Many dog owners wonder whether they should invest in the membership fees for an online dog training website, or if they’d be better off just spending the money to hire an in-person professional dog trainer.
One of the advantages of using an online dog training website is that the training being offered is often far greater than what a local dog trainer can offer.
Here are some points to consider when comparing the benefits and costs of online dog training vs hiring a professional dog trainer.
In this post, we’ll cover:
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- Cost of Dog Training: More Expensive Doesn’t Mean Better
- Quality of the Dog Training: In-Person vs Online
- Convenience: Which is Easier and Less Time Consuming?
- Support: Do They Help You if You Have a Problem?
- Do Your Homework Before Choosing a Dog Trainer
- My Recommendation
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Dog Training Cost: More Expensive Doesn’t Mean Better
Many people are willing to pay whatever it takes to get a solution if they’re having a particularly bothersome issue with their dog’s behavior.
Also, many dog owners want to make sure they are raising their puppy correctly, so they think it best to spend the money to hire a professional dog trainer to train the dog in person.
The cost of hiring an in-person professional dog trainer. One of the problems with hiring a professional dog trainer is that you will likely have to go through more than one before you find one who you like, who your dog likes, and whose methods you agree with and are willing to follow.
Not only is this a huge waste of time, but it can get expensive very fast!
The fee for a dog trainer to come to your home can start at $50 for the first hour and go up to as much as $500 for a couple of hours. Often trainers will insist that several training sessions will be required, so the cost ends up being far more than the initial appointment.
Some trainers even claim to perform an “evaluation” of your dog then tell you your dog has a serious behavioral issue and is going to require a ton of training. Often several expensive lessons later, your dog is no better trained than before you hired the trainer.
The cost of an online dog trainer. Many of the dog training video-based websites have a fee of about $40 to enter the website. This gives you access to an enormous amount of information in the form of articles, audio, and videos.
The popular dog training website, The Online Dog Trainer allows you a three-day trial for only $1!
This is a wonderful option, because it allows you time to check out the site BEFORE you decide whether you want to commit to joining and paying a fee. This, in my opinion, is a very good sign.
To me, it means they have enough confidence that once you check out the site, you’ll likely want to join.
Quality of the Dog Training
Unfortunately, there has been an explosion lately of dog lovers turning into dog trainers overnight. A dog owner and a dog trainer are two different things. Just because someone loves dogs, doesn’t mean they are able to help anyone with dog training.
Some of these individuals have qualifications that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, and others have no actual dog-training experience at all.
The quality of in-person dog training. There are definitely some well-qualified dog trainers out there. But finding a good dog trainer is difficult. The most important thing is to get reliable recommendations before you hire one.
One of the benefits of having a dog trainer come to visit you in person is that they’re able to meet your dog, watch and observe the dog, and this helps to personalize the training process.
If they are a high-quality dog trainer, they will tailor the training to fit your home, your lifestyle, and your personality. At a price.
The quality of online dog training. As I’ve said, one of the major advantages of using an online dog training website is that the training is often far more than what a local dog trainer can offer.
Professional dog trainers (like Doggy Dan, owner of The Online Dog Trainer), have many years of experience with an enormous number of dogs they’ve worked with. And the training you will have access to is far more extensive.
You can, for example, have access to more than 250 step-by-step dog training videos on The Online Dog Trainer – where you get to watch Professional Dog Trainer Doggy Dan as he trains dogs right before your eyes.
How many visits to your home would it take for a local dog trainer to give you 250 in-depth lessons? The time factor alone is huge.
The volume of training available on The Online Dog Trainer website is…yep…HUGE!
Convenience – Which is Easier and Less Time Consuming?
Hiring a local dog trainer. If you’re fortunate enough to have a highly recommended, highly trained professional dog trainer in your area who is available at times that coincide with your schedule, then hiring an in-person dog trainer might work for you.
Unfortunately, most people work full time jobs and can barely hold down the responsibilities of house and family during their off time on weekends and evenings.
Professional, quality dog trainers are few and far between, and even if you do find one locally, finding time to schedule dog training sessions can be difficult.
Using an online dog training website – Oh, the beauty of technology! This is the thing people love most about using an online dog training website – the ease of use. You can log on and watch the dog training videos any time of the day or night, from anywhere in the world.
Whether you’re at work, at home, waiting in line at a store, at the dog park, in the waiting room at the doctor or dentist…the opportunities are endless when you can log on and watch the videos.
Having the training videos available to you online means that everyone in your family can experience the training when they have time. The training videos can be paused, so you can watch if you just have a few minutes, or you could sit and watch training videos for an entire evening or afternoon if you wish.
Not to mention you don’t have to get the whole family together if the dog trainer is coming to your home, nor do you have to get the dog in the car (kids in tow as well if you want the full benefit of the training) – and drive to and from the dog training center.
Support – Do they help you if you have a problem?
Some dog trainers will allow follow up in the form of another visit from them or making themselves available for a phone call from you. But it’s usually not included in the price and costs extra. This can be problematic if you have questions or issues after the training session(s).
With The Online Dog Trainer, there is a forum where you can ask questions and receive answers. You can even take a video of your dog misbehaving and submit it for the dog trainer in the forum to look at to get a better understanding of the problem you’re having.
Do Your Homework Before Choosing a Dog Trainer
Do Your Homework Before Choosing a Dog TrainerWhichever option you decide to go with, do your homework first. Get referrals, talk to people who have used that particular dog trainer, and read the testimonials.
To see some real-life testimonials and reviews of The Online Dog Trainer, click here.
My Recommendation
There are excellent professional dog trainers available all over the country. But honestly, to be fortunate enough to find one near your home is unlikely. And driving your dog to pet training centers is time consuming and stressful for both you and the dog.
The training you receive, due to time and budget constraints, is usually very minimal, and unfortunately, often ineffective.
In my opinion, nothing beats the quality and quantity of training you can get when you join an online dog training website. The ease of use is reason enough to choose this option. You can get the training on your own schedule, and at your own pace, and most often for far less money.
Support is available to you 24/7, and the volume of training is extraordinary.
Nothing compares to being able to watch a professional dog trainer train dogs via video, at your convenience and absolutely anywhere! And you get to pick the topic – you simply choose the training video that addresses the issue you currently need help with!
The Online Dog Trainer
The Online Dog TrainerDeciding to go with The Online Dog Trainer is easy when you consider the four areas we’ve discussed here: Cost, Quality of Training, Convenience and Support.
You can enter Doggy Dan’s website for three full days for $1. Then, if you decide you like the site and would like to continue receiving training, you can sign up for a membership. But you are not obligated!
You will not find a better dog training website than The Online Dog Trainer in all four areas of Cost, Quality of Training, Convenience and Support. The site is easy to use, provides exceptional training, and offers you the chance to ask questions that are answered by Doggy Dan himself.
With more than 250 training videos available, I can promise you’ll find the solutions you’re looking for. This is real, quality training that results in real, long-term success!
Read My Online Dog Trainer Product Review
Find Out What People are Saying about The Online Dog Trainer!
I Donate to Animal Charities
I Donate to Animal CharitiesThank you for visiting my website. I hope this post has helped you decide on the right dog training for you and your dog!
I donate 10% of my earnings to animal charities. You can see a list of the charities I donate to here. If you found my site to be helpful, please share it with your friends and family. Thank you! Debra
Debra,
My wife and I are looking to get our first dog. We want a smaller dog that doesn’t shed and would be a ideal breed for first time dog owners. Do you have any suggestions are far as breeds?
Also, this article was helpful! I’m pretty cost conscious so it was nice to learn from your experience that I don’t necessarily need to invest in a professional trainer. Thanks
We had a miniature (not toy) poodle when I was a kid. He didn’t shed – just occasionally left little black curls around! LOL Poodles are smart, easy to train, loyal. Also, here’s an article about choosing the right breed, click HERE. Thank you so much for your comments.
Hi Debra,
You brought up some very interesting points in your great article which essentially led me to believe that training a dog online has much more benefits as opposed to hiring a professional dog trainer.
Considering the almost ridiculously high cost of hiring some professional dog trainer at some of the fees that they would charge, it definitely would set the owner back a lot of money. And as you also added the “trainer” would naturally want to meet with your dog more than once, (or twice) in order to allow him/her to get to “know” your dog that much better.
As you said in the meanwhile, there are so many more programs that have been developed online, legit in their teaching methods that would cost the owner less money by comparison. I also feel that the owner would gain much greater satisfaction were he/she be the one, using online methods that would help train the pet to behave well at some point. After all in the end, the owner would live with the dog for years to come, not the professional trainer.
Furthermore as you stated more and more of these “trainers” appear to want to get into this little niche when they in fact they might not have any serious qualifications to begin with.
No, it is quite clear that training a dog yourself as its owner would be a much better option to get the final results desired as opposed to hiring a “professional trainer” who might not be all that professional to begin with.
Great article Debra!
Sincerely,
Jeff
Thank you Jeff. I agree the payoff is huge and long-lasting when you get the training you need to train the dog yourself – learn the proper techniques, spend that time with the dog. Having a dog is so worth it – they’re so fantastic!