"Those who can, Teach"

So, this isn't quite the rant I had intended to write, but it does kind of follow on from a point made in my last blog post - "...there are far too many trainers who might have dog skills but aren't good 'teachers'..."

One of the monthly dog magazines has an article in the April edition about what courses or qualifications to take if you're looking to become a dog trainer. The article itself is fairly inconclusive, but actually that's probably a fair representation of the minefield that is 'dog trainer qualifications' - there is no industry standard, and it's very hard to tell which of the courses offered by various 'institutions' are actually worth anything. 

However, what I thought what was missing from the article was the same thing that is missing from the CV of most dog trainers - any mention of Teaching qualifications. When I'm running a class, it's the people I'm teaching, not the dog, and it drives me mad how little time or attention most trainers give to ensuring they know enough about how the people in their classes learn and how best to structure their lessons, write their handouts and impart their information so that the people gain the most value from their sessions. The methods used to train the dogs have (on the whole) come on a long way in recent years - isn't it time we, as an industry, started ensuring we're doing the best by the people paying for our services as well as their dogs? There are some trainers out there who have done exceptionally well with their own dogs, and/or who have a vast amount of relevant, useful knowledge, but that doesn't automatically make them good teachers.

I think it's about time the educational standards were improved in the dog training classrooms. We are, after all, providing a service for the people as well as for the dogs, and it is an educational service at that.

And to prove I am 'putting my money where my mouth is', I'm about to start a Nationally recognised Teaching Adult Learners course at my local college. I look forward to using the information gained from the course to rewrite my lesson plans to ensure everyone gets the most from my sessions. Even if the dog trainers of the world just picked up a copy of 'Teaching Today' and had a quick read through, they might find themselves learning a few things to make their lessons more accessible and more dynamic. The days of trudging round a hall have gone - lessons needing planning and structure, tasks need breaking down into manageable chunks, and the various learning styles of the owners need to be accounted for.

Isn't it about time dog training got a little more educational?

Wags and kisses,
Shelley, Mr Finn and Whirli (who is such a big girl now that she's having her first season!!)