Training Practices

If you get a group of dog trainers together there is generally one thing they agree on: motivating and inspiring clients can be tough. In an age of busy living, quick fix solutions, and information overload, it’s easy for clients to lose ‘training steam’ or find it difficult to make long-term changes. Yet client participation and engagement are key to success – for us, them and their dog. 

Here are five pointers to help clients get on board with your training.

1. Understand the problem

The foundation of any successful client-trainer relationship is effective communication. Sometimes we’re so keen to help that we rush in with a whirlwind of solutions without fully grasping the issue. And the issue may not always be what we expect. We might arrive to a dog jumping all over us, and start giving advice about how to solve this. But if jumping isn’t actually a problem for your client, and they find their pogo-stick hound highly entertaining, you may find yourself barking up the wrong training tree. Start with active listening – this means not only hearing their words, but also paying attention to their tone, body language, and emotions. Encourage clients to share their concerns, frustrations, and goals. By doing this, you can tailor your training approach to their specific needs, and build a relationship based on collaboration. 

2. Set expectations from the start 

Once you’ve understood their needs, make sure clients have a full picture of their role in the training process and how it ties to the results they’re aiming for. If you’re working in a coaching model, for example, be clear that the effort they put in equals the results they get out, and clarify the ways you’ll support them. And for those offering day training or board-and-train services, it’s vital to get clients on board with those transfer sessions. That way they can keep the good work going.

Back these explanations with policies that protect you and help the client get the most from your service. For example, make those transfer sessions non-negotiable. Be clear in the written contract — and verbally walk clients through the policy — that canceled transfer sessions will be charged and rescheduled. Explain that this policy means the best results possible from the training process, and helps them get the most from their investment. Stay strong in your cancellation policies. If your client is having a busy week, don’t make your training or transfer session the easiest thing on their cancel list.

3. Less is more

As dog trainers, we tend to become giddy over discussions about training approaches, the latest dog-related podcast we listened to, and that amazing webinar we attended last week. Your average dog lover just wants to live a peaceful life with their dog. Human capacity for multi-tasking is often overestimated – in reality, we’re way more effective with a single focus. Keep this in mind with your clients. Drop extraneous concepts, training exercises, and handouts where you can. Assess the area with the biggest potential impact and give your clients no more than three simple things to work on at a time. 

4. Use old habits to create new ones

It’s hard to learn something new, especially when you’re busy and the new thing disrupts your daily life. Habit building takes time, and if you ask clients to implement repetitive training sessions each day, the risk of losing their interest is high. Rather than telling clients what they need to do, have a conversation about what feels achievable to them. Ask them to list some times during the day that may work for training. Could they keep a treat jar in the kitchen and do some target work while the kettle boils? How about working on settling behavior while watching TV? Integrating training into everyday activities (which are already established habits) is likely to be more successful, especially if you let clients come up with these ideas themselves.

5. Celebrate the wins

There is no better way to motivate a client than with positive reinforcement! Small victories serve as building blocks for larger successes, so make sure to acknowledge them. This not only boosts your client’s confidence, it also creates a positive atmosphere during training. Yes, maybe Rover is still struggling to walk past the neighbor’s dog without barking, but did you notice how quickly he recovered, and how your client moved him away? Small wins are a sign of progress, and sometimes clients need you to point these out and congratulate them – we’re generally our harshest critics, after all.

Doing as much as you can to make the training process easier — keeping training simple and based in real life, enforcing clear expectations for client participation, and celebrating success — will help clients get further with the training process. This means better human-canine relationships and happier clients and dogs — and a happier you, too!

For more tips on building great relationships with your clients and running a successful business, check out THRIVE!

What do you think of when you hear ‘dog training class’? For many, a six week course teaching a set of basic skills may come to mind. It may be a puppy course, or general manners for adult dogs. While this format remains one of the most common, it doesn’t have to be. At dogbiz many of our clients have seen big success with topics-based classes. These programs often focus on a specific problem that clients may be trying to solve. And the sky’s the limit when it comes to options – from walking well on leash, building a great recall, dealing with chase behavior, or even taking your dog to pubs and cafes with confidence. 

Innovation is key to business success, and thinking outside the box can be a great way to differentiate yourself, and design a more compelling marketing message. The end result? New students sign up and old ones stick around beyond puppy and basic manner classes.

So what are the advantages of a topics-based approach in your classes?

Easier to sell

Shorter classes can be an easier sell, as they require less time and monetary commitment on the part of students. Weekend workshops, open enrollment or shorter four-week classes can be appealing to busy clients. This can be particularly helpful during the summer months when people are working around vacations, or during the holidays when it becomes difficult to build a class schedule to accommodate all the festivities.

This more manageable commitment can help to improve your retention rates. Clients are more likely to take a second, third, or even fourth class when doing so doesn’t mean blocking out another month and a half and forking over the payment that comes with it. If I’m having a good time and making progress with my dog, what’s another three weeks?

You make more money, too. You make more because a higher percentage of your students come back for additional classes, but also because you can charge more per session for topics classes due to their shorter duration. For example, let’s say you currently charge $150 for a six-week class. At that rate, each session is $25 per student. Say you offer a three-week loose-leash-walking clinic for $90. The price tag looks great to folks graduating from your basic manners program — but you’re now making $30 per class session.

Most often these programs are offered as retention classes — classes to keep students coming back after graduation from basic or puppy. But they can also be an effective entry point into your business. Offering a one-shot teaser or short-run topics class on a commonly desired behavior such as nice leash walking, or one that addresses a particular type of problem such as car chasing, can be a great way to get people to make the training class leap in the first place.

More compelling marketing 

By addressing a specific need or targeting a particular problem, topics classes help potential clients to quickly self-identify. They also appeal to people who may not be interested in ‘dog training’ in general. Perhaps I don’t want to attend a six-week class to learn a bunch of behaviors; I just want my dog to come when called. Maybe some extra practice in a loose-leash-walking class sounds more applicable to my day-to-day life, rather than working on my sit-stay.

The trick is to position your topics classes with this in mind. Clearly state who this class is for. Build your class descriptions around the problem your class will solve. Describe the outcomes — what will students be able to do and enjoy as a result of taking your class? How will life be easier?

Class Ideas and Formats

When brainstorming ideas for topics classes, think in terms of categories. There are behavior-based classes such as those focused on recall or loose-leash walking. (You could also combine these into one program.) Behavior-based classes can be entry points into your business or extra-practice retention programs that follow more traditional entry points such as basic manners or puppy class.

There are also situational classes, which are often great as retention programs. Examples include a four-week urban outing class that meets in a different location each week or a class focused on applying what was learned in basic manners to common household situations such as guests at the door, polite dinner table manners, etc.

You might choose to offer topics classes aimed at a particular problem, such as a three-or four-week chase behavior class or one built around confidence-building exercises for shy dogs.

And don’t forget the fun stuff — tricks and sports like agility, tracking, nosework, Rally-O, etc. A short program can be a great way to get students hooked and committed to the longer classes necessary for these sports.

Curriculum Tips

A focus on real-life contexts and problem solving — the things that make for quality curriculum in any type of class — are even more important in short topics programs. Build your curriculum to deliver the skills and concepts clients need for getting results in the real world. This approach will have students coming back to your classroom again and again. If your curriculum is simply a list of dog behaviors, you’ll likely be disappointed in your retention numbers regardless of how much students may enjoy your class.

Proofing — for both dogs and humans — is about repeated opportunities to practice in an authentic context instead of a drill. So a strong curriculum will give students many opportunities to apply what they’ve learned in new and increasingly challenging situations that mirror real life as much as possible. And the trick is to remove the prompting as quickly as you can. If you tell students what to do for too long they’ll learn to wait for your next instruction rather than learning to make decisions on their own. This will work fine in class, but will fail them in the real world when you’re not there at their elbow to direct them.

Getting Started

Pursuing topics classes doesn’t require an overhaul of your current class program. Simply add them to your current offerings. Start by making a couple of basic decisions. First, which topics? Which behaviors, problems, and situations are common issues among your clients? Matching your class content to student needs will make marketing and selling your new classes that much easier. Then decide where each new class fits into your overall program — will it be an entry point or a retention class?

Then get your curriculum in order (consider our Topics Class Curriculum as a quick jump start) and add the classes to your schedule. Use your current marketing outlets to spread the word to new potential clients. And let all current and past students know. These new classes can be a great way to get old students back under your roof.

You want to make the biggest possible difference in the lives of clients and their dogs. You want to see the bond between them grow, see their relationship develop into joyful, mutually-rewarding companionship.

Want to know the best way to ensure that happens? Here’s the simple secret: It’s more time with YOU. The more you’re in their lives, the more likely dogs and their people are to succeed. And the more they succeed, the more you do, too.

That means moving away from one-off consults or a few follow ups to training packages designed to promote the best possible success for you and your clients.

Here are our top package tips…

Package with purpose
Whether you create pre-set packages for clients to choose from or fashion packages customized to each client’s goals and needs, do it with purpose. Leave behind randomly-sized packages (4-packs, 6-packs, etc.) in favor of packages designed to address a specific need, such as puppy raising, basic manners, leash reactivity, etc. Clients are more likely to purchase a package that speaks directly to their issue, making them easier to sell.

Here’s an extra pro tip: If at all possible, create separate pages on your website for each type of case or issue you work with, or at least those you specialize in. This allows clients to fast track straight to the information most relevant to them and see that you offer a ready-made solution (or are standing by to create a tailor-made one for them).

Bigger is better
Set down your concern about what people will or will not pay for. Your job isn’t to save people money, it’s to provide training solutions. Every time you let fear dictate selling less training than is actually needed, you set yourself, your client, and their dog up for potential failure.

All cases, clients, and dogs are different and we can’t guarantee specific outcomes. But what we absolutely can and must do is insist on enough training to make a difference. Your packages need to be of a size to give clients a solid chance of reaching their goals. Clients must have at least enough time to attain significant progress and momentum, and to learn the skills they need to keep that progress rolling if they haven’t yet gotten where they mean to go.

When you feel queasy about creating and selling professional packages, repeat this dogbiz mantra: Underselling is underserving.

Keep choices limited
Our inner customer service reps can be tempted to offer clients lots of options. Beware: too many package choices can lead to potential clients making no choice at all. The goal is to make decision making easy. A good rule of thumb is to keep choices limited to two to three packages for any given issue. (And just one is perfectly fine!)

Your choices should have purpose—for example, you might be offering the choice between working in-person or online. Or between day training (you training the dog) or coaching (them learning to train their dog), or even board & train.

In most cases (puppies being a notable exception) avoid package options based purely on size or length of package, unless your smallest package is plenty sizeable to get the job done and you’re simply using the larger option(s) to make that one look more attractive. Bottom line: never offer options you don’t want dog lovers to take! There’s nothing more frustrating and disappointing for all involved than a client choosing a 4-session package for a 10-session problem.

Let your creativity fly
In this new era of training, with all we’ve learned from adapting to the pandemic, there are so many new ideas to play with. Step outside the box to reimagine your training services. What kinds of package features can you incorporate to better support clients toward their goals (and toward your trainer goals for them)?

Consider online options and all the flexibility they provide to play with session length and frequency, for example. Or all the ways you can combine elements. Are there ways you might combine in-person and online pieces in your packages? Individual and group sessions? Could you add extra support options like Facebook groups, online homework, pre-recorded videos, video review sessions, office hours, and the like?

The possibilities are endless for differentiating your services, providing stronger support and better training outcomes than ever before, and crafting a way of working that plays to your individual strengths and preferences—all while increasing your income, too.

Excited about all the possibilities but feel like you could use some support to figure out what it means for you? Schedule one-on-one time with a friendly dogbiz consultant or become part of our THRIVE! group coaching community of R+ trainers.