The reason that trainers or other people can give you more insight into your own dog is basic human nature. The majority of people are really bad at looking objectively at their own dog. They’ve raised it, it’s basically a child, and it’s the best dog out there. Many people will find any reason or excuse possible for what their dog is doing that makes it sound like it’s a good thing, and not something bad. Think of all the posts we get on this forum about a puppy barking/growling at strangers…most people believe it’s becoming protective, but anyone that knows dogs understands that the dog is doing this out of fear and not protection. But people don’t like to hear that, or think it, because they purchased a big bad GSD, there is no way that it can be fearful! No one really thinks about the fact that the puppy is only months old and can’t be expected to protect anything. A trainer looks at your dog and can be objective, he/she shouldn’t care about hurting your feelings, just telling you the truth about your dog. Many people can’t take the truth, or choose not to believe it. You’ll even see this with very experienced people, they’ll see what they want to see, not what is truly in front of them. That’s why dog shows and trials are so important, you get pure, non-biased, objective opinions about your dog, without any romanticizing of when the dog was younger or what it did in training 4 months ago. I have a friend that loves to go on and on about how amazing/dominant/powerful/confident one of his dogs is inside the house…but the moment that dog is out on a training field, it doesn’t show any of that. To him…the dog is amazing, he’s too attached to see what’s clearly in front of him, and doesn’t really like to listen when you tell him the truth.
I personally don’t listen to anyone’s opinion that just sees my dog on the street or at a park. Unless you make it clear to me what your experience is with dogs, your opinion doesn’t matter much to me. If I don’t know what the experience is of the person telling me their opinion, how do I know they’re not just talking based off of things they read on a forum or a website. It’s like all the people that think a slanted back on a GSD causes HD…the moment you say that to me, is the moment I know you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.
OP, I don’t think you should take things personally on here. What you need to understand is that you’re young (I’m only a few years older than you) and anything you could’ve personally gone through with regards to dogs, someone on here has probably already experienced. The whole part about you hiking with other people’s dogs…people just don’t believe that someone else allows you to do that. I barely let my grandfather walk my dog, there’s no way I’d ever hand his leash over to a stranger. And the majority of dog owners on this forum are like me…I don’t need someone else walking/bonding with my dog, I can do all that stuff myself.