How much would you pay to train?

[take4roll10]

My club charges $90 for members and $160 for non-members for an 8 week course.

I can schedule private lessons with the trainers for about $60/hour.

I wouldn't pay more than $100 for an 8-week course. It's just not in my budget right now and I definitely can't afford $300 for an online course. I think that is a ridiculous price.

 

[nbrard]

Training costs here in BC have gone up over the past year, and the number of classes have gone down. I am currently paying $135.00 for 6 weeks (1 class per week) at a training facility where all the trainers are actively competing in obedience and agility.

I don't think I would do an online course (especially at the price) because my personal preference is to have the trainer right there to help with any questions I have. I think I should train in the States though because it looks like you have better prices!

 

[SheltieChe]

Chicago prices are bit different. If we go with obedience club or agility club which run totally by volunteers/ members I have $65-80 price range for 8 weeks sessions. You get what you paid for, it is mostly opportunity to practice. Instructions are only as good as people who volunteer to teach. If you new to sports, eventually you find yourself lacking skills and understanding and in need to take actual classes with good instructor, at least in agility. Our obedience club is pretty old fashioned with choke chains and collar pops so one needs to take out from it what one can.
Rest of classes- i.e. training facilities mostly charge $25 and up per class.
Privates $100 per hour- going rate for agility or behavioral training.
Why more people are not taking classes- is very good question. We def are not reaching out to majority of pet owners. This country is very big on spaying and neutering yet agression in dogs and amount of shelters are increasing so there must be something else we need to try, like an educated dog owner

 

[SheltieChe]

Regarding on line training. Why would I take SG course? Simple answer- because it works, it is easy and it is fun.
There is still contest going on with videos on SG blog or FB, so one can look up / and vote too/ and see what other people are saying. Initial price is high, yes. But those people who were in previous recallers can get into new ones for free if they submit mentioned above video. As Inner Circle member I get direct coaching from SG and LOH, montly seminars, and I got Puppy Peaks program for free as well as new recallers, I know that new spring course coming on contacts will be discounted for me too.
Have we achieved amazing results? Yes. Do we have lots of holes in our training? Yes. But I am not getting frustrated anymore over things we train.
Why not more people taking classes with dogs? I think big part of it because it takes time and results are not immediate. It is also boring for many.
When I first got Che I got tons of books and DVD's to read / watch. Are there many others successfully teaching dog training- yes. It will take me a while though to find out gems and build this all on my own.
It is not only about recall. Recall is about choice that dog makes. SG training is about how to build that choice to be what I want. And how to have fun doing it.
I remember watching Volhard Puppy training DVD where they teach "stay" by gently keeping puppy in down stay for 30 minutes every day. I was thinking to myself "there is no way my dogs are going to have stays as I would never be able to sit with my dog 30 minutes daily, teaching one command." Sure our stays were bad. Then I got Crate Games and we had best stays in the class within short time with no effort. I find my dogs are asking me to train them more and more its like they can't get enough. The better I get the more fun we are having.
I find simillar things about Silvia Trkman on line classes as well. Although ST teaches more specific things, like tricks and not specifically how to change your relationship with your dog- it is fun, easy, everybody has good time and wants more. And the best part- it works.

 

[3Stars]

Wow - it looks like the classes here are at the higher end of the spectrum too, which I wasn't expecting at all.

I think you are onto something in that people are willing to pay big bucks for a quick fix. Our culture does better with instant gradification.

I agree, Dawn. I have a lot of people ask my to give them private lessons for their rescue dogs (an area of specialization for me), and I've gotten to the point where I will tell them that I will donate a few private lessons, but only if they sign up and attend an eight week class at the training facility I work at (which has very knowledgeable instructors, even at the basic level). You wouldn't believe how many people want to pay $150 for 3 private lessons, but won't pay $110 for an eight week class because then they would have to commit a more significant amount of time. I've finally gotten to the point where I refuse to help them unless they commit to a class - my time is to valuable to waste on people who want quick fixes - they can pay someone else instead.

I love Susan Garrett's method of making obedience/agility training into games. I can use that concept and my creativity for free!

I tend to do the same

(its part of the $400 and $1200 level classes).

There's a $1200 level???? I tried to look it up to see what it consisted of, but couldn't find it.

In other words I prefer to train my dog on my own but I like the classes to train myself!

I'm the same.

To answer some of the questions proposed, in my opinion, the reason that many people do not utilise all the training classes available is pure apathy.

We def are not reaching out to majority of pet owners. This country is very big on spaying and neutering yet agression in dogs and amount of shelters are increasing so there must be something else we need to try, like an educated dog owner

I agree with both of you. I see first hand the impact of a lack of education (on the part of the owner and the dog) through the shelter dog training program I run. So the question becomes how do we get them to see the importance of training/dog sports? In my city, it's the exact same people who come out to support obedience, rally obedience, and agility. There's a small # of people who commit to a variety of dogsports, and I'd love to see that base widened for the sake of the dogs, the owners, and the continued existence of dogsports. I'm sad to say that most of the participants are in their 60's+ - there are very, very few people in their teens/twenties/thirties participating. I'm concerned for the future of competitive dog sports in my town.

 

[SheltieChe]

Here in US dogs are not allowed anywhere near children, like children playgrounds. Dogs are being segregated at dog parks. Very few places outside of dog parks allow dogs in.
This is not the case with European countries. Take Belgium. Most dogs are not neutured. People come for training into local pub or bar. They meet there, sit with each other and their dogs then go OUTSIDE to train, no special facility, just out in the field, local park etc. After training they go back into same pub, sit and relax with their dogs then go home.
Here shelters won't adopt to family with children. Where will we get next generation of dog owners?
As for $1200 option for Recallers, it calls Inner Circle. It is for year long commitment. There is lots of perks that comes with it. Personal guidance from SG and LOH, seminars, challenges, videoclip reviews of your homework. Other classes like Puppy Peaks for which I would have signed anyway, were freebies for IC peeps. If you ask ANY of IC peeps, everyone will tell you "Best money I ever spent". Privates with SG are $200 per hour. Taking a weekend camp at SayYes probably will cost me more than $1200... so yeah, it is valid option for many.
I have met lots of dog trainers taking recallers courses. New Recallers 3.0 is so much international I do not know which country is not being represented. It is fun place to be.

 

[dmeyer123]

We have some kind of a franchise going on around here. Don't know if you have it in other areas. It's called Bark Busters. They sign the dog owner up for about $795 and come to the home to train the dog. They say they will continue to come as long as you need them and for any training problems that might come up thru out the life of the dog.

It's a great racket, because the big surprise is that you actually have to work with your own dog. Most of the people who sign up and pay the $795 expect the trainer to train their dog. When they find out that dog training requires effort on their part, they give up and don't call the trainer back. I know of two people who used this service. They had about 3 lessons each and never called the trainer back.

Whoever invented this concept was a genious...for making money that is...preying on the need for instant gradifiction and laziness in this culture....

 

[Sharon]

Last week while at the grocery store I saw a car with Bark Busters advertised all over the car.So they are also in my town I am curious now how much they charge.I was very lucky when I first got Shadow because there was a place in my town called Doggie Ed.101 and I went there and we worked on everything from heeling to recalls and to this day he has an awesome recall.

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

As for $1200 option for Recallers, it calls Inner Circle. It is for year long commitment.

Replacement tires on my car only cost slightly more than that...

 

[KarenCurtis]

Here in US dogs are not allowed anywhere near children, like children playgrounds. Dogs are being segregated at dog parks. Very few places outside of dog parks allow dogs in.

Ofcourse dogs are allowed near children, this is not illegal. Where I live, dogs are everywhere. We have dog parks, but also wooded areas where dogs are certainly allowed, children or no children.

[/QUOTE]
As for $1200 option for Recallers, it calls Inner Circle. It is for year long commitment. There is lots of perks that comes with it. Personal guidance from SG and LOH, seminars, challenges, videoclip reviews of your homework. Other classes like Puppy Peaks for which I would have signed anyway, were freebies for IC peeps. If you ask ANY of IC peeps, everyone will tell you "Best money I ever spent". Privates with SG are $200 per hour. Taking a weekend camp at SayYes probably will cost me more than $1200... so yeah, it is valid option for many.
[/QUOTE]

That price is ridiculous. I didn't spend $1200 a year on my son when he was a child.