Of course what sets us apart is a hard question! I know a number of amazing trainers! I am not one to brag, although I will about my dog or our trainers, or their dogs, or our clients dogs for that matter! I find it really hard to make posts on social media about how superior we are at My Best Friend.. I know lots of trainers do, but it feels weird to me! I think there are a load of great trainers out there! Saying we are better at “everything,” even if it were true, how would I know? I don’t use all the other trainers out there, but some I do, and they are great, obviously, or I wouldn’t use them! Also, I dont know what other trainers “do,” so I would need more information to really properly answer that question.
What I can say is that we are “old school” in that we don’t do endless gobs of YouTubes, Reels and TikTok videos, or Podcasts and we actually answer, and are available to talk, on the phone. We use up to date techniques based in science. We constantly reeducate! Our trainers are predominantly independently certified trainers (like a board certified doctor) that must earn CEU's, or retest to maintain certifications. If there are new techniques out there we aren’t using we will learn them, or find someone who knows them to bring on and enlighten us! We will not, however, use anything more than a mild aversive (like a body block or pulling the leash back) to stop an unwanted behavior, so you won’t see our students with choke chains, pinch or shock collars (if we can help it). We are all about fostering a great relationship between the dog and their human. Of course we want you dog to listen to you, but we also want you to listen to your dog! It is about mutual respect. Like your human relationships should be! Some folks are quite insistent, so you may see them start class with a not recommended training device, but we are always hopeful to bring them away from the “dark side” of dog training. If you wouldn’t do it to your kid or your friend, we dont want you to do it to your dog! We do use marker words for correct behavior and incorrect behavior (not all positive trainers do the “cold” side of the hot and cold game). We do not check email constantly (mostly daily), but do respond to text or a phone call within hours if possible! We will tell you our SECRETS, because great trainers want to get together with other trainers and collaborate, or discuss different approaches in an effort to be the best! No, we cannot tell you ALL that we are going to do in a session before we do one, because it takes time to cover ALL the information properly (thus requiring a “session,” even if it is on Zoom), but we can give you an idea of what we will do. Most of us know that there is a lot of information, and disinformation, out there. It is super difficult to sort it out for the layman (and us professionals too actually), so we will take time to help you understand and separate the good, from the outdated or just down right wrong advise! There are a variety of ways we reinforce behavior from your dog, from taking a walk to a treat or their dinner, it is not all about rewards, but often starts that way and then we progress from there. Yes, we will say NO even if we are positive reinforcement trainers. Shock collars were first used in the 1960s, but no one asked the dogs for their opinions. FYI - Electronic shock (e-collars) collars are banned in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Wales, the province of Quebec in Canada, and some states in Australia. A “vibration” collar, as some say they use, should be something you can put on yourself, and feels like when your phone vibrates… Not electric stimulation. When “vibration” is used, like you would to train a deaf dog that cannot hear you call them, you have to slowly acclimate them to it. Even a vibration can startle them and cause a fear response. Anything that causes anxiety or fear during training is not helping you get a better result… even an extremely overstimulating reward can make pup’s brain fall out!
I hope this helps you know what sets us apart and helps you sort out the differences between dog trainers… You definitely need to ask about experience, education, technique and devices, not just pricing!