How Many Lessons?

How many lessons, how much time, does it take to train your dog? This is the wrong question to ask. It isn’t about the number of lessons, or even how much it costs, it's about committment and seeing things through to the end.

I had a phone conversation with someone who has literally talked to almost every trainer in town about her needs.  She sited answers such as "for $2000, in two weeks you'll have a perfect service dog", "first you have to pay $1500 for the obedience and then another $2500 for the service dog training and it will take a month", "Your breed of dog cannot do what you want it to, give me your dog and I'll trade you for a breed that will", "your dog is too young", "your dog is too old" and many other either canned answers of time and money or reasons why it couldn't be done.

If all you are concerned about is how long and how much, you will not get effective results. If all you are getting is excuses about why things can't be done or weren't done after you did pay the money, you need to find an effective trainer. There are some excellent trainers in this area and there are some who only want your money. The trainer and the methods you choose can directly impact what is going on in your home. Your dog is part of your life, it's up to you to determine how your dog fits in.  You can take the easy road and have a "trained" dog in 2 weeks and a permanent collar attachment, or you can make the commitment and work with your dog for the time needed.

BTW, she signed up with Seize The Leash.