Maryland and Pennsylvania Dog Training Costs

Often, the first concern an owner has is cost. Understandable with the price of living and the ever increasing price of fuel. This page offers some perspectives from respected Professional Trainers Roger Hild of Ontario, Canada and Jill Morstad of Lincoln, Nebraska.

What we will first reflect upon is the relative cost of NOT training your dog, followed by the real cost both financially and the less tangible costs of effort and time, both that of the owner and that of your prospective trainer.

The Cost of Not Training

By Jill Morstad

Lincoln, Nebraska

jmorstad@prairiek9.com

Every dog trainer has a funny little story to tell, don't they, about the cost of training vs. the cost of not training?

Mine concerns a client who bought Cocker Spaniel pups (littermates) and happily ignored everything they heard in the puppy kindergarten class (where I first met them).

It's been a little more than a year now, and they call regularly to tell me about the latest act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by this merry pair of Cockers...who are neither trained nor managed, never confined or reprimanded, and who spend their days at home alone together, peeling back the moulding, pulling on wallpaper and carpet, and tugging on curtains.

The client is (no kidding) on his fourth couch. One of the dogs had to have surgery to remove upholstery tacks from his GI tract. But dog training costs too much. And besides, we wouldn't want to be 'cruel'.

Estimate the costs of the home repairs, add in the cost of three new couches, fold in the price of major abdominal surgery....the cost of not training far exceeds what I'd have charged them for puppy kindergarten and three months of private lessons.

And their Cockers are still young (18 months old or so) with years of home remodeling projects left in them. These dogs are SO good at demolition, so practiced, and work so well as a team that they could have their own show on the Home & Garden network.

I tell the story ruefully, and shake my head a bit, and then assure whomever I'm speaking with that their dog will never be so expensive as this.

Relative Cost of Training Your Dog

by Roger Hild

Ontario, Canada

http://www.tsurodogtraining.com

It is probably a safe assumption that for anyone taking the time from their busy schedule to read this, that price matters. A very common scenario begins with the ringing of the phone, quickly followed by the caller confirming this is the `place that trains dogs?' and then the question, "How much would it cost to train MY dog?"

In times past, I (like many other trainers) would run through my price list for the various programs I offer, while perhaps giving a brief description of each. It took a while for me to realize that my answer often failed to address the real question I was being asked. In order to answer the question, it is important to understand what is being asked, what is needed and in what context it is being asked. The fact
is that for most people training their own dog, the process is not simply a dollars and cents formula. Indeed, the total currency required in this endeavor amounts to a combination of money, time, energy and ability.

In order to get to the true cost, one has to have a clear idea of what they are looking for. For each person calling, how their dog is now and how it will be once trained, offers a unique understanding of "training". Once the dog owner begins the training process, the outcome they seek may change or grow but every goal has to begin with
a vision of something.

Right, so the owner has decided they want their dog to walk nicely at their side on a loose leash and they want him to come when they call him - for now that's it, nothing else - how much? In this example let's assume that everything they would need is included in a basic dog training package. The average numbers might look something like this:

Option 1. Group classes. Eight weeks/classes @ $18.75/week - total $150.00. Training Equipment additional:15 foot longe line $15.00, 6 foot training lead (leather $18.00 or more) canvas $10.00 and training collar $5.00. Add another $30.00 for a new total of $180.00.

Option 2. Private sessions. Six sessions @ $75.00/session - total $450.00. Training Equipment additional:15 foot longe line $15.00, 6 foot training lead (leather $18.00 or more) canvas $10.00 and training collar $5.00. Add another $30.00 for a new total of $480.00.

Option 3. Four week Remote Training. Including Training Equipment, and eight private lessons - $850.00.

Option 4. Four week Residency, Board and Train. Includes Training Equipment - $1250.00.

Does presenting the above four options really answer the question? Not quite. 

Option 1 seems like the best deal but starting with `TIME,' lets consider the rest of the currency that is required if the goals are to be realized. In the group class, because the instructor must be available equally to all, the dog owner gets the least amount of their instructor's time. Over the eight weeks of training, the owner will have to put in close to 40 minutes of training per day if they are to succeed. (40 X 6 days X 8 weeks = 1920 minutes or 32 hours) Unless you have more time than you know what to do with, those hours are worth something. If we place a value of even $20.00 per hour on each of those hours, we must add $640.00 to the $180.00 course cost. If
time is tight, the value of each of those hours goes way up!

Next consider the 'ENERGY REQUIREMENT'. Simple question: How much value
do you place on your energy? An eight week commitment does not seem like much but this means doing the work EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE IT. The fact is that many people run out of gas before they run out of class and they end up coasting. Sometimes this means they try again with another class or they settle for less than their original goal.

Finally consider the 'ABILITY' angle. Is the owner able to physically do the exercises as outlined? Are they able to follow through, working mostly on their own with minimal instruction or assistance from a Group Class instructor? Are they able to apply the generalized instruction to their own unique experience and set of circumstances?

Option 2 certainly offers more. Instructor time is plentiful -practice time may be a problem. You still have to find AT LEAST 30 minutes per day over a six week period. The total time requirement in terms of hours is in the neighbourhood of 18 hours, at 30 minutes a day. Using the same modest $20.00/hour figure the value of the time would equal $360.00 added to the $450.00 paid for the program.

I was thinking of this recently when observing a family I was working with. Both husband and wife were very busy professionals and had very limited time available. Both decided private training was the best way to go and both realized (after a couple weeks) that they didn't have enough time to adequately do the job. Both readily agreed that if they were to find any more time, they would need to purchase it from someone else.

Option 3 requires much less time and energy and is much easier on both the owner and the dog. The process is faster, clearer and more effective. Using the same time formula we arrive at about 16 hours practice over a four-week period costing $320.00.

Now might be a good time to revise the figures mentioned earlier in
this article:

Option 1 (group classes). Course $180.00, Time $640.00, Energy (half
as much again as the time cost) $320.00 - Total $1140.00.

Option 2 (private instruction). Course $480.00, Time $360.00, Energy
$180 - Total $1020.00.

Option 3 (Premier with remote). Course $850.00, Time $320.00, Energy
$160.00 - Total $1330.00.

Option 4 (Board and Train). Course $1250.00, Time and energy not a
factor. - Total $1250.00.

From the above example it begins to become clear that the cost is relative and depends on the resources you have and are prepared to invest in the project. The fact is that the value of sweat equity is a far more important price to add to the cost of training a dog for without that, the job will not get done.

*NOTE*  THESE PRICES HAVE BEEN CHANGED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL AMOUNTS TO REFLECT CHARGES FOR SIMILAR SERVICES, TRANSLATED INTO U.S. CURRENCY, WITH PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR, ROGER HILD.

To Contact Coeur d' Lion K9 Behavior Management

call TOLL FREE 888-835-8620

alcoeur@lionheartk9.com

Serving Carroll, Baltimore, Howard and Harford COunties in Maryland

and

York and Adams Counties in Pennsylvania