Blog written by Steven Appelbaum , President of Animal Behavior College for professional dog trainers.
Steven has been a professional dog trainer for over 40 years. He is also the author of The ABC Guide to Dog Training. www.animalbehaviorcollege.com
How do you know if your client is right for you?
Many trainers don’t think to ask this question until after they have had half a dozen negative experiences, such as dealing with noncompliant clients or those with unrealistic expectations. It’s important that dog trainers learn how to screen prospective clients for potential challenges and how to handle challenging ones productively.
Safety: Be aware of the potential risks if you offer private, in-home lessons or agree to meet clients in isolated locations. Trainers should never go to people’s homes without ensuring an updated schedule is in the hands of a partner or business associate. Ideally, consider meeting potential clients in public places before agreeing to go to their homes. If you feel unsafe for any reason, you should politely excuse yourself and leave. Consider bringing an assistant or having someone check on you during private lessons. It may even be beneficial to only work with someone privately if you’ve met with them in a group class or kennel setting first. Regardless of your approach, situational awareness and precautions are essential for all dog trainers, irrespective of age or gender.
Communication: Can you have an actual conversation with your prospective client? Is their communication clear enough to gather the information you need to assist them? Are they willing to answer questions about themselves and their pets? Are they willing to listen? Remember, that much of dog training is about teaching pet parents how to work with their pets. After speaking with a prospective client for 15-30 minutes, you should have a pretty good idea of whether the communication will be open and effective enough to work with them. Some of the best instructors understand that humans communicate and learn in many ways. These trainers can modify their styles to maximize the efficacy of their communication. However, some people will be challenging to communicate and work with for various reasons. The more effectively you screen clients, the less frustration you will have.
Agreeing upon realistic goals: It’s essential to set realistic goals with your clients. Many years ago, I did some personal protection dog training. I remember a case in which I assessed a potential client’s Rottweiler, a 20-month-old male. The dog, Gunter, was a bright, friendly fellow and entirely unsuited for protection training. I remember sharing my opinion with the owner, which I did in a non-critical fashion. The man looked at me, his dog, then back to me and said, “That’s OK, I will love him anyway.” Because I was honest and straightforward, the client could base their decisions on realistic expectations. Since I could present my opinion in a fashion that didn’t come across as insulting, the prospective client wasn’t defensive and upset with me.
Managing client expectations: A lot of training involves pet parents learning the best ways to modify various behaviors. This means that owners have to be committed to doing some of the work. I used to tell people that unless I moved in, I wouldn’t be able to potty train their dog for them. I made it very clear that unless they were prepared to consistently work with their dog, at best they would wind up with a dog that listened pretty well to me and still pooped in their house. This was especially critical when speaking with people interested in board and train or private lessons. While perhaps I am painting with a broad brush, I found the more people were willing to spend on dog training, the less they typically wanted to do it themselves. At first glance, this makes sense. It’s not completely illogical for a person willing to pay thousands of dollars for a training program to expect that at the end of the course, they will have a trained dog. The challenge with this perception is that it misses some key points. Remember that most pet parents lump together obedience and problem-solving into one category they call “training.” For $3,500 I want my dog trained. That means she comes when I call, walks on a leash without dragging me or other family members down the street, stops peeing in the house, digging huge holes in the yard, and jumping on everyone when we come home. Again, while not unreasonable, the above list contains two different kinds of training.
Dog trainers understand that while obedience training can be useful in addressing some behavioral challenges, it’s not a cure-all. We’ve all seen dogs that listen fabulously well to obedience cues and still dig up the yard and need housetraining. All of this takes us back to a key place. Carefully listening to client requests and clearly explaining what you as a trainer can and can’t do along with what they as pet parents must do in order to get decent results. The clearer you are, the less likely you will have client challenges based on their unrealistic expectations.
Friendly constructive communication vs. lecturing: Dogs occupy an emotional place in most of our hearts. This is true for dog trainers and pet parents. Many of your clients will have had dogs for decades. Some have clear ideas about communicating with them and what they believe is the best way to train them. Dog trainers can be very passionate about training methods and philosophy, so fervent that it borders on religion for some. Regardless of your training methods, you will encounter pet parents who see things differently. The most successful trainers don’t lecture clients about the evils of whatever method they don’t like. Instead, they lead and teach by example. For instance, if you have a client that uses more traditional compulsion methods because that’s what they used on their last three dogs, you can show them by example a gentler, more effective way. Be patient. Everyone knows that training dogs takes time, patience, and a fair amount of repetition, yet many of us forget that’s also what it takes for most people to learn.
Respect for time: We all have busy lives, and clients are no exception. This means that from time to time, dog training sessions need to be canceled or moved to different times. Clients who cancel at the last minute or fail to attend scheduled appointments must be managed. I handled this by having clients pay for sessions in advance, usually in a block. All clients understood that I had a 24-hour cancellation policy. If you canceled at least 24 hours before a scheduled appointment, you could either schedule for another day (if one was available) or take the same time the following week. Since I sold my sessions in packages, 4 or 7-week courses, I allowed two cancellations in 4 weeks and 3 in 7. Any cancellations beyond the maximum allowed, and I would count that as a lesson. Any cancellations after the 24-hour deadline would also count as a lesson. Usually, I would let the first mistake slide, especially if it wasn’t egregious. If someone texted or emailed me 22 or 20 hours before their appointment to cancel, I was OK with that. 2 hours before, not so much, although even then, I might let them slide once. After that, I would tell them that I was within my rights to charge them, and while I wouldn’t do it this time, if it happened again, I would have no choice. Now and then, a client would still cancel or flake on sessions, and how I handled it depended on the circumstances of each case. I was never so inflexible that I adhered to policy irrespective of circumstances. Deaths in the family or some other legitimate tragedies are part of our lives; a little understanding can make a world of difference. That being said, if it were clear to me that a client was not dependable, would continue missing appointments, or would cancel at the last minute, I would either count their cancellations against the lessons they already paid me for or, put a halt to their program, refund them whatever was owed and wish them all the best.
Don’t take cases you can’t handle: Not all trainers feel comfortable working with aggressive dogs or other more severe behavioral challenges. Some clients might want specialized training that you can’t teach. While it might sound obvious for a trainer to avoid taking a case they can’t handle, some do, which often leads to disappointments or more serious problems. Many dog trainers want to learn how to handle more advanced cases but aren’t clear how. One way is to contact dog trainers who specialize in the types of cases you’d like to learn. Inform them that from time to time, you get the kinds of cases they handle, and you are happy to refer those people to them, but you would like to observe the sessions if the client hires them. Not all trainers will be interested, but some will. Regardless, don’t take cases you are unequipped to address.
How do you know if a client is right for you?
- Spend a little time listening to their requests.
- Watch them interact with their dog.
- Pay attention to how well they listen and how receptive they are to what you have to say.
- Be safe and use common sense precautions.
- Set realistic, clear goals and manage expectations, and you will experience fewer client challenges and fewer circumstances where you need to fire a client.