Dog Trainer -vs- Dog Handler

[keller27]

Can anyone tell me the difference in a dog trainer and a dog handler? I am thinking that a dog trainer is someone who is working with the owner and the dog handler is one who basically just works with the dogs. I know I tend to work with the dogs first. Getting sucess with the dog, and then work with the owner doing the same thing.

[2rotties2luv]

Basicly, the handler is the person on the other end of the leash. The trainer is the one who teaches the handler how to handle and teach the dog.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by 2rotties2luv

Basicly, the handler is the person on the other end of the leash. The trainer is the one who teaches the handler how to handle and teach the dog.

I was asked this last night by a trainer. He asked me to really think about if I wanted to be a trainer or a dog handler. He said that alot of people would have their own ideas on what it is. What better place to ask but here! I was a PetSmart trainer for alot of years til about 4 months ago. I have done a couple clients with in-home sessions. Wow, how much better is that! To get in there and really see what is going on.

[brunie's mom]

Sadly anyone can be a trainer. There are no requirements or certifications. I've seen some people that call themselves trainers that I would not let near my dog...yet they are making part of their income doing this.

I've been training my dogs for years...and doing basic obedience with many boarding dogs...but I don't call myself a trainer...just good with dogs.

Before I take a class with anyone that calls themselves a trainer...I want to know what they have done. What they have done with their own dogs, what obedience titles they have gotten on their own dogs...what type of classes do they teach,etc.

I think a "dog handler" is a dog that works with their own dogs...dogs that are used for S&R or detection or drug use...a dog trainer is someone that teaches the owner how to teach their dog.

Gina

[keller27]

I have been thinking about the handler and trainer thing and I I do both. I will first work with the dog and get it to the point of sucess, so that is my handler side, and then turn into trainer to train the client so that they are able to do it. I am attending Brenda Aloff and Steve White's seminar this weekend. Today was awesome and can't wait for tomorrow and Sunday to get here. A trainer should always be learning. If they are not into learning new things, then they should not be a trainer.

[moondog]

This is very subjective, but my idea of the difference is that a dog trainer gives a dog the tools he needs and a dog handler gets to use them to the extent needed to get from point A to point B.

A good dog trainer may not necessarily be a good INSTRUCTOR of PEOPLE, or they may be...and a dog trainer is anyone who works with a dog....teaching, proofing, correcting. They may be good or they may be lousy at it. Handling and training coexist when the leash is in your hand, and a transition from one to the other and back again is fluid, flexible and determined by circumstance...I hope somebody else understands what I just said!

[pazzo]

Moondog, I think we're on the same page! People have asked me to help them train thier dog after seeing what I have done with Nando, and I LAUGH and tell them "I am his handler NOT a trainer!" they dont get it.

In my situation I am being trained to handle and teach Nando. My trainer is next to me or off on the sidelines and calling the shots. Its been awhile I have been training in SchH now, and he forces me to make more decisions on the field for Nando now, if I screw up he is there to teach me WHY that was the wrong decision.
Unfortunately, I have seen it in SchH (my frame of ref) some people have a little success with ONE dog and NOW THEY ARE DOG TRAINERS! It really is CRAZY to me!