Dog Training Research Paper

Dogs; the word conjures images of mutts, purebreds, large, small, medium, nice, mean, family pets, or strays; almost all with four legs, a wet nose, and fur. However, an idea that doesn’t often occur is a person. Fairly average, maybe a little messy, their pockets filled with treats and their clothing covered in fur. No, it’s not the crazy cat lady who lives down the street, it’s a trainer. Specifically, a dog trainer. Plenty of shows, websites, Youtube videos, blogs, books, and how-to-guides are dedicated to dogs and their training, but if you were to ask a random dog owner about their dog's behavior, there’s a good chance you’ll get a rant on stolen socks, chewed up furniture, or the phantom squirrel that causes headaches and restless nights.

Maybe even issues with aggression. The truth of the matter is that, like with many things, people need to be taught how to teach their dog to behave, and dogs need to be taught to behave; it’s here that trainers step in.

Now, while Fido’s love of stealing the stick of butter off the counter is one main of the reasons we may call a trainer in, it’s not the only reason a trainer would be necessary.

The basic fields of dog training are as follows: Behavioral, Obedience, Agility, and Vocational. (Bennett, n.d.) Within the Vocational aspect there are the dogs that work with other animals, trained in Hunting or Herding (Lotz, n.d.), or those that use their noses, like Police dogs and Search and Rescue, or the ever loved Service dogs, who help those with physical and mental disabilities.(Weiss-Roessler, n.d.) Within this variety, the most interesting arguably goes to the Police and Military dogs, the ones who help our service men and women fight their battles and who have outdone bomb detection devices worth millions (Ackerman, 21 Oct, 10). Let alone the fact that they are taking even greater strides in being valuable in combat situations, like Cairo, the dog who helped take down Osama Bin Laden.(Harris, 1 June, 2011, p. 1) However, the average person doesn’t need to spend the $20,000 to $40,000 (Harris, 1 June, 2011, p. 6) to turn Fluffy into a living weapon and bomb detection device. However, military dogs must still undergo basic training, as put by William Harris, author of the article How War Dogs Work, states “It's one thing to teach a dog to sit, heel and roll over. It's another thing entirely to train an animal not to bark in a combat situation, which might reveal your location to the

enemy. And yet war dogs must master the basic commands we drill into our pets before they can move on to more difficult, military-focused tasks.” (1, June, 2011) So, logically, anybody wanting to get into the field of dog training would have to start in obedience, since even the dogs taking down bad guys need obedience training first.

If you want be a doctor, a lawyer, or a teacher, you have to go to school. It’s a given and accepted fact of our society. So where does one go when they want to be a dog trainer? The world of dog training is, unfortunately, unregulated, meaning that anybody can walk around and boast the title of Dog Trainer. Fortunately, if a trainer wants to prove their worth to potential clients, they can get certifications from a number of organizations that offer classes and exams.(Association of Professional Dog Trainers [APDT], n.d.) However, as stated by Silke Wittig, a professional dog trainer from Germany who’s been in the business for over 14 years, on the HeRo Canine Consulting website, there is no legal restrictions or laws regarding dog training. This means that anybody can certify anybody, and both potential trainers and customers must be careful and observant if they don’t want to be paying for a fraud. But, to anybody who really wants to be the best trainer they can be, with time, dedication, and effort, a decent dog trainer is looking at an approximate low annual wage of $17,650, but an average high of $57,160. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2014) So, you have a certificate, maybe two or three, and you want to practice. You want to make a difference, but still make a living that doesn’t have you eating the same “meatloaf” your furry best friend wolfs down from the cans with an unrealistically clean dog on the label. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, your best bet is New York, with a mean annual wage of about forty-three thousand dollars a year, as of May 2014. However, this isn’t just about the money.

3.9 million.

This is the number of dogs in shelters according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(better known as ASPCA). They also state that, of this number “About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners.” This means that most of the dogs coming into shelters are untrained and in need of training to become adoptable, something that gives and trainer both potential work and experience. Becoming adoptable is huge for any dog in a shelter, but it can be taken even further. While not every dog is ideal for the job, as proved by the need for personality testing (Froling, n.d.), there are group like Paws and Stripes and Freedom Service Dogs that take animals from shelters and turn them into fully trained service dogs. Freedom Service Dogs takes shelter dogs and trains them to help victims of a range of disabilities, both physical and mental. (Freedom Service Dogs, n.d.) Paws and Stripes rescues dogs from shelters and turns them into full fledged service dogs for veterans suffering from PTSD, something the co-founder, Jim Stanek, suffered from after his return home from Iraq. After discovering the cost and drawbacks to the normal route of obtaining a service dog, Jim and his wife created Paws and Stripes to allow veterans to pick the dog they would train with and make the process much more affordable.(Paws and Stripes, n.d.) With organizations like these, and millions of dogs at

the ready to be molded, dog training becomes about much more than just teaching Fido that, yes, the butter is still off limits.

Whatever one chooses to pursue, the result is always rewarding. The world of dog training is vast, in depth, and varied, let alone welcoming if you don’t mind slobber. Hopefully the next time you hear the word dog, the images of people, a little messy, covered in fur, and filled with love and patience, will take their place right next to the mutts, purebreds, big, small, medium, and well trained four-legged, furry, and wet-nosed creatures we call man’s best friend.