Professional Dog Training in Los Angeles with a Certified Dog Trainer

Throughout my extensive experience with dog training in California, I have learned that in most of the cases a dog is more likely to succeed in learning a new behavior when it knows that a reward will follow a training session. Once the dog knows what is being expected from him, the professional dog trainer together with the dog’s owner can start adding gradually simple distractions and new behavior patterns to the normal routine.


Dog owners need to know that dogs need to be rewarded in order to learn something new; certified dog trainers in Los Angeles emphasize the importance of the rewards during the training session. The action-reward pattern must be followed throughout the entire training session. Another important rule that Los Angeles dog training professionals promote, and to which I totally adhere, is that the training should be done in a place with which the dog is familiar, and where it feels comfortable and completely safe, such as home. The group class settings are not the ideal place where to start your dog’s training.


Professionals specialized in dog training in Los Angeles base their training methodology on the idea that a dog must be rewarded almost all the time during a session. In group class settings, this thing is not possible, because the dog will be distracted by too many elements; playing with other dogs might become more important to them then the actual reward that the trainer or the owner is offering. Dog owners will see themselves in the position of trying to get their dog’s attention by pulling or jerking on the leash (positive punishment). This is an attitude that, according to professional dog trainers, should never be used when the dog is attempting to acquire a new behavior. Los Angeles dog training professionals, including myself, have noticed a few negative consequences of dog training in group class settings:

1. The development of the “avoidance behavior”, where the dogs’ desire to perform is decreased, due to the tension created around him; the level of stress increases and affects negatively both the dog’s and the owner’s attitudes, which can lead to dog aggression as a self-preservation reaction.
2. If your dog is not the aggressor, it can be the victim. This will traumatize the dog and will slow down his reactions to the trainer’s orders, or even worse, will cause a total refuse to react, the dog being more focused on protecting himself from the other dogs.
3. Also, in group settings, dog trainers generally don’t address personal issues deeply enough to correct or eliminate unwanted behaviors.

Los Angeles dog training professionals believe that a dog’s contact with other dogs through the means of playing, also known as “dog socialization”, is extremely important, but it should be done only when the dog is ready for it. The atmosphere should be relaxed, friendly, and it should not threaten the dog in any way.