I’ve been teaching people how to train their dogs for 35 years. It has been very rewarding for me to watch my students progress with their dogs.I’m getting so many students return years later with their second , third and fourth dog and I’m delighted to see second and third generation families return to me for training. I’ve found that in most cases all dogs are trainable when in the right hands with the right owners and the right training methods are being used & when the dog is in a good stable environment. I’ve learned that not every human student that comes to my dog academy is trainable , many students don’t practice their training and for some reason or another don’t follow what I teach them.I give my human students very specific homework assignments to practice with their dog EVERY DAY and I assure them that if they follow everything I teach them they will get great results with their dog.The qualities that an individual must possess in order to train their dog would be dedication & commitment to practising their dogs training EVERY DAY ! Lets not forget about patience and a great deal of EFFORT that the dog owner will have to put into the training in order to get results.It’s also important to use a variety of rewards and make training fun for the dog as well. In the early years of me training dog owners how to train their dogs I found it very disheartening and upsetting when some of my students weren’t putting the training practice into their dogs.I can tell when I look at the dog if the owner has practiced with their dog , some people think they can just attend class once a week and their dog will be trained.I want more than anything for every human student that attends my training classes to get amazing results from the training , I have come to except that not every student will practice with their dog between classes. I’ve learned that I have two types of students those who follow my instruction and practice with their dog every day and get great results & recommend me to their friends , family and coworkers.Then we have the other type of student that doesn’t practice with their dog and refuses to follow my instruction for whatever reason & may even drop out of class. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from coaching people on how to train their dogs is that not everyone is cut out for training their dog.Not everyone is going to be dedicated and committed to practising their dogs training on a daily basis and as a result of that their dog will be untrained.DOGS NEED TO BE PRACTICED IN THEIR TRAINING EVEY DAY ! Those good students of mine that follow my instruction and practice with their dogs every day between classes will tell you that it’s worth it , put the effort into training your dog every day and both you and your dog will be happy with the outcome. I’m still just as passionate now as I was when I first started my coaching career , I want everyone that comes to me to succeed with their dog ! ~ Dave McMahon. www.davemcmahon.ca