The Keep It Simple Stupid DOG Training Podcast is for dog owners who want practical, real-world answers without all the unnecessary complication.
Hosted by Mike Deathe, owner and trainer at K.I.S.S. Dog Training in the Kansas City area, the podcast focuses on the everyday problems dog owners actually deal with: leash pulling, potty training, barking, jumping, reactivity, puppies, new dogs, behavior problems, and building better routines at home.
With more than 18 years of experience and roughly 10,000 in-home training sessions, Mike focuses on positive reinforcement and teaching owners how to understand, manage, and train their dogs in the real world.
The goal is simple: make dog training easier to understand, easier to practice, and more useful in everyday life.
Looking for the right dog trainer? In Part 2 of "What Should a Good Dog Training Session Look Like?", we discuss how to choose a dog trainer that's the right fit for you and your dog, why honest and transparent communication is essential, and how to understand exactly what you're paying for when investing in professional dog training.
At KISS Dog Training in Shawnee, KS, we believe every successful training program starts with clear expectations, open communication, and personalized coaching. We explain what a quality dog training session should include, the questions you should ask before hiring a trainer, and how to recognize a training program that supports both you and your dog.
Whether you're searching for dog training in Shawnee, KS, puppy training, obedience training, behavior modification, or simply want to learn what makes a great dog trainer, this episode offers practical advice to help you make the best decision for your family.
If you're in the Kansas City metro area and looking for a trusted dog trainer, KISS Dog Training is here to help dogs and their owners build lasting relationships through effective, straightforward training.
Mike Deathe owns Keep it Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.) Dog training. We can be reached through comments here, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kissdogtraining. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedeathe/, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mikedeathekissdogtraining/. And of course at our website https://kissdogtraining.com/
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Welcome to another Kiss Dog Training Podcast with certified dog trainer Mike Deefe. Dog training isn't complicated. You just need a little more information. Mike's coming up with all that info.
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Hey guys, it's Mike. I'm back. It's Kiss Dog Training. We're going to do a part two from the last video. And the last video was what should a good dog training session look like. And we talked an awful lot about the um training side of the nuts and bolts and things like that. The things you need to know about dog training. Here we're going to really look at the client side, not the training side. And what I mean by that is you need to do your research before you give anybody any money. Experience counts, communication counts, all sorts of things we're going to talk about. But if you don't do your homework, how can you expect the dog to do theirs? Or how are you going to get the information from the trainer and does it jive with you? Things like that. So this will be a little bit different take, but I thought after I did part one, I started going, there's going to have to be a part two. So welcome. Okay, let's jump right into this. Um, the idea of what a client needs to do. Well, um, it all kind of starts. I get a lot of phone calls from people who say, I've worked with two or three other trainers and I keep seeing your name, or I keep hearing your name from my veterinarian or from wherever. And, you know, they're like, Well, what can you do that they haven't? And I'm like, well, the first thing I'm gonna ask you to do is to go out and fill the contact form on the website. Give me a basic idea, really what you want to accomplish with your dog. Give me the top three things you want to accomplish. Let me know what you've tried before in the past. Um, the second thing I'm gonna have you do is take a look at the start here tab on the website. There's a little video there. There's a little blur about how I do my dog training. Um, there is a fine print and frequently asked question where you're going to link right there. Um, I'll tell you up front, I'm really transparent. I want you to understand what I expect from the client, what you can expect from me before any money ever transfers hands. So the first step is give me some more specific details so that I can send you a nice complete training recommendation of what I would recommend. Uh, meanwhile, you're going to be double checking and looking at the fine print frequently asked questions and making sure you understand everything that's going on. And, you know, I don't almost never sign up a client on first contact. I want them to have to go through, how do I say this without being rude? To a certain extent, I do want them to jump through a few hoops because I want to see if they have the gumption to stick to it. Um, I think if you choose a dog trainer just because somebody picked up the phone and they say I have Friday available, you're probably setting yourself up for maybe not being totally satisfied. Okay. Okay, so I guess this next part is gonna be kind of some of the nuts and bolts about dog training, but it's gonna be maybe from a different angle. You gotta know what kind of training you're signing up for. Okay. Is it a group class? Is it private instruction? I kind of covered this last time. Um, what about board insurance? Okay. Um, so I'm just gonna give you my real brief take on each one of these. Number one, a lot of people will pick a group class because it's cheaper because they have multiple dogs in a group, then get more for teaching, but it still takes six weeks, maybe eight weeks if you get a long class. The problem is most of the dogs who are going into a group class right out of the shoot are not going to be able to handle the distraction and the chaos of being in a reasonably small space with six or eight other dogs, 10 or 12 other people paying attention to the owner, the owner who's paying attention to the trainer and trying to replicate behavior and then go home and practice it. So a long time ago, I would say about seven or eight years ago, I decided that I was going to kind of flip the script. And I, when I did teach group classes, looked at group classes as a finishing class. And this is where I think the magic of a group class can really happen. I think that you should always start with private instruction inside your house, get the dog to pay attention there, we can move to the backyard, to the front yard. We can add layers of distraction, but the one thing we can't really do is be in a group of dogs and that kind of distraction. So I would always make folks do two or three private sessions, and then they would sign up for a group class as a finishing class where they would be working with their dog in different situations. And I warned them right up front, again, that transparency thing I want you listening to when you're hiring a dog trainer is yeah, you will be learning a lot of the same exact commands in a group class that you did with me privately, but it's going to be in a scenario your dog's never done. Most people want that dog that they can take out in public and it can handle distractions and this. Well, if all you do is private training, you end up with a living room dog, a dog who can do everything brilliant within within the four walls of your house. But then when you walk out the front door, they become a blithering idiot. Whereas if you do a group class, what I found years ago when I worked for one of the big box retailers, that's where I got my starter training, was a lot of people would quit at an eight-week training class at about week three or four. They just was showing up. And it was because they were embarrassed. Their dog wasn't paying attention, that dog was better than this dog, and this dog was better than that dog, and my dog just barked through the class, so I didn't want to do it. And that's one of the main reasons where I was like, well, this is reversed. Okay. So if you find yourself thinking that a private class is cheaper, it might be. Uh, especially because the you know, person has to come out to your house, you're paying them for time, travel, uh, working on specifics, that's the benefit. Um, but in the long run, you may end up doing a group class, having it not workout, and then hiring a private trainer. So I would flip-flop those. Uh, the only thing I'm gonna say about board and trains is I don't do. Um, I think it's easy after 18 years of being a professional dog trainer to get a dog to do all sorts of cool stuff in front of you. That doesn't help you when I leave. Um, and a lot of people think, well, okay, I'll pay a whole bunch of money and I'll have the dog trained by somebody else in their home or at their facility. And the dog will learn all this stuff and it's gonna translate right back to the house. And unfortunately, it doesn't translate. You if if you're gonna do like a two-month training program, I tell them you better at least plan for a month or two of practice of what they learned there that you're gonna practice in your house and then else, you know, all the different environments we talk about. Um, you're not just gonna get a dog, you're gonna get a dog with some basic skills, but it's not like it's just new. If you're not gonna do the work from a boredom train, it's not gonna be effective. So, again, when you're talking to these trainers, make sure you know what you're purchasing and what you're getting for. Okay, part of doing your research is either before you call them or after. Um, I would almost say maybe I tell people call three to five trainers, and you're gonna get a pretty quick vibe of I vibe with this person, I jive with this person, I can see myself working with this person. Okay, you're moving on to the next little program. Um, some people will want to do all of the other stuff I want to talk about here in a minute. First, I just kind of do it backwards. And really, it's research, reviews, website expectations. Um, so the big question is are the prices on the website? It drives me nuts that a lot of dog trainers hide their prices until the very end and then they do the sale and then they try to get you a sign up. Uh, me, I'm the exact opposite. I kind of pride myself on transparency. Uh it's a real simple pricing system. It's there, you see it. Um, I have to find print frequently asked questions. It's all right there. You know what I expect, I know what you can expect. Um, Google reviews. Um, I think it's important to look at Google reviews, but I want to look for patterns, not necessarily stars. Okay. Uh, one bad review, if there's 99 of them and everybody else, you know, loves the person and has great comments, um that's probably just they didn't buy it. Um, but at the same token, if you have a 500 five-star ratings with no comments, then well, it doesn't tell you as much. So I like reading through the comments. I also like, does the trainer actually respond to their reviews? Um, I treat a review like finding a diamond in a mine. Uh, I'm definitely gonna try to reach out and say thank you for the time and effort. Um, keep in mind that it wasn't me doing all the work, it was you doing the work giving the client the kudos back for taking, because a lot of people don't take the time to do the reviews. Comments are even better. So I think that's important. Um, and then I guess lastly, the research you got to do is be on the website and and look for the details. Um, if all you're gonna do is hop on a website, look at a Google page, fill out a contact form, and write a check, you really don't know what you're getting into. So, you know, pricing, expectations, the how-to. Um, if you're looking for a positive reinforcement trainer, are you even looking for that in uh on their website? I've I've seen a lot of dog training websites that I can't tell whether they're positive reinforcement, balanced, diversive. I mean, there's tons of different techniques in dog training, but if your trainer's not wearing their techniques and their thoughts on their chest like a badge of honor, I think that's something to look at also. Okay, now this one may tweak some people, but I think communication from the trainer you're dealing with before you pay is going to tell you an awful lot about what you're gonna get after you pay. And what I would mean by that, it blows my mind how many times, you know, what I tell people, again, to be transparent and to be reasonable, I'll say, hey, look, um I'm a one-man show, I do all the accounting, I do the training, I do the videos, I do you know, it's just me. So if you shoot me an email or you give me a call, I will get back with you within 48 business hours. Okay, so if it's on the weekends, sometimes it'll be till Monday. A lot of times I even contact people over the weekends, but I'll hear from people. You know, I contacted eight or nine dog trainers, and you're the only one that has emailed me or even reached out. And to me, that gets into the part-time, full-time dog training scenario. Uh, when I started with KISS Dog Training in 2010, I think there were nine or ten um dog trainers in Kansas City. You know, there may have been a few more, but not many. I think the last um research I did there was there's over 80 now that either have websites or Facebook pages or this or that. Um so um if if you if it's hard to get hold of a trainer and you're not getting the response that you want and you're not getting it quickly or at least reliably, okay, um chances are that after you get paid, it'll get worse, not better. Okay. So you need to pay attention to these. You know, are they gonna send you a behavior history? Will they say, okay, these are my concerns about the behavior history? Um, have we gotten the vet involved yet? Um, you know, how are you doing this? Here's a video of me, you know, working with the dog so you can kind of see me doing it. Um, if you're not getting that, you're just getting a hey, I have an availability on Wednesday, yeah, they might be cheaper. Oh, they may be more expensive, but think about things like that before you sign your name on the dotted line. Now, flip side, transparency. Again, I tell people I don't offer refunds for dog training. Um, dog training is a commitment of time by me to you, and it's a commitment of time from you to me. And even third is a commitment of time from you to your dog. And if all three of those are not going, I'm not just gonna give your money back because you're not doing the work, but I am transparent about that. And you see all that in the fine-frame frequently asked questions. Are you getting that kind of visibility when you're talking to or emailing back and forth with a doctor?
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If you love the podcast topics, Mike has books on dog training. Just search the name Mike Death, D-E-A-T-H-E. Books are available in audiobooks, ebooks, and in print. In the notes of the podcast, you'll find the link where you can donate as little as $3 a month to help support us on our journey to bring more good, solid, scientific, positive dog training information to the world. We appreciate that help. Remember, dog training isn't complicated. You just need a little more information. Here's Mike.
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Okay, I love this one. This is one of my favorite sayings. Um, a lot of times I will start training with a client, even though I'm transparent, even though they've signed the fine print and frequently asked questions, um, even though we've already covered all this, they will want me to change my style of training to fit something they've seen on the internet or on a video or something like this. And it's funny, I always politely, and when I have to kind of barb with a client, a lot of times I will do it with humor and maybe a tiny bit of sarcasm. And you know, one of my favorite sayings is you don't walk into a Ford dealership and demand to buy Chevy. Okay. That's why I'm doing this video. I think people need to be better educated of how to pick a dough trainer and make sure it's gonna be a good fit for them. But you can't start with a positive reinforcement trainer and get halfway through the training and go, well, I'd really like to switch over to this shot collar or this choke chain or this prong collar. Um, it's it's a tool that we don't know how to use. We don't want to learn how to use, and we're not going to use in most cases. But flip side could be said, you know, you might hire somebody who is a shot collar trainer, and then you get halfway through it and go, I don't ever want to use this thing again. I just want to use cookies. And it's like you can't expect somebody to do something that they're not prepared or trained to do. So I think it's really important. Again, this goes back to, I think I mentioned it in a couple of sections before, is if you can't tell what kind of trainer you're dealing with, with looking through their website, why? Why wouldn't you why wouldn't you just have it in neon lights on your website that this is who I am, this is how I do it, you know, so that you get good fit between client and trainer. Um, you know, training philosophy, equipment, methods, uh, even personality fit. Okay. Um, you know, some guy, some people may not want a male trainer, some people may not want may not want a female trainer, some people may not like my sense of humor that I use in dog training because I can be a little sarcastic. Somebody will tell me, you know, the dog chewed up the third pair of shoes, and you know, I go, that sucks. Have you ever thought about picking up your shoes and putting them in your closet and shutting the door? You know, I mean, it's it's not the dog's fault. I mean, we can teach a dog over time that there are certain things they should and shouldn't chew on, but let's face it, it's a stinky shoe. It's fun, I'm gonna chew on it. If you're not gonna put it away, don't be mad at the dog. Go look in the mirror. So, um, but a lot of this, if you go out to my website and just look it over, you're gonna get a pretty good idea who I am. My tone, my you know, my humor is there. I it's I I I don't want I want to under-promise and over-deliver. I do not want to over-promise and under-deliver, and I certainly don't want to underinform to get clients. This is another one I think is really important to talk to people about, okay? Dog training is people training. Uh being good with dogs is not enough. You know, for maybe some simple stuff, it might pull off. Um but I'm not training your dog, I'm training you. Okay, so if somebody got into dog training because they love dogs and they hate humans, okay, it's just they're not people people, they're dog people, it's gonna be really hard for them to communicate with a client and teach them and get into the nuts and bolts. Um, I think it's important that the dog trainer be a teacher first and a dog trainer second, because if you can't communicate what you're trying to get across, or show it step by step, or say you're just holding your hand in the middle, okay, doing this as a sit, doing that, pointing all the way down as a down, but holding your hand right in the middle and giving the hand signal, the dog's a little confused. What am I supposed to be doing? Um it's those little things. Um, you know, there's there's an art to dog training, there is an art to engineering, there's an art to being a doctor, there is an art to being a teacher. Everything in the world is is personality driven. You're gonna be good at it, you're gonna be bad at it, you're going to trying to force a square peg and a round hole doesn't work. Um, so again, you ask questions. How do you explain problems? What do I do if I can't get it to happen when you're not around? What do you suggest? For me, it's always send me a little 30-second video, no longer than 30 seconds because it clogs up the internet and it always comes back with an error. Um, or send something over your cell phone to my text, you know. A lot of times I can look at something and go, you're just moving your hand too fast, go slower. Um, or let's take a step back and let's simplify it and let's try this and let's do that. But again, that comes back to what we were talking about before of communication. And is the trainer you're hiring willing to do those things? Um, a lot of people will ask me, you know, I have weird hours, you know, all these years in, I see clients Monday through Thursday, 9:30, 12:30, and 3:30. I have some limited availability on the weekends, but it's an additional cost just because I want to have a good life with my kids and my family and everything else going on. Um, but the reason I did that was because of the type of notes, the case notes I send clients or veterinarians, the videos that I send with it, um, you know, working on the videos, the books I've written, things like this, you got to have time to do it. So um just make sure that the communication is good and that folks enjoy teaching. Because if they don't enjoy, if they don't enjoy teaching, guess who's not going to enjoy their teaching? Okay, simple. Okay, this one has a lot to do with the last topic, too. Um, experience and systems. Okay. You know, the the new tagline in my business for years the tagline was training owners, not dogs. Um, now the new tagline is dog training ain't cheap, experience counts. Um, here's the deal. If I go back and look at me as a dog trainer in years one through five, I was trying to figure out how to send notes. What was the best way to do it? How do you send invoices? How do you get paid? Where do you put your money? Um, how much communication is you know appropriate with a client? Um figuring out that people learn different ways. Some people will get a blog post, some people will get a video. I'll send all of them to some people. Um I got to a point where I started downloading um PDFs and MP4 versions of the books um that I've written so that uh folks who don't like videos but might want to listen to an audiobook way back and forth to a car, uh way to work in their car, have an option. Um that was an epiphany for me. It's just well, I can't train everybody the same way. Some people are visual, some people are auditory, some people are gonna do different things. Um but there was no way as a brand new trainer I was gonna think about stuff like that. I didn't start thinking about stuff like that till year seven, eight, nine, you know, and now you know kiss dog training had its 16th, I think 16th um anniversary this year. It's either the 15 or 16, I'm losing track. Um 2010, 16th, okay, sorry. Um, but it you gotta really focus on what you can give the the the client, okay. So when you're asking questions, ask them about their systems. How am I gonna get my notes? What am I gonna get from you after each session? How much do you expect me to practice? Uh what should the practice look like? And if those answers don't come quickly, there's a reason, okay? I'm not gonna say it's a good reason or a bad reason, I'm just gonna say there's a reason. And you have to keep those things in mind when making a purchasing decision. Okay, so this next one could be either good or bad. Um, accountability, will they tell you the truth? Um, you know, I know that all these years in, I'm a lot more comfortable sparring with a client when they're not doing their homework or when There's an easy solution that they just don't want to do because it's time consuming or it'll take too long. Um, you know, where when I was younger, it was well, I don't want to piss you off. And that's where the fine print frequently asked questions came from was well, if I'm up front with them at the beginning, they know what I'm all about. And then when I have to maybe be a little bit more direct, um, they won't be shocked. Um, you will have the other kind of trainers that will just tell you what you want to hear, and just to get you through the system, and now we're done, and I don't have to deal with you anymore. Um, so again, this is that accountability. What will you hold me accountable to and what can I hold you accountable to? Um, I'm really big on rescheduling fees. If I have to reschedule your session after we've already set up all five sessions, you're going to pay a rescheduling fee. And people are like, well, why? Well, you pay for one slot on the calendar, and you now don't want that slot on the calendar, and I'm probably not going to be able to fill that slot on the calendar, and you want me to give you a new one. You got to pay for that one. Same thing. It's not as um unusual as it used to be. But what is unusual in my fine print frequently asked questions where I am talking about the rescheduling fees, it specifically says that if I have to cancel one of our sessions, do something in my life, I'm going to give you a free session. Because fair is fair, if I'm going to hold you to that accountability, I hold myself to it. Now, again, there is no knoff on a new trainer, but they don't think about things like that early on. They think about things later. So um, I do think experience counts. Um, but I was a new trainer too, and I learned as fast as I possibly could, made connections, networked, um, and I decided this was my passion, and by God, I was gonna do it. And all these years later, I'm still doing it. I think there are a lot of people who get into dog training because of what they think it's gonna be like, and they're not long for the business. Let's just put it that way. Okay. Okay, you made it to the end. Okay, I'll leave you with one last thought. You gotta be willing to do your homework before you can expect the trainer to do theirs. And it's not really what you think, what I'm saying. You gotta be willing to do the work and choosing the right trainer for you before you can expect the trainer to do the work for you. Okay. Um, I mean, it got to a point. This is the funniest part. Uh, the last book I wrote was called So You Got a Dog, WTF, which is what the fluff, it's not the bad word. And it is all about the expectations and what should you be prepared for when you get a dog. Okay, I've written, I think, nine books at this point. That should have been the first freaking book I wrote. And it took me all those years to finally have my head wrapped around before I wrote the book that people need the most. That's what I mean by experience counts. The longer you get in, the quicker you can get to the point, the quicker you can you realize these people work and you've got to respond to them. And it's important to be reliable. Um, it's important to be honest with people, not just take their money and move them through the the turnstiles. Um so if you've got any questions, by all means, you know, I don't care if you're in Kansas City, shoot me an email, uh, give us a phone call. Once again, it's just me, so it'll take me a little bit to get back to you, but no more than 48 hours, unless it's a weekend. Um, I would love to help anybody I possibly can. Um, after all the years of doing this, the passion of doing this kind of outweighs the job now. So uh that was the intent here. Um, if you haven't seen the first video, which was what should a good dog training um session look like, um, find it on the YouTube channel. That's what I intended everybody to start with. And then this one was the stuff that I was like, I can't believe you left it out. So that's part two. Thank you for listening. It's Mike with Kiss Dog Training. We'll see you next time.
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And that's a wrap on the Kiss Dog Podcast. Mike's back next month with more information.
