Dognation Icu Doggy Dans Online Dog Trainer Review

YouTube tin be a treasure trove of information for new dog owners.

If yous enjoy learning all sorts of useful tips and adorable tricks and watching free dog preparation videos, y'all'll be able to discover them on YouTube.

However, just almost anyone tin make a YouTube channel and start sharing how-to videos. And unfortunately, on-photographic camera charisma doesn't necessarily translate to superlative-notch advice.

Today, we'll dive into one popular training channel — Doggy Dan (channel proper name: The Online Canis familiaris Trainer). We'll explicate a little about the trainer, his philosophy, and some of his most pop videos below. And then, I'll give y'all my thoughts on Dan and his grooming lessons.

I am a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, significant my area of expertise lies in working with dogs with serious behavior concerns, such as aggression, feet, fear, phobias, reactivity, and obsessions (though I certainly do lots of basic manners preparation as well).

Doggy Dan is specifically focused on pet dog behavior effectually the firm, but at times, he strays into behavior modification for dogs with fright or aggression problems.

• Doggy Dan is a pop YouTube personality who offers a diverseness of video training courses. Some of these courses are available for free, while others are only accessible to those who pay for them.
• Doggy Dan is a successful marketer, only he doesn't seem to have completed whatever formal domestic dog-training education or informal mentorship programs. This isn't necessarily a bargain-breaker, but his lessons illustrate several primal misunderstandings of dog behavior, training techniques, and canine psychology.
• Doggy Dan's videos may prove helpful for some owners, but most will be ameliorate served by seeking training communication from other sources. Specifically, owners should seek out trainers who eschew blowsy methods and meet other primal criteria, which we'll outline beneath.

Doggy Dan: The Basics

You tin find Doggy Dan on YouTube or his website.

Doggy Dan is clearly a highly successful marketer and businessperson. In fact, the get-go few paragraphs in his bio are generally about the success he's found in marketing, rather than his expertise or teaching in dog behavior and training.

To me, that'due south e'er a little red flag.

While it'southward impressive that his book and videos draw lots of eyes, I am more concerned well-nigh the accurateness of the information he provides than the popularity of his offerings.

Doggy Dan's story sounds familiar enough: He was confused and overwhelmed with the dog training options out at that place as an owner.

But he does not mention any mentors, influential books, or didactics programs; instead, he states that he:

"read every dog behavior book I could get my hands on and watched more dog training video's [sic] and DVDs than I care to call up."

Doggy Dan's Training Philosophy

Doggy Dan claims to have adult his own training methodology that dogs instinctively understand.

I find this sort of marketing speak to be withal another cerise flag.

I run across nothing in his fabric that indicates he understands – or has even researched – learning theory, ethology, hormones, neuroscience, practical behavior analysis, or any other of import bodies of work in the animate being behavior globe.

His bio is full of one thousand claims, such every bit:

"This method is without a shadow of a incertitude the simplest, gentlest and most logical fashion to modify your dog'south beliefs. Based firmly on the dogs [sic]' own communication signals they understand it immediately."

Still, he never explains anything farther regarding the baseline of this method. Later reading his biography, I have no clue if he supports using shock collars or treats or something else altogether.

The language is so vague and grandiose that I am highly skeptical.

On another folio of the website, Doggy Dan does explain that he aims to use force-free methods. He claims that his canis familiaris training method uses no force at all.

While that is a laudable goal, when I read his grooming suggestions they do in fact use strength (such as placing a barking domestic dog in a small-scale serenity infinite and not releasing him until he'southward quiet).

This isn't inherently bad advice, but it's disingenuous to claim that it'due south strength-free.

In watching another 1 of Doggy Dan'due south videos on dealing with aggression towards people, I immediately noticed that either due to his lack of skill or the want to become a flashy video, Doggy Dan is putting the dog in a very stressful state of affairs.

Rather than slowly approaching the dog at a long distance and offering treats, Doggy Dan is focused on using non-confrontational body language and helping the owners learn to body cake. While this is a decent start, Doggy Dan claims success while the dog'southward tail is still fully tucked.

I am alarmed to meet that Doggy Dan claims to not need to utilize food while attempting to counter condition the aggressive canis familiaris. If yous are unwilling to use treats, toys, praise, or petting to reward the dog, yous will almost always need to resort to physical force or intimidation to control the canis familiaris.

To be clear: I have not seen any violent training techniques from Doggy Dan. Nevertheless, I am incredibly concerned that he claims that treats are "bribery and temptation" that will not work over the long-term for serious canis familiaris behavior issues.

This is completely counter to all enquiry in learning theory and the best practices nigh leading canis familiaris trainers and behaviorists encompass.

He suggests that treats only work for tricks, which is categorically incorrect.

At one betoken, he completely misinterprets the signal of clicker training, which left me fix to turn the video off in disgust.

If he truly mentored under and learned from a variety of trainers, he would understand that clicker training and counterconditioning are not bribery. They are a way of using positive reinforcement-based dog training to help four-footers make connections about the lessons they're learning.

He is either intentionally misunderstanding the bodies of work put forth past virtually true animal behavior experts, or he has not actually looked into it.

What Does Doggy Dan Offer?

Bated from his gratuitous YouTube videos, Doggy Dan offers a diversity of training options for dog owners.

• The Easy Way To An Obedient Dog (costless):  It is a bit unclear what this class covers. The four videos highlighted don't give any caption or indication of what they entail. The videos are titled " Why Well-nigh Dog and Puppy Training Fails," "How to Go Your Canis familiaris to Choose to Follow You," "V Rules That Will Change Everything," and "The One Resource to Solve Every Canis familiaris and Puppy Issue." As with other Doggy Dan products, I am concerned by the sensationalist marketing language that overshadows any substance of what the buyer actually gets or what the training methods actually are.
• Potty Training (free): This course looks like a standard potty grooming class. It covers schedule making, your responsibility as the owner, dealing with accidents, getting your puppy exterior at the correct times, and nighttime potty options. The sales language is a bit cringey with lots of exclamation points and grandiose guarantees, simply the bodily substance of the course seems solid plenty.
• The Dog Calming Code ($47 for 2 hours of video): This course aims to aid owners dealing with over-excited dogs and "naughty" behavior. Several exercises mentioned on the sales page seem oriented towards ambitious behavior, which isn't really equivalent to dogs who are easily over-excited or "naughty." Similar the outset course, the page for this course doesn't really explain what's covered. All of the content is extremely salesy, such as that you'll learn about "The WORST possible affair to practice… Rewarding bad behavior when training your naughty dogs (avert similar the plague)." More concerning to me, though, is that many of the reviews mention "pack leader" terminology. Pack theory is outdated and based on shoddy scientific discipline that'southward since been disavowed by the original researcher. I am concerned that such a popular trainer is continuing to push pack theory and avoid using treats as a solution for so many problems.
• The Puppy Coach ($xix): This class heavily emphasizes human relationship-building with your puppy and understanding the pup's psychology. While I love the sound of that, I tin't help but remain skeptical that Doggy Dan'southward understanding of psychology is based on crock science and anecdotes rather than actual behavioral research. I love that Doggy Dan seems so relationship-oriented and that he poo-poos punishment and shock collars. Notwithstanding, he seems to replace punishment with vague promises of solutions and image-shifting approaches. I love that this program not only offers instructional videos merely also includes a video diary from Doggy Dan's new puppy. Information technology appears to me that the puppy products from Doggy Dan are the well-nigh solid options he offers.

What Exercise Dog Owners Think about Doggy Dan?

Rather than highlighting the glowing reviews Doggy Dan has on his website, I chose to dive into the YouTube comments on his channel. I wanted to get an idea of what reviews said without existence paw-selected to be highlighted on the website.

By and large, YouTube reviews and comments are extremely positive of Doggy Dan's videos. Several commenters mentioned that dogs looked uncomfortable or that there wasn't enough item in the videos.

However, most comments were either thanking Doggy Dan for his complimentary videos or request for further guidance on a specific question.

It's important, though, to note that people often go out YouTube comments in the spur of the moment. People rarely come back weeks or months afterward to share successes or – more importantly – failures.

Accordingly, it isn't easy to determine how effective his lessons are proving over the long-term, fifty-fifty if they do provide some instant improvements in some cases.

Doggy Dan FAQs

In that location are a couple important questions to reply earlier going forward with any trainer, merely given Doggy Dan's profile, questions nearly him are quite numerous. Some of the near common questions about Dan and his programs include:

• What Kind of Grooming Does Doggy Dan Use? Doggy Dan seems to employ a "pack leader" training approach that neither relies on treats and clickers nor on shock or prong collars. While Doggy Dan claims to use force-complimentary training, most of the videos I watched included physical manipulation or intimidation (body blocking) to get the dog to comply with instructions.
• How Much Do Doggy Dan'due south Preparation Programs Price? Doggy Dan'southward programs are pretty affordable, ranging from free mini-courses to monthly subscriptions of $37/calendar month.
• What Are Doggy Dan's Five Aureate Rules? Doggy Dan has "5 Golden Rules," just they're actually framed as questions. They are as follows:
  • Who controls the food?
  • Who will have care of whatever danger?
  • When you are away from your domestic dog, who is the pack leader?
  • Who dictates the terms (i.eastward. Do you lot heed to your dog or vice versa?)
  • Who walks who?
• Are There Coupons Bachelor for Doggy Dan's Courses? Most of Doggy Dan's courses seem to exist perpetually on-sale. There practise seem to be some coupons on coupon aggregator sites, but several that I tested did not work.
• Does Doggy Dan Offer a Guarantee? Doggy Dan offers a threescore day coin-back guarantee. According to the site, if yous want to cancel you'll get a refund with no questions asked.

Decision: Doggy Dan is a Doggy-Don't in My Book

While Doggy Dan comes across equally gentle, earnest, and kind in his videos, I am deeply concerned by his preparation methods and lack of standing education. I suspect that Doggy Dan is popular due to his marketing skills and charisma rather than his actual dog behavior expertise.

Doggy Dan relies on outdated pack leader methodology that is strict and hard to follow through on. His training is based on body language and physical manipulation. While I have seen far worse grooming in my day, Doggy Dan is far from the best!

Doggy Dan'southward programs are affordable, and his puppy programs seem to be in line with those offered past other trainers, and so they may provide some value for some owners. But I would stay far away from his other programs.

K9 of Mine offers bones obedience courses and puppy raising programs, which I suggest checking out instead (encounter below).

But no matter where y'all learn about training your domestic dog, yous'll e'er want to be sure to seek out trainers or behaviorists who showroom the following traits:

• Clear evidence of standing pedagogy through mentorship, conferences, certifications, and/or courses.
• Honest communication about expectations. Avoid trainers that brand grandiose claims most dog grooming – there are no guarantees in this line of work.
• Specialization in the expanse you need help with. Don't hire an agility trainer for aggression issues; you demand a certified canis familiaris behavior consultant for that. Conversely, you don't want a behavior consultant for basic obedience — but seek out a trainer instead. Some trainers also specialize in breed groups.
• Explanation of grooming methods. I of the biggest carmine flags about Doggy Dan is that it's nearly impossible to empathise what type of dog training methodology he uses without hiring him.
• Adherence to dog training ethics. There are several acceptable options, including fear-free, force-free, LIMA, Humane Hierarchy, or positive reinforcement based. These ethical standards are important to ensure your dog is treated adequately in the classroom!

For more tips on finding a great dog trainer, check out our how-to commodity here.

Need Assist Training Your Pooch?

Chances are, you've stumbled across this commodity because y'all need helping preparation your dog. And by now, you've probably realized that nosotros're not the biggest fan of Doggy Dan's arroyo.

Merely that's OK! We have tons of domestic dog preparation resources you tin can bank check out. This includes basic lessons as well as more complex skills.

In fact, we have two in-depth preparation programs that make great starting points:

• The Puppy Raising Blueprint: Ideal for first-time owners with immature puppies, this course helps you go started on the right track!
• thirty Things to Teach Your Canis familiaris in 30 Days: A fun style to arroyo dog-training, this course lays out some basic skills to teach your four-footer over the course of a month.

***

What about y'all? Have you completed any of Doggy Dan's courses? How did they work for you? What kinds of things did you similar or dislike near them?

Let us know in the comments below!

lopeznorned2001.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.k9ofmine.com/doggy-dan-review/

Share this post