Our Doggy Dan Evaluate: A Licensed Canine Habits Guide’s Take

YouTube is usually a treasure trove of knowledge for brand spanking new canine homeowners.

Should you get pleasure from studying all kinds of helpful suggestions and lovable tips and watching free canine coaching movies, you’ll have the ability to discover them on YouTube.

Nevertheless, nearly anybody could make a YouTube channel and begin sharing how-to movies. And sadly, on-camera charisma doesn’t essentially translate to top-notch recommendation.

Right now, we’ll dive into one standard coaching channel — Doggy Dan (channel identify: The On-line Canine Coach). We’ll clarify somewhat concerning the coach, his philosophy, and a few of his hottest movies under. After which, I’ll offer you my ideas on Dan and his coaching classes.

I’m a Licensed Canine Habits Guide, which means my space of experience lies in working with canine with critical habits issues, akin to aggression, nervousness, concern, phobias, reactivity, and obsessions (although I actually do a lot of primary manners coaching as nicely).

Doggy Dan is particularly centered on pet canine habits round the home, however at occasions, he strays into habits modification for canine with concern or aggression points.

Key Takeaways: A Licensed Canine Habits Guide’s Tackle Doggy Dan

• Doggy Dan is a well-liked YouTube persona who provides a wide range of video coaching programs. A few of these programs can be found totally free, whereas others are solely accessible to those that pay for them.
• Doggy Dan is a profitable marketer, however he doesn’t appear to have accomplished any formal dog-training schooling or casual mentorship packages. This isn’t essentially a deal-breaker, however his classes illustrate a number of key misunderstandings of canine habits, coaching methods, and canine psychology.
• Doggy Dan’s movies might show useful for some homeowners, however most might be higher served by looking for coaching recommendation from different sources. Particularly, homeowners ought to hunt down trainers who eschew antiquated strategies and meet different key standards, which we’ll define under.

Doggy Dan: The Fundamentals

You will discover Doggy Dan on YouTube or his web site.

Doggy Dan is clearly a extremely profitable marketer and businessperson. Actually, the primary few paragraphs in his bio are largely concerning the success he’s present in advertising, relatively than his experience or schooling in canine habits and coaching.

To me, that’s all the time somewhat purple flag.

Whereas it’s spectacular that his e book and movies draw a lot of eyes, I’m extra involved concerning the accuracy of the knowledge he offers than the recognition of his choices.

Doggy Dan’s story sounds acquainted sufficient: He was confused and overwhelmed with the canine coaching choices on the market as an proprietor.

However he doesn’t point out any mentors, influential books, or education schemes; as an alternative, he states that he:

“learn each canine habits e book I might get my fingers on and watched extra canine coaching video’s [sic] and DVDs than I care to recollect.”

Doggy Dan’s Coaching Philosophy

Doggy Dan claims to have developed his personal coaching methodology that canine instinctively perceive.

I discover this type of advertising communicate to be one more purple flag.

I see nothing in his materials that signifies he understands – or has even researched – studying principle, ethology, hormones, neuroscience, utilized habits evaluation, or another vital our bodies of labor within the animal habits world. 

His bio is filled with grand claims, akin to:

“This methodology is and not using a shadow of a doubt the best, gentlest and most reasonable approach to change your canine’s habits. Based mostly firmly on the canine [sic]’ personal communication alerts they perceive it instantly.”

Nevertheless, he by no means explains something additional relating to the baseline of this methodology. After studying his biography, I’ve no clue if he helps utilizing shock collars or treats or one thing else altogether.

The language is so obscure and grandiose that I’m extremely skeptical.

On one other web page of the web site, Doggy Dan does clarify that he goals to make use of force-free strategies. He claims that his canine coaching methodology makes use of no power in any respect.

Whereas that may be a laudable purpose, once I learn his coaching recommendations they do in actual fact use power (akin to putting a barking canine in a small quiet area and never releasing him till he’s quiet).

This isn’t inherently unhealthy recommendation, however it’s disingenuous to assert that it’s force-free.

In watching one other considered one of Doggy Dan’s movies on coping with aggression in the direction of individuals, I instantly seen that both as a result of his lack of talent or the need to get a flashy video, Doggy Dan is placing the canine in a really aggravating state of affairs.

Somewhat than slowly approaching the canine at a protracted distance and providing treats, Doggy Dan is concentrated on utilizing non-confrontational physique language and serving to the homeowners study to physique block. Whereas it is a respectable begin, Doggy Dan claims success whereas the canine’s tail remains to be totally tucked.

I’m alarmed to see that Doggy Dan claims to not want to make use of meals whereas trying to counter situation the aggressive canine. In case you are unwilling to make use of treats, toys, reward, or petting to reward the canine, you’ll nearly all the time must resort to bodily power or intimidation to manage the canine.

To be clear: I’ve not seen any violent coaching methods from Doggy Dan. Nevertheless, I’m extremely involved that he claims that treats are “bribery and temptation” that won’t work over the long-term for critical canine habits points.

That is utterly counter to all analysis in studying principle and the most effective practices most main canine trainers and behaviorists embrace.

He means that treats solely work for tips, which is categorically incorrect.

At one level, he utterly misinterprets the purpose of clicker coaching, which left me prepared to show the video off in disgust.

If he actually mentored below and discovered from a wide range of trainers, he would perceive that clicker coaching and counterconditioning usually are not bribery. They’re a method of utilizing optimistic reinforcement-based canine coaching to assist four-footers make connections concerning the classes they’re studying.

He’s both deliberately misunderstanding the our bodies of labor put forth by most true animal habits consultants, or he has not really seemed into it.

What Does Doggy Dan Supply?

Except for his free YouTube movies, Doggy Dan provides a wide range of coaching choices for canine homeowners.

• The Simple Method To An Obedient Canine (free):  It’s a bit unclear what this course covers. The 4 movies highlighted don’t give any rationalization or indication of what they entail. The movies are titled “ Why Most Canine and Pet Coaching Fails,” “Tips on how to Get Your Canine to Select to Observe You,” “5 Guidelines That Will Change All the pieces,” and “The One Useful resource to Clear up Each Canine and Pet Problem.” As with different Doggy Dan merchandise, I’m involved by the sensationalist advertising language that overshadows any substance of what the customer really will get or what the coaching strategies really are.
• Potty Coaching (free): This course seems to be like an ordinary potty coaching course. It covers schedule making, your duty because the proprietor, coping with accidents, getting your pet exterior on the proper occasions, and nighttime potty choices. The gross sales language is a bit cringey with a lot of exclamation factors and grandiose ensures, however the precise substance of the course appears stable sufficient.
• The Canine Calming Code ($47 for two hours of video): This course goals to help homeowners coping with over-excited canine and “naughty” habits. A number of workout routines talked about on the gross sales web page appear oriented in the direction of aggressive habits, which isn’t actually equal to canine who’re simply over-excited or “naughty.” Like the primary course, the web page for this course doesn’t actually clarify what’s coated. The entire content material is extraordinarily salesy, akin to that you just’ll study “The WORST doable factor to do… Rewarding unhealthy habits when coaching your naughty canine (keep away from just like the plague).” Extra regarding to me, although, is that most of the evaluations point out “pack chief” terminology. Pack principle is outdated and primarily based on shoddy science that’s since been disavowed by the unique researcher. I’m involved that such a well-liked coach is continuous to push pack principle and keep away from utilizing treats as an answer for therefore many points.
• The Pet Coach ($19): This course closely emphasizes relationship-building along with your pet and understanding the pup’s psychology. Whereas I love the sound of that, I can’t assist however stay skeptical that Doggy Dan’s understanding of psychology relies on crock science and anecdotes relatively than precise behavioral analysis. I like that Doggy Dan appears so relationship-oriented and that he poo-poos punishment and shock collars. Nevertheless, he appears to exchange punishment with obscure guarantees of options and paradigm-shifting approaches. I like that this program not solely provides educational movies but in addition features a video diary from Doggy Dan’s new pet. It seems to me that the pet merchandise from Doggy Dan are probably the most stable choices he provides.

What Do Canine House owners Take into consideration Doggy Dan?

Somewhat than highlighting the glowing evaluations Doggy Dan has on his web site, I selected to dive into the YouTube feedback on his channel. I needed to get an thought of what evaluations stated with out being hand-selected to be highlighted on the web site.

Typically, YouTube evaluations and feedback are extraordinarily optimistic of Doggy Dan’s movies. A number of commenters talked about that canine seemed uncomfortable or that there wasn’t sufficient element within the movies.

Nevertheless, most feedback have been both thanking Doggy Dan for his free movies or asking for additional steerage on a particular query.

It’s vital, although, to notice that individuals usually depart YouTube feedback within the spur of the second. Folks hardly ever come again weeks or months later to share successes or – extra importantly – failures.

Accordingly, it isn’t simple to find out how efficient his classes are proving over the long-term, even when they do present some prompt enhancements in some circumstances.

Doggy Dan FAQs

There are a pair vital inquiries to reply earlier than going ahead with any coach, however given Doggy Dan’s profile, questions on him are fairly quite a few. A few of the most typical questions on Dan and his packages embody:

• What Sort of Coaching Does Doggy Dan Use? Doggy Dan appears to make use of a “pack chief” coaching method that neither depends on treats and clickers nor on shock or prong collars. Whereas Doggy Dan claims to make use of force-free coaching, many of the movies I watched included bodily manipulation or intimidation (physique blocking) to get the canine to adjust to directions.
• How A lot Do Doggy Dan’s Coaching Packages Price? Doggy Dan’s packages are fairly inexpensive, starting from free mini-courses to month-to-month subscriptions of $37/month.
• What Are Doggy Dan’s 5 Golden Guidelines? Doggy Dan has “5 Golden Guidelines,” however they’re really framed as questions. They’re as follows:
  • Who controls the meals?
  • Who will maintain any hazard?
  • If you end up away out of your canine, who’s the pack chief?
  • Who dictates the phrases (i.e. Do you take heed to your canine or vice versa?)
  • Who walks who?
• Are There Coupons Out there for Doggy Dan’s Programs? Most of Doggy Dan’s programs appear to be perpetually on-sale. There do appear to be some coupons on coupon aggregator websites, however a number of that I examined didn’t work.
• Does Doggy Dan Supply a Assure? Doggy Dan provides a 60 day money-back assure. In line with the positioning, if you wish to cancel you’ll get a refund with no questions requested.

Conclusion: Doggy Dan is a Doggy-Don’t in My E-book

Whereas Doggy Dan comes throughout as light, earnest, and sort in his movies, I’m deeply involved by his coaching strategies and lack of constant schooling. I believe that Doggy Dan is standard as a result of his advertising expertise and charisma relatively than his precise canine habits experience.

Doggy Dan depends on outdated pack chief methodology that’s strict and troublesome to comply with by on. His coaching relies on physique language and bodily manipulation. Whereas I’ve seen far worse coaching in my day, Doggy Dan is way from the most effective!

Doggy Dan’s packages are inexpensive, and his pet packages appear to be in keeping with these provided by different trainers, so they could present some worth for some homeowners. However I might keep distant from his different packages.

K9 of Mine provides primary obedience programs and pet elevating packages, which I recommend testing as an alternative (see under).

However regardless of the place you study coaching your canine, you’ll all the time wish to you should definitely hunt down trainers or behaviorists who exhibit the next traits:

• Clear proof of constant schooling by mentorship, conferences, certifications, and/or programs.
• Trustworthy communication about expectations. Keep away from trainers that make grandiose claims about canine coaching – there aren’t any ensures on this line of labor.
• Specialization within the space you need assistance with. Don’t rent an agility coach for aggression points; you want a licensed canine habits marketing consultant for that. Conversely, you don’t need a habits marketing consultant for primary obedience — simply hunt down a coach as an alternative. Some trainers additionally focus on breed teams.
• Clarification of coaching strategies. One of many greatest purple flags about Doggy Dan is that it’s almost inconceivable to know what kind of canine coaching methodology he makes use of with out hiring him.
• Adherence to canine coaching ethics. There are a number of acceptable choices, together with fear-free, force-free, LIMA, Humane Hierarchy, or optimistic reinforcement primarily based. These moral requirements are vital to make sure your canine is handled pretty within the classroom!

For extra tips about discovering an excellent canine coach, try our how-to article right here.

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What about you? Have you ever accomplished any of Doggy Dan’s programs? How did they be just right for you? What sorts of issues did you want or dislike about them?

Tell us within the feedback under!