Trainers should demonstrate professionalism, expertise, communication skills with people and should demonstrate:

•  knowledge of dog behavior
•  knowledge of the scientific principles of learning
•  an adherence to an ethical hierarchy

Look for certain "Red Flag" statements in your conversation or on their web site. If hear or read any of these, move on. These statements include:

1. Food is bribery and should not be used. Food training makes you submissive to the dog.
This statement demonstrates that the trainer has little or no knowledge of the scientific principles of learning. While using food is not always necessary, a trainer that totally disregards the use of food wastes the most universally powerful reinforcer available to a trainer.

2. Guaranteeing results or outcomes.
Animals are sentient thinking beings functioning under the influence of cues that come from their environment. Behavior is never 100% predictable. Additionally success of training often depends on the owner’s ability to control the environment and implement appropriate training at home. The trainer cannot control this. Guaranteeing specific outcomes infers a lack of knowledge of behavior or an unethical trainer.

3. Corrections are necessary in training because the dog has to be told when it’s wrong.
While the use of corrections is not always inappropriate and sometimes perhaps warranted, this statement is often used to justify rather harsh and domineering training techniques. This philosophy also disrespects the animal as feeling being and places a higher standard of behavior on an animal than on a human. We understand that humans, even highly educated (trained) ones sometimes make mistakes, yet we expect our animals to be perfect. Animals can understand the concept of incorrect responses mrely by the lack of an expected reinforcement.

4. Dogs should work just for praise (because they should want to please us).
Again, this statement reveals a profound lack of knowledge regarding learning principles and motivational systems.

5. Dogs are pack animals. You have to be the “alpha” in order to train the dog.
Knowledge of learning principles makes dominance theory irrelevant to animal training. Current studies of feral and village dogs clearly demonstrate that dogs do not live in structured packs. Even if they did so, this has little relevance to domestic situations. Behavior is a product of the environment in which the dog behaves – change the environment and you change the behavior.

Dog trainers have an ethical obligation to find and use the least invasive, minimally aversive method appropriate for that dog, the owners, and the environment they live in.