You know what is the biggest challenge for dog trainers?
It isn’t dogs with bad genetics.
It isn’t dogs with nasty habits.
It isn’t dogs with severe aggression.
It is people who refuse to learn. It is people who are willing pay obnoxious amounts of money so that they DO NOT have to learn.
When I was in college, I had a music teacher who liked saying: I can teach how to sing any person who has a mouth.
I used to live by this saying, believing that if I try hard enough, I can teach any human being how to communicate with their dog.
Many failed attempts, heartbreaks, and disappointments later, I can say: I can, indeed, teach any human being how to communicate with their dog—on one condition.
Unlike in my teacher’s saying, this one condition isn’t this person having a specific body part. For all I care, this person can be mute or deaf or disabled.
I still can and will teach them, but they MUST be coachable and willing to learn.