Selecting a Web Designer is Like Selecting a Protection Dog Trainer

How is selecting a web designer like selecting a protection dog trainer?

Unlikely Business Lessons From a Dog Trainer

As I was researching the “How Much Does A Good Web Designer Cost?” article, it occurred to me, you can’t really know what you’re buying from just looking at the list of what is offered. Even when you look at two different designers offering what look like the same thing, what they actually provide can be very different. At least under the hood.

As I got to thinking about this it reminded me of protection dog training. Most people don’t know what they are looking at when seeing a protection dog work. The dog is running after a decoy and biting. The decoy is the person the dog bites. A good decoy can often make a weak dog look stronger and a strong dog look weaker. Although a really strong dog is more honest in its demeanor than a weak dog.

There are even experienced dog people that can be fooled into thinking a weak dog will work well. I was once at a protection dog trial and a well-known dog trainer came over to talk with me. In those days I would often try to go to trials incognito by not wearing my western hat, but sometimes other trainers would still recognize me. He mentioned that he liked a pretty Dutch Shepherd’s temperament and working style. Which I could not understand. Then I figured he meant he liked very active dogs that worked in more of a defensive drive than prey drive. At least that is what I think he meant. I was puzzled because the dog he pointed out looked to me like a dog with a very weak temperament. The dog was displaying a lot of confident threat posturing, but something was off. The confident posturing was being displayed at the wrong time and the activity my colleague liked, looked as if it was insecurity to me.

Then it was the pretty Dutch Shepherd’s turn on the field, I could see problems right off the bat, but even I was a little surprised by how quickly and with utmost conviction it ran off the training field. And it was not coming back, finally the handler got it on a leash. That dog was putting on a good show, so good it fooled a very experienced dog trainer.

If this was a training scenario instead of a protection dog trail, the decoy could have kept the dog on the field and made the bite look okay. That is probably why the dog was entered, because some protection dog trainer convinced the handler the dog was better than it really was. The handler, not knowing any better, believed the trainer knew what they were talking about and probably spent a considerable amount of money to get the dog ready for the trail. Most likely more than what I charge for a website.

By the way, you can see this same kind of activity on a salesroom floor with sales people before they walk off the floor and quit. Basically there are a lot of similarities between dogs and dog training, and people and business. Mammalian behavior can be quite similar across species. Of course there are human species specific behaviors that we need to take into account in business.

It’s really hard to know how a designer builds websites.

Getting back to web design it is really hard to know how a designer builds websites. I need to say there are a lot of really good web designers out there. There are designers that are better than me. I am not the world’s best designer, but I am the best designer for a small segment of people who need a new website. According to Michael Porter there cannot be a best, there is only a best for a certain segment of the market. I am the best one for a small segment of the market that’s located in North Orange County California and needs or is looking for the services I offer.

What I’m saying is it’s hard for the average person to know exactly what they’re getting by just looking at a protection dog working or by just looking at a pretty website from a website designer.

With dogs you really need to trust the trainer/importer or know enough that you can test and evaluate the dog. The same is true of getting a new website, you either need to trust the web designer or you need to know enough to evaluate how the website is built.

That should do it for this little comparative narrative of dogs and websites.