When virtual dog training might actually be a better choice
Virtual dog training is a new idea for many dog owners, and it’s a common misconception that virtual training is always less effective than in-person training. While there are certainly benefits to in-person training (for example, being together with you and your dogs!), the reality is that there are some pretty significant ways in which virtual training is better. Here’s how:
Your trainer gets to see your dog’s natural state
For example, the down side of a trainer physically entering your home is that the trainer never gets to fully see how your dog normally acts at home with you. A stranger coming into your home inevitably alters your dog’s emotional state and behavior, whether your dog gets excited over this new human and their giant bag of tasty morsels, or your pup becomes fearful, reactive or timid. Whether enthusiastic, anxious or in between, getting to covertly be in your living room through a computer screen allows the trainer to see your dog’s baseline behavior, which is critical information that an in-person trainer only receives secondhand through your description.
Your dog learns to tune in to YOU
Trainers, although great carriers of knowledge and treats, can also be major distractions for your dog. Just by virtue of being a new person, the trainer can be more captivating to your dog in that moment. It’s this dynamic that causes the age-old complaint that “my dog is perfect for the trainer but doesn’t listen when it’s just me!” When you are the only human physically present, you have your dogs undivided attention and you are the one handling your pup, start to finish. Not only will this will teach your dog more quickly that you are their human and the one to look to for cues, but also that you are the source of all good things that go with the training – positive reinforcement, bonding, guidance/leadership, and trust. Your dog will think that you and you alone are the all-powerful wizard of fun and treats, and the one who will always help them feel safe and confident when they don’t know what to do. You are your dog’s human - you should be the apple of their eye.
No body language confusion
By being the sole trainer, you also ensure that your dog will get used to your body language, not your trainer’s. We often don’t realize the series of individualized signals we offer our dogs when giving a command/cue. Take, for example, the command to sit. We might think that simply offering the verbal cue ‘sit’ is what leads our pup to quickly drop their rump to the ground. But we also consciously or unconsciously give other signals: our hand may rise, our voice may go up an octave, our arm may go akimbo, our posture may stiffen. Often our dogs aren’t even reacting to the verbal cue at all, but instead, one of the many accompanying changes in our own body language that our dog has learned means ‘butt down for a treat please.’ These changes can be so individualized and subtle that your dog learning to sit with a trainer may not translate as easily when you give the same command. So if your dog isn’t having to switch handlers during a single session, she won’t have to adjust to different handlers’ body language and she’ll learn faster.
Puppies can actually learn without distraction
Virtual training has been particularly advantageous for puppy training. Puppies can be too excitable to focus with a new person in the environment. The impulse control part of their brain is “under construction.” By removing the huge distraction of a shiny new human, they are able to absorb more information and actually learn more deeply from you.
Some behavior issues are best treated virtually
Furthermore, some behavior issues are particularly ill suited to in-person sessions. Fearful dogs will work best in a situation that is free of strangers in their home and therefore below their anxiety threshold, so these dogs definitely get more from each virtual training session. This also ensures that training never gets linked to the emotional response of fear or anxiety and stays in a more positive emotional place in the limbic system. For behavior cases that are extra sensitive to conditioned responses and others’ presence, such as separation anxiety, in-person training means you will have to retrain your dog once the present stressor (the trainer) is gone. By training virtually, we remove that middle step.
Visual learning opportunities with your trainer’s own beloved canine
Virtual meetings in any field have meant each individual gets to have a rare glimpse into the others’ home life. From their barking ‘coworker’ to their food splattered child making a screen appearance. While a lot of training protocols can be described, many trainers have taken to using their own dog as a visual example for various training protocols and methods. Not only has this meant that you get to meet the dog that helped your trainer fall in love with working with pups (in Alexis Toriello’s case the handsome Riis), but it has also meant that you get to see a visual example of each particular training protocol. An example that you can look back upon as well as a resource when questions arise.
From challenges to opportunities
Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to the necessity of safe distancing, Zen Dog Training has been able to invent new and creative ways to augment remote, and regular, training. Remote training is not perfect. Of course we can’t wait for the tactile pleasure of working with dogs and their owners; that’s why any trainer goes into this business. But we will never do training the exact same way again. We will now teach in a hybrid way in the future: scheduled training sessions and remote problem-solving sessions and life-lines with supplemental resources employing remote technologies. With remote training, you can have the benefit of your trainer’s knowledge and insight, while gaining all the capital that comes from being the sole trainer—new training confidence and a stronger bond with your canine family.
Adam and puppy Harvey - puppies can often learn better in virtual sessions than in-person.
This blog’s Author Moriah and one of her charges