Choosing a Dog Trainer: Reward-Based Methods, Credentials and the Promises to Walk Away From

An owner looking for a dog trainer online meets three kinds of disagreement in quick succession. The first is about whom to trust: in any local recommendations thread, nearly every trainer mentioned is described as “the one”, and the descriptions rarely overlap. The second is about method, with reward-based trainers and “balanced” trainers each describing the other’s approach as the cause of most behaviour problems. The third is about the law. In one recent discussion among Australian owners, a confident statement that prong and electronic collars are banned in Australia was corrected within a few replies, and the corrections did not entirely agree with each other either.

This guide sets out the three things that can be stated with some confidence: the evidence-based welfare position on training methods, what the law currently says about pronged collars, and the questions that separate one trainer from another. It then covers the choice between puppy school, group classes and private sessions, and the promises that should end a conversation with a trainer.

The welfare position

RSPCA Australia’s position on dog training is unambiguous. It supports humane, effective and evidence-based training methods built on reward, and it opposes aversive, punishment-based techniques. Its reasoning is that aversive methods carry a risk of fear, stress and injury, and that they can damage the relationship between the dog and its owner. On that reading, fear and stress are central to the method question rather than side issues: a dog that associates its owner or its handler with discomfort has a reason to avoid them.

Reward-based training, in practice, rests on a simple mechanism: behaviour that is rewarded becomes more likely. The reward is whatever the individual dog values, which may be food, a toy, play or attention. A session built on this principle has a recognisable shape, and an owner watching one can usually identify it within a few minutes:

The table describes tendencies, not a strict division, and a trainer’s own description of their method is less informative than what happens in the session. That is the reason the questions later in this guide focus on what the trainer does, rather than what the trainer calls it.

A typical reward-based session for a young dog learning to sit at the kerb illustrates the pattern. The trainer starts somewhere quiet, asks for the behaviour, and rewards it the moment it happens. Repetitions are short and frequent. Distractions are introduced gradually: a quieter street first, then a busier one. When the dog fails, the trainer steps back to the last stage at which it succeeded rather than escalating pressure. Most of the session is spent teaching the owner to do the same, because the owner, not the trainer, will be holding the lead for the rest of the dog’s life.

The law on pronged collars

The legal position is narrower than many owners believe. According to the RSPCA Knowledgebase, updated in June 2024, pronged collars are illegal to import into Australia. Their use on dogs, however, is illegal only in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland. In the remaining states and territories, the import restriction applies but a use ban does not.

Electronic collars are a separate question, and the rules on them vary from state to state. The variation is wide enough that no single national statement is accurate. Owners should check the current rules in their own state before any trainer recommends an electronic collar, and should treat a trainer’s assurance that a device is “legal everywhere” as a claim to verify rather than a fact.

Legality and welfare are also separate questions. A device being lawful in a given state does not make it consistent with the RSPCA’s position on reward-based training, and owners who have decided against aversive methods can rule out any tool designed to work through discomfort regardless of where they live.

Credentials worth asking about

Dog training credentials are, for the most part, voluntary. A trainer chooses whether to complete a qualification, join a professional association or carry insurance, and two trainers in the same suburb may hold very different combinations of these. That makes the credentials worth asking about, but it also limits what any one of them can prove.

The items worth asking about are:

1. Membership of a professional association: ask which association, and what membership requires.
2. A code of ethics, which many associations bind members to: ask whether it addresses training methods and equipment.
3. Continuing education, since methods and evidence change: ask how the trainer keeps up.
4. Insurance: ask whether the trainer holds public liability insurance, particularly for group classes and home visits.
5. The qualification itself: ask what it is, who issued it and what it covered.

The fifth question carries a qualification of its own. Course titles vary widely and are not always informative on their own, so the useful information is the issuer and the content rather than the name on the certificate. Because credentials are largely optional, they establish a floor at best. The method questions below carry more weight, and a well-credentialed trainer who answers them poorly is a worse choice than a less formally qualified trainer who answers them well.

Puppy school, group classes or private sessions

The three common formats serve different purposes, and the choice depends on the dog’s age and the problem to be solved.

Puppy school is primarily about socialisation: controlled, positive exposure to other puppies, people, handling and new environments during the period of a young dog’s life when those experiences have the most effect. The right age to start, and the vaccinations a puppy needs before attending, are questions for the vet, who can also advise on how to balance socialisation against disease risk. A good puppy class will ask for vaccination details before enrolment.

Group classes for older puppies and adult dogs suit general manners: walking on a loose lead, coming when called, settling in public. The group setting adds distraction, which is useful for proofing behaviours but can overwhelm a nervous or reactive dog.

Private sessions suit a specific behaviour problem, a dog who cannot cope in a group, or an owner who needs the training fitted to a particular home. They are also the appropriate format where fear or aggression is involved, ideally with the trainer working alongside the dog’s vet.

When comparing classes, three variables are worth recording for each: the number of dogs per class, the number of trainers or assistants present, and how the trainer handles a dog that is struggling in the group. Smaller classes and a second pair of hands generally mean more individual attention per dog. A class in which a struggling dog is given more space, or offered a private session instead, is being run with the dogs’ welfare in mind; one in which it is corrected into compliance is putting the schedule first.

A dog’s tolerance of handling affects all three formats. Owners with a nervous dog will recognise many of the same questions from this site’s guide to choosing a dog groomer, which deals with handling a dog that finds the experience stressful. If the dog does not yet have a regular vet, the guide to choosing a vet covers that first step, and it matters here: several of the decisions above, and one of the questions below, depend on a vet being involved.

Questions that sort trainers

Four questions do most of the work, because each asks the trainer to describe practice rather than philosophy.

“What will you do when my dog gets it wrong?” This is the most revealing of the four. A reward-based trainer will typically describe making the task easier, managing the environment or redirecting the dog. An answer that describes a correction, a leash pop or a “consequence” tells the owner the method in plain terms, whatever the trainer’s website calls it.

“Which equipment do you use, and which do you ask owners to buy?” A flat collar or harness, a lead, a long line and treats is a typical reward-based list. Any tool designed to cause discomfort, or any device whose legality in the owner’s state the trainer cannot state clearly, should be noted.

“Can I watch a class first?” A trainer confident in their methods generally has no objection to an observer. Watching a session for ten minutes, with the table above in mind, is more informative than any number of reviews.

“Will you work with my vet if fear or aggression is involved?” Fear and aggression can have a medical side that only a vet can assess, and a trainer who regards the vet as part of the team is working within the limits of the role. A trainer who dismisses the question, or who claims to resolve aggression without any veterinary input, is working outside it.

It is also reasonable to ask how progress will be measured, how many sessions the trainer expects a given problem to take, and what happens if it takes longer. A trainer who can describe a review point is offering a plan; one who cannot is offering a commitment without one.

Promises to walk away from

Some statements from a trainer are informative enough to end the conversation.

• Guaranteed results. Behaviour depends on the dog, the owner’s follow-through and the environment, none of which a trainer controls. A guarantee overstates what training can deliver.
• “Fixed in one session.” Lasting behaviour change generally takes repetition and the owner’s practice between sessions. A promise of an overnight fix describes the marketing more accurately than the method, and owners should ask how a single session could achieve it.
• Any tool that causes pain. This follows directly from the RSPCA’s position and needs no further qualification.
• Board and train without visibility. Some trainers offer residential “board and train” programmes. A programme that asks the owner to leave the dog with no contact, and without any opportunity to see the methods used, removes the owner’s ability to check the trainer’s practice. Ask to visit, to watch a session or at least to receive video of the training. If the trainer will not allow any of these, look elsewhere.

None of these is a technicality. Each one describes either an overpromise or a lack of transparency, and both make the owner’s other checks impossible.

Reward first, results second

The evidence-based position is clear: RSPCA Australia supports humane, reward-based training and opposes aversive methods, which risk fear, stress and injury. Pronged collars are illegal to import into Australia and illegal to use in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland; electronic collar rules vary by state and should be checked locally. Credentials are largely voluntary, which makes them a floor rather than a guarantee.

The choice of trainer therefore rests on observation. Match the format to the dog: puppy school for socialisation at the age the vet advises, group classes for manners, private sessions for specific problems. Ask what the trainer does when the dog gets it wrong, which equipment they use, whether you can watch, and whether they will work with your vet. Walk away from guarantees, single-session fixes, painful tools and closed-door programmes. Results that last come from methods the dog can learn under, so the method is the thing to check first.

Sources: The deal with dog training: the good, the bad and the ugly, RSPCA Australia (https://www.rspca.org.au/latest-news/blog/the-deal-with-dog-training-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/); Are dog pronged collars illegal in Australia?, RSPCA Knowledgebase (https://kb.rspca.org.au/categories/companion-animals/dogs/general/are-dog-pronged-collars-illegal-in-australia)