Today. Please share this podcast with other folks, tell other people about it and don't forget each and every Saturday, each and every Saturday, I do a live Facebook live event where, hey, if you've got questions and you want to get some positive solutions and answers, that's your opportunity. Go to the Dog Training Today Facebook page. Saturdays, 12 noon Eastern. Take care everybody, I'm out of here.

Speaker 1: 15:02

Okay.