I am looking at in the future of taking Owen to a dog trainer for his Canine Good Citizenship (probably not until after summer). I also want some help with some issues that we just can not seem to get corrected. I realize it is me that needs to be fixed. Need to get his health fixed first and some more bills paid off. I want to research this ahead of time though to be sure I am picking the right trainer for him.
Thing is how do you know if you have picked a good trainer? What do you look for? What questions do you ask? Are there degrees that are helpful? What do the different training methods do/don't do? Are there schools of training that are cruel and should be avoided? Anything else to be considered? Is there a way to see if a trainer has any complaints of animal cruelty or do they lose the right to be a trainer if they have?

Some far better educated people will answer, but I observed "my" trainer several times before going with my dog. I also knew exactly how I wanted him trained, what I expected. I was lucky - she was good, competent and belonged to an association. I'm trying to think of the name. She also had animal health care certificates.

I also (obviously) didn't go to a pet store.

Easy. Look at the trainer's dogs. See how they act. Cowed dogs will obey out of fear. Well trained dogs will obey out of eagerness.

Types of training:


Companion Dog - Highly skilled animals to assist blind and handicapped people
Guard Dog - Personal or property protection
Obedience - follows commands with or without a leash
.

Types of training methods:


Positive reinforcement, such as Victoria Stilwell uses
Dominance training, such as Cesar Milan uses
Koehler/K-9 training, a combination of the two used by Law Enforcement/Military trainers
Schutzhund training, similar to K-9 but more individualized for the dog.


Finding a trainer:

This link may help:


http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/default.aspx

I think you need to pick a training method that is easy for you.

Me for example, I use positive reinforcement using treats and no clickers. In my opinion, I think clicker training is a joke. But it may be something that works for you.

Once you have found the type of training method that you can handle, figure out if your dog responds. Some dogs don't respond with positive reinforcement, some do. Some dogs don't respond with dominance training, some do. So just take him out in your backyard or a nice quite room and see what he does with a treat in your hand.

Most trainers will advertise their schooling or any certificates they have earned. As far as I know, there are no degrees that can be earned for dog training.. however; you can become certified through a specific organization.

Kennel clubs will sometimes hold training classes specifically for the CGC title. They also hold classes for obedience, both novice and advance, and breed ring training. Although, I will warn you, most kennel club training classes may require a choke chain. Which that is how I learned how to train my dogs. It is not evil or mean... If done right, they are very useful. So try and be open minded about some of the tools used in training obedience... but also keep your own goals and integrity about it. If choke chains are just a major turn off, than stick with that idea and don't let others pursay you.. because that is how these training tools become abusive or they just won't work.