Cheshire trainer warns of ‘epidemic’ of unqualified trainers
Dog trainer Steve Moran, who runs Stublach Training and Boarding Kennels in Cheshire, is warning of an “epidemic” of unqualified trainers following the recent boom in pet ownership.
Moran, who has worked with dogs for more than 30 years, told CheshireLive that dog owners are being “ripped off” by trainers using an ineffective one-size-fits-all approach.
He said: “It’s subjective – there are no ‘experts’ and I’ve been doing this [for] more than 30 years. It’s about being able to read the dog but instead, there are trainers saying that this one way is the right way.”
He added: “How I train a German Shepherd may not be how I train a Labrador. How I train a Labrador might not be how I train a Chihuahua. But now they’re all doing things like ‘tricks for treats’ – it’s not dog training.
“What it is, is a licence to print money. It’s a scam and this scam is getting bigger and bigger.”
10 Comments
Jo Pick
Your first article justifiably warns against rogue and poor trainers. You can’t learn how to train dogs from books or even a few months of lessons.
As Steve Moran says- you have to learn to read dogs, it’s not a one size fits all.
Jo Pick
Your first article justifiably warns against rogue and poor trainers. You can’t learn how to train dogs from books or even a few months of lessons.
As Steve Moran says- you have to learn to read dogs, it’s not a one size fits all.
Charlotte Kasner, MA, AdipCBM, AdipFBM, KPA-CTP, ABTC-AT,MISAP
Whilst training needs to be adapted for each learner (non-human and human), the scientific principles that lie behind the training do not.
We need to educate the public to look for (and check) externally accredited qualifications in trainers and to expect to pay accordingly. It is all too easy to undertake a short online course and attach dubious post-nominals to a signature.
Experience is important, but 1 week of experience in a trainer using positive reinforcement is worth any number of years in an uneducated trainer or one using aversives.
Charlotte Kasner, MA, AdipCBM, AdipFBM, KPA-CTP, ABTC-AT,MISAP
Whilst training needs to be adapted for each learner (non-human and human), the scientific principles that lie behind the training do not.
We need to educate the public to look for (and check) externally accredited qualifications in trainers and to expect to pay accordingly. It is all too easy to undertake a short online course and attach dubious post-nominals to a signature.
Experience is important, but 1 week of experience in a trainer using positive reinforcement is worth any number of years in an uneducated trainer or one using aversives.
Phil
In my long and professionally qualified experience as a dog trainer and behaviour practitioner, I find that people who promote nothing but positive reinforcement are part of the problem which the article accurately describes
Steve Moran
The whole point of the original article was that the qualifications dog trainers are getting are not worth the paper they are written on as there is no governing body in this country over dog trainers. This is a fact. So people are selling their services as being qualified are self governed.
The reason I said in the article there is an epidemic of so called dog trainers and behaviourists is you can go online and get an accreditation. No one has any authority or control over these “accreditations” so how can you say you are qualified. You are just a dog trainer and some are good, some are not. The only way to prove it is by showing before and after videos. And anyone who says their certificate is scientifically based is not accredited by anyone proven to be an authority.
Steve Moran
The whole point of the original article was that the qualifications dog trainers are getting are not worth the paper they are written on as there is no governing body in this country over dog trainers. This is a fact. So people are selling their services as being qualified are self governed.
The reason I said in the article there is an epidemic of so called dog trainers and behaviourists is you can go online and get an accreditation. No one has any authority or control over these “accreditations” so how can you say you are qualified. You are just a dog trainer and some are good, some are not. The only way to prove it is by showing before and after videos. And anyone who says their certificate is scientifically based is not accredited by anyone proven to be an authority.
Phil Watson
Plenty of real trainers know these truths – and a whole lot of others it’s not politic to put in print these days. Unfortunately, the LAST thing we want is for the government to regulate it all. They will mess it up as royally as they mess up everything else governments touch, mostly by listening to all the wrong, politically correct, ignorant brass-necks who have climbed into the public eye in the dog training scene. Little heed will be paid to long-time experienced, effective trainers who refuse to pay lip-service to the media-hyped treat-and-trick fad.
Phil Watson
Plenty of real trainers know these truths – and a whole lot of others it’s not politic to put in print these days. Unfortunately, the LAST thing we want is for the government to regulate it all. They will mess it up as royally as they mess up everything else governments touch, mostly by listening to all the wrong, politically correct, ignorant brass-necks who have climbed into the public eye in the dog training scene. Little heed will be paid to long-time experienced, effective trainers who refuse to pay lip-service to the media-hyped treat-and-trick fad.