AI has become incredibly useful.
I use it myself.
If I want to understand something quickly, explore an idea or get some information about a subject I don’t know much about, asking an AI tool has increasingly become one of the first things I think about doing.
And dog owners are doing exactly the same thing.
If your dog suddenly starts barking at other dogs, pulling on the lead, ignoring your recall or displaying a behaviour you haven’t seen before, it’s very easy to open ChatGPT or another AI tool and ask:
“Why is my dog doing this, and how do I stop it?”
You’ll probably get an answer within seconds.
And here’s the important bit:
The answer might actually be quite good.
So if AI can provide dog-training advice whenever you want it, why would you still need a professional dog trainer?
That’s a question worth answering.
AI Can Give You Information. That’s Not Really the Difficult Part.
There has never been a shortage of dog-training advice online.
Long before AI arrived, there were books, YouTube videos, websites, forums and social media accounts explaining how to train dogs.
AI has simply made accessing and interpreting that information considerably easier.
Instead of reading ten articles, you can describe what’s happening and receive what appears to be a personalised answer almost instantly.
That’s useful.
But there’s an important distinction between having information about dog training and successfully training the dog standing in front of you.
That’s where things become considerably more complicated.
Your Dog Isn’t a Prompt
Imagine two owners asking exactly the same question:
“Why does my dog bark at other dogs?”
From a few sentences entered into an AI tool, those dogs might sound very similar.
In reality, the behaviour could be happening for quite different reasons.
The dogs may have different histories, personalities and experiences.
The behaviour may happen in different environments or at different distances.
One owner may be responding to it in a completely different way from the other.
There may also be things happening immediately before the barking that the owner hasn’t noticed or didn’t think were relevant enough to mention.
That’s not a criticism of the owner.
Knowing what to look for is part of the expertise involved in assessing behaviour.
When I work with a dog and their owner, I’m not simply listening to a description of the problem and retrieving an answer.
I’m looking at the dog.
I’m looking at the owner.
I’m looking at what’s happening around them.
I’m looking at what happens immediately before and after the behaviour.
And I’m using my experience of working with other dogs to understand what might actually be going on.
An AI tool can only work with the information you give it.
And sometimes the most important information is the thing you didn’t realise you needed to mention.
Knowing What To Do Is Only Part of Dog Training
Let’s assume you’ve asked AI about your dog’s behaviour and it has correctly identified what’s happening.
That’s useful.
You still have to implement the advice.
And this is where I think the difference between information and experience becomes particularly important.
Dog training isn’t simply:
Do X and your dog will do Y.
There is considerable detail involved.
Timing matters.
The way rewards are used matters.
The environment matters.
The level of distraction matters.
The stage at which you ask the dog to do something matters.
Knowing when the dog is ready to progress matters.
Knowing when you’ve progressed too quickly matters.
And being able to recognise whether the dog is actually learning what you think they’re learning matters.
These things can be difficult to judge when you’re simultaneously trying to handle the dog, remember what you’re supposed to be doing and work out whether it’s having the desired effect.
That’s where an experienced pair of eyes can make an enormous difference.
The Same Advice Won’t Necessarily Work in Every Situation
One of the attractions of AI is that it can make complicated things sound reassuringly straightforward.
Here’s the problem.
Dogs aren’t always straightforward.
Something that works perfectly well in your kitchen may fall apart completely in the park.
Something that works when another dog is 50 metres away may be completely unrealistic when that dog is five metres away.
A technique that seems to be working one week may need adjusting as the dog progresses.
That’s why dog training involves more than selecting the correct technique.
There is a process of building, adapting and proofing behaviour so that what you’ve taught becomes useful in the situations where you actually need it.
The difficult part isn’t always knowing the theory.
It’s knowing how to apply it to this dog, in this environment, at this particular stage of their training.
Could Following AI Dog-Training Advice Make Things Worse?
Potentially.
But I don’t think scaremongering about AI is particularly helpful.
Bad advice existed long before ChatGPT.
The bigger risk is applying advice that might be perfectly reasonable in one situation to a dog for whom it isn’t appropriate.
There’s also the possibility of inadvertently reinforcing the behaviour you’re trying to change.
You may think you’re responding in a way that should discourage something, when the interaction is actually making the behaviour more likely to happen again.
Or you may simply spend several weeks practising something without seeing much progress because an important part of the picture has been missed.
That doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
It may simply mean you’re trying to solve the wrong problem.
Your Time Has Value Too
This is something I think is often overlooked.
Changing a dog’s behaviour takes time.
Most of us don’t have an unlimited amount of it.
Dog training gets fitted around work, family, commuting, children and everything else happening in our lives.
So if you’ve decided that a behaviour matters enough to work on, it’s worth asking yourself another question:
Am I using the time I’ve got as effectively as possible?
You could spend weeks researching different approaches and trying to work out which advice applies to your dog.
You could try one approach, decide it isn’t working and move onto another.
Or you can get experienced help identifying what’s happening and determining an appropriate way forward.
For me, that’s one of the biggest benefits of working with a professional dog trainer.
You’re not simply paying somebody to give you information that you could potentially find online.
You’re paying for their experience of applying that knowledge successfully to real dogs.
So, Should You Use AI for Dog Training?
I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t use AI to learn more about dogs.
I do.
It’s an incredibly useful tool.
It can help you understand terminology, explore possible reasons for behaviour and give you questions to think about.
Where I’d be more cautious is assuming that because an answer sounds plausible, it must automatically be the right solution for your dog.
AI is very good at giving you information.
What it can’t do from a text conversation is stand beside you and your dog, observe what’s happening, spot the details you may have missed and adjust the training as the situation changes.
That’s the difference.
When Is It Worth Speaking To A Dog Trainer?
Not every dog-training question requires professional help.
But if a behaviour is causing you concern, affecting your enjoyment of your dog, creating problems on walks or at home, or simply isn’t improving despite your efforts, it may be worth getting another perspective.
Particularly if you’re already investing considerable time trying to solve it.
I’ve worked with many owners who have already researched their dog’s behaviour before they contact me.
That’s not a problem.
In fact, being interested in understanding your dog is a very good starting point.
My role isn’t simply to give you another piece of information.
It’s to help work out what’s happening with your dog, identify what needs to change and help you implement that effectively.
How I Can Help
If you’re struggling with a particular behaviour and aren’t sure what to do next, you can book a free 15-minute consultation with me.
The call isn’t a dog-training session and I won’t attempt to diagnose your dog or give you a complete training plan in 15 minutes.
Instead, we’ll talk about what you’re experiencing. I can explain some of the possibilities, talk about similar cases I’ve worked with and determine whether it’s something I can help you with.
If it is, I’ll recommend the number of sessions I think we’ll need to properly assess the behaviour and work with you on an appropriate plan.
AI can be a brilliant place to start.
But when you’re ready to turn information into a real change in your dog’s behaviour, experience still matters.