Beowolf

Yes folks there is such a thing. New to me at least. Here's the story....

I have been looking for a good qualified trainer here in Saudi. It's really hard to locate someone that is good and knowledgable. Beowulf is my first dog, so traning is new to me. I have been able to do some basic obediance, just not 100% of time the command is executed. Usually if I have something he wants he will listen. He will sit but not hold the sit for more than 10 seconds unless I have a toy or treat. Sometimes I say sit and he gives me a down, maybe he thinks "okay I'll give you a down, how about that?" lol. Anyways I digress, back to the topic.

I want to start him off with basic obediance, 100% recall, on leash for now. So opening a phone book or searching online leads to no where. So I ask around at pet stores and other dog owners or the vet. All pointing to shady training or lack of training skills. One person wanted to charge a large fee, about 1800 dollars, to basically give me verbal advice. Hey buddy i think youtube does that for free. Oh dobermantalk.com too lol.

One day when i took him to the groomer i bumped into this guy who works with customs here in saudi. Turns out he trains the dogs for the customs, ARAMCO, and other security companies as well. So I took his number and called him up. We met a few days later at his office. He asked what my goal was and what I would expect from Beowulf. Whether its obediance, security, protection, sniffing etc.

He gave me a tour of the place. I was comfortable seeing his certificates, two of them were from the US Customs I believe. So it looks very legit. He also doesnt advertise as he's not open for the public. As of now he only does training for specially chosen customers.

So I brought Beowulf along for him to see if he is viable for training or if my money would be wasted. Everything turned out great. He accepted Beowulf, pending a health check up before he puts him in the same space as other dogs.

The training will be about 3 weeks long. Boarding is included. I will be coming in daily to get training myself on how to interact and give commands. So all in all it sounds good to me, and its not 1800 like the other shady people I talked to. Still is expensive but worth doing it right and great quality of training. It's roughly 1000 dollars, which includes training him, me, and boarding.

Please chim in with any comments, good or bad. Also any questions I should be asking will be highly appreciated. Just remember how hard it is to find a trainer in Saudi. I'm not looking for whats best for me, I'm looking for whats best for Beowulf.

Patches Mom

No one can train a dog in 3 weeks I do not care what they say they might use the old crank & yank method of dog training or an electric collar. You need to find a way where you and your dog can train together the dog will be a much better companion for you. Sometime when you send a dog off with a trainer you break the bond you have and it takes along time to re-gain your dog s trust back if ever. This is just my opinion,Good Luck.

smudgeid

I'd be interested to know what sorts of dogs he has experience with, and how adaptable his training is to different dogs. (ie, some dogs are eager to please, other dogs need structure & patience, others need a break before they get bored because they 'got it'.)

Make sure if Beowulf is eager to please that he doesn't get bullied.

I think the fact that you will be there training daily is an excellent idea. I don't know how close you are - is there any chance of 'not' boarding? (I don't really like the idea of leaving a family oriented dog somewhere for training, but it sounds as if you don't have a lot of choices so may have to compromise.)
Kate

Beowolf

It's not training from scratch. It's more building on what I have already done. Beowulf knows the commands just doesn't want to listen 100% of the time.

I will be there daily to train him with the trainer. So it's not like I won't see him for 3 weeks. So hopefuly the bond will still be intact.

Thank you so much for your feedback PatchesMom

Beowolf

He's trained different types of breeds. I took a walk through the training center and kennels and saw 3 different breeds, one obvious breed was the german shepherd. I'll ask him tonight when I get there.

I would love to not board. But seeing as I travel everyday, I might not be there during the day or night. He trains twice a day. I attend one of the sessions each day, whether it be the morning or night sessions.

I am a pilot working with an airlines so my schedule changes every week, but I am home every day no layovers. I still work it out to be able to spend a good amount of time with Beowulf and take him out on walks and play time.

Adobe4two

What you want is a trainer who will train YOU not the dog. The dog could be trained to a T, with perfect manners and 100% compliance to commands... Then go to a new handler who doesn't know what they're doing and all the training will go to pot.

In other words, if YOU aren't the one being trained... No amount of training is going to help your dog. You need a trainer that will train you to train your dog. To do this, they really don't even have to touch the dog necessarily, they just have to micro-manage you and show you what to do and then have you do it.

Since you said you'll be present, I'm assuming this is hopefully what he intends to do? In which case, three weeks of basic obedience where YOU are the one actually being trained isn't bad, depending on the methods. EDIT: Never mind, read your last post.

A train & board facility isn't really worth it. You're not the one learning how to do the training & re-enforcement so its not of much use. These sorts of situations benefit the trainer more than the owner, because the trainer can get the dog to work great (maybe, assuming the trainer is actually good and doesn't ruin the dog) and impress the owner upon returning the dog... MAYBE gives the owner a quick run through of the commands and then... a few months later the dog is back because he is "no longer listening". Because the owner didn't participate in laying the ground work, teaching the commands and learning to re-enforce them or develop a habit of consistency. They don't know what they're doing, the dog goes from a handler that does to a handler that doesn't, dog gets confused and training goes to pot.

If you're able to, you definitely need to attend at LEAST one of those sessions a day guaranteed. Because dog training classes are most effective, imo, when its the owner/handler being trained. Its really hard to learn to be consistent as a handler, and that, to me, is the most important part.

Beowolf

I will be attending one of the two sessions each day. I will be trained while handling Beowulf.

Thanks for your insight.

Beowolf

I asked today what other breeds he has trained. German shepard, malanois, labrador, and rottweilers. These were the majority of dogs he had trained in his career.

He also talked about how each breed is different and needs to be approached differently whether its a soft/strong dog or how smart each dog individually picks up on training. Which made me understand he was knowledgable.