the Cost of Dog Training

A behaviorist once a week for as long as it took, usually 7-10 weeks. We took our dog to a professional behaviorist to work on problems with anxiety and aggression. Each lesson, we learned how we needed to alter our behavior in order to alter the dog's behavior. We did basic leash training and commands with a bit of agility training eventually mixed in. It took 8 weeks before the trained felt we were ok to continue on our own.

The lessons themselves were extremely informative. Our instructor was very knowledgeable and was amazing with our dog. During the lessons, our dog was behaved and submissive. He took commands well and walked like a gentleman. The problems occurred when we took him home. We did our best to continually train with him at home, but we just could not break his habits at home. It was frustrating because we knew that he could behave from the way that he acted at the lessons. Although we were released from lessons because of his excellent behavior, many of his bahaviors at home continue. His aggression is certainly lowered, which is a relief since we have had children since then. His anxiety, on the other hand, continues to plague us all. Medication, a doggy behaviorist...none of it seems to help. After dealing with this problem for 6 years, we have concluded that there is not much we can do to fix this, even with high priced lessons. It is not the behaviorist's fault, if anything, it is our fault for contributing to the problem in the start and not nipping it in the bud early enough.

When you get a new dog, do significant research on their patterns of bahavior. We got our dog because we thought he was cute, ignoring the fact that his breed is prone to anxiety and that he himself was bred from hunting stock, which contributes to this problem. If you still choose a dog with these tendancies, consult with a behaviorist early in their life before habits can be formed.