If we want our dogs to be confident, know their limits, and educate ourselves on how to properly care for them, we need to engage in training. While loving our puppies and watching them grow can be fun, it can also be riddled with challenges. Consistent communication and training are vital for a canine-human partnership to be successful and positive. So how do we achieve that?
How Much Is Dog Training on Average?
The answer depends on what your goals are. Are you looking for basic training for your pet dog? Are you looking to make your paw friend versed in the intricacies of urban living? Are you looking to train your pet dog to become a service dog?
It is very important to set a goal for your training and follow that with research online. The Internet is rich with feedback from dog parents, private trainers, and dog training organizations, and that can be overwhelming sometimes. We will try to provide short answers in the context of basic training, advanced training, and service dog training. Of course, opportunities to extend your search will be referenced below.
Basic Training
If you are looking for a bit of help with training your puppy in basic obedience, the cost can vary between 150-250 USD for you to join a class. Typically, these courses are conducted by private dog trainers who take up to 8 dogs in a single class. Some trainers may prefer smaller classes of 4 dogs.
The dog parents are expected to bring their dogs to a training facility or a dog park one time per week for up to 6 weeks to complete the course. Each training session can last between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on the learning plan. If you need a 1on-1 time with a trainer, you will probably be asked to pay between 100-200 USD for a training session of 60 minutes.
You might want to see our Service Dog Puppy Training Course that can help you master all the basics and enable you to follow up with a dedicated service dog training later on.
Advanced Training
If you are interested in improving your dog’s ability to focus on you in the presence of distractions, compete in agility tests, communicate with hand signals, and ensure they stay on your side properly, then you may engage in advanced training. This type of training may include teaching a dog to find people and specific objects such as illegal substances (explosives and narcotics). Scent training can be rather expensive and take more than a year for your dog to master.
If you want to train your dog to work as a Home Guardian or Personal Protection Dog, then you will have to pay for advanced training.
This will probably include training your pooch to ignore merchandise and behave well in an urban setting. If you are working with a specific dog training organization to reach your advanced training goals, they are probably working with local stores and similar businesses where you can practice with your canine.
The pricing can range from 300 USD to nearly 1,000 USD depending on your requirements. The payment covers one full course that can take anywhere between 2 months to 6 months. The K9s used by police officers, border patrols, and private security companies may take 2-3 years to be fully trained.
If you want to prepare your dog for urban environments, you may want to take a look at our Canine Good Citizen Training Course.
Service Dog Training
Training a dog to become a service dog (also called an assistance dog in Europe) can take anywhere between 6 months and 2 years, depending on the requirements and the age of the dog. Service dogs can help people monitor their blood sugar, heart rate, and better manage seizures among other conditions. Service dogs have been seen to improve social skills, increase independence, improve the general quality of life, and boost self-reliance for many people with mental and physical disabilities.
If you have diabetes, you will want to train a Diabetic Alert Service Dog. If you have cardiac issues, you will likely consider training a Cardiac Alert Service Dog. People struggling with their mental health may be interested in training a Psychiatric Service Dog.
Consequently, these service dogs require a different set of skills. Diabetic And Cardiac service dogs will need to use their sense of smell to detect specific chemical markers and alert their users of a potential medical emergency. Psychiatric service dogs, on the other hand, will have to use their social skills and interpret human emotions to enable an improved quality of life. There are many other types of service dogs, such as Migraine Dogs, Seeing Eye Dogs, and Hearing Aid Dogs, to name a few.
If you are not working with a charity and you need a service dog to manage your health, you may find that the pricing ranges between 15,000 USD to 50,000 USD. Guide dogs for the blind and those specialized in using their noses often cost the most. Charities try to make service dogs more accessible, but their waiting list may force people to wait from 2 to 5 years to receive a fully trained dog.
How Much Is Dog Training per Session?
Most private trainers appear to charge between 75 USD to 150 USD for one-on-one sessions. The fee covers basic training, and your session can be between 40 minutes and 60 minutes. If you need to work on advanced training, the hourly fee can reach up to 250 USD in some cases. Hourly rates for self-training a service dog with professional help range between 150 USD to 250 USD per hour. The total costs will depend on the time needed and your goals.
How Much Is Dog Training Camp?
The so-called “Dog Training Camp” or “Board-and-Train Program” can cost a dog parent anywhere between 1,500 USD and 4,500 USD. The program usually takes up to 4 weeks to complete. Some programs take just one week to complete and may cost substantially less, but they may prove inadequate for skills requiring long-term training. Most programs focus on basic training, heel, and some socialization exercises.
As it is with any training service, make sure they are not using harmful techniques or training methods that induce fear in the animals. If you will be leaving your pooch in the hands of people you barely know, make sure they have proper credentials, good reviews, and transparently answer your questions. We strongly advise against using training services that rely on punishment-based methods.
If you are working with a particular facility, then it is best that you visit it and evaluate its cleanliness. The facility has to be spacious and allow the dogs to be comfortable with training, playing, and resting. Choose a dog training camp that keeps you informed about your dog’s progress and offers follow-up sessions to help you maintain the training at home.
Online Self-Training
If you are on a tight budget, you may be interested in learning more about owner-training a pet dog. Owner-training can be very affordable, customizable, and self-paced. Self-paced programs are much more affordable compared to in-person training programs.
Our platform offers online dog training courses where we use video recordings to evaluate the dog’s performance and written tests/assignments to determine if our students have properly trained their service dogs.
Owner-training enables you to build a rock-solid bond with your canine. However, this type of training is not suitable for every dog and owner. We recommend reading our helpful pages:
1) Professional Training - What Do You Need to Consider Service Dog Training Organizations Near You
2) Is Service Dog Training Free?
You could use our platform to train your pet dog to become a service dog and train at your own pace. You need to purchase an enrollment before you can make an account and access your online course. All study materials are immediately accessible after you make an account and you add your dog’s information to the course page.
If you are not sure if the courses we offer are suitable, please refer to the syllabus (learning plan) that is posted online for each course.
All of our graduate students receive a digital certificate for completed training, and their dogs become a part of our online dog registry. Our platform works with a law firm in New York, US, and welcomes reviews on our Trustpilot page.
How to Find a Local Trainer?
If you are committed to working with a local private dog trainer or a dedicated training facility, you may be unsure of how to locate one. There are a few international bodies that aim to support a standard for dog trainers (also called dog instructors in Europe). You may want to check:
1) The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) employs the LIMA training methodology. You can find certified trainers here (click me).
2) International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP). They adhere to a strictly scientific approach to training and adopt humane training methodology. Click here to locate trainers.
3) Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT). This is primarily an educational body, and they offer a directory of certified trainers.
4) International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). They educate a wide range of behavior consultants, and they offer an easy way to find trainers.
If you are looking for region-specific trainers, then you should check the references below.
The best places to start looking for a trainer in the US include:
2) Assistance Dogs International (ADI)
The best places to start looking for a trainer in Canada include:
1) Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers
2) Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (Canadian Chapter)
The best places to start looking for a trainer in the UK include:
If you are looking for a Guide Dog (also called Seeing Eye Dog), we recommend browsing the Members Directory of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF).
