# online dog training schools?



## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

has anyone here ever took an online dog training course?
I am looking into nadoi through Penn Foster.
http://www.nadoi.org/

there is Also ABC
http://www.animalbehaviorcollege.com/default.asp?id=409&type=GoogleAdWordsSearch


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

What are you hoping to accomplish? Meaning, what are your goals?

I am pretty familiar with ABC.


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## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

i would like to be able to help people with behavior issues in their dogs. the common, and not so common. even dealing with aggression.
I also think that i would like to do private obedience lessons, but my primary focus would be on home training visits helping with behavior problems


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## StarfishSaving (Nov 7, 2008)

I've actually been thinking about doing this as well. I'm curious to see what people have to say. Good luck, Ruckus!


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## clickntreat (Feb 19, 2010)

You could start training at Petsmart. The training is free and you start to build a client base. The dog trainer Zac George from the Animal Planet show Superfetch started as a Petsmart dog trainer. An on-line school could help teach you, but nothing you can't learn from books + experience. Plus, no one really gives a darn about an on-line certification in dog training. Just call dog trainers in your area to see if any would like to take on an assistant/ intern. You might be surprised. Try to pick one whose training methods are in line with your beliefs. Personally, I do all positive methods. You may differ but I would strongly suggest you try to find a positive path as well.


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

I did the ABC program-probably 2 years now-I loved it. It was very convenient for me. 95% of it is book work at home-then you do community service at your local humane society-and then your externship is with another dog trainer working one on one with their dogs. They are very flexible-and I still have contact with the school-even after 2 years. They also offered a Vet Assistant course-but it was to expensive for me at the time, so I took the course through Penn Foster-bad idea. Their program was horrible-I really regret not going through the ABC's vet assistant program. ABC has a bunch of alumni program's too-one I'm going to be taking here in a few months is they help you work with, and train Shelter Dogs.


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## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

thanks amdeblaey!

I wonder...
is it worth going to school for this? I am a dog groomer. i love my job! but was thinking of doing training only on saturdays. if i only train one day a week will the classes even pay for themselves?


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

ruckusluvr said:


> thanks amdeblaey!
> 
> I wonder...
> is it worth going to school for this? I am a dog groomer. i love my job! but was thinking of doing training only on saturdays. if i only train one day a week will the classes even pay for themselves?


I guess it depends-it is a couple thousand dollars-and will take a year-but you will learn a lot-and I have found a lot of it comes in handy. But on the other hand-where do you do your grooming-if it's petco or petsmart, maybe you can do their program-I do not know anything about their programs though. Are you military at all? They are offering tuition assistants for military spouses. I noticed your location said Ky/Tn border-and I know Fort Campbell is on the border. If you do decide to do a program like ABC-i recommend ABC and not Penn Foster-Penn Foster did not get a good review from me. The big difference I noticed between the two-is ABC is very personal-you are assigned to your own personal teacher so to say-so if you have a question-that person is there to help you-and keeps track of you threw out your program. If I had a question for Penn Foster-I submitted an email-and crossed my fingers that someone would get back to me that month-plus anytime I got an email back-it was always 'dear student' excuse me-I paid you how many hundreds of dollars-you can at least address me by my name. It was just little things like that that made Penn Foster very impersonal-and felt they really didn't care. That is my take on the difference between the two schools.


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## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

I groomed at a small independant shop. just me and someone else working there. I am not military at all, neither is my husband. 

I will look into ABC more. Penn Foster is so much cheaper though! but I bet you get what you pay for.


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

ruckusluvr said:


> I groomed at a small independant shop. just me and someone else working there. I am not military at all, neither is my husband.
> 
> I will look into ABC more. Penn Foster is so much cheaper though! but I bet you get what you pay for.


Yeah-Penn Foster is cheaper-I mean you have to do what you want-financially-I mean if you can afford Penn Foster without taking out a huge school loan-then that's fine, you just can't go in expecting to much. You want a good school-but in this economy-sometimes you can't do the best, and that's just fine. I think the best way to learn is to actually go out and do it-so if you can just get through the book work with Penn Foster, and get the background knowledge, then you can get out there and actually put the books to good use.


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## RBark (Sep 10, 2007)

I'm not entirely sure about how the process works, but while there's a lot of book-related learning to be done on the Learning Theory (which, for the majority of people, simply picking up "How Dogs Think" by Stanley Coren, "The Other End of the Leash" by Patricia McConnell, and "Excel-erated Learning" by Pamela Reid, will tell you 80% of what you need to learn about dog training)

Aside from that, the most important parts of dog training simply cannot be trained over the 'net. You can't learn timing from a DVD, or from text. You can't learn how to properly read dogs that way either. I honestly don't think it's possible to completely learn that without someone far more experienced to guide you, point out the things you've missed, and so on.

You can wing it with experiences with various dogs, but dog training, just like most behavior education (psychology, sociology, etc) is a lifelong learning process.

If I am incorrect about these programs, please do inform me otherwise.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Honestly, ABC is not the best out there, I know several people who took it and didn't find they learned anything that they didn't already know. 
If you are seriously interested in BEHAVIOUR you may want to look at the CASI courses. They are university level, taught by James O'heare and with a board of faculty that includes Nicole Wilde etc. 
www.CASI.com


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