I just finished reading an interesting article about artificial intelligence and art, and the threat it poses to professional artists and their industry as a whole. It got me thinking about my own job; when will AI come for the dog trainers?
And I realized, horribly, it kind of has. Not in the sense that bots are trying to train dogs (which shouldn’t ever happen, that’s like sitting your kid down to watch a season or two of How It’s Made and thinking they now know how to design and manufacture rocket engines). But the “one size fits all” dog trainer, “no one needs any trainer but me” types. Those who are knowledgeable about one or two things in training, but are “artificially intelligent” on everything else.
For the record, I love working with other trainers. We can learn a lot from each other, share techniques and styles, knowledge and advice, things we’ve learned along our journeys in this endlessly fascinating, ever-changing line of work.
The only hard part, really, is finding other trainers who feel the same way. With the rise of YouTube, Twitch, Patreon, and other online services, it would seem that dog training is a click away. Find any trainer online and bam, you have everything at your fingertips, right? Honestly, how different can one trainer be from any other? Isn’t it all the same?
Far from it. Training is as diverse as any other kind of teaching. Think of it this way: why hire an English major as your tutor when the thing you’re struggling with is calculus? Why go to a physical therapist when you’re trying to work on cardio? Why hire a trick trainer when you want a service dog?
As with anything, your results will depend on the person teaching you, and that person must be adaptable, as well as knowledgeable and applicable, to your situation specifically. If you want obedience and behavioral work, then absolutely, I am qualified to do this for you. If you want to get into competition rally or agility? I’d love to refer you to one of my colleagues who focuses on those things!
My point is this: in every line of work, there are focus areas. Don’t hire a children’s literature author to write a horror novel, and don’t hire a carpenter to repair your furnace. Just because they’re in the same field, doesn’t make them the expert for what you need exactly.
“Cool, Quinn, what do I do with this information?”
Great question. When it comes to hiring a trainer, know what to ask:
- How long have you been training dogs, outside of your schooling period? Don’t panic if they’re newer; they may have gone through extensive training and learning, and even the very best in their field had a day one. But it’s important to also ask:
- Where and for how long did you study? Some trainers choose to go through private schools, but the best ones in the field (in my opinion) choose apprenticeships. If they tell you they apprenticed, ask for their mentor’s contact info. I recently had someone tell me that they were dissatisfied with one of my apprentices they tried to work with; as it turned out, that person was a former client who plagiarized my work and is now marketing themself as a service dog trainer, despite having no actual training to become a dog trainer at all, let alone a service dog trainer.
- “Do you have experience with my breed? How much?” Be lenient if you have a rare breed; very few trainers have ever had the privilege of working with a Bouvier or Glen of Imaal Terrier, but a well-rounded and experienced trainer, even a newbie, should have experience working with herding dogs and terriers. If you have a Lab and they’ve never worked with one of those, then… Well… Maybe (definitely) they need some more experience before hitting the big leagues, is all I’m sayin’.
- “Do you have experience with the work I want done? How much?” Ask for length of time and at least an estimated number of dogs. Most importantly, ask for references. Never trust online reviews; these are easily bought, and people surprisingly often leave reviews for the wrong place. Someone once mistook my page for their dog’s breeder’s page, and left a pretty ugly review for me about my non-existent dog breeding faciity. Get to talking with actual prior clients, ask the questions that need asking, and decide for yourself. It’s worth the extra couple hours to make sure you’re hiring the right fit!
Those four questions will help you find the right person for your situation, and eliminate a ton of hassle and stress later on down the road when it turns out that the trainer you hired wasn’t actually experienced in what you needed them to be.
And if your giraffe is sneezing… I’m sorry for your upcoming month’s Kleenex bill.