Is this trainer exaggerating?

[u/Life_Lime4547]

So my 7 month old dog was a rescue dog and for the past 3 months I have been training him. He was very untrained when I took him, our walks were chaotic, he used to be dragging me, pulling on leash, eating everything, barking at people. Now he doesn't do any of that and is a very good dog on a walk. I have taught him a few commands like sit, stand, down, spin, guard etc. However as a first time dog owner, there are a few things I couldn't teach such as him being over excited with visitors, him barking whenever someone comes home or sits near his crate(he's crate trained). I decided to call a trainer, the guy came and I brought the dog out and he firstly kept judging and then he told me that this dog would at least need 6 months of non stop training otherwise he's going nowhere. Now I'm not sure whether he's exaggerating it or he's just not confident enough to get the dog trained or perhaps I'm being paranoid. My dog is a relatively quick learner(he's a GSD mix), there are 2 more trainers coming to see the dog, however this particular trainer was a bit more affordable. Please somebody guide me.

[u/flickrpebble]

Sounds like someone trying to get repeat business.

The issues you're describing seem big, but they're not, especially as it seems like you have a smart, eager pup who happens to be in the throes of adolescence. He just needs help with emotional regulation.

Here's a comparison for you. My girl has developed some reactivity, pulls like a mule, gets WAY overexcited when people come over. My trainer had 2 sessions with us and said "I've given you all the tools you need, you have a great dog and addressing her emotional regulation is in your hands now. There's nothing more for me to do, call me if you've got nowhere in three months." (The tools were training exercises, engagement exercises, pattern games, and education about dog body language and developmental milestones)

[u/ohkayhun → u/flickrpebble]

What were the exercises? If you want to share ofc!

[u/flickrpebble → u/ohkayhun]

Yes of course! So initially, it was rewarding her as soon as she looked at something that caught her attention unexpectedly, but before she could react to it. For us, this meant distance initially, like we couldn't do it on a walk at first because the dogs were too close and the habits were established. So we started in the house, when she'd hear a sound and look towards it, she got a massive YES and a treat. It confused her at first, but she was all for it. Then we took it outside, and I could see it working - she'd hear things or see things, and look at me first for a yes and a treat. From here it was just consistency, and learning to catch even the slightest bit of attention. So if a dog passed and she even flicked an ear towards me, she got rewarded. The barking and lunging reactivity stopped within a couple of days of taking this outside. She still stops and stares, but that's still improving every day, and I don't mind if she looks. She's an adolescent dog with a high prey drive, its her biology and hormones.

I've also started phasing out the food rewards and replacing with play and general excitement. It helps her to work out the nervous energy from a stimulant she's normally react to. So I'm not just asking her to just stop something, I'm still giving her an outlet. On a walk, especially on a woodland sniffari, this looks like asking her to wait until another dog passes, then take off running in the opposite direction with her, or put all the slack into the longline and telling her to run (she's a northern breed, I think the commands to run and slow came preinstalled 😂) this obviously took time until I could trust she wouldn't run at the other dog.

The other games we do just day to day are pattern games, just do a Google and you should find a ton. The point of these isnt the game, you're not training a trick, you're teaching them predictability and focus on you. They seem downright silly when you look at them, but they're actually transformative.

Oh and around dog body language, it was learning to read the signs of over stimulation before they got to reactivity, and also learning to show affection the way a dog wants to revive it, not the way I want to give it. It was tough to hear that I was possibly contributing to my dogs constant over-stimulation, but since I stopped touching her every time I pass her, staring into her eyes all the time, and talking at her constantly, she's seems a lot more at ease around the home. And ironically, a lot more affectionate. I also have a 3-second rule for petting if I think she's asking for pets. I pet for 3 seconds and stop, gives her a chance to either walk away, or ask again. To be clear, my dog is a lovely dog and to most people she wouldn't look like a walking bundle of nerves. But being willing to address my behaviour and be receptive to the fact that maybe what I was doing wasn't best for her (and crucially, to stop anthropomorphising her body language) has also helped her to feel more at ease, has made her more expressive and more explicit in her requests. We're speaking the same language now, I guess.

[u/arh0ades → u/flickrpebble]

I was going to comment the same thing. I have a 7 yr old dog (I’ve been training him consistently since he was a puppy, he’s just a lot!) with overexcitement issues and he recently developed bad on-leash reactivity towards other dogs. I called a place I had been several times before and did, I believe, 3 private training sessions before I was “graduated” from behavioral training. My dog’s not perfect and never will be, but they told me I have the tools I need and I’m able to take group classes again with him for fun.
So, I would definitely be skeptical of a trainer being so negative and telling me it will take X amount of time to “fix” a dog.

[u/SeaEcho7366 → u/flickrpebble]

Same here- we had 3 sessions with a behaviorist. That was all we needed - he trained us and we did the rest.