Are good dog trainers born or made?

"Stolen" from another forum - but a great idea for a thread methinks.

People who are "great" with dogs. Are they born that way or can they be made that way? Can people become good dog trainers?

With their dogs or other peoples?

Theres lots of fabby trainers , that can train a sack of coal, but cannot train other people /dog partnerships.

I think you need abit of talent to startwith though. Talent, empathy & common sense, plus abit of gut feeling/instinct. Without that all the theory/courses/qualifications in the world , will not make you "great" , helpful maybe, good maybe.

Agree with Mish A great trainer needs the innate aptitude, intelligence and temperament to start with, plus the education and experience. So it`s a combination.
The most important thing for any trainer, tutor or teacher is to have what`s called reflective practice - in other words to keep a critical eye on what they do, to evaluate it objectively and to change where necessary.

Totally agree, the temperament is something that I dont think can ever be 'learnt' in order for it to 'feel' natural if that makes sense. Dogs have a great sense of falseness...it can make alot of difference when training them

B x

People with little or no empathy for animals can be taught how to train dogs but it’s a long job!

I think there is a feeling in some quarters that dog training can be done to a strict pattern like following Delia's recipe. “Take one bag of treats, one clicker, a rattle can and your choice of “magic” aids to stop dogs pulling and stir thoroughly!”

Dog training is one of those areas where some very simple techniques take you a long way in a short time. Then you hit a plateau where progress is slow and instinctive ability to “read” dog behaviour is at a premium.

The best trainers have a mix of learnt theory, practical experience and innate natural empathy with dogs and often with all animals. If they’re working with dog owners in a class situation they also need a pretty full set of people skills. I know of a lot of excellent dog trainers who could never work with owners!

I also find the best trainers have something else in common...humility. They never try to “wing it” and never use more than three words to say “I don’t know”.

Excellent post! Indeed all the posts are - thank you for you input

Imo dog training is an art as well as a science.

I think the science part is easier to teach that the art part as it is more black and white.

Although of course teaching, which is basically "training" people, is also an art and a science and I agree with others that an ability to teach/train a dog is a different skill to tan ability to teach someone else how to teach/train a dog.

I think the really excellent trainers are born with natural talent in the various required fields (observation, empathy, communication, intuition, timing, open mindedness, receptiveness, flexibility of attitude, willingness to learn and listen, etc) that is fine tuned through practical experience, although good trainers can be made.

This really has nothing to do with training but my friends son is 7 and he is AWESOME with dogs,

She has no pets and is afraid of dogs but has tried to make sure this doesn't come across to both her children, her daughter likes dogs but her son is brilliant with them, he is partially deaf and has behavioral issues so weither the dogs pick this up i dont know but its really cool to watch him with them (work them is the wrong word really)

Slightly off topic i know sorry lol xx

Totally agree, and I think this is what dog owners should look for when they need a good dog trainer or behaviourist.

His deafness, whilst a horrible condition, will actually be a benefit when he is around dogs as he will use his body language more than those with perfect hearing