- Sep 10, 2025
- 275
- 324
Part 1 on gear is located here: 'I've spent too much money so you don't have too.' https://gsdhq.org/threads/ive-spent-too-much-money-so-you-dont-have-too.242/
There's a ton of online content and I've spent a fortune on it over the last several years in my pursuit of making myself a better dog trainer. There's a lot of good content and a lot of bad content. I'm going to highlight a few different options that have really helped me quite a bit. I'll make a recommendation at the end that I think will get you 99% of what you need without wasting time or money.
Leerburg.com & Leerburg University: Leerburg is an online dog training industry website that sells everything related to dogs. They also have a wide variety of online training options from a multitude of instructors, including free content. They offer micro courses and full blown training programs. Prices vary from $30 to $1000. They run sales often. Lots of useful information available. Some of the content is quite old and the recording quality reflects that. It's still good nonetheless.
SitStayLearn.com: This is another online training platform that offers content from varies trainers. Prices vary from $50 up into the hundreds. They run sales often. I've had mixed results with the quality of information from this site. I'll come back to this later in my recommendations.
Training Without Conflict Academy: TWC is Ivan Balabanov's trademarked training system, Ivan is one of the most accomplished dog trainers alive today. His online content is very good but it's not cheap. Prices range from a few hundred dollars to $500, give or take. I would not recommend it to a beginner without any dog training knowledge but he has a course I consider a must-have. We'll talk about it in the recommendations.
Michael Ellis Online Membership: Michael Ellis is like the godfather of modern dog training. His greatest skill is in his ability to break things down into simple terms for every day people to understand and apply. His online membership is full of useful information and he does a live Q&A once a month that usually runs a few hours. It's $70 a month.
Shield K9 Online Training: Shield K9 is a Canadian based dog training business owned and operated by Haz Othman. Haz specializes in pet, sport, and protection dog training. He is also an importer and breeder of WLGSDs. Shield has a large YouTube presence with a lot of useful content. His content ranges from under $100 to $1000 give or take. We'll cover more in the recommendations section.
Patreon: There's two trainers active on Patreon that are worth following. Jay Jack, Next Level Dogs, $20 a month. Dylan Jones, Day to Day Dog Training, $7 a month. Ironically, both are TWC alumni and both are brilliant trainers, especially when it comes to behavior issues.
Recommendations:
If I was brand new, I would buy these courses in this order:
Course: Dog Training Decoded.
Instructor: Michael Ellis.
Platform: SitStayLearn.
Price: $250 (There's a 55% off sale right now)
Link: https://share.google/ICJ8ZCm2dJgBbs9Vt
This course is going to give you the skills needed to become an effective dog trainer. It's also going to show you how to teach a dog to be prepared for learning. Highly recommended.
Course: Elite Off Leash.
Instructor: Haz Othman.
Platform: Shield K9 Online.
Price: $400 (Black Friday sales usually 50% off)
Link: https://share.google/HsJkNIkKi2z6CTxkw
This course is going to cover a ton of content and you will be able to train your dog to be off leash obedient in every setting. It's an outstanding value. You can also buy the elite membership and get access to the entire online catalog, which I also highly recommend. BUT, if you were to only buy one course, this would be it.
Course: The Cornerstone Collection.
Instructor: Ivan Balabanov.
Platform: TWC Academy.
Price: $400 (never on sale)
Link: https://share.google/hfaPdLTMjNNKmdtaS
This is three courses packaged together. Ivan goes into great detail about the benefits of PLAY, the types of play, how to teach it, incorporate it into your training and so on. You will learn cooperative and competitive play, how to create rules and boundaries and how to teach the OUT command. This is a nonnegotiable, must have IMO.
Subscription: Day To Day Dog Training.
Trainer: Dylan Jones.
Platform: Patreon.
Price: $7.00 per month.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/DaytoDayDogTraining?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan
Dylan Jones is a TWC graduate specializing in hard behavior cases where others have failed. He has fully documented rehab successes on his Patreon page where he explains things, answers questions and so on. For $7.00 a month you're getting access to one of the best behavior trainers (IMO) today.
Recap: At full price you'll pay a little over $1000 and gain skills that will last you and your dog a lifetime. If you're a DIY type of person who can process and apply information you will become a better dog trainer than 95% of the people claiming to be a professional at the trade with the above content - people routinely ask me if I'm a professional dog trainer. Most of the general public have never seen an off-leash dog in a street heel walking through a busy park or neighborhood. We do this almost daily.
Something I want to add, you're always going to have questions or miss small things. This is where good professional training fills the gap. Find a good, reputable trainer and work with them, even if it's only on occasion. This can get expensive but even a few lessons can go a long long way.
With my own dog at between 9 weeks of age and about 7 months old, I saw a professional TWC training team about once every four weeks or so. Never for major stuff, just small things I was working on, etc. I still see them once a week in a more casual group setting. I plan on seeing them for private lessons in the future too. I think the world of them and would trust my dog with them without question.
With any training plan you should have a clearly defined goal. Mine is to have a dog that is happy, powerful and free. What does this look like? Happy in his demeanor, powerful in his actions, free from his leash.
Feel free to ask any questions about anything I wrote about in this post.
There's a ton of online content and I've spent a fortune on it over the last several years in my pursuit of making myself a better dog trainer. There's a lot of good content and a lot of bad content. I'm going to highlight a few different options that have really helped me quite a bit. I'll make a recommendation at the end that I think will get you 99% of what you need without wasting time or money.
Leerburg.com & Leerburg University: Leerburg is an online dog training industry website that sells everything related to dogs. They also have a wide variety of online training options from a multitude of instructors, including free content. They offer micro courses and full blown training programs. Prices vary from $30 to $1000. They run sales often. Lots of useful information available. Some of the content is quite old and the recording quality reflects that. It's still good nonetheless.
SitStayLearn.com: This is another online training platform that offers content from varies trainers. Prices vary from $50 up into the hundreds. They run sales often. I've had mixed results with the quality of information from this site. I'll come back to this later in my recommendations.
Training Without Conflict Academy: TWC is Ivan Balabanov's trademarked training system, Ivan is one of the most accomplished dog trainers alive today. His online content is very good but it's not cheap. Prices range from a few hundred dollars to $500, give or take. I would not recommend it to a beginner without any dog training knowledge but he has a course I consider a must-have. We'll talk about it in the recommendations.
Michael Ellis Online Membership: Michael Ellis is like the godfather of modern dog training. His greatest skill is in his ability to break things down into simple terms for every day people to understand and apply. His online membership is full of useful information and he does a live Q&A once a month that usually runs a few hours. It's $70 a month.
Shield K9 Online Training: Shield K9 is a Canadian based dog training business owned and operated by Haz Othman. Haz specializes in pet, sport, and protection dog training. He is also an importer and breeder of WLGSDs. Shield has a large YouTube presence with a lot of useful content. His content ranges from under $100 to $1000 give or take. We'll cover more in the recommendations section.
Patreon: There's two trainers active on Patreon that are worth following. Jay Jack, Next Level Dogs, $20 a month. Dylan Jones, Day to Day Dog Training, $7 a month. Ironically, both are TWC alumni and both are brilliant trainers, especially when it comes to behavior issues.
Recommendations:
If I was brand new, I would buy these courses in this order:
Course: Dog Training Decoded.
Instructor: Michael Ellis.
Platform: SitStayLearn.
Price: $250 (There's a 55% off sale right now)
Link: https://share.google/ICJ8ZCm2dJgBbs9Vt
This course is going to give you the skills needed to become an effective dog trainer. It's also going to show you how to teach a dog to be prepared for learning. Highly recommended.
Course: Elite Off Leash.
Instructor: Haz Othman.
Platform: Shield K9 Online.
Price: $400 (Black Friday sales usually 50% off)
Link: https://share.google/HsJkNIkKi2z6CTxkw
This course is going to cover a ton of content and you will be able to train your dog to be off leash obedient in every setting. It's an outstanding value. You can also buy the elite membership and get access to the entire online catalog, which I also highly recommend. BUT, if you were to only buy one course, this would be it.
Course: The Cornerstone Collection.
Instructor: Ivan Balabanov.
Platform: TWC Academy.
Price: $400 (never on sale)
Link: https://share.google/hfaPdLTMjNNKmdtaS
This is three courses packaged together. Ivan goes into great detail about the benefits of PLAY, the types of play, how to teach it, incorporate it into your training and so on. You will learn cooperative and competitive play, how to create rules and boundaries and how to teach the OUT command. This is a nonnegotiable, must have IMO.
Subscription: Day To Day Dog Training.
Trainer: Dylan Jones.
Platform: Patreon.
Price: $7.00 per month.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/DaytoDayDogTraining?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan
Dylan Jones is a TWC graduate specializing in hard behavior cases where others have failed. He has fully documented rehab successes on his Patreon page where he explains things, answers questions and so on. For $7.00 a month you're getting access to one of the best behavior trainers (IMO) today.
Recap: At full price you'll pay a little over $1000 and gain skills that will last you and your dog a lifetime. If you're a DIY type of person who can process and apply information you will become a better dog trainer than 95% of the people claiming to be a professional at the trade with the above content - people routinely ask me if I'm a professional dog trainer. Most of the general public have never seen an off-leash dog in a street heel walking through a busy park or neighborhood. We do this almost daily.
Something I want to add, you're always going to have questions or miss small things. This is where good professional training fills the gap. Find a good, reputable trainer and work with them, even if it's only on occasion. This can get expensive but even a few lessons can go a long long way.
With my own dog at between 9 weeks of age and about 7 months old, I saw a professional TWC training team about once every four weeks or so. Never for major stuff, just small things I was working on, etc. I still see them once a week in a more casual group setting. I plan on seeing them for private lessons in the future too. I think the world of them and would trust my dog with them without question.
With any training plan you should have a clearly defined goal. Mine is to have a dog that is happy, powerful and free. What does this look like? Happy in his demeanor, powerful in his actions, free from his leash.
Feel free to ask any questions about anything I wrote about in this post.
Last edited:
