Therapy dogs are a growing population and there is a huge need for trainers and training classes to lead all those new volunteers. These are seven tips to become a therapy dog trainer.
Experience
Therapy dog trainers should have experience working a therapy dog in therapy situations. If your dog is not suitable, borrow a dog. Registered teams do not need to be traditional dog-owner teams; it just needs to be a dog you have a relationship with and will work with you. While you can’t possibly offer your students a full spectrum of experiences, it is important to be able to offer them some. (Therapy dog visits are always new and changing – that’s why it is important for teams to be flexible and accommodating to new situations, environments, people, etc.)
Registering Organizations
Therapy dog trainers should be familiar with the prevalent/popular registering organizations in your area: their insurance policies, their testing requirements, policies and procedures, their equipment requirements, and what is expected and prohibited on visits. Ideally, be a part of at least one of them as a team, as a supporter, or as an evaluator. Being familiar with the organizations and their guidelines will help you know what is required (or prohibited) and will help you determine what and how to teach. (It is important that therapy dog teams are registered and insured with a reputable organization. Many facilities require it. If there is an incident and the team is not registered/insured, it falls to homeowners/rental policies and can be financially devastating.)
Think outside the box!
Therapy dog work is no longer limited to nursing homes and libraries. There are therapy dog teams in a wide variety of locations and situations – hospitals, rehab centers, physical therapy centers, dentist offices, psychologist/psychiatrists’ offices, social workers, schools at all levels and abilities, colleges, various work places, court rooms, depositions, lawyers’ offices, funeral homes, hospices, after school programs, etc. So while a dog and handler may not fit a “traditional” therapy dog mold, they may fit into one of the less traditional therapy dog opportunities available to teams.
A Team Effort
It is important that therapy dog handlers understand that doing therapy dog work is a TEAM effort – both the human and the dog need training and preparation to be their most effective and successful. Challenging the handlers in your classes is important – handlers should be able to appropriately handle different situations in different environments as well as being the best possible handler and advocate for their dogs while visiting.
Be creative in your teaching!
Use lots of different props and equipment. Challenge both the humans and the dogs. Expect and require full participation from teams. Go on field trips. Utilize the information and curriculum available for both the Canine Good Citizen and the Canine Life and Social Skills evaluations. Invite lots of different people to come and help in your therapy dog class. Therapy dog teams cannot be over-prepared.
Foundations
Foundation behaviors are important in therapy dog work. A solid foundation will set teams up for success as well as giving them something to fall back on when a strange, unique, or unexpected situation arises while doing therapy dog work. Heavily reinforce the foundation. Incorporate exercises and games into your curriculum that incorporate foundation behaviors – focus/attention, touch, sit, down, stand, stay, polite leash walking, handling, greetings, and mat work. Distance is not important in a therapy dog class as most registrations require the handler always have their dog on a leash and the leash in the handler’s hand. But duration and distractions are very important!
Support
Ongoing support and training is important for therapy dog teams. Offering teams regular access to a trainer and opportunities to continue and maintain their training is reassuring and encourages teams to continue to train and mature as a team.
Being a therapy dog team is very rewarding; being their instructor/trainer is priceless. Teaching therapy dog teams may take a bit more preparation, but the positive results will far outweigh the investment of time and energy. What is your favorite out-of-the-box teaching tool?
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7 Amazing High Value Training Treats Almost All Dogs Love
As a modern dog trainer, you know the importance of figuring out each individual dog’s likes/dislikes when it comes to training treats. However, there are some foods/treats that are almost always considered high value in the minds (or mouths?) of dogs. Just be mindful that as so many of these high value food items are not specifically for dogs, they may be extremely high in fat or sodium, or just have questionable ingredients (see #1!), so save them for training complex behaviors or locations that will require super high value rewards.
Kraft Easy Cheese, AKA “Squeeze Cheese”
Perhaps the penultimate high value treat. Was ever a human food more perfectly designed for dog training than squeeze cheese? That lovely metal can with a nozzle at the end is perfect for relatively mess-free treating. And you cannot get a more ideal treating method for muzzle training because the nozzle fits so well through the muzzle. It comes in several flavors, though anything other than American or Cheddar can be difficult to find. There is an elusive bacon flavor that is rumored to be THE ONE.
Peanut Butter
Old reliable. There are very few dogs that don’t go crazy for peanut butter. Whether you give them a quick swipe with their tongue directly out of the jaw, or dip a spoon or finger in to let them lick it, peanut butter is going to keep even the most distracted of dogs working with your clients. It is also handy smeared on the refrigerator or another vertical surface to occupy a dog while getting a nail trim, or of course stuffed and frozen in Kongs or other stuffable toys.
Baby Food
Baby food is soft and stinky, pretty much ideal for dog training. Also, seeing as how it is designed to keep human infants alive and healthy, it often contains less questionable ingredients than something like Easy Cheese or hot dogs. Baby food also now comes in squeezable pouches for easy mess-free treating.
Hot Dogs
Kind of like peanut butter, hot dogs are a classic super high value training treat. Whenever possible, get the nitrate/nitrite-free ones so they are at least slightly less unhealthy. And remember, one hot dog can garner over a hundred treats if cut well.
Freeze-dried or dehydrated meat/organs is considered “doggy crack” by those in the know. Though it’s not overly stinky, it still can get the attention of most any dog in your vicinity. One drawback is that the pieces are often kind of large, requiring a little work to break them into more appropriate treat-sized pieces. The effort is worth it for such a mess-free, healthy, high value treat.
French Fries
Fresh, warm, salty, greasy french fries. Nectar of the gods (dogs?). Incredibly unhealthy, so definitely only use these in extreme moderation. However, the lovely thing is they are soft so they are very easily torn into very small pieces so you can get a lot of training mileage out of just a handful of fries.
These are relatively newer on the market but dogs seem to go nuts for them. They smell really good, they’re small, they’re soft, not messy, and very inexpensive. Almost the ideal high value training treat.
What are some other treats your clients’ dogs consider high value?
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Here are 10 things you didn’t know about dog trainers:
1. Dog trainers love dogs – sometimes their humans not so much.
2. Dog trainers don’t like being asked at parties what to do about your dog eating his own poop (or insert any dog training dilemma “here”) any more than a doctor likes being asked about that suspicious bump.
3. Dog trainers see the good, the bad, and the ugly – and wake up to do it all again every day.
4. Dog trainers’ dogs are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination – we have the same struggles as every dog owner – please don’t expect perfection from our beloved dogs.
5. Dog trainers are human. We have our strengths and weaknesses, our passions and our “eh” moments.
6. Dog trainers have working hours, and non-working hours, just like any other profession.
7. That emergency training problem you have that was months, or maybe years developing? It is not going to be “fixed” on a Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. for Monday morning.
8. When you don’t have money for dog training and want your dog trainer to give you a discount or a free session, we don’t pay our rent, our bills, or buy groceries. For many dog trainers, this is their livelihood, not just a “hobby.”
9. Do as your dog trainer says, not as s/he does.
10. When what you’re doing isn’t working, try doing what your dog trainer suggested.
Being a dog trainer takes a certain kind of person. They must love dogs, enjoy working with people, be self-motivated, and compassionate. We salute all dog trainers who pursue education and modern practices to improve their service to their community.
When connecting with a new potential client, it’s important to leave the best impression possible. Your first email to a client may be the only chance you get to deliver your message. Start off with a relevant subject line and don’t fluff your email with random information. Have a go-to template for first interactions so it will save you time in the long run. Fill out the necessary must-haves and plug-in specific information that’s relevant to the client. It has been said that “first impressions last a lifetime.” Below is a list of the three necessary must-haves:
1. Contact Information
This may seem like a no brainer, but if you don’t have a signature line in your email with all of your current information, the client won’t know how to contact you. Include the name of your business and the locations you cover. You should also include links to your social media profiles so they can join you there as well!
2. Prices
List prices for the services that they are inquiring about. Asking questions about their lifestyle over the phone can help you get a feel for what they can afford, then follow-up with a friendly and professional email with the services you recommend.
3. Clear & Concise Message
Don’t overwhelm the reader with lots of mumbo-jumbo. Most clients don’t know what all the letters behind your name stand for and most don’t care. They do care that you are educated and know what you are doing. If the business side of your company is sloppy, clients may think it will reflect on your work ethic or training skills.
Emails that are concise, polite, and intelligent will help your business stand out from the crowd. Someone may not know your brand, but if you send them a well-written message, they’ll prefer you to someone who took less care. It should be stated that emails with personality build engagement more successfully than cold, robotic ones. This is a service business after all!
How do you structure your emails to potential clients?
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When asking a client what their goals are for the end of a session, coming when called is almost always on the list. It only makes sense, because it is a life saving behavior – behavior being the key word. A lot of owners have a misconception that dogs understand the word “Come” and expect them to appear when the magic word is used. However, “Come”, just like sit or walking on a leash needs to be taught. Here are 5 step to teaching a reliable recall.
1. Charge the Word
If you use a clicker or marker word, you need to give meaning to the noise by pairing food or rewards with the noise. People often introduce the word “come” without it having any meaning to the dog. We want to charge the word with a very tasty, very high value treat. With the dog on a 6 ft leash, say the word “Come”, start to back up, and click or use your marker word when the dog moves with you and give them their reward. It is important to do this exercise for a solid week so that our dogs are developing a muscle memory response when they hear that word.
2. Never Punish A Recall
Never punish the dog for returning. Take it as a learning experience as to why the dog didn’t come back. Was the distraction too great? The key to getting a reliable recall is to always keep it positive and enjoyable from the dog’s perspective.
3. Make It A Game
If coming when called can be as exciting as a game of fetch or teaching a favorite trick, dogs would be far more reliable. Playing a game of round robin where the dog runs as fast as he can between two or more people to get his tasty recall reward can be a lot of fun and a great way to create a reliable recall. A game of chase where the dog chases you is also a great way to work on recall.
4. Increase Distractions Gradually
Once the word has been charged, it is time to gradually build distractions. Begin indoors and then outdoors while keeping the dog on a light long line. This provides the dog with some freedom while preventing them from running away. “Come” should not be used unless the client is willing to place $100 on the fact that the dog will come. If they aren’t willing to wager that then the distraction is likely too great and therefore the word should not be used.
5. Be Unpredictable
Don’t always call the dog when he is doing something that we find is less than desirable or something fun (like playing with other dogs or chasing a squirrel). Call the dog when he is doing nothing at all, too. The more often recall is practiced when it is easy, the quicker the dog will build muscle memory. Muscle memory will make it so that when distractions are tough the dog will quickly leave whatever is exciting and come back to you without thinking at all. When the dog comes to you be unpredictable in your generosity. Sometimes its only one tasty morsel of steak or sometimes its 10. This helps to prevent the dine and dash effect. This helps to create a dog that will hang out for a moment when he comes back.
Taking the time to build a reliable recall will allow the dog to have more freedom off leash in the future. This is one life-saving behavior where I encourage students to reward for life and always practice so that it never gets rusty.
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Most dogs learn the same way. Wait, really? Let’s back up. The difference is not in the learning; it’s in the training. I’m sure you’ve experienced that each breed requires training specific to their tendencies, and each pup can be as individual as each of us. By paying attention we can even recognize that there are anomalies with in a breed—like the Border Collie that doesn’t stalk or isn’t sensitive to movement, or the Bulldog or Frenchie that happily walks without the passive aggressive Buddah stops. Beyond even this, we know to change our training approach when we witness behavioral issues such as fear, anxiety, or aggression. And yet, it remains true that dogs still learn the same way! Surprising?
Similar, Yet Different
Each dog is different. In the same way that students excel in certain subjects and struggle in others, dogs do, too. I believe this happens because of “Lumping and Splitting”. The term lumping is asking a dog to learn multiple aspects of training at the same time by introducing the behavior simultaneously. Splitting is taking one behavior and teaching it through gradual and incremental steps. All dogs eventually learn the “Triple D’s” (distance, duration, and distraction) but the approach is what must differ for each dog.
Lumping
For some dogs when it comes to understanding the basics of a stay, they’ll get an easy “A”. However the moment a distraction is introduced the house of cards falls apart. This often happens when the trainer tries to muscle through and “lump” new criteria together, causing the dog to fail. Although “splitting” up the stay itself and introducing distractions in tiny itty bitty increments may take a bit longer, the lasting effects in the overall behavior will be golden! Combining the Triple D’s too quickly is the lumping that so often causes big failures resulting in frustration for the dog and for your client.
I sometimes see it when a new client shows me they’ve been teaching a stay by extending their hand like a traffic cop while slowly backing away from their dog as if it were a bomb, chanting “staaaaaay, staaaayyyyyyy” which inevitably results in failure, because they’ve increased the distance too much too soon.
One Step at a Time
Let’s look at the same behavior split it up into smaller pieces working each of the D’s one at a time. First: duration. Reward your client’s dog with a treat for nothing more than sitting in front of you. If you can get the pup to stay in the sit for 10 seconds in between treats then it would be an appropriate time to move onto the next D!
Second: distance. The dog will always dictate when he’s ready for more distance by his success in his stay. With some dogs you might find leaning back is plenty of distance initially. The more you breakdown the criteria, the more successful the dog will be.
Lastly: distractions. Using kissy noises or thigh pats incrementally added can be plenty of distraction at first. It’s critical to keep rewarding each small distraction. This will help ensure your rate of success without allowing the dog to fail.
Donna Hill has an outstanding video that thoroughly explains this concept:
Splitting can help you teach any behavior. A great trainer will be able to identify when to make like a tree and split!
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