How to Choose a Dog Trainer in Salt Lake City: 7 Questions to Ask First

The dog training industry is completely unregulated. Anyone can print a business card, call themselves a trainer, and pick up a prong collar tomorrow. That is a little terrifying when you are about to hand someone your dog. So before you book anyone, here is how to choose a dog trainer in Salt Lake City, with the seven questions I would ask. And yes, I will answer every one of them myself.

If a trainer bristles at these questions, that is your answer right there.

1. What Methods Do You Use?

This is the big one. You want to hear positive reinforcement, force free, reward based, fear free. You do not want to hear balanced, which is usually a polite word for using punishment too. My answer: positive reinforcement only. No prong collars, no e-collars, no alpha rolls, ever.

2. What Happens When My Dog Gets It Wrong?

A good trainer redirects, resets, and makes the right answer easier to find. They do not escalate to pain or intimidation. If the plan for mistakes is a collar correction, keep looking.

3. What Are Your Certifications?

Because the field is unregulated, certifications tell you someone chose to be held to a standard. I hold credentials through Karen Pryor, the CCPDT, and Family Dog Mediation, among others, and I am an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator. Ask any trainer what their letters actually mean.

4. How Much Experience Do You Have, and With What?

Years matter, but so does range. I have spent 17 years across guide dogs, diabetic alert dogs, exotic animals, and thousands of family pets here in Salt Lake City. Depth like that means I have very likely worked with a dog like yours before.

5. Will You Teach Me, Too?

You are with your dog all week. I am not. Any trainer worth hiring teaches you to maintain the results, not just performs while you watch. If you will not understand what was done or how to keep it going, the training will not last.

6 and 7: Do You Offer Support, and Can I See Reviews?

Ask whether help continues after the sessions end, and ask to see real reviews from real clients. Look for words like patient, clear, and involved, because that is what good training feels like from the other end of the leash. You can read what my clients say any time.

If those answers sound like the kind of trainer you want, let’s talk. Book a discovery call and ask me all seven questions yourself. I will answer honestly, and then we will build the right plan for your dog.

Sit. Stay. Love.