In this week’s episode, I’m going to give you my top tips for finding the right separation anxiety trainer for you and your dog.  Separation anxiety training isn’t easy but it does have a high success rate. With the right method, lots of time, and plenty of patience there’s a really good chance you can get your dog over separation anxiety. If you are looking for help in the form of trainer here are my top 5 tips.  Topics:  [0:43] Separation anxiety training is not easy but it does have a high success rate.  [01:39] Getting a trainer is a really big decision. Top 6 tips to finding exactly the right trainer for you:  [02:00] Tip 1: Be aware. Dog training is an unregulated profession. You don't need to have qualifications or be certified.  [03:50] Tip 2: Choose force-free, fear-free training: you cannot fix fear with fear.  [07:20] Tip 3: Pick a specialist separation anxiety trainer. They need to have studied the science of behavior change in dogs. And they need to *really* understand separation  [08:55] Don't work with a generalist trainer if you want to address separation anxiety.  [09:36] You need someone who really knows what to do in every given situation.   [10:45] A really credible separation anxiety trainer is going to use video technology to assess the severity of the dog's anxiety and once they've done their assessment, they are going to work with you remotely to do all the training.   [11:32] Tip 4: Ask questions about:  their qualifications  how they keep up-to-date with their knowledge, skills and learning  the training methods they use  the number of cases they've worked with  whether they come to your house  can you talk to clients they've worked with and what they have achieved  [17:32] Tip 5: Trust your gut instinct. If anything seems off, don’t hire them.  Links:  Free Facebook Group: Dog Separation Anxiety Training Support with Julie Naismith  Free 5 Day Separation Anxiety Training Challenge